I polled LinkedIn to learn how often managers connect with their teams. More than half meet weekly, while more than 20% of managers do not have regular meetings with their team members.
A regularly scheduled, one-on-one meeting is the best way to drive results in your business while keeping morale high. At Bullpen, our managers meet with our full-time producers daily for 15-minute check-ins at the start of the workday. For those in support roles, we meet weekly for 30 minutes.
Cadence is less important than consistency. Daily, weekly, or monthly, it's important to meet with your direct reports.
When I meet with my team, I ask them to complete a 1-pager with 6 squares ahead of time (landscape orientation, 3 squares on top, 3 squares below). Each square corresponds to a category below.
1) Quarterly Goals
My team regularly updates their progress towards quarterly goals. For business development folks, this is usually a derivation of new business generation. For recruiters, this is typically tied to turnaround time and the quality of candidate submissions.
2) Wins Since Last Meeting
I've been told that I give direct feedback, and sometimes, people interpret it as annoyance or frustration with them. I like talking about wins regularly so 1) we celebrate what is going right, and 2) my direct reports know I'm not annoyed or frustrated with them.
3) Game Plan
This outlines the activities that are being prioritized between now and the next meeting. For producers, it might be a weekly cold call target. For recruiters, it's typically the recruiting assignments that are top priority.
4) Blockers
This section gives my direct reports a space to share what is preventing them from meeting their goals. It might be granular, like a problem on a recruiting assignment. It might be broad, like needing help prioritizing their week before a vacation.
5) Thoughts / Questions
This is a free-form section where my team can jot down questions, ideas, and whatever else is on their mind. It's one of my favorite sections to discuss as I always walk away with a better pulse on morale.
6) Coaching Notes
We take coaching seriously. This last block of our meeting agenda is space for me to offer coaching to my team. One week, this section might focus on a certain aspect of our discovery calls. In the next, it might give ideas of where to pursue new business.
Important note - We updated our one on one meeting rhythm regularly as we learn what works best for our team. Iteration is good!
