7 Ways to Maximize Team Engagement and Productivity through One-on-One Meetings

One of the most common mistakes that managers make is not having one-on-one meetings with their direct reports or not holding meetings with any kind of consistency. Why are these important, you might ask? We know that 70% of an employee’s level of engagement is directly correlated with their relationship with their manager – AND – highly engaged employees rate development opportunities as the number one thing they look for in a job. That should be enough for any leader to jump on board with wanting to hold one-on-one meetings with their direct reports. But, we know it is still avoided or dreaded by managers. Some of the common reasons why managers tell us they don’t hold regularly scheduled one-on-ones include:

• They talk with their direct reports frequently (either daily or several times a week) so a regularly scheduled meeting is unnecessary.
• They have an open-door policy and anyone is welcome to text, email, call or walk into the office any time.
• They are in back-to-back meetings all day and don’t have time to meet one-on-one with each direct report.
• They don’t feel the one-on-one meetings are the best use of his/her time.

Although we may be leaving out other excuses why there is not a need to meet, we know from the results of our Employee Opinion Survey Benchmarks, the Best of the Best Managers that leaders that do meet consistently with their direct reports score higher in the areas of communication, clarity of purpose and goals, building trust, holding team members accountable and providing meaningful feedback to the employee in a timely manner, as well as their employees experience higher levels of engagement and loyalty to the organization.

Below are keys to holding effective one-on-one meetings with your team members:

1. Hold meetings at a consistent time during the week. Many managers like to do their meetings in the hall or between texts and emails, but employees tell us that these venues are not as effective and efficient as a scheduled meeting. Start the meeting on time. If you need to cancel the meeting, reschedule the meeting asap. When meetings get cancelled often, a weekly meeting can quickly become a bi-weekly meeting. And, a bi-weekly meeting can quickly turn into a monthly meeting. Managers who cancel one-on-one meetings frequently and do not reschedule those meetings, receive lower departmental and manager ratings on Employee Engagement Surveys. 
2. Schedule 60 minutes. The meeting may run shorter if all topics are covered. But if it does, you will gain time back into your day.
3. Have an agenda of what topics will be covered. The manager and the direct report should be responsible for setting the agenda.
4. Be present. Give the employee your undivided attention. Don’t look at your phone, check email or try to multitask. These activities communicate that the team member is not important enough to receive your undivided attention and undermines trust. 
5. Let your direct report speak first. Listen and ask questions before you respond. Gaining additional information from your questions will allow you to tailor a more helpful response. After your direct report has communicated their agenda items, issues, or concerns, you can discuss the important points you will need your direct report to handle next week.
6. Start with the positive. Always start off your meetings with what is going well before getting into opportunities for improvement. We often hear from employees that they only hear if things are not going well, not when they do well.
7. Set goals for the next week or meeting. For employees to continue to grow and develop, they must continually work toward their goals. This will increase engagement and productivity on your team. We want employees to grow and learn, not being content with status quo.

The goals of the one-on-one meeting are to build trust, develop your team, determine if you are holding up work, hold staff accountable to their goals, and provide support to ensure their success.

Below are some suggested questions to help start the conversation and draw out employees. Of course, this is just a sample of what you could ask.

• How are you doing this week? Personally? Professionally?
• When we look back over the last week, what has gone well or right?
• When we look back over the last week, where were your challenges and opportunities?
• What opportunities have you had to learn and grow this week?
• Over the last week, what have you worked on that has energized you?
• Over the last week, what has challenged you?
• What are two or three skills you would like to learn in this job and how can I support you in achieving those goals?
• How I can I support you as we prepare for the next week?

Most employees will thrive when provided an opportunity to grow and develop. Yes, these meetings will take time, but when your team is moving forward, learning, growing, and taking on more responsibility… productivity will increase and you will gain more time in your day to work on more strategic tasks.