Sometimes the simplest ideas are still the best.
There are thousands of management books, courses, blogs, podcasts and other resources available to anyone interested in learning the art of management. Among these thousands of resources are countless ideas and paradigms for how to best manage people – including the insufferable subsection of folks who insist that one does not manage people, but rather one leads people and manages processes.
Amid this riotous jumble of management effluvia are a few clear, intelligent, and valuable tools that should be in the toolbox of every person who has to manage the work of other people. The single most important of these tools is the one-on-one meeting.
Different people call the one-on-one different things (heaven knows, if there is one field that rivals law for jargon, it’s management), but the basic idea is always the same: time set aside for a manager and a direct report to meet alone with no distractions and discuss whatever needs discussion.
Sometimes it’s a formal meeting blocked on calendars, other times it’s a more casual talk over coffee or lunch. The keys are that the meeting must be:
- Regular (both manager and report must know when it is)
- Frequent (once a week, in my opinion, works best)
- Long enough (both people need ample opportunity to clear issues off their decks – I suggest one hour meetings)
- Planned (there needs to be an agreed upon agenda or it will just turn into a bull session)
- Authentic (both people need to feel free to discuss the real issues)
- Action-oriented (discussion is not enough, issues raised must be resolved and things need to happen as a result of the meeting)
Setting aside time for a one-one-one with each of your direct reports for an hour each week may seem like the mother of all time sucks, but done right it will save time in the long run by resolving and diffusing a lot of the little things before they turn into big things.
It ain’t easy, but it is simple.
