# How to Have Effective 1-on-1 Meetings With Your Direct Reports

## The Secret to Having Effective 1-on-1 Meetings

### Have Regular 1-on-1 Meetings

I have to start at the beginning here because it’s simply not the case that all managers are holding regular 1-on-1 meetings. This is a cardinal sin. 1-on-1 meetings are quiet, focused collaboration time for employees and bosses to connect.

It’s also the most important chance for you to hear from your employee, and it’s their time, not yours. As a senior or junior manager, you must create the space for this.

I’ve historically held my 1-on-1 meetings for one hour every week and had a high bar for canceling or rescheduling. Currently, my marketing director and I have our 1-on-1 meetings every other week for an hour.

### Be On Time for Your 1-on-1 Meetings

The 1-on-1 meeting is really not your time, Ms. Manager… it’s their time. Being late is disrespectful. Constantly prioritizing “something else” — email, other meetings, etc. suggests that this particular 1-on-1 meeting is not as important to you as these other things.

### Change the 1-on-1 Meeting Setting

Occasionally, go for a walk and have your 1-on-1 meetings. Occasionally, go get coffee. Go sit in the courtyard. Get lunch or breakfast or dinner.

### It's OK to Cancel Your 1-on-1 Meetings ... Sometimes

“If there's nothing to discuss, it’s ok to cancel. People, too often, view 1-on-1 meetings as mandatory, but it's refreshing when you both acknowledge that things are OK for now, or the time may be better spent other ways… and you can do this as long as you both agree not to take a request to cancel personally.” — Ben Saitz, Chief Customer Officer at RocketFuel.

## Two Ears, One Mouth

### They own the agenda… mostly

There is a reason you were given two ears to hear and one mouth to speak. You learn a heck of a lot more listening than talking. Use this as your guide to having effective 1-on-1 meetings.

### Have a Shared 1-on-1 Meetings Doc

I like the idea of using a Google Doc, or other shared doc, for a few reasons:

1. A shared doc is easily accessible pretty much everywhere.
2. A shared doc is a great way to capture action items, what’s said, what’s decided, etc.
3. A shared doc enables manager preparation — just because your employee is driving the agenda doesn’t mean you need to be surprised!
4. It allows you to keep a running archive of 1-on-1 meetings content that could come in handy down the line for any number of reasons.

## 3 High-Leverage Agenda Items for Effective 1-on-1 Meetings

### Results

While I don’t recommend using a 1-on-1 meeting for simple work status updates, it is entirely appropriate to include “Progress toward goals” as a standing agenda item in a 1-on-1 meeting.

### Career Development

We have developed a very robust **Career Conversation methodology**. Once a **Career Action Plan** is developed, allow space in the 1-on-1 meetings to talk about and follow up on action items.

### Feedback: Get It, Don’t Give it

The 1-on-1 meeting is not the place for the manager to _give_ feedback to the employee. Instead, think about the 1-on-1 meeting as a chance to _get_ feedback from your employees.