So, I’ve always seen and approached 1:1’s at an employee first approach, meaning that the agenda and topics should be defined by that of the lesser role (e.g. subordanate > manager). It should be an oppertunity for said person to voice their concerns and pain points, not just from a professional perspective but also personal.
Two days ago I received an invite for a “1-on-1 catch-up” for today and I have literally been losing sleep over. Though I do have a tendancy to over analyse and think too much on things.
You’re losing sleep but just post about making lists the other day. Tssk.
Prep for the meeting that you envision taking place.
Sounds like it should be something like:
Make a list of pain points you’re experiencing. What are your roadblocks, and how can your manager help you by removing those roadblocks? I’ve gone to the point of listing items that I know for a fact can’t be changed, like that I need another resource in my team. It might not bring resolution to my issue, but at least my manager can take note.
Make a list of things that is working well for you. How can your manager replicate that in other teams?
Make a list of things you want from the company at large? Is the promotion you want available or going to be available? Is filing in timesheets a waste of time? Do you want extra teatime or a diploma? Do you want to be your own boss or micromanaged more?
Try to put yourself in your manager shoes as well. What are their concerns and KPI’s that they need to tackle. Make a list of those, and try to address them one by one. Who is going to fill your role when go to another company with longer teatime and less timesheets? Is there anything that you can do to help other teams without placing your work in jeopardy? Are you being utilized well, ie. are you using all of your strengths in your day to day? How? Why not?
Talk to your manager about whether you are engaged at work or not. Being engaged doesn’t mean you live and breath to get to work every day, but rather that you enjoy your work and giving your all at work. Part of good engagement is a good work-life balance and the ability and opportunity to switch off at the end of the day and over weekends.
Review your KPI’s. Which targets did you do well in, where did you struggle? Why did you struggle? How can you and your manager do things differently to avoid struggle?
This is 90% from my company Excel doc that we fill in with our bi-annual check ins, and it might seems like a lot of business speak and management jargon, but it really does work.
Btw, our company has an opening in Cpt in UX/UI right now. It might be a bit too junior a role for you, but I can PM you the link if you are interested or know of someone who might be?
Thanks, that’s quite helpful, I appreciate it. The structure I believe of 1on1’s also very relies on the ability for both parties to be receptive to constructuve feedback, it is ultimately about about moving forward and improving.
Yeah, might be worth a look. I would appreciate the link, could at least take a look. I also know a few junior designers and who know, it may be a fit for them.
Already been finishing off the ceiling repair (aka just finished the polyfilla section, that takes a day to dry, then sand, paint and done on Sunday I hope)
But why!!?? Who has so much to discuss that it takes over 6 hours? And on a Friday too? Weren’t you just away on a two day work conference? This is the sort of meeting that should happen at conferences like that.
Yeah, it’s pretty soul-destroying. All business analysis meetings. Yes, we had that 2-day workshop/conference to decide and put in place some sense of strategy, now we’ve been deep diving and analysing the product/solution in question and where we can make improvement and “quick wins”. These meetings are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Don’t get me started on those. Thank goodness we haven’t been doing sprints as yet, those 8 hour planning sessions broke me.
Dude… I used to work as a business analyst. We used to have process peer review sessions in which 1 or 2 team members would present the technical diagrams of the process they were modelling or planning. We did these twice a week, and they were max 3 hours long. We were 5 people in the team, all BAs. We didn’t bring anyone else into these reviews. We scrutinised every AND gate and every OR gate plus drilled into the semantics of the title of each block. We were harsh, by design. The client/business unit/specialist/process owner only saw the near final process diagram for their review. Unless they’re suddenly trying to analyze the entire company in a short time, there’s no reason to be hosting these marathon sessions, especially not with lots of stakeholders present.
