5 Best Practices For Effective One On One Meetings

by Srikant Chellappa Aug 20,2020
Engagedly
PODCAST

The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

The remote working season has made some major changes to our style of working. Employees are required to have numerous meetings with different people from their teams as well as from different teams. There are too many virtual one on one meetings happening at almost every organization.

One-on-ones can be simply defined as standard scheduled time for managers to check-in with their direct reports. These meetings are important for both managers and direct reports because they ensure that both of them stay on the same page.

Is there a right way to conduct these one on one meetings? Well, the answer is both yes and no. No, we don’t have a prescribed format to conducting a successful one on one meeting but we can utilize a few best practices to make the most out of one on one meetings.

Here’s a list of best practices for effective one on one meetings:

Clear Agenda

With the increasing number of meetings managers have these days, it is very important to clarify the agenda of the meeting when you send out a request to schedule a meeting. Having a clear agenda, helps both parties to prepare better for the meeting. This also helps the parties understand what priority the meeting needs to be given.

It doesn’t only help the opposite party realize the purpose of the meeting but also helps you, in a sense, to prepare beforehand for the meeting.

Relevant Questions

This totally depends on the type of meeting you intend to have. But most one on one meetings require either of the participants to ask a few questions. So, if you are the participant who needs to question the other, make a relevant set of questions to ask in the meeting.

Also read: 7 Must-Discuss Aspects Of A Meeting

This becomes easier if you already communicated the agenda. For example, if you are having the meeting with one of your direct reports about their performance on a particular project, you need to have a set of relevant questions that you need to ask them about it.

Document

Document the highlights of the one on one meeting. As a manager, it is hard to keep track of every one on one meeting you have, so document the highlights of each one on one meeting you have with your employees. This will help you get started for the next meeting you have with them and you will not miss anything important from the past meeting.

Wrap-up Email

Once you document the contents of the meetings, it is ideal to email to the participants of the meeting with the highlights that you’ve made note. Also include in the email, what is expected of them by the next meeting. This helps you and the participants in the meeting to have a document to refer to if they need to revise the contents of the meeting.

Follow Up

Following up on a meeting is vital. Always remember to keep track on the progress made  on the aspects of the meeting after a one on one meeting. Be ready to help them with implementing the action plan discussed in the meeting. This will help all participants of the meeting stay motivated and productive at work. One on one meetings give the best results when they are recurring; so, experiment with the frequency of meetings and set a regular schedule for one on one meetings with your employees/ direct reports.

 


Engagedly is offering a suite of products part of its Remote Work Toolkit free to any organisation, until Sept 30th, 2020. 

The Coronavirus has affected the way we work today and for months to come. Unprecedented events require unprecedented measures. We at Engagedly believe it is our responsibility as socially conscious corporate citizens to help equip organisations with additional tools and resources during this time of crisis.


Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you with your one on one meetings? Then request for a live demo

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Author
Srikant Chellappa
CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly

Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.

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