How to Handle Employee One-on-One Meetings [infographic]

Have you ever felt that your one-on-one meetings with your employees were awkward or a complete waste of time? Well here are a few pointers to make these meetings not only more productive but relationally more fulfilling and motivating. Nothing is more irritating than a meeting where both parties feel that their time has been wasted, so how do you combat this? Preparation and thoughtfulness are key, and as the manager, this mostly falls on you. Don’t treat these meetings as if they are a chore to get over with. This is precious one-on-one time you get to spend with each employee to pick their brain, build rapport, and check in on progress. Set some time aside to really put together thoughtful questions where your employee gets to do most of the talking. Don’t make snap judgments when they share that their project is behind, but ask what can be done to help them along with it or how you, yourself, could be of assistance. Employees desperately want to feel valued and cared for. One-on-one meetings can be hugely motivational for workers when done well or completely discouraging when done poorly, so take a few minutes and review how to successfully handle employee one-on-one meetings.