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How to do 1:1s with your team

Get to know your new teammate:

First 1:1

Learn their story. This can be focused on personal and/or professional information.
Learn their motivations. Traceback to things the person mentioned when telling their story, deep diving into what they really love to do, to learn their innate honest motivations.
Learn their ambitions. What does this person want to achieve? Where are they going?
Record / make notes of these conversations and use them later to motivate them, bring the best in them and help them achieve their full potential and ambitions.

Second 1:1

Ask a simple question: “What do you look like when you’re at your best?”
Open with that and then let your teammate talk freely. If the person is shy or introverted, you can ask:
1. what makes them feel good
2. how they like to work
3. how they like to meet
4. how often they like feedback
5. what is the best strategy to give them feedback
6. what types of projects they enjoy
7. what they want to learn
8. etc.
Ask the reverse: “What about when you are not at your best?”
It will be helpful to understand triggers of demotivation, dissatisfaction and poor wellbeing. If you can identify when your teammate is not happy, you can deep dive into the reasonings, understand the problem and use what you have already learned to improve the situation.
Define what 1:1s will be like for you
a. What topics to bring and what to discuss.
b. Make a general agenda.
c. Create your own rules.
d. Define frequency (at least one per fortnight).
e. Create a document to store your notes and utilize them in the future.

Status check:	Honest mutual feedback:	Mentoring:	Other:
What is going well? What is not going well? What is holding you back? What are your biggest time wasters? Is there anything that feels harder than it needs to be? How can I be helpful?	Ask for feedback: what can you do to be a better manager. If you were me what would you do differently? How can I be a better manager to you? Share feedback: What they can do to be a better report. “If I were you, I'd do this differently”. Share, admit and openly discuss mistakes from both sides. Make it safe to speak about mistakes. Ask for support and advice. Give support and advice.	Tell them a growth area you are working on yourself. Discuss how you can be better at it. Discuss a growth area your teammate is working on and give mentorship/advice on it.	How have you been feeling lately? How are you feeling about your role in the company? How are you feeling about the team/company? How have you been feeling about your performance lately? In your view, did anything fall short of your own expectations? In your view, did anything fall short of the team’s expectations? Is the big picture clear? What motivates you the most about this project? What have you been most proud of what you’ve worked on? What’s been energizing you lately about the team, if anything? In your perspective, what teammate is performing really well? Is there anyone in the team that you feel is demotivated?

Time spent on 1:1 is precious. Leave out anything that you can discuss in a team sync:

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