6 Strategies to Maximize One-On-One Meetings

Source: Christina Morillo/Pexels

In my previous post, I explained 12 reasons why performance reviews aren’t as effective as they could be. In this post, we will explore what you can do to best develop your direct reports. You know what goes wrong, so now how can you make it right?

Best practices: What can you do to make your reviews easier and more effective?

One answer is to give meaningful feedback that is both positive and constructive. Sutton and Wigert (2019) have found that when managers provide weekly (vs. annual) feedback, team members are:

• 5.2 times more likely to strongly agree that they receive meaningful feedback.
• 3.2 times more likely to strongly agree they are motivated to do outstanding work.
• 2.7 times more likely to be engaged at work.

Jim Clifton and Jim Harter from Gallup agree, and in their book Culture Shock (2023), they highlight the best practices for leaders to develop their talent.

• They discovered that 80 percent of individuals who received meaningful feedback in the past week were fully engaged, regardless of how many days they worked in the office.
• Only 16 percent said their last conversation with their manager was extremely meaningful.

Source: Christina Morillo/Pexels

How to have more meaningful conversations

Try these six strategies.

1. Do one-on-ones: Rogelberg (2024) reports that 20 to 50 percent of all meetings are one-on-ones, that is about 200 to 500 million each day globally, and nearly half of them are rated as suboptimal. These are the main lever of influence for leaders and way too easy to put off or constantly reschedule.

Only 15 to 30 minutes is enough time to dedicate weekly to them, if consistent feedback is given. If you are not giving them performance or development feedback, the meeting may be longer (Clifton and Harter, 2023).

2. Feedback: Give feedback focusing on the positive and appreciating good work. The leader should find opportunities to give feedback when an employee has had a success to acknowledge it and reinforce it as a repeatable process.

When there is a success, drill down on what and how they did it right, so they and you have a prescription to refill or repeat.

We can use the acronym POWRR, as it is easy to remember and helps the leader crystalize what they are reinforcing.

P = Point, O = Out, W = What is, R = Right and R = Repeatable

Use a ratio of 3:1 for positive to negative responses. Gallup and Roy Baumeister use this ratio in their books. By noon your direct reports will be able to tell you their ratio. If you give constructive feedback, the negative, it is very sticky, like velcro. You need three positive remarks to balance it out.

Using the word “because” after you acknowledge someone forces you to be specific about the behavior. “You did a good job in the meeting, because your responses were right on, briefly stated, it encouraged others to speak up, and demonstrated your leadership qualities. Keep doing that we will all benefit.”

3. Collaboration and relationships: The manager connects people with key stakeholders or team members. Who should the direct report share information with or request information from?

4. Clarity of goals: The work expectations especially for younger workers and when offsite are very beneficial. Weekly check-ins are essential. Give reasons why the goals and tasks which lead to the goal are important. We repeat the mantra, first heard from Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D., “Stress is unmet expectations” (Tanzi, 2016).

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5. Strengths conversations: What are they the best at? What part of the day are they fully absorbed and it flies by for them? What tasks would they like to do more of or lead?

Another acronym to consider is REM. What is the best way to Recognize them? What gives them the most Energy? What is the best way to Motivate them?

6. Use the acronym WAWAW: Do employees leave your one-on-ones with a WAWAW? This “Walk Away With A Win” is necessary to combat the “manager default”, which is to immediately find fault, common for many managers.

Here's a WAWAW example: Jim was the general manager of a big distribution center where he worked for over 25 years. It was a command control organization that was switching to more of a coaching approach. He had individual executive coaching and an action was to take more of a coaching approach. One task he did was to ask his direct reports for their recommendations for a solution first rather than automatically giving his ideas first. If he thought the recommendations were good, he said: “Great, go make it happen.” After trying this new behavior, he reported they floated out of his office saying, “Really you want me to go try it?” This was a significant WAWAW he created.

To ground and cement the new neuro-pathways and behavior, he was asked how hard it was and how long it took. He said it was easy and only took three or four minutes and vowed to incorporate it more into his leadership.

In summary, you can make your reviews more meaningful by employing the actions above and not waiting until the end of the year to have regular significant development conversations. Make your words and conversations matter!