3 mistakes to avoid when you have a 1:1 with a direct report

When was the last time you had a one-on-one meeting with someone you lead? How did it go? Did it feel energizing? Did you leave feeling aligned and connected? Or did you, like many leaders and team members, question the point of the meeting? The 1:1 meeting is broken. For those that have them regularly, they feel repetitive and more like a chore than a meaningful conversation. As a result, many have gotten into the habit of skipping them, simply checking in through chat. Or they’ve spread them further apart, meeting maybe once a quarter on high-level goals. This is not the answer to the broken 1:1, because effective one-on-ones are critical to the health of the organization and the leader/team member relationship. There are three key areas where a 1:1 can break down if not approached with clear intention. 1. Planning This is the stage leading up to the actual meeting. It involves scheduling the meeting, deciding a regular cadence, and coming up with an agenda. Here’s where most leaders go wrong at this stage: They don’t prioritize the 1:1 This shows up in a few different ways. The most obvious one: simply never scheduling one-on-ones. This can also occur when the leader regularly …