Johanna Rothma n @johannarothma n www.jrothman.com Modern Management: Practical Ways to Conduct One-on-Ones

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Some Bad One-on-One Stories • Felt as if my manager ignored m e • Felt as if my manager was my therapis t • Manager in fl icted help when I wanted to tal k • Most managers don’t want to be evil. They don’t know… 2

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Management One-on-Ones Affect Everything: - How people fee l - How well they wor k - How good the products are 3

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman One-on-One Problems • Infrequent meeting s • Hands-off managemen t • Too-frequent meeting s • Micromanagemen t • Miss early warning signal s • Don’t see the team’s environment/ system of work 4

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Different One-on-One Structures • If you’re the manage r • Agile team that works wel l • Agile teams that down’t work wel l • Traditional team s • With more/less experienced peopl e • With a pee r • Build relationships fi rst, then with a tea m • Collaborate as a cohort 5

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Assumptions Here • A team or workgroup that works relatively well togethe r • Manager does not assign work, but looks toward the system of work 6

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Regular Management One-on-Ones • Every week or two, depending on how the team work s • Once a month is not frequent enoug h • Build trusting relationship s • Learn what each person wants/ need s • Check in on career developmen t • Listen for bad news 7

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Make Regular One-on-One Time Sacrosanc t (You will have to protect your schedule) 8

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman In all cases, remove possible interruptions before the one-on-one 9

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Manager-Led One-on-One, Option 1 • Greetin g • Review your action items for the person . • Ask for obstacles, etc . • Ask if they want help, feedback, coachin g • Placeholder for career developmen t • What do they want to discuss ? • Action item review 10

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Manager-Led One-on-One, Option 2 • Checki n • Other person takes the responsibility to create an agend a • You can add these ideas, also : • Obstacle s • Help, feedback, coachin g • Career developmen t • Action item review 11

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Minimal One-on-One Structure, Option 3 • Check-i n • Do you need anything? (Not just from you, anything at all. ) • Is anything getting in your way ? • What can I, as your manager, do to help? 12

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Regular One-on-Ones Allow You To… • Offer reinforcing feedback ofte n • Early warning signals of larger problem s • See the team’s system/environment • Avoid performance reviews • Which don’t work anywa y • Evaluations are about managing money, not performance 13

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Change-Focused vs Reinforcing Feedback • Make it a point to offer reinforcing feedback every week : • Something people do right/wel l • Supports other peopl e • Offer change-focused feedback when it’s behaviors they can chang e • I am always going to be blunt and direct. I can learn to choose words that people can hear 14

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Peer One-on-Ones, Regular • How frequent? It depends … • Structure : • Checki n • Reinforce common goal s • Discuss obstacle s • Review action items 15

© 2021 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Let’s Stay in Touch • Pragmatic Manager: • www.jrothman.com/ pragmaticmanage r • Please link with me on LinkedI n • Modern Management Made Easy: https://www.jrothman.com/mmme • The deck I referred to with the career ladder: https://www.jrothman.com/ CLD 16