5 Minute Check-Up: Are you a One-on-One Meeting Novice, Senior, or Pro?

When it comes to your one-on-one meeting skills, are you a pro or a novice? Take this 5-minute one-on-one check-up to find out.

By Keith Tatley • March 12, 2020 • 2 min read

One-on-one meetings with your manager can be a game-changer for your professional development.

Get your one-on-one meetings right and you will have a healthier, happier, more successful career. But get them wrong and you might be looking for a new job soon! That’s why it’s helpful to know where you stand.

When it comes to your one-on-one meeting skills, are you a pro or a novice? Take this five-minute one-on-one check-up to find out.

5 Minute Check-up:

(Count your yes answers)

Do you have regular, pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings with your manager?

Do you give your manager regular, frequent (more than once a month) status updates of your work progress, including achievements you have accomplished?

Do you know and understand your manager? (In the work context, this means: to know your managers work strengths and weaknesses, their communication preferences & their likes and dislikes).

Do you get regular, frequent guidance on your performance, in advance of your formal performance reviews?

Do you regularly check-in with your manager on what skills they think you should develop?

Do you and your manager have regular conversations about your future job responsibilities? (Career development conversations).

Do you prepare for your one-on-one meetings in advance?

Is the agenda for your one-on-one meeting set in advance / do you use a standing structure to ensure that you cover everything you need to?

Have you ever had formal training in one-on-one meeting technique?

Are the action items from your one-on-one meetings clearly recorded with a who does what, by when?

Are the actions from prior one-on-one meetings followed up as a matter of process?

BONUS: Do you use a one-on-one meeting tool such as Fellow.app to manage your one-on-one meeting process?

 Scoring:

Count your “Yes” answers:

(0-4) Novice: I’m afraid that your one-on-one meetings get a novice score. Investing a little time in developing your one-on-one skills will give you a huge return. This guide is a great place to start.

(5-7) Junior: You are doing some of the good things but are missing out on the majority of one-on-one meeting benefits. Investing in your one-on-one skills will give you a positive return for the rest of your career.

(8-10) Senior: You have almost reached expert-level and are performing better than most employees. You only have a few techniques to learn and stick to, to reach the highest levels.

(11-12) Meeting Pro: Well done – you’re a one-on-one meeting pro! At this level, you could teach other people how to run effective one-on-one meetings. As a one-on-one meeting pro, you also know that being an expert is about constantly refining your technique. Download our free guide, The Art of Meeting With Your Manager to see if there are any areas you’d like to perfect.

Keith Tatley

Keith Tatley is the founder of Manager Foundation – a site that helps managers learn essential management skills to improve work happiness and success. He’s also a reformed Chartered Accountant, yoga teacher, and current CFO at the medical device startup Rapid Response Revival.

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