6 Methods of Sharing Information to Enhance Communication
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Ask your manager these questions during your 1:1s to take control of your career growth and fast-track your skills development.
Armed with the right questions, you can transform your one on ones with your manager from casual catch-ups to the most valuable hour on your calendar.
Read on for our pick of the very best one on one meeting questions for anyone looking to take their personal and professional development into their own hands.
Turn up to a one-to-one with your manager unprepared and you’ll pass up the perfect chance to get clear on what you need to do to get on track for a promotion, pay rise or professional development opportunities.
An easy and effective way to prepare for a check-in with your manager is to note down smart questions to ask your boss ahead of time in a one-to-one template. This will lay the groundwork for a productive one on one conversation where you and your boss touch on everything that’s important to you.
Your manager will appreciate it if they can always trust you (and other direct reports) to come to your meetings with a list of talking points , questions for first 1:1, constructive feedback and action items prepared.
Book a Demo with Assembly to make it as easy as possible for your people to prepare for one-to-ones, geet good topics for manager meetings and get comfortable with a 1-1.
To give yourself the best chances of rising up the ranks in your company and having great meetings with other team members, you should look to establish these things in every one-to-one with your manager (especially a new boss):
Here’s a closer look at how to tick each of those boxes with some simple questions you can ask in any one-to-one.
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The most important part of any one-to-one is making sure you and your manager are on the same page when it comes to how you should be spending your time.
Focus on the wrong to-dos and you could have a stressful performance review session, set your career aspirations back, and potentially even put your job security at risk.
If you only walk away from a one-to-one with one thing, make sure it’s that you’re spending your time on what your manager wants you to by asking questions like:
Book a demo of Assembly to see how easy it can make staying on the same page as your teammates and knowing what question to ask your manager (don't forget about the free 1-2-1 meeting template).
Some bosses like to be kept in the loop with everything through a daily update. Others prefer you to figure out the small things yourself and only come to them when you need help on the big decisions.
Some managers like to communicate through Zoom calls, others through Slack. Some prefer their reports to take the lead on one-to-ones, while others like to set the agenda.
Do you know how your manager likes to work or what their management style is?
Figuring this out and adapting to it is one of the smartest things you can do for your career prospects and your professional relationship (plus it shows off your leadership skills). In addition, work-life balance becomes easier and more enjoyable.
Ask these manager feedback questions during your one-to-ones to quickly get to grips with how to best manage up (or jot them down in your meeting agenda):
If your manager is in your corner they can open all kinds of doors for their employees to develop grow your skills. They can help you take on more responsibility, and build progress within the company.
Letting them in on your career goals and aspirations is therefore one of the best things you can do for your career growth and overall employee performance. After all, they’re the person who’ll have the biggest impact on where you’re heading beside yourself. You might be surprised about how far they can help you go.
Think about it from their point of view. Who are they going to trust with more responsibility: a teammate who doesn’t show any interest in stepping up, or a direct report that makes a point of discussing their career growth in each of their one-to-ones?
So, be sure to ask these career development questions in your one-to-ones to show your manager you’re ready to take on opportunities when they show up:
If your manager could pick a dream trait for their reports to have, it would probably be a desire to seek out and listen to feedback.
Any manager worth their salt can help you get better at your job. Taking the initiative on soaking up the wisdom they have to offer will not only fast-track your skills development. It’s also a surefire way to form a great working relationship with them.
These are the questions to ask a supervisor during your one-to-one meetings to get better at what you do as fast as possible:
There's a lot of traditional wisdom that says you shouldn't ask too many questions when meeting with your manager, especially questions to ask a new manager, or you risk seeming like you know it all. That's not the case (or shouldn't be with good company culture).
Good questions can get your manager to see things from a different (often better) perspective and learn more about your personal life.
The right questions will help uncover areas that need to be strengthened or improved and make your 1-1 meetings with your manager more productive (check out these questions for how to provide useful feedback for managers).
And whether or not you ever get to ask your manager these questions directly, they're a great way to evaluate your current job situation. You can use them to gauge where you stand career-wise and make sure you have a strong handle on your work-life balance. Keep these in mind as questions to ask new managers and set yourself up for success.
Take your one-to-ones with your manager to the next level with these simple questions, our five tips to make one-to-ones successful, and our advice on how to give meaningful feedback to a manager.
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