We live in a world where productivity is highly valued in every organization. And meetings are increasingly becoming thought of as a hindrance to productivity. The thing is, there’s a difference between calling a meeting that honestly could have been an email and having effective, efficient meetings that keep teams connected and on-track. It’s all about separating the necessary from the unnecessary when it comes to official face time with employees and colleagues. One-on-one meetings definitely fall into the “necessary” category.
These private meetings between managers and team members are proving more and more crucial in an era where much communication takes place online rather than in person. One-on-one meetings allow you to converse with your team members in a way that encourages honest back-and-forth, two-way feedback and an opportunity to ensure you’re both on the same page.
However, these meetings can easily become derailed by chit-chat, distracted by external issues or even stifled by mutual awkwardness. And once that happens, the half an hour you set aside for a one-on-one can end up bleeding into your schedule for the rest of the day, robbing you of actual productivity.
So, here are four expert tips to help you ensure that every one-on-one meeting you have scheduled is as productive as possible.
#1. Location, location, location
The importance of where you hold your meeting cannot be stressed enough. While chatting in the breakroom may seem like a good idea because that’s where the coffee machine and doughnuts are, it’s not the ideal space for a private conversation. Neither is the office balcony, the parking lot or the public garden across the street. A meeting should always take place in a professional environment with little distraction, ideally a boardroom.
And if you’re meeting with someone outside of your office, for example, an independent contractor or a client based in New York City when you’re based in Boston, you need to find a neutral space where you can both feel comfortable. If you’re meeting them where they are situated, look for meeting rooms in NYC that offer a quiet, professional and private environment.
#2. Prepare talking points
Before you send off that meeting request and reserve the right space, you should decide on talking points for the one-on-one. Take some time to write out what you would like to cover during the conversation and encourage your team member to do the same. In a one-on-one meeting, it is vital that you listen more than you speak, which means that the person you’re meeting with should have their own talking points prepared. You don’t want to go off course and not get to the topics that you both initially wanted to discuss.
Make sure that you both agree on the talking points before the meeting. This way, you will both be prepared and the discussion will be as productive as possible. Allow time for other topics of discussion to arise because it’s an almost inevitable occurrence in most one-on-one meetings. Just keep an eye on the talking points you’ve agreed upon and ensure that you go back to them.
#3. Keep the conversation relaxed, honest and open
During one-on-one meetings, it’s vital that the team member you’re meeting with feels like they can be open and honest. This is the ideal time for them to bring up any concerns, discuss career goals and let you know if they are having any difficulties. And if they don’t feel relaxed around you and you have your defenses up, they might feel they can’t say what they need to say.
Let them know, right from the start, that you’re there to listen to them and they must feel comfortable to express themselves in a way that allows for a productive exchange of information and ideas, as well as setting of goals and action points…which brings us to our next point.
#4. Take notes and write up action points
While you don’t want to be typing away throughout the meeting as it can be a distraction, do ensure that you take notes. Often, a notebook is less intrusive than a device that notifies you of every email or instant message you receive. For a one-on-one meeting to be productive, you need to have a recording of the results. Whether that be a new understanding of your team member’s working style, a list of goals they would like to achieve or ideas for new projects they’d like to be involved in, you need to keep track of the important points raised during the meeting.
Try to jot down a few notes after each talking point and recap at the end of the meeting. Afterwards, you can type up notes to your heart’s content and even run them through a spell-checker so you aren’t left with any unwanted typos. Just make sure that you each have a copy of the notes taken and the action points agreed upon.
One-on-one meetings are a great way to keep on the same page as your team members, come up with new goals and make sure that everything is running smoothly.
