The Art of the 1:1: Part 2
Part 2: Whose meeting is this, anyway?
As a longtime creative and nonlinear thinker, I used to think agendas were boring. I liked just scribbling down a few things and letting the 1:1 meeting flow. I was in my element, enjoying the spontaneity of building the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
It was so great to get the problem-solving juices flowing, right?
WRONG.
I will never be a devoted list-maker. But I will be a devoted agenda developer. There is such positive power in this process that me and my “off the cuff” tendencies will never look back.
So, your next step in creating effective 1:1s is to decide how the agenda comes to life. The person who sets the agenda is the “owner” of the meeting and, generally, the one who can most impact its effectiveness.
Questions to consider:
Is your direct report setting the agenda? Are you? Are you building one together? Or are you each bringing your own list of items?
While there are no wrong answers, if you and your colleague are both coming together with separate lists, I bet you run out of time and/or each of you occasionally walk away feeling like the meeting was inefficient.
If you are the leader-boss, you should ask your staffer what they prefer in creating an agenda. Or, if you HATE creating agendas, delegate it to the staffer. Either way, you should both know who is running this shindig of a meeting.
Agenda Building 101: Make that hour work for you both
Set the expectation and intention. What are you hoping to accomplish today? Make decisions, share information, discussion with plans to revisit the topic at your next 1:1? Aligning on the intention right away will ensure both parties walk away feeling like their meeting was productive. It’s also okay if you have a different intention than your colleague. For example, you as the leader-boss might have the intention of information sharing while your direct report’s priority is decision-making. Both can exist so long as you’re all on the same page.
Avoid overpacking. You do not need a month’s worth of topics for your one 30-minute meeting like you do not need 12 outfits for your weekend trip. Like kids filling their plates at a dessert buffet, we hope that our small amount of time (plate) will accomplish several hours’ worth of discussions and decisions (a tower of brownies).
Pre-planning: Define topics and how long it might take to discuss each of them. Seriously. Take 30 minutes and think through topics and timing. I can always tell when folks don’t think about the agenda ahead of time, and your supervisor and direct reports can tell, too. This isn’t to say that not pre-planning is inherently bad, but it does lead to missed opportunities, additional meetings and emails, and the like—all things we use 1:1s to try and avoid. Your colleagues will thank you for giving enough time for a specific topic and working to ensure you can get through all of your topics in the time allotted. If during your pre-planning you think, “We might need more time,” you can work through that in advance.
Prioritize. Do you get the easy topics out of the way or tackle the hard ones first? What is time-sensitive? What might need multiple discussions to find a resolution? You can prioritize in a way that is not rigid or structured if that is not what works for you.
Wrap-up and next steps. Give yourself 5-ish minutes at the end of the meeting to regroup on your discussion, ensuring you both understand next steps. This will help you both feel accomplished and like you spent your time wisely.
Let me leave you with this: When I ask clients to consider these topics, some folks bristle—discussing agendas and meeting purpose can feel pretty basic.
However, when you step back and think about how much time a week you spend in meetings with your team, you can’t help but note that these 1:1s are critical tools that must be harnessed and used effectively.
Take a look at how you are using this valuable time and let me know how I can help.
