5 Tips To Keep In Mind While Carrying A One-On-One

“What is the Shortest Word in the English Language that Contains the Letters: abcdef?

Answer : feedback.

Don't Forget that Feedback is one of the Essential Elements of Good Communication.”

While doing your Post Graduate Diploma in Management, you will learn about the power of communication in management and one of the best way to ensure a healthy communication is to do it on a regular basis.  The concept of one-on-ones is based on the structure of effective two way communication on a regular basis. This helps you to have a clear picture of your team objectives, gives you a better understanding on how coach your people and identify the  areas of  improvement not only them but also for you.

Many  Post Graduate Diploma Courses, stresses on the importance of the one-on-ones in bridging the gap between you and your team. This not only strengthens your relationship with the team but also creates an energised and motivated environment to work.

Having  regular one-on-ones keeps you informed everything that is going on in your team and also offers an opportunity to fix any possible conflict of interest at an early stage thereby ensuring the bonding of the team as well as happy individual team members. In this spirit, here are a few tips to ensure a great one-on-ones with your team:

1. The Right Place

The best place to carry one-on-ones is the neutral ground. Having a conversation in your office or in a place where you are watched by many people not only will create a negative environment for your team member but would also hamper a friendly conversation.

You can always take them for a coffee and talk business in a non formal way. This would help create a comfortable environment where both the parties could feel free to speak about their concerns. This is  also  a great way to bond with your team in an informal manner and would help you establish more cooperation with your team members.

2. The Right Time

The most effective way to carry one-on-ones is to keep them on a regular basis. The frequency and the duration of the meeting can depend on the agenda you have for your meeting but  the possibility of a one-on-one should always be there on the table. This would not only ensure a level of confidence in your team member that you are there whenever they need you but would also help fix the issues at an early stage before they take some unmanageable turn for you.

3. The Right Scope

There should always be an agenda in mind before you set up your one-on-ones. It could cover anything from the addressal of possible issues to exploring future career growth options for your team members. The agenda should be communicated in advance so that both the parties can come fully prepared and  there is no wastage of time in building the base of the conversation. The right scope also establishes a fact that you take these one-on-ones very seriously and it is not just a waste of time or a mere formality for you.

 

4. The Right Tone

The one-on-ones are all about setting the right tone of the meeting. These could work extremely well for you or can turn out to be a big disaster if you are not careful with the tone of the meeting. Try to reduce the power gap and make your team member feel comfortable so that he can speak freely and without any pressure. Use these meetings to work closely with each other so as to hit high levels of performance at the same time keeping the atmosphere warm and upbeat.

 

5. The Right Goals

Listening to someone and acting upon it are two very different things. The one-on-ones would be only successful when there are certain visions and goals are involved so that you could actually see the effectiveness of one-on-ones in a quantifiable way. Make it a habit setting clear goals about what needs to be achieved in a given time frame. This would also create an agenda for your next meet. Create minutes of meetings and share it with your team members in order to establish common ground and avoid any misunderstanding from happening.