As a manager, it’s easy to get caught up in the many tasks and ideas vying for your attention. The employees on your team are generally content and get their work done on time, so you keep working hard toward your collective goals.
Have you ever thought about what might happen if you took some time out of your day to meet with each employee? What ideas might they have? What could you learn about them? How could you help them achieve their individual and team goals?
At the CrossGroup, we encourage continuous communication and feedback between a manager and employee. One way to facilitate this communication is through regular meetings with each employee. This may seem like another task that will take up a lot of time, but that does not have be true. We have shown that this time enhances communication, builds relationships, and ultimately moves your team and organization forward.
Spontaneous vs. Planned Conversations
There are two ways to meet with your employees. One is a casual, unplanned conversation where you could drop by their desk to see how their weekend was or if they need additional help on a project they asked you about last week. The real relationship-building happens in these small, frequent meetings. This is where you show you care about them personally and professionally on a consistent basis.
We recommend that you have one of these short 5-10 minute meetings with each employee at least once a week. You may find that you have more in common with some employees over others, so it’s easier to chat with those employees. Therefore, it’s important that you keep track of who you’ve talked to and make sure to give the same amount of time to everyone.
The second meeting style is a formal one-on-one quarterly performance review. These meetings should be held every few months, so you and your employee can discuss how their goals are progressing, correct course if necessary, and have a general discussion about how the year is going. We recommend multiple performance reviews instead of the one yearly review so that employees aren’t surprised by your feedback at the end of the year. Instead, this provides them with constant feedback and encouragement that they can use and act one. Your employees want to know where they stand, where they’re doing well, and where they can improve. Having these regular meetings give them the feedback they need but may not feel comfortable asking for.
Planning one-on-one performance reviews
Maintain a regular schedule
Even though you have your own work to do, remember that your primary job as a manager is to manage and support your team. Your role has shifted from task-oriented to people-oriented. Keep this in the front of your mind and it will be easier to organize your many to-do’s.
We recommend that you plan your meetings around the same time each quarter so employees know when to expect them . Send the meeting invite a few weeks in advance to give your employee plenty of time to prepare. Some managers schedule these meetings on the same day so they don’t have to shift in and out of this performance review mindset. That could be a good tool for you as you manage your time.
Design straight-forward meetings
Keep employees comfortable with the regular meetings by maintaining the same structure in each one and make it fun. We recommend providing the following outline to employees and requesting that they send this to you the evening before your meeting. This gives you time to review and prepare anything in advance.
Regular One-on-One Meeting Outline
- Follow-ups from previous discussions
- Accomplished tasks, something interesting or funny that has occurred, anything that hasn’t been addressed since the previous meeting
- New Items to discuss
- New projects the employee may have questions on
- Obstacles that are preventing the employee from moving forward
- Manager Feedback
- Report on what you have done on their behalf, team progress, team challenges, interesting developments in the organization, specific praise on a job well done, areas of improvement, etc.
At the beginning, these meetings may take 45 minutes. Items 1 and 2 should take about 30 minutes and be solely employee-driven. The last 15 minutes are for the manager to give constructive feedback. Be sure to keep this positive and discuss ways to improve, if applicable. During these meetings, don’t unload everything the employee has been doing wrong in the last few months. Instead, corrective feedback should be given as incidents occur so it is applicable and timely. If you end the quarterly performance review with a list of mistakes, the employee will start to see these meetings in a negative light instead of how productive and team-building they can be.
If some employees need less time than others, you can shorten the meetings to 30 minutes. The key is to make the time meaningful and effective for each individual. Honor their time and try to keep the meetings substantive but brief.
Set expectations for follow-up
Make commitments of specific items you will do and record what they will do before the next check-in (or other deadlines). Set a reminder in your calendar. If you’re working with an employee you know well who doesn’t need reminders, let the time flow to the check-in. If you’re working with a new employee or one who is not timely, create interim calendar reminders for yourself. This will make sure you catch any miscommunication before it becomes a problem. Follow up questions like, “how’s that task going?” or “how can I help you?” are low-key ways of touching base informally.
Keep your open door policy
If consistent informal or quarterly performance review meetings are new for your team, it will take some getting used to. Make sure you let them know that you are still available on a daily basis and that they can always approach you with questions or challenges. These new meetings are to set aside more time for longer discussions.
Do you have regular meetings with your employees now? If so, what are some of the benefits you are seeing from them? If not, I’d love to hear from you after you implement these ideas in your own creative way.