A one-on-one meeting is a private scope, organized in a dedicated room in employees’ schedules, allowing them to speak personally and privately to their manager about their priorities, professional concerns, and development path.
It will enable employees to talk about important matters that could benefit both the company and the employee. Such a meeting also works as the perfect opportunity for both the employee and the manager to know each other as professionals. Effective one-on-one meetings with managers also reveal an employee’s strengths and weaknesses as a professional.
It allows the manager to offer advice pertaining to the professional development of the employees. There is an exchange of important feedback, which is mutually beneficial.
One-on-one interaction with the manager can be used for obtaining clarification regarding various questions, issues, and concerns that the employee may have failed to figure out during a public meeting.
How does a one-on-one meeting accelerate the growth of one’s career?
The purpose of one-on-one meetings with employees can vary. People working in IT firms, MNCs, and any other business-related organization can reap the benefits of such meetings. They accelerate the growth of the company’s business as a whole and the growth of the careers of the employees.
In addition, they might help employees get the most out of their jobs and achieve promotions deservingly without hassle.
Bonding with the manager
During one-on-one meetings, employees can use the opportunity to connect with their managers. The stronger the professional bond between the manager and employees, the higher the employee’s interest in the job.
Such meetings make the employee comfortable around the manager and vice versa. A one-on-one discussion with the manager helps the employee get rid of the fear of the stature of the manager.
It allows them to freely approach their manager with doubts, questions, queries, and clarifications regarding different projects of the company.
The manager also must make the employee feel at peace and comfortable around them so that the employee feels free enough to raise questions, doubts, and concerns and express their emotions.
The author of the book “The Manager’s Path,” Camille Courier, says that one-on-one meeting tips for employees help in forging a humane connection between the employee and manager.
Guidance from the manager
This meeting type lets the manager learn about the employee’s priorities, strengths, and weaknesses. This enables the manager to give proper and necessary advice to the employee to handle and tackle every kind of situation.
The manager is the best person to give feedback
One of the best one-on-one meeting tips for employees is to treat it as an opportunity for a fruitful discussion with the manager, where constructive discussions and feedback exchange can happen both ways.
What do one-on-one meetings facilitate?
One-on-one meetings are important because they do the following:
- First, build a relationship of trust and understanding between the leader and employee.
- Offer a scope for a free discussion regarding matters of importance.
- Help both the manager and the employee stay aligned and informed.
- Give the employee unique opportunities to focus on their career development.
- It offers a space for talking to each other before a step is taken.
- Works as a routine tool for interaction.
Tips for one-on-one meetings with the manager
One-on-one meetings are crucial for both the manager and the employees. With these meetings, you also get an opportunity to build rapport with your manager besides serving feedback and coaching.
Your manager holds the final responsibility to make these meetings great and productive. However, there are certain protocols that both parties must follow. There is a specific kind of question to ask in a one-on-one meeting with your manager.
Below-mentioned are a few tips that every employee needs to know to make these meetings easy and productive at the same time:
- Most of the time, managers tend to cancel one-on-one meetings. But these meetings are necessary for the employees, who can address their queries and issues because these meetings are directly linked to their career growth.
- The duration of one-on-one meetings should be fixed, say at least once or twice a week. In such a case, both parties must have a certain amount of patience and dedication to be present and attentive in the meetings.
- Just as the manager should know the employee’s priorities, the employee should also care and know about the priorities and goals of the boss.
- The employee needs to build a certain amount of confidence while in a one-on-one meeting because otherwise, the managers feedback or queries can be taken for granted. Also, it is important to anticipate and think about the needs of the manager.
- Employees need to focus on relevant topics during the one-on-one interaction and identify the points that the manager may want to talk about. Employees need to use the terms and language that the manager uses to draw the manager’s attention to the different projects and goals.
- Employees should voice their career goals to the managers in one-to-one meetings. Here, you can also throw light on the aspects that will help you grow.
- It would help if you urge your manager to jot down the important points based on your previous conversations with him.
- Having a conversation with your manager on the subject that you feel is important will give you relief and satisfaction at the end of the day. So, try to make the one-on-one meetings actionable in every possible aspect.
Conclusion
One-on-one meeting tips for employees, when followed, enhance strong communication and effective use of human resources. They help the employee grow, and with the employee, the company grows too. By now, you probably have the answer to the question, how to make one-on-ones more effective?
