Before we get started on how to have a great one-on-one, we want to say a few words about what we mean by one-on-one, and how we think about the role of manager.

Managers have one-to-one meetings all day long. Peer one-on-ones are different than the kind of one-on-ones we’ll talk about in this series.

Managers have a responsibility to the people they support and serve. One-on-ones enhance that relationship.

Key Points

We’re not talking about every meeting that might involve two people. This series is not about various meeting you might have with peers to share information, collaborate, solve problems.  This is specifically about meetings where there is a reporting relationship.

We’d like to update the language about management activities, because we don’t view these meetings as an opportunity to check up on people, supervise, micromanage, or get them to work hard. Your responsibility is to support and enable.