The business world is very dynamic and increasingly competitive, which is why we see the urgency of effective internal communication emerging among teams . Individual meetings, or one-on-one meetings , end up being an outstanding tool for achieving objectives and make it easier for managers to understand how aligned they are with their own team.
In this article, you will learn about the benefits of one-on-one meetings and how you can use them to boost the individual and collective development of your team in the company.
Reasons to hold a one on one meeting
If the biggest corporate problem has been communication, the best solution is also through it. Adopting a one-on-one meeting model in companies is an excellent way to strengthen interpersonal relationships. There are a few reasons for this:
- identification of challenges : when we talk to each team member individually, it is easier to understand their difficulties, understand expectations and set tangible goals;
- transparent communication : this does not mean that you should become everyone’s best friend, but leave an open and direct channel so that employees feel safe expressing their ideas and receiving feedback ;
- Interpersonal strengthening : this individualized contact and the exchange of experiences contribute greatly to building a more stable and trusting relationship. We are no longer talking about a closed hierarchy where the manager is the boss and orders everyone around, but here, the manager listens and acts with everyone.
In addition to these reasons, holding a one-on-one meeting also has a significant benefit in the lives of managers who are unable to talk about all issues with all team members, since each one has a different level of trust and responsibility.
In other words, it is to say that you should focus on showing why things are the way they are, but also hearing from him directly what is wrong is essential for business development .
Impact on business growth
One-on-one meetings are closely linked to team performance and impact on profit growth, mainly through the development of soft and hard skills . Depending on the type of team, more of one or more of the other is needed. In sales teams, balancing these skills is a constant struggle, and it is part of a manager’s job to understand which side of the scale needs to be balanced.
Talent identification
There are more shy employees, but with extremely useful skills for the entire team, and the moment of an individual meeting is perfect to discover this.
One-on-one meetings make it easier to identify unique skills and even interests and new ideas. This helps direct that employee to roles and projects that are best suited to their skills.
Performance improvement
In fact, one of the first things you notice when you start having one on one meetings with a certain frequency is the improvement in overall performance.
During these meetings, there may be structured moments for monitoring and feedback . This allows the manager to identify serious problems in a short period of time that may be compromising the entire operation.
Alignment of objectives
If you are talking to an employee who is about to be given new assignments, it is essential that you present the project objectives so that they understand whether they have the technical capacity. If not, they should be redirected to another role or receive specific training.
With individual meetings, alignment is simpler to achieve, as it is a safe and confidential space to expose limitations, fears and available skills.
Ideal structure of a one on one meeting
There is no ideal structure for a one-on-one meeting . If you do some research, you will find several models of one-on-one meetings , but each one works in a way that highlights a certain aspect. The best structure is the one that meets what your managers need when it comes to individual conversations.
Below, you will find an example of how to prepare your one-on-one meeting . Even if you choose to customize it, our structure is functionally effective for starting the implementation of this tool.
Prior preparation
Before starting a one-on-one meeting , the manager needs to understand how often the meetings will be available in the schedule so that they do not interfere with the performance of employees . In addition, it is necessary to understand how long each meeting will last so that it does not become boring and cumbersome.
During a meeting with the entire team, it is necessary to share this idea, listen to the opinions of the team members and agree on the days of the week and times that the meetings will take place. When managing a team that works in a hybrid way, you need to consider whether they should take place in person or remotely.
Finally, you need to prepare a script. Although the one-on-one meeting is about much more than what the employee wants to talk about, the manager needs to have some guidelines to guide this conversation. These could be:
- achievement of goals;
- project development;
- difficulties of the function;
- occasional team problems;
- well-being;
- new proposals and ideas;
- constructive feedback .
During the meeting
The setting of a one-on-one meeting must be a setting of trust. You need to hold the meeting in an environment where the employee feels comfortable enough to express themselves freely.
One technique is active listening. This means that you must pay genuine and complete attention to what the employee has to say. Sometimes, the secret lies in a phrase that generates all the discontent or difficulties they are facing.
If you have any doubts, ask open questions, encourage dialogue with questions that allow the employee to better express their ideas and opinions so that you also have more information to help.
Don’t forget to bring a notebook. Grab a blank sheet of paper and jot down the main points covered in the meeting so you can follow up on them at the next meeting. Leave the meeting with the next steps and dates defined.
Other tips are:
- use inclusive and bias-free language;
- understand that some behaviors stem from cultural diversity ;
- always be open to listening without judgment;
- make the conversation relaxed;
- identify hidden problems and conflicts .
After the meeting
Ideally, you should formalize the agreements so that only you and the employee know about them. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of the progress and history. Monitor progress and stay in touch with the employee to understand the progress of the defined actions, always offering support and ongoing feedback .
Personalized feedback and its value for development
An employee who is afraid of receiving feedback may be experiencing two situations: lack of trust in the manager or fear of doing something wrong. Regardless, feedback is one of the fundamental pillars of the one-on-one meeting , however, the employee must feel comfortable when giving feedback.
Feedback in a one-on-one meeting should be related to the meeting topics or actions and strategies that are taking place. There is no point in the manager bringing up something from the past that has already been resolved to lecture the employee. Don’t be that kind of leader .
It is important to differentiate between general and specific feedback . General feedback addresses broad aspects of each person’s development, while specific feedback focuses on specific situations and behaviors, offering clear and targeted information for immediate development.
