Tag: communication

One on one

FabrizioLeave a comment

Following up on a post I wrote a while back about meetings, some top-of-mind rules to make the most out of 1-1s.

Short and frequent beats long and sporadic – 30-45 minutes every week is optimal; 45-60 minutes every two weeks is doable; 90 minutes and more every month is ineffective.

Commit to being there – If one gets cancelled, reschedule for the next day. Be present for the duration of the 1-1. Never say “I have nothing for you today”, and for sure never ever make a habit of this. What you have to do after the 1-1 is not more important.

Set a broad agenda and be flexible with it – Write down 1 or 2 points you want to discuss, but keep the agenda open in order to allow stuff to emerge. Be ready to forgo the agenda completely if the situation demands it. Always start with some informal chat about the weather, kids, weekend plans, food, and other things that might make a connection.

Listen and ask – If you are the team lead, be ready to shut up. 1-1s are for the other person to express ideas, plans, concerns, issues. They are not for you to get updates or answers, nor they are to display how much you know and how thoughtful you are. When the other person struggles to open up, probe them with open questions: “what’s on your mind?”; “what have you learned the past week?”; “how would you go about it differently next time?”; and when they are done talking, “what else?” to unlock deeper layers.

Think outside the box – If at all possible (it usually is), get out of the office. Consider having 10 minutes 1-1s every day in front of the coffee machine. Pick up the phone and call the other person, instead of meeting on Zoom or Teams. Use 5 to 10 minutes to play a game together, or discuss a book you both read. The less you make it about work, the more the other person will be willing to let go of their and your role and connect in a meaningful way.

Lapse

FabrizioLeave a comment

What do you do when you miss an appointment, forget about something, fail to do what you promised you would?

You can hide, delay the difficult conversation until it gets too late to actually have it, never talk about that again, and miss the opportunity to own your lapse and grow.

Or you can say “I am sorry”.

Choose with intention.

Third kind

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Some companies decide to keep things loose. They have little hierarchy, initiatives can come from a variety of places as a response to a variety of inputs (customers, markets, intuition, experience, data, trials, mistakes, etc.), and the flexibility of the company makes it so it can adapt to changes and decisions fairly quickly without a lot of guidance.

Other companies decide to put structure around things. They build a clear hierarchy, initiatives often come from the top as a response to a limited amount of inputs (often gut feeling and previous experience), and the rigor of the company makes it so it will adapt to changes as quick as an heavy amount of guidance is deployed through its rank.

There is no right or wrong, you just have to figure out what works best for you and for the people that work with you and around you.

There is also a third kind of company. It is the company that puts structure while still wanting to keeping it loose. The company where decisions come from the top with the expectation that people will accept them just because. The company that pays lip service to the importance of its people while at the same time keeping them limited to tasks and urgencies. The company that struggles more than the others to adapt and change, just because nobody has a clear idea of what the hell is going on.

There are more company of the third kind than there are of the first and second combined.

You do not want your company to be of the third kind.

The time for bad

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When a crisis happens, we all want to move on. But if the situation is still bad, just say it is bad, do not try to sell the idea of a positive future that nobody can envision in the moment.

Of course, every crisis bears opportunities, tomorrow will be better, we will all get past it and we will be stronger. The problem is that if your rush past the bad situation, you will delay the time when good will come, you will miss on learning opportunities, and most importantly you will deny all those involved the chance to grieve.

Respect the time for bad.

Most awful

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Most awful ideas, plans, products, services in business happen because nobody had the courage to speak against them.

It is a difficult thing to do when everybody is aligned. The risk (being excluded, being rejected, being fired) is just to big.

Many companies preach diversity of thought and the possibility to raise flags, very few though seek that with intention.

So next time try scheduling a meeting to collect issues. Send an invite to a workshop to identify risks and pitfalls. Have a chat with that experienced colleague to challenge your assumptions.