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One-on-one meetings are the bread and butter of management. Here is how to make them useful and productive for everyone involved.
One-on-one meetings are the bread and butter of management. However, it's pretty standard for them to become an excuse to discuss deadlines and get more work done.
To be the best manager you can be, you must master the art of one-on-one meetings. A one-on-one meeting with a manager is more than just a "surface-level" checkup. During the discussion, you can give constructive feedback and learn more about your direct reports, even beyond work-life.
These meetings are the most efficient method for promoting an informed and open work environment, building reputation and trust, improving communications, and creating a sense of team.
While a one-on-one discussion is beneficial, quality and frequency matter a lot because unproductive one-on-one meetings are the bane of managers and leaders everywhere.
So, how do you ensure that they're effective? Templates.
One-on-one meeting templates allow team members to know the agenda of the meeting and the next steps. It gives managers a structured yet flexible outline to run with, improving productivity and efficiency.
Ready to begin? This post will explore the structure of one-on-one meeting templates you need to run your successful team meetings.
A one-on-one meeting template is a document that allows you to track your progress on projects, set goals, and brainstorm solutions to problems.
It's not just a list of topics to cover but a structure for ensuring that the most critical issues are addressed and that nothing falls through the cracks. It also keeps you better prepared to make decisions or take action afterward.
It serves as a guideline that allows you to lay out what you want to accomplish during the meeting. You can set the right amount of time aside for it, and create questions to ask to make sure you're covering all bases.
It also creates an opportunity for everyone to prepare beforehand and come prepared with their thoughts and opinions. If you're part of a team that regularly holds weekly one-on-one meetings, creating a template can help keep your team focused on what really matters.
We may have been on the giving or receiving end of a one-on-one discussion that was unproductive, unclear, or just plain awkward. And we definitely wished it was better.
It's essential to ensure that the employees are comfortable expressing themselves. And to do this, they need to prepare ahead of time and have talking points. These talking points are the structure - they allow the employees and managers have the time to reflect on their needs, concerns, and ideas. When you're the person holding the meeting, it's important to be thoughtful about using the structure to advance goals rather than create unnecessary barriers.
The first step in structuring a one-on-one discussion is to decide what goals you want to accomplish with the meeting. Ensure that you:
1. Decide on a goal for the meeting and make it specific
2. Choose one aspect of the goal that you want to tackle in the meeting
3. Set up the meeting time and date and ensure it fits everyone's calendar
4. Do your research ahead of time
5. Outline the agenda for the meeting
There are various ways to build an effective meeting structure. Once the outline is in place, other things can fall into place. While there are other ways to structure your one-on-one meeting template, the five key-area- approach is effective.
As a manager, it's your responsibility to ensure effective team development, and a great way to do that is by knowing the strengths and opportunities of team members.
With these in mind, you can start by asking the employee what projects they're excited about and the ones they aren't looking forward to.
The next question is how you can support them in turning their opportunities into strengths. Giving your team members a sense of belonging and allowing them to ease up and communicate better.
It's not enough for employees to be great additions to tasks. They need to be team players. You can ask about their relationships with teammates, suggestions to improve team performance, etc. While you're responsible for helping employees feel comfortable sharing experiences and concerns with you, you shouldn't encourage gossip and hearsay.
One of the purposes of one-on-one meetings is to establish a healthy relationship with employees and guide them to grow. An effective way is by helping them prioritize their tasks and goals instead of asking for quick updates. Prioritizing tasks allows employees to manage their workload and demand in check, leading to more productive and more engaged employees.
It's essential to ensure that team members stay motivated and on track with their career goals. You can ask your direct report about their aspirations and offer guidance on how they can achieve them. The goals may be short-term, medium, or long-term goals. But, the idea is to help align their career goals with their professional development.
Feedback is the gift that keeps on giving. You can end the one-on-one meeting by asking for feedback and concerns from employees. These meetings are a great time to find out what you could do to make work more accessible and more productive for everyone.
One-on-one questions might be a bit difficult to get off because managers struggle with questions to ask to prevent it from turning into a robotic interaction. These meetings are not supposed to turn into a report session or an uncomfortable interaction for both parties. To ensure that you have more productive meetings with your team members, you need questions that will open the floor for the kind of conversations you want to have with them.
We have made a list of tried and trusted one-on-one questions to give you the best results (or check out the top 10 questions here). As time goes on and you feel more confident, you can tailor the questions to suit your organization and the individual better.
To get the best results from your one-on-ones use Assembly's template to start. Get more info here.
This is perhaps the most asked question in history. Nonetheless, it’s best to know how your teammates actually feel about the meeting. If they are happy to speak with you, then the meeting is off to a great start. But, if they are nervous, you can ask more leading questions to help them relax.
Now you're getting a bit personal, but not too personal that it looks like you're intruding on their privacy. People like to know that their accomplishments matter, no matter how little.
At this point, you're getting into the business end of things. The team members or employees you speak to in a one-on-one meeting should be able to express themselves.
They should be able to talk to you about the work challenges that may be hindering them from carrying out their tasks.
Let them know that a part of your duty is to make their work-life easier by offering whatever help you can.
Knowing their career goals and the ones they have ticked off the list will help you position yourself better to help them achieve their goals.
This question is designed to help you support the employees in their professional development. By knowing what they enjoy, you can understand what tasks and projects may align with their goals in the future.
Providing the employee with relevant responsibilities or offering them a position that aligns with their goals can help you retain them. The answer to this question allows you to see if the employee is appropriate for their job.
You can ask the employees to elaborate on their answers with more details and examples. They could also gauge their feedback using rates - on a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being the highest. The answer to this question allows you to determine how employees really feel about their jobs. It could also help inform a manager's decision to promote an employee or reconsider a pending promotion.
This question gives you a glimpse into the reality of most of your employees. It allows you to gain valuable insights into how the company's organizational practices affect them and if they're coping fine.
This question will ensure that you and the employees are on the same track (or not) with the aim of the meeting. It also allows you to gauge the employees' enthusiasm towards the sessions, allowing you to coin the agenda for future meetings accordingly.
An open-ended question like this gives room for more discussion that may even occur after the one-on-one meeting. It allows the employee to express themselves without the hindrance of the meeting agenda and time. One-on-one meetings are critical for successful management, but a consistent and productive structure is even more critical.
A productive one-on-one discussion will allow teammates to feel more connected to their work. It will also add a greater sense of ownership to their jobs, leading to increased dedication and improved results. They can use 1:1 with Direct Report templates to structure their talking points.
Most importantly, as a manager, you will gain insights that may have been missed without a dedicated one-on-one meeting. And templates will help you create a functional one-on-one discussion with your team members, regardless of how many you manage daily.
Here's an effective 1:1 with manager template to get you started.
Ensure engagement and show the commitment to growth with your direct reports. Add structure, transparency, and accountability to one-on-one meetings with Assembly. Book a demo to learn more.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
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Yes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.
There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.
Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.
The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.
We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.
Yes. We offer a completely free plan for up to 50 team members. This plan is intended for teams or organizations that are looking to get started with an employee engagement tool. Keep in mind, this plan is limited in features.
All customers can open an Assembly account for free and get started without a credit card. Then you can change plans as necessary.
At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.
The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.
We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.
Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!
While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.
Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.
Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.
That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.
They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.
No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.
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