I Just Don’t Have Time For A One-On-One Meeting

I Just Don’t Have Time For A One-On-One Meeting

We get it. You are in meetings all day and a one-on-one meeting with an employee is just one more meeting on zoom, Webex or sitting six feet from each other in a conference room. You talk regularly anyway, so you feel like you are up-to-date.

Let’s just skip it this week.

I Just Don't Have Time for A One-on-One Meeting Nodus Consulting

Which may be ok for one week. But then next week it happens again.

You have even more issues to deal with, presentation to prepare for and difficult customer issues to address. Next thing you know its been a month and oh, that’s kind of embarrassing, where to start in your one-on-one with your employee, I’ll have more time to plan it next week.

Does this sound familiar?

Let’s look at what your employee may be thinking

Week 1

  • No problem we missed one meeting, I’m busy too.
  • I had a couple of things I wanted to bring up with my manager, we’ll get to it next week.

Week 2

  • I’m so tired of this working remotely thing and the workload is not going away.
  • Seems like there is a lot going on in my organization that I’m not a part of, I guess as long as they have me here to crank out the work, they are happy, or are they?
  • Am I doing a good job?
  • Does my manager really care?

Week 3 or 4

  • Maybe I’ll look on LinkedIn and see what else is out there.
  • There has to be something better than this.
  • I would have talked to my manager about it but a lot of time has gone by and I’m not sure how I’d bring it up.

Get the point? Connections matter.
We need to talk about bigger topics like

  • How things are going overall?
  • How you are feeling about your job?
  • What is going on for you?

The best way to do these is through regular one-on-one meetings.

Start this week.
Set aside another appointment and get time on the calendar with every direct report.

In The Connection Blueprint, read Chapter 1 to get some helpful hits on best practices, and Chapters 2 or 3 for meeting prompts.

There is no time like this week to connect with your employees and get and keep them engaged.

Connections matter.

For more information on improving relationships and results through one-on-ones, check out The Connection Blueprint or contact: debbie@nodusinc.com 

Debbie Waggoner, CEO of Nodus Performance Consulting has a solid track record of success with Fortune 500 companies working with individuals, teams, and organizations to improve performance in the areas of leadership, talent development, and teamwork.

Keep up with Nodus &
Nodus President Debbie Waggoner
on Twitter and LinkedIn.