More than a decade ago, I became a Vistage Chair and heard the phrase “1-1 meeting” for the first time. And I wasn’t alone. The concept of having a regular meeting, whether monthly, bi-weekly or weekly, with an employee or team member wasn’t commonplace.
Fast forward to 2017, and you can’t go a week without hearing or reading about 1-1s. In fact, if you Google “1-1 meetings” you will get more than 120,000 responses. There are even software apps, like Lighthouse and Wide Angle Software, that help managers schedule and keep track of 1-1s.
Although the concept is more popular and there are technology platforms to help with the process, the art of a 1-1 meeting remains elusive to most managers. I have worked with hundreds of managers over the past 10 years, and there have been only a dozen or so who have mastered the concept.
So what separates these master 1-1 facilitators from the rest? Here are the top five behaviors they display:
1. They are curious not judgmental.
They are curious about many things related to the employee including how the employee came to a less than optimal decision, what caused them to miss a deadline or what caused a recent outburst. They withhold their judgments and opinions. Curiosity builds relationships while judging destroys relationships.
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