1-on-1’s take a good chunk of your time. At least they should.

But time is not always what you have. Result: you don’t prepare as well as you had planned to do when you started in your management role.

So, what do you end up doing?

Just sit there and (trying to) listen?

Or

Solve their problems?

I hope not.

Remember, 1-on-1’s are the employee’s time.

[Note: I wrote a previous article in the LeadershipBeyond E-zine about this: 4 Must-Do’s for Great One-on- Ones. (Hint: They’re not content).]

And that’s good news, especially of you have limited time to prepare.

So, if 1-on-1’s are for the employees’ time. What is your role?

What is the minimum you need to give in 1-on-1’s to make those successful?

Let’s go back in time. Remember a one-on-one that you had with one of your bosses in the past. Remember being an employee and meeting with your boss.

Go back and ask yourself:

– Who did most of the talking? You/Your boss?

– Who set the agenda? You/Your boss?

– Did you get enough direction? Yes/No

– Did you feel empowered? Yes/No

If the answers to the above questions were:

You, You, Yes, Yes

Then congratulations.

That was a great one-on-one. But most of the times the answers are different.

So, let’s look at those questions again in the following 1-on-1’s scenarios.

One-on-One Scenario 1:

What if your boss did most of the talking but you set the agenda and you got direction and felt empowered afterwards. Do you think that it was a great one-on-one?

I bet that you did.

One-on-One Scenario 2:

After this One-on-One you leave the meeting and you realize that although your boss did the talking and set the agenda, you got enough direction and you feel empowered. Great one-on-one? Or not?

I bet that you feel that it was a good one-on-one.

But what do you think of this scenario:

One-on-One Scenario 3:

In this one-on-one you did most of the talking; you set the agenda but you didn’t get enough direction; afterwards, however, you didn’t feel empowered . How do you look back at that one-on-one?

I bet that you didn’t like that one-on-one at all.

This is crucial.

1-on-1’s are the time to fulfill the needs of the employees. And two of those most important needs are:

1. Empowerment

2. Enough direction

And I use on purpose the word “enough.” Enough for whom? I bet that you can guess that answer: Enough for the employee.

So, not too much direction because then you overcompensate for your own uncertainty. Give enough direction so the employee experiences freedom and trust. Provide enough direction to ensure that you and the organization get what’s needed.

Enough is enough.

If you’re uncertain about what is enough, ask. Ask your employees if you give them enough direction.

They will tell you.

In the busyness of the office life, preparation for each one-on-one can be challenge. If you’re too busy to prepare well, keep 1. enough direction and 2. empowerment in mind. Your one-one-one’s will be good ones.