How to drive your business using effective one-to-ones
Introduction
A couple of posts ago, we talked about creating a Dolphin culture of high challenge, high support. Last post, we considered the elements of a performance management system to sit within our Framework, and the role of Situational Leadership in using the right style to manage people. To bring these elements together, we need to think about one-to-ones.
One-to-ones are monthly meetings between manager and report which are intended to ensure that the report is performing to the top of their ability, developing in a way that works for them and you, and on track to deliver their objectives. In a Dolphin culture, the manager’s role is to challenge the individual, but also to make sure that they have everything they need to deliver. Everyone benefits when this works properly: individuals achieve their objectives and learn new skills; managers see their departments performing; and businesses move faster in the right direction.
Here’s how good one-to-ones work.
Before the meeting
Make it the individual’s task to organise the meeting; after all, they are the owner of their own development. Think of yourself as the coach and them the athlete; it’s your job to make them look good. This approach builds trust between manager and individual, and encourages honesty, especially when you have a genuine desire to help.
A regular monthly slot booked ahead for the year is ideal. An hour should be long enough for most one-to-ones; the exception is if you manage managers, where you should allow 2 hours, so you can also discuss the performance of their reports.
Recent research shows that the amount of time given by managers to their staff is one of the key ways that staff decide if they feel valued or not. Allow an extra half hour in your own diary in case you need to give them more time, and to make notes afterwards.
Preparation makes for better meetings, as do concrete facts. Individuals should send their managers a completed 1-2-1 form at least 24 hours before the meeting. Writing this information down forces them to think properly about it. The form should cover:
- Contribution: what have you (the employee) done for us (the business) lately?
- Improved capacity: what have you done for yourself lately?
- Developmental needs: what are your career aspirations?
They should also attach updated action plans for their objectives.
Effective one-to-ones are built on strong human relationships. Take time to establish such a relationship with everyone who reports to you. This really should go without saying, but we have far too many stories of teams that complain that their managers never say good morning, or who walk past without making eye contact. These are basics; it doesn’t cost money or require any particular skill. You only have a handful of direct reports; you really should know the names of their partners and children.
During the meeting
Avoid talking about today’s issues. One-to-ones are about focusing on delivery of objectives and developing skills. Find another forum to discuss business-as-usual.
Let the individual start the meeting by giving an overview of where they are. We encourage them to talk on the three areas of the 1-2-1 form. As a guide, the individual should be talking for around 80% of the meeting. Be sure to use active listening skills. Find out at if there are any personal issues; these could be the key to understanding performance levels.
Review each objective, spending more time on those with lower D numbers (see situational leadership as discussed last time). Identify both good and bad areas.
Positives
Catch your people doing things right. We thrive on praise and positive feedback, and studies show that ignoring good work can be just as damaging as criticising it.
The trouble is, we don’t value anything that comes too cheaply: a throwaway ‘Well done’ just doesn’t cut it. But if you invest just a little time and effort, the rewards are huge. Follow the PIE outline:
- Point out the good work
- Identify the specific skill, knowledge or attitude used
- Explain why it was important.
As an example, rather than saying “Well done in the customer meeting”, try something like: “I really liked the way you handled the customer’s objection on launch timings. It showed you fully understood the launch process and its implications. As a result, the customer was not only happy with the launch date, but also increased the scale of the launch, boosting our fee.” Which approach would have the greater impact on you?
Don’t forget to consider whether the good things that you caught your people doing could be something that everyone could benefit from: feed the best ideas into the continual improvement of your processes.
Negatives
Identify areas where deadlines and targets are being missed. Even good performers miss targets sometimes; there may be extenuating circumstances. But watch for consistent and widespread target missing. For these areas, make sure you really understand what’s going on first from their perspective. Identify causes, and come up with and document remedial plans; ideally capture actions in the meeting itself.
Remember that some objectives will be developmental for the individual. Think of ways to support their learning. Mentoring and coaching can be effective, but perhaps the most impactful way to develop staff is targeted work assignments; think carefully about what might work best. Make sure you define these objectives carefully, and use Situational Leadership to provide the right support. Training courses are often seen as a first option, but that can just be lazy thinking. Try to use them last…
You will often hear people say that they haven’t had time to deliver a target. This is only rarely true; after all, people spend 40 hours a week or so in work. What they mean is that they deprioritised the objective and did other things instead; this should be a red flag for you. Find out why by using GWC; ask questions in this order:
- Get it – do they understand what is required?
- Want it – do they actually want to do it, or are there reasons that they don’t want to?
- Capability – do they know how to, and do they have sufficient resources to do it? This is often the issue when you have agreed too high a D number.
Make sure you communicate your position on problem areas clearly to the individual – is an issue impacting just their current performance, or might it inhibit future promotion, or might it even be in fact be job threatening?
We have taken straw polls of managers, asking which of them have been guilty of giving poor performers too much time in the business. Nearly all managers confess they have done this. When we ask who feels they have exited people too quickly, we almost never get a reply. Managers hang on to staff too long for many reasons, but rarely for good ones…
One-to-ones are an effective way of managing poor performers out of the business. With black-and-white objectives and timings, there is nowhere to hide, either for them or for you. Yes, we should give everyone a chance to turn their performance around. Yes, we should identify limiting factors, and work with the individual to find ways round them. Yes, we should take extenuating circumstances into account. But if someone is not delivering or behaving in line with the Values, we owe it to the business (and their colleagues who have to compensate) to exit them. Exit them with dignity and fairly, but exit them.
After the meeting
Ensure that key actions are captured in updated action plans, and then shared with the individual. This is especially important if performance is not good; if disciplinary action might be required, then this will form a key part of the evidence. Take notes if appropriate, too.
Conclusion
A key challenge back from both managers and staff is that they say they don’t have time to do their one-to-ones.
It is true that one-to-ones are an investment, but one with a positive return. It actually saves time in the long run, by focusing staff on what really matters, and by freeing managers from having to micro-manage. The conversations in a one-to-one need to happen; this brings structure and accountability. Our experience shows that as everyone starts to use the system, the vast majority see the benefits and don’t want to go back. It is important to train all staff in the approach, especially managers.
When an employee makes the improvements needed, and as a result goes on to win a great promotion or new role, they will remember forever the person who helped them through the process. How great would that feel?
Please let us know about your own successes and failures in developing staff – we’d love to hear from you.
Next week, find out how best practice recruiting will help you find more of the right people and fewer of the wrong ones…
igesia Consulting helps businesses and the people in them to become peak performing. We understand what the very best organisations do, and work with companies like yours to give you the skills, plans and structures to do the same.
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