how to become a better leader with 1-on-1s · better leader with 1-on-1s ... “28% of my time is...

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How To Become a Better Leader With 1-on-1s

A Handbook

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What’s in this guide

Towards better 1-on-1s

The art of asking good questions

Six universal themes that get you around what really matters

8 do’s and don’ts of 1-on-1s

Find a suitable 1-on-1 frequency for your team

Get started with your 1-on-1s

Introduction deck

4 monthly decks

4 biweekly decks

Duuoo; a smart solution that supports your 1-on-1s

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Towards better 1-on-1s

THE ANNUAL REVIEW IS OUTWe all know it - the annual employee review - the time where your leader summons you to talk about your accomplishments the past year, evaluate your work, and plan your personal development for the year to come. That’s NOT what this guide is about.

ANNO 2017 - NEW MEDIA AGE?Today we expect to be updated at a much greater speed and are used to a steady stream of information through social media, online news media, and smart apps, that help us engage with the world instantly and to be agile toward changes.

With that in mind, the annual routine doesn’t make much sense anymore. On average the Generations Millennials and Centennials only work at the same place for 19 months. The 1-on-1 should be equally agile and adapted to the spirit of the new media age.

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A 1-on-1 meeting is an opportunity to break down barriers, to give and receive useful and immediate feedback, to connect with someone who cares about our success, and ultimately to build team loyalty.

THAT is what this guide is about.

Regular meetings improve team communication, identify fixable issues before they transform into big problems, and increase employee loyalty. To achieve ongoing and relevant feedback and guidance aim to find a 1-on-1 frequency that suits your team. We suggest doing 1-on-1s either monthly or biweekly but it’s important to find a frequency that suits YOUR team.

Most importantly; Do 1-on-1s. Don’t cancel - Don’t postpone. Take the time, be present. They deserve it.

1-ON-1:

A personal conversation between team member & manager.

WHAT’S A GOOD 1-ON-1 ANNO 2017?A good 1-on-1 Anno 2017 should be relevant in the sense of content and frequency. It should contain topics that concern the employee and not only the company and the leader.

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The art of asking good questions

A good 1-on-1 consists of well prepared and relevant questions. The art of asking the right questions is delicate and takes a lot of practice, background knowledge, and intuitive skills. You will know, however, that you hit the spot when you ask the right question.

At Duuoo we are interested in what is necessary for employees in order for them to feel engaged at work. Every company wants to attract the best employees; people who share its values and are committed to excellence. The organization wants its people to be loyal, creatively productive, and engaged with their work. To accomplish that, its managers need to help those people make the right decisions about what to work on and how to do so efficiently to drive a professional, competent, and efficient workforce.

To learn what is important to employees and managers, we have conducted countless interviews, talked with numerous experts, scholars, and specialists and compared all of that with research in the fields of I-O psychology, coaching, and management.

We have embodied all this knowledge and experience in an engine, which provides relevant questions with the right timing;

Although, “How are you doing” is a good start in any conversation between two people, it just isn’t enough. If you consider the 1-on-1 meetings as a continuous process where one meeting relates to the next then it is useful to lay down a plan to ensure you get around all important topics over a period of time. We have united the following six overall themes to make sure we get all the way around what’s important in a 1-on-1 life cycle.

“A sensible question is neither a delight nor an annoyance.”

- ERNEST HEMINGWAY

“One of the reasons why it’s good to be asking questions is because questions elicit a response. They generate a connection and relationship because there is a profound background expectation in our culture that when you’re asked a question you’re obliged or expected to respond. When people ask questions, there is an entry and a willingness to engage and to be in connection. That’s the beginning of a co-constructive process.”

- DR. KARL TOMM, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF

CALGARY

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Six universal themes that get you around what really matters

Work Structure, Alignment & Performance

Work-life Balance & Well-being

Collaboration & Relations

Feedback & Learnings

Pers. Dev & Self-Actualization

Motivation & Inspiration

“The pyramid of employee needs”

We have collected all the various subjects that touch working environment, culture, people management, and human relations and condensed them into six universal themes, independent from industry, gender, role, age, cultural background, etc.

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Do you want help on how to get around the important stuff in your 1-on-1 meetings?

You can use the six universal themes as a checklist on what to talk about in your next 1-on-1 meetings. They will help you get a 360 perspective during the cycle of the 1-on-1s.

We’re all driven by different things in our lives but a 1-on-1 should be concerned with what’s relevant in a work context and hence respect individual privacy.

In the eight 1-on-1 meeting decks at the end of this guide you get examples on how to mix questions within these six universal themes over a 1-on-1 cycle of four 1-on-1 meetings.

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8 Dos & Don’ts of 1-on-1s

We have all tried 1-on-1s in some form or the other, and most of us have probably had bad experiences doing so - either as an employee or as a manager. Some of the most prominent factors that employees express as reasons why the 1-on-1 went wrong are some that can be prevented. We have collected 8 employee testimonials that all represent some of the most common Don’ts experiences in the 1-on-1 scenario. To avoid these common Don’ts - we also listed what you should Do instead.

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• Managers often postponed or canceled my meetings

• The Talking Points were all about the company and not about me

• The meeting frequency was too inconsistent and too broad

• Nothing changed after the meeting - nobody took any notes or made any commitments

• I felt like my manager wasn’t actually listening to what I said and didn’t really care about me either

• My manager obviously had her own hidden agenda and just wanted to probe her own needs

• We didn’t get to talk about the things that really mattered to me

• I wanted my leader to give me feedback on my work and at the same time I also wanted a chance to give feedback to my leader - but neither happened

• Prepare good questions in advance

• Check out the Six Universal Themes to make sure you balance your questions

• Schedule ahead and prioritize the chosen meeting cadence

• Avoid canceling or postponing

• Make it your point to actually listen

• Give and receive feedback

• Take good notes

• Follow up on the things you have discussed and agreed

8 Don’ts extracted from employee testimonials an Do’s to avoid common mistakes

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Find a suitable 1-on-1 frequency for your team

Finding the right frequency for you and your team is key to sustain trust and engagement in the 1-on-1 meeting concept, so put a lot of thought into it. Be realistic with your own time and with your team member’s time but have in mind that 1-on-1 meetings are essential to lead, guide and coach your people. If you follow this guide, your chances of having great 1-on-1 just increased.

We suggest conducting 1-on-1 meetings either biweekly or monthly - never pick lower cadence than that. The annual cadence simply doesn’t suffice anymore - and maybe never did.

You know you hit a good 1-on-1 meeting frequency when it is appreciated and prioritized by both the leader and the employees.

“28% of my time is on 1:1s given that I am a manager, 1:1s are a critical time for me to help provide support for the people on my team as well as get context on

what’s happening and how they’re feeling.”

- JULIE ZHUO, PRODUCT DESIGN VP @ FACEBOOK

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Get Started with your 1-on-1s

Now that you’ve found the right frequency and know what to do and what not to, dive into these eight complete 1-on-1 meeting agendas for inspiration and relevance for your upcoming 1-on-1s. Take into account that the Talking Points are there as a help to you and not as a fixed guide.

After the introduction deck, the first four decks are designed to fit a monthly frequency and the following four decks to fit a biweekly frequency.

Introduction deck

Biweekly deck #1

Biweekly deck #3

Monthly deck #1

Monthly deck #3

Biweekly deck #2

Biweekly deck #4

Monthly deck #2

Monthly deck #4

Remember: These are just some of the talking points the Duuoo engine will put forward as suggestions. The content will continuously change so you always get a new perspective on things.

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1. What inspires you at work? To keep it simple, write down three things that inspire you the most.

THREE FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

• How and why is it inspiring?

• Which of your latest projects or tasks inspired you the most? Why?

• What would it take to do more of the things that inspire you?

3. Please let me know what would you like to learn the next 3 to 6 months and whom you would like to learn from.


• Are there any work-related skills you would like to improve?

• What effect does learning new things have on you?

• If you think creatively, is there a way you can start learning these things already today?


• What would you like me, as a manager, to help you with right now?

• Do you need clarification of what is expected of you from any other team members or other people in our organization?

• What would it mean to you to have these things clarified?

2. Is there anything, which is unclear or confusing about your work or your role here?


• When was the last time you received/gave feedback?

• Do you think feedback is important. Why/why not?

• Would it improve the way we work if we used feedback more in our team and if yes, how?

4. How do you prefer to give and receive feedback? What does feedback mean to you?

Introduction deck

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION

WORK STRUCTURE, ALIGNMENT, AND

PERFORMANCE

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-

ACTUALIZATION

FEEDBACK AND LEARNINGS

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4 Monthly Decks

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1. What do you think about your work situation since your last 1-on-1? Is there anything you would like us to talk about ?


• What do you like the most about working here?

• Is there anything you think we could improve?

• How can I help you to become more effective?

3. How does good work-life balance look to you?


• How does the ideal work-life balance look to you if everything was possible?

• What does it mean to you to have a good work-life balance?

• If you were to think creatively, do you see a way to obtain your ideal work-life balance?


• How do you think I perceive you?

• What’s the single most important value for a team?

• Are there any issues in the team you would like me to be aware of?

2. How do you perceive yourself here? How do you think your colleagues view you?


• Mention three things that motivate you at work.

• If you were to think out of the box, what could we do here to motivate other team members more?

• If you were the manager, what would you do to motivate your team members?

4. Who has made the biggest contribution here recently? And what was the contribution?

Monthly Deck #1


WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND WELL-BEING

COLLABORATION AND RELATIONS


PERFORMANCE

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1. What motivates you the most about working here?


• If you were the manager, what one or two things would you do to motivate your team?

• Would you recommend this workplace to your friends? Why/why not?

• Tell me about one of your latest projects or tasks that motivated you the most - try to be specific about what you liked about it.

3. Do you feel challenged at work? Please name 2-3 new things that you have learned recently or that have challenged you lately.


• Is there an area of the company that you would like to learn more about?

• What skills would you like to develop?

• What is the most recent skill you’ve learned?


• Did you know where to find our mission statement before this meeting?

• Does our mission make sense to you?

• Should we improve our mission statement to be more aligned with what we do and how we think?

2. Is our company’s mission clear to you? Please try to restate it in your own words the way you think it should be, or come up with a new one that you think suits our company better.



• Do you think feedback is important? Why/why not?

• Could we improve the way we work with feedback in our team and if yes, how?

4. Do you feel you’re getting and giving enough feedback? How well have I been providing you with feedback and, on the flip side, listening to your feedback?

Monthly Deck #2



ACTUALIZATION


PERFORMANCE


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1. What areas of your work are you most/least confident about?


• How can I, as a manager, help you with the things you are not confident about?

• Tell me about the last time you worked on something you weren’t confident about - that will help me understand how I can help you in the best way next time.

• On a scale from 1 - 10, how confident are you about your work? If not a 10, what could help you move up 1 point?

3. When have you enjoyed working here the most? The least?


• How do you think your team members experienced the same situation?

• Do you ever hate working here?

• If you were an outsider looking in, how would you help a person in the same situation?


• Is there someone you would like to learn from?

• Is there someone you don’t like working with? Why?

• Is there someone in particular in the team you think has a positive effect on our team spirit?

2. Who would you like to work with more often? Why?


• Are there any practical things in our office that would help increase your motivation? New coffee machine, fruits, ping pong table, yoga, etc.

• Would receiving more frequent feedback from my end add to your motivation?

• Do you think a higher degree of job control (autonomy) would influence your motivation?

4. What could help us raise the motivation here? Any suggestions?

Monthly Deck #3


PERFORMANCE




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1. Do you feel you have enough advancement opportunities here? How so? Please also consider the timeframe of your advancement plans.


• Have you made an advancement plan for yourself?

• If yes, how important is it to you to achieve these goals and advancement plans within your chosen timeline?

• Do you see yourself in the company 24 months from now?

3. What irritates you most at work?


• How can I, as a manager, help you work out the things you just described?

• If you were the manager, what would you change?

• What do you think irritates the other team members the most?


• Is being challenged one of your top three priorities in terms of personal development?

• Try to describe the last time you really felt challenged at work.

• Is there anything at work you would like to do more?

2. Do you have enough challenges at work? When was the last time you felt challenged? What can I do to challenge you more?


• How can you contribute to make the team even better than it is now?

• How can I, as a manager, contribute to make the team even better than it is now?

• Is there one particular thing we could do or do more of in our team to make it even better?

4. What do you like most about working here?

Monthly Deck #4

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF

ACTUALIZATION



PERFORMANCE

COLLABORATION AND WORK

ENVIRONMENT

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4 Biweekly Decks

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1. Could you give me an example of a collaboration at work which was really good?


• What is it about your example that stands out?

• What can we all learn from the example you just provided?

• Is there anything we should change that would allow us to operate in a smarter way?

3. What have you accomplished since our last 1-on-1? What was successful? What challenges did you face?


• Anything we can learn from these events?

• Anything we can improve?

• Do you need my help in any way?


• What can we do to improve the work environment?

• Is there anything I can do here and now to improve the situation?

• What positive take-aways do you think we found during our discussion today?

2. How would you describe your work environment? Is there something we could or should do to improve it?


• How does your calendar look for the next two weeks?

• What is occupying most of your time - let’s try and break it down together.

• Are your tasks, goals and objectives clear to you?

4. What is your plan (in brief) for the next two weeks and what are your potential challenges?

Biweekly deck #1



PERFORMANCE


ACTUALIZATION


PERFORMANCE

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1. Please name the best and the worst things about the way we organize work here.


• What is the best thing about working here?

• Is there anything you think we could improve?

• How could things be more effective?


• Is there an area of the company that you would like to learn more about?

• What skills would you like to develop?

• What is the most recent skill you’ve learned?

2. Do you feel challenged at work? Please name 2-3 new things that you have learned recently or that have challenged you lately.

Biweekly deck #2

WORK STRUCTURE, ALIGNMENT AND

PERFORMANCE


ACTUALIZATION












ACTUALIZATION


PERFORMANCE

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1. Is our company’s mission clear to you? Please try to restate it in your own words the way you think it should be, or come up with a new one that you think suits our company better.


• Did you know where to find our mission statement before this meeting?

• Does our mission make sense to you?

• Should we improve our mission statement to be more aligned with what we do and how we think?



• Do you think feedback is important? Why/why not?

• Could we improve the way we work with feedback in our team and if yes, how?

2. Do you feel you’re getting and giving enough feedback? How well am I giving you feedback and vice versa?

Biweekly deck #3

WORK STRUCTURE, ALIGNMENT AND

PERFORMANCE













ACTUALIZATION


PERFORMANCE

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1. What areas of your work are you most/least confident about?


• How can I, as a manager, help you with the things you are not confident about?

• Tell me about last time you worked on something you weren’t confident about - that will help me understand how I can help you in the best way next time.

• On a scale from 1 - 10, how confident are you about your work? If not 10, what could help you to move up 1 point?


• How do you think your team members experienced the same situation?

• Is what you described the general picture?

• If you could advise me on how to help you in this situation, what would you say?

2. When was the time you enjoyed working here the most / the least?

Biweekly deck #4

WORK STRUCTURE, ALIGNMENT &

PERFORMANCE













ACTUALIZATION


PERFORMANCE

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Duuoo; a smart solution that supports your 1-on-1s

SMART TALKING POINTSDuuoo’s Conversation Engine suggests meeting topics based on each individual team member.

AGREEMENTSCreate a culture of accountability with our automatic follow-up on agreements.

SLACK INTEGRATIONOur Slack integration allows easy setup and a good fit with your workflow.

MANAGER INSIGHTSEach Talking Point comes with insights & follow-up questions - great for beginning managers.

The online platform Duuoo helps you to stay on top of your team members’ 1-on-1s at a glance. It takes away the hassle of organizing 1-on-1, automatically provides you with the right content and makes preparation and making agreements easy.

WEEKLY DIGESTA weekly update of upcoming meetings, open agreements and practicalities that need your attention.

CUSTOM TALKING POINTSNot happy with Duuoo’s suggestion? Pick another Talking Point or add your own.

CALENDER INTERATIONStop spending time on scheduling - when you integrate your calendar, we’ll do it for you.

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how to become a better leader with 1-on-1s · better leader with 1-on-1s ... “28% of my time is...

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