According to Gallup, employees who have regular 1:1 meetings with their managers are THREE TIMES more likely to be engaged at work! That's correct! THREE TIMES more likely to be engaged!

Effective one-on-one meetings offer a variety of benefits to employees, managers and the overall organization.

Benefits of conducting 1:1 meetings with employees

Improved Relationships. In the world outside of work, making time for coffee with a friend every weekend improves your relationship because you have time to chat, share stories and learn more about each other. The same benefit occurs when you meet regularly with employees. You get to know them better and set a tone for improved relationships and culture in the workplace.
Increased Employee Morale. When staff feel their opinions are heard and matter, morale and engagement is usually higher. And when leaders work to address issues discovered in one-on-ones, morale can increase even more.
Feedback for Better Leadership. One-on-ones also provide feedback for leadership so they can continue to improve how they manage their teams.

What makes a good 1:1?

A personal check in with the employee. They might want to share about an important life milestone or might be pleased if you ask about their children, spouse or pets.
A business-facing check in. You also want to find out how the employee is doing with their work and position. Are they happy with their work, what challenges are they facing and what can you do to help them achieve production success?
Comments and suggestions. Offer time for the employee to bring up comments and suggestions related to the business, even if they aren’t directly related to the person’s own position and goals. They might have seen a process that makes no sense or could be done quicker, and making space for employees at all levels to propose ideas and solutions gives you more information to work with.
The employee’s future goals. Talk about employee goals, what might be appropriate for them and how they can plan and forge ahead to achieve those goals.
How you can best support the employee and the team at large. Provide time for the employee to give you feedback as a leader if desired.

Sample Questions for 1:1 meetings

Position Based

What’s your pie chart of what you are working on? What do you want it to be?
How do you view yourself in your role?

Career Based

If you were having the best work day ever in your ideal role, what would your schedule look like?
Where do you get your job satisfaction from?
Where have you been most successful in the past?

Long-Term Based

What are your long-term goals? What skills do you need to achieve them?
What obstacles will you need to overcome to achieve these goals?

1:1 Meeting Tips for Managers

Bring a sense of curiosity and openness with you.
Have a problem-solving attitude — but keep it collaborative. Share suggestions and create a space where people can find solutions together.
Ask questions instead of telling people what to do.
Listen more than you talk.
Leave any blaming attitude out the door (better yet, get rid of that altogether).

1:1 Bad Practices

Using 1:1 meetings as status update meetings
Skipping meetings
Infrequent meetings
Lacking clarity

Biblical Verses to Remember in 1:1 Meetings

Proverbs 27:17 As one piece of iron sharpens another, so friends keep each other sharp.

Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Chris' Example 1:1 Agenda

First 5 minutes - Life catch up
What are your wins since last week?
What are your top priorities this week?
What are your long term goals and how can I help you achieve them?
Are there questions or rumors you would like to discuss?
What is the status of your last action items?
What are your action Items this week?
How are your tracking this past week? Any blockers I can help remove?
One a scale of 1 - 10, how happy are you with your work-life balance? How can we get closer to 10?
If there is one thing I could do differently to help you more, what would it be?

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp