Are 1-1s a waste of time?
They shouldn’t be. But if they are, ask better questions, and make sure your team member is driving the agenda. It’s their time, not your time for a status update.
We all have meetings we dread each week. Maybe they’re boring, repetitive, or could have been an email. Some just feel like a waste of time. 1-1s can often start to feel like this, especially for your team members. Make sure you’re valuing their time by setting up your 1-1s intentionally.
Is your 1-1 just another status update?
1-1s are meant to be development conversations for your direct report. This is a time to talk about goals, feedback, and mid- or longer-term topics. This is not a status update meeting, so if you’re just going through projects and checking in, it’s going to feel like a drag for both of you. Find a better place to get status updates so your 1-1 time can be free for different kinds of conversations.
Is your direct report in control of the agenda?
A 1-1 is their time, not yours. You might have a couple items to share with them, like feedback, or making sure you’re aligned on important priorities and goals, but they should own the agenda. You need to be clear about this expectation, and be explicit. Do you want to keep a shared notes document? And is it okay for them to cancel the 1-1 if they have no topics?
Are you asking boring questions?
Boring questions get boring answers. Some questions close down conversation by leading your conversation partner to a certain answer (like yes or no questions). Here are a couple questions that can get you into discussion mode:
How do you think that went?
What will you do differently next time?
What’s the consequence if we don’t do that?
What other approaches have you tried?
Are you too worried about “productive” conversation?
Relationships take effort. You need to build trust and rapport with someone over time in order for your working relationship to withstand some trials and disagreements. Some of that trust will come from professional interactions, like being fair and always doing what you say you will. But the rest comes from ”human time,” or the more personal interactions that are more about relating as people than relating as professionals. Chatting about what you ate over the weekend, your favorite shows, your family, sports, travelling, past jobs — these are all worthwhile conversations to connect on a human level. Not everything needs to be tracked in Jira.
