Having a one-on-one meeting with your employees is one of the great ways you can show how much you care about your team. Some tend to shy away from it and consider it a waste of time, but when done correctly, it can greatly improve your team’s productivity. Hence, it’s one of the leading tools that should be used by managers everywhere.
To do this correctly, you need to follow a proper structure and procedure. For example, showing up on time is also a huge plus since it tells the other person that you consider this meeting with them important. Being late only tells them that you think your time is more important than theirs and builds a wall between the two of you.
This is even more aggravated when you cancel at the last minute with them. It can make the other person feel neglected and unimportant to your team. So, be prompt and punctual whenever you conduct these meetings.
To help you even more, here are some tips on conducting one-on-one sessions with your team members:
Prepare beforehand
Do your research beforehand. Know which projects are ongoing for them and how much they are progressing through them. This will also help you set up an agenda that you can follow when you meet up with them.
You don’t usually have to follow your agenda too strictly, but generally, it goes something like this:
Recap of the meeting before
Ask what obstacle they encountered
Feedback on their performance
How they can improve on it
Their feedback on you
Listen sincerely
Speaking of feedback, it’s supposed to be a two-way process. You give them useful feedback to improve upon, and at the same time, they should also be able to give feedback to you and their work environment should they have any concerns.
Listening to your team members share their feedback on their work environment sincerely is also a great way to increase their productivity! By having someone listen, they can feel more engaged with their work and feel more appreciated.
Furthermore, feedback on employees should be delivered in a good way. Studies have shown that employees tend to handle negative criticisms simply by avoiding the person that gave them to them. This is far from what you would want as you wouldn’t be able to assess them properly anymore.
Remember that the goal of feedback is to improve what’s currently happening in the system. So any criticism should be devoid of any personal feelings and should be constructive in nature. In this way, not only are you able to provide feedback, but you’re helping them improve and increase their productivity even more.
Ask how you can improve
Just because no one is complaining in front of you, it doesn’t mean that everything is set up perfectly in your workplace. Ask your team members for feedback on what problems they think are a hindrance to their workflow and how they think you can improve upon it so they can increase their productivity. It can be anything from faulty hardware, to lack of communication, or simply a disorganized workflow.
It’s severely important that these problems within the work environment be addressed as early as possible so you can avoid the future problems that they can cause. Don’t wait for an annual report, and instead address it head-on and prevent it from accumulating by asking how else you can improve your company’s system.
By having their ideas heard and possibly implemented, you give your team members additional morale and make them more open to giving you innovative suggestions that can help the company overall.
Acknowledge achievements
Aside from negative feedback and constructive criticism, positive feedback also does wonders for the overall productivity of your team members. Knowing somebody recognizes the effort you’ve put into your work is an instant motivator. Studies such as those by researchers like Shawn Achor have also shown that employees tend to work harder when their achievements are recognized in the workplace.
This is why in your next one-on-one sessions, remember to recognize all the efforts your team members have put in!
Show that you care
This pandemic has shown us just what employees under stress are able to do. Some are able to push through it, but a large majority are more than willing to quit if they think their position is not worth it. This is seen through the mass resignations lots of industries have seen all throughout this pandemic
For this reason, you need to ask them about what makes them happy in their jobs and what gives them satisfaction. You have to know what can drive your employees to stick with their jobs more even though they might be stressed like everyone else. Once you list down the common factors, try providing them to them even more.
Ask about career aspirations
Another way to share that you care about your employees and are not just looking at their performance in the company is by asking them what they aspire for in their careers. Everyone wants growth. Whether it’s physical, mental, or financial, everyone is seeking to grow in some way.
Let them be assured that they can achieve this kind of growth in your company. Career growth is something that increases productivity and loyalty among employees after all. Knowing that they can get promoted if they do well, is a huge motivator for anyone to stay with your company and be productive.
Ask about tech needs
Making sure that your employees have their tech needs met is another way to greatly improve the productivity of your company. Having better hardware and software will enable your employees to get their jobs done faster. This is why numerous studies in the US have shown that investing in tech increases productivity by a lot.
Not only that but having the proper tech with your employees can also help them be more engaged in their work and be more satisfied.
You wouldn’t want to work through countless files with only an old clunky computer, right?
Conclusion
If you want to boost your company’s productivity and morale, you should consider investing time and effort in your employees through these one-on-one sessions. It may seem time-consuming, but the benefits you can potentially get from it is enormous.
By conducting these sessions regularly, you are able to scope out potential problems in your workplace, improve on current systems, improve employee productivity, morale, and loyalty, and as well as empower your workforce.
Therefore, these meetings can serve a greater purpose in your company when done correctly. So make sure to follow these tips and you can be sure to see a huge jump in productivity in your company soon!
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