A manager wears many hats, this includes being a therapist who will chat with you about the thoughts running in your mind. Now, these conversations could help you gain clarity over a variety of crucial things. Right from areas you want to work on and any issues that you might be facing, or it could just be a catch-up of sorts. And, no better person than a manager to talk about them, right?
Sometimes, it might get tricky as to what you need to talk about, but a little bit of planning and preparation makes a big difference.
Benefits of One-on-One Meetings with a Manager
These meetings can help you go a long way in your career. It helps in improving your relationship with not only the manager but also the overall team. These meetings can help in sorting out professional or personal issues. Apart from this, you can also put forward your thoughts about the company, its working ethics, and what can be improved. As Gallup says, having such one-on-one meetings would improve employee engagement by 3x.
Such meetings also give you a sense of responsibility towards the company and make you accountable for your words. You also get an opportunity to improve your communication skills, which is crucial if you’re in a client-facing job. These are just a few of the many unsaid advantages such meetings have. And, if you want to have such a meeting with your manager, here’s what you can do.
How to Have Effective One-on-One Meetings with Your Manager:
1. Ensure That the Meeting Happens:
Avoiding these meetings is like skipping your therapy sessions. If you don’t address your issues within time, this volcano of emotions might erupt at the wrong time. That’s why you need to ensure that they are happening regularly. It might get a bit tricky when managers themselves have to cancel meetings.
Let’s see how you can handle this situation with an example. Suppose you’ve scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, but your manager cancels because he is busy. In this situation, what would be an ideal response? Saying something like, “I understand your situation. Can we reschedule for a week or two later?” This shows that you are accommodating of their issues and are willing to make adjustments to your schedule.It would be better to suggest a near-future deadline.
2. Avoid Giving Updates About Daily Work:
Talking about only your work during such a meeting is a big no-no. It's like going to an Italian restaurant to have Chinese food. It might be good, but is that why you went to that restaurant? No, right? Similarly, in these meetings, it's not necessary to restrict only to work talks. Talk about everything, what is your bigger goal with them? Areas where they want you to grow? And so on.
But they are your managers, so they need to be in the loop with what tasks you are doing on a day-to-day basis. This is where HRMS software, like greytHR, comes in, as it can track your everyday tasks perfectly. Data from here could be used in your performance appraisal meetings and also in your one-on-one meetings. It will free up a lot of time to have a more interesting chat in the meeting, which will not be related to work.
3. Note Down What You Want to Talk About:
In a professional setting, everyone’s time is valuable, so you need to have an agenda ready before having these meetings. Every time you ask a manager for such a meeting, and you’'ve got nothing specific to talk about, the chances of them saying “yes” next time are reduced. So keep a note of what exactly you want to talk about. It could be about your career at the company, feedback on your work, or something private. Take the lead in this meeting and be specific with what you want to talk about.
If you want to have a one-on-one meeting every week, prepare a set of questions throughout the week so that you have something before the next meeting. Can’t think of where to start from? Don’t worry, here’s something that might help you:
1. Career: These meetings are great to get rid of any anxious thoughts you may have about your career; don’t reserve everything for your appraisal meetings. Managers can help you work on certain areas and figure out ways to improve your work routine.
2. Team Work: You can talk to your manager about any issues that you might be facing with other employees. These meetings can help to mediate any situation that might be arising, improving the overall team relations.
3. Feedback: No one knows you better than your manager at the workplace, so it makes sense to go to them for some constructive feedback. Ask questions in such a way that you’ll get straightforward answers. According to a statistic provided by SHRM, a strong feedback culture leads to higher employee engagement rates, making the companies 21% more profitable than others.
4. Personal Talks: Every employee out there is fighting battles that many aren’t aware of. And, sometimes, they carry the wounds from that battle to the office. Open up with your managers, as they can be great confidants who can help you. Having one-on-one meetings with them every week or two can go a long way in keeping you sane and getting through the difficult times.
4. Make Notes of Whatever’s Being Talked About:
Put yourself in your manager's shoes, wouldn’t you too dread if the one-on-one meetings were more about what was discussed in the previous meetings? Of course, you would because it’'s just a bad use of that time. You can’t hold this against them for not remembering your previous discussions because they are swamped with other tasks.
In such situations, take minutes of meetings and share them with the managers so there’s no scope for misunderstanding. You can also ask them to take notes if you want them to remember something.
For example, if you want to cut down the duration of your tasks, note the methods your manager has suggested and how you plan to do it. This way, before the next meeting, you’ll have some results to show to your manager. You guys can then analyze what else could be done. This will be an add-on to whatever has already been discussed, and it won’t be repetitive.
5. Close the Meeting with Something Actionable:
Piggybacking on the above example, these meetings must end with something actionable. If you’ve discussed that the duration of any particular task needs to be reduced, there should be some progress on that. Suppose what you’ve discussed is not working, bring it up in the next meeting, and look for ways to resolve it with the help of your manager.
The purpose of such meetings is to get rid of issues that might be slowing your progress down. If you want to show your day-by-day performance to your manager, suggest they use greytHR, one of the best HR software in India. Here, you can get data about the duration of the task, the accuracy, and the result. This data will help your manager look for areas of improvement and your strengths.
Summing Up
By being prepared for these meetings, you can literally save time and leave out all the unnecessary talks. It could help you open up about your issues, areas you want to improve, roles that you want to take up, and a lot more. All you need to do is ensure that it happens, and when it happens, it shouldn’t be only work talks. Make notes of every session that you have with your manager, and conclude these meetings with some plan for the next one as well.
FAQs
How to Prepare for a One-On-One with Your Manager?
The first thing you need to do is develop that relationship with your manager and understand them. Keep a checklist ready as to what needs to be discussed and make sure that the meeting happens, even if there’s a delay.
Why Is a One-on-One Meeting with a Manager Important?
These meetings not only help the employee but also the manager. Both parties give each other feedback in a different capacity, making the employee feel engaged, and the manager improves their methods. It also builds a rapport between the two and strengthens the work relationship.
How Do You Structure a One-On-One Meeting with a Manager?
The meeting should last 30 minutes to 1 hour. Its focus should be more on the employee’'s topic of discussion. It could be related to work or private. Both parties need to ensure that everything discussed in the meeting is documented.
