For fair share of my career I never thought that 1:1s with manager were ever useful to me, 99% of the time they were just a status update and everything was fine. They look redundant to me as they were like the status update meetings which team already had and I considered them a sheer waste of my time and they seemed to be a checkbox to tick for my manager and nothing else.
But then I met a manager who stopped me from sharing status updates and instead asked me to bring agendas that I would want to discuss, like things that were bothering me, career progressions, process difficulties, 2-way feedbacks between me and my manager etc. Then I slowly started preparing agendas and realised that 1:1s are for me and not for my manager and I should be deriving them to get my concerns addressed, work on my career progression, get feedback from manager etc.
Here are few things I learned which can also help one in having an effective 1:1 with their manager and get the most value out of it:
- Understand why you do 1:1s: Realise that 1:1s are your time to take most out of your manager's experience and get support/guidance from him and you should be deriving it, not your manager and avoid them falling into status update pitfall.
- Prepare an Agenda: Just showing up won't make 1:1s effective, having an agenda to discuss would help you get most out of them. Share agenda before meeting with your manager if it needs a preparation from them.
- Have Regular 1:1s: Having regular weekly/biweekly 1:1s prevent disconnect and keep the discussion in flow without loosing context on the ongoing discussion topics.
- Take Notes & Track Follow ups: Use one document for all the 1:1s so that you have continuous trail of the progress and discussion you had or if you want to continue from previous 1:1. Share it with your manager so that you two can collaborate on one doc and follow up on any action items post the meeting.
- Focus on your career goals: Discuss about your career goals, how are you doing, what you should be doing more to help you move in the right direction towards achieving those goals.
- Discuss Your concerns/blocker: Discuss things that are bothering you / blocking you, seek manager's help on resolving them.
- Seek & Give Feedback: Feedback can help you realise how you are doing with regards to expectations for your level and what could you do to fill in the gaps if any. Managers can also help you get feedback that he might have from others in the team. Also, provide feedback to your manager and about the team overall if you have any.
Hopefully, these tips would help you have an effective 1:1 with your manager and grow in your career with your manager's help.
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