4 Tips for Better 1:1 Meetings [Video]

As a leader, one-on-one meetings are one of the best tools you have to engage, coach, and develop your people. Executive Coach Todd Mosetter shares 4 tips to help you make the most of the time you have in your one-on-ones.

 

Video Transcript

Hi, everyone. My name is Todd Mosetter. I’m a Vice President and Executive Coach here at Building Champions. And I’m excited to be back with you with the latest video in our Virtual Coaching Tip series.

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Today, I want to talk to you about one-on-one meetings. If you’re a manager or a leader of people, you have people on your team–having regular one-on-one meetings is probably one of the greatest opportunities you have to engage, coach, and develop them.

But how do we make the most of them? Here are four tips that I would love to share with you.

The first is make sure that they’re scheduled. Too often, we see that these meetings happen by accident or random on an as-needed basis.

That’s not good enough. Make sure that they’re scheduled because we know what gets scheduled gets done. So, make that commitment to you and your people and get them on the calendar.

And once they’re there, honor them. Don’t have them be the first thing that gets moved or rescheduled if something comes up. Every time you do, you’re sending a message to your people. So, schedule them and honor them. In fact, those one-on-one meetings are one of the highest payoff activities you have as a leader.

Tip number two, make sure you prepare for them. Not just you, but your people. Don’t go into these meetings assuming that you can just wing it or get by. Have a series of questions to ask your people ahead of time so they come in with their best thinking.

And you as a leader, review your notes from the previous meeting and make sure you come in knowing what you want to ask about, what you need updated on, and what you’re going to talk about. Preparation will make the meetings even better.

Tip number three, engage. When you’re in the meeting, make sure you put on that “coaching leader” hat. Make sure you’re thinking about the questions you’re going to ask, not the answers you’re going to give. Make sure you’re focusing on how you listen so that people know that they’re truly being heard and understood.

Make sure that you have that heart and mindset of a leader. These sessions, they’re not an opportunity for you to solve every problem. They’re an opportunity for you to make sure the other person is heard and understood, and that you’re there to support them.

And then tip number four, drive to clarity. When you end these meetings, make sure you and the other person are aligned about what you committed to and when will it be done. Ambiguity–that not knowing what’s going to happen next, that inconsistency–that’s where we often fail.

So, at the end of the meeting, make sure you’re aligned and you drive to clarity about who has committed to what, who owns it, and when it will be done.

These one-on-one meetings, when leveraged properly, they allow you to be that coaching leader, to be the kind of person that brings out the best in your people and creates a culture where people feel heard, understood, and they can do their best work.

So, I hope you enjoyed these tips. Make sure you implement them. One-on-ones are one of your greatest opportunities. So, make sure you’re leveraging them properly.