Successful one-to-one conversations can help catch issues early, build relationships, make the team more efficient and develop individuals over time. Though unfortunately for many, the thought of a one-to-one brings feelings of dread, fear, and frustration with some employees even feeling the entire experience is more of a box-ticking exercise than something productive.
This shouldn’t be the case, so we did some research to learn how Saberr might be able to improve one-to-ones.
During our research we found that almost everyone - both managers and team members quoted agenda setting as their number one improvement. In most cases the agenda was overwhelmingly decided by the manager if at all. It was interesting to note that whenever we spoke to an employee who was either given some control or input into the agenda, the one-to-ones were always praised for their effectiveness.
Second to agenda setting was time. As with many good managers it’s hard to find the time to be a coach, communicator and negotiator alongside day to day work and a mountain of admin, so with that in mind we built a light touch one to one feature that helps managers and employees run more effective one to ones without taking up more time.
Effective one to ones with Saberr
First, connect your calendar
Saberr will automatically identify one to one meetings and ask both attendees to contribute to the agenda. It’ll also encourage managers to follow healthy one-to-one practice, for example promoting regular cadence.
Add to the agenda
Either the manager of team member can add talking points to the agenda at any time. They will be prompted by email a couple of times ahead of the meeting or can log into Saberr if they think of something they’d like to add straight away.
Add suggested talking points
If you’re a new manager, a team member who’s not used to setting an agenda, or you’d just like some inspiration you can select Saberr's suggested talking points. Choose from Saberr's templates or there’s the option for your company to add relevant talking points when they get started with Saberr.
Add your own regular talking points
If there’s a couple of things you need to check in on at every meeting you can add your own regular talking points. This is particularly useful for busy managers as they can be added in just a couple of seconds.
Add single talking points
Add a single talking point, either on its own or in addition to any of the templates above. Useful for employees who need help on something specific that month.
View the agenda in advance at any time
You’ll be notified whenever the other person has added to the agenda, and reminded to take a look at it ahead of the meeting. This means both parties can better prepare for the meeting, making it much more efficient and hopefully more effective.
Meeting notes
A good one to one doesn’t end when the meeting does. There should be actions and takeaways for both attendees. Saberr gives you space to make meeting notes, both shared and private, so you can prompt each other or leave yourself a reminder to follow up on.
Interested in finding out more? Click here to see a demo.
