Mark Hortsman completed an interesting study that he talks about in the book The Effective Manager. With this idea about the 15 minute meeting, they were able to impact the actions of a manager. They were able to impact employee retention in 90% of managers 90% of the time.
The actions that make some manager’s better than others is the following:
- Get to Know Your People
- Communicate About Performance
- Ask for More
- Push Work Down
The principle behind this post is that your employees that work for you need time to ask questions and get your feedback on a routine basis. Employees need time that is predictable and that they have the ability to voice their concerns of questions first… without addressing the boss’s concerns.
I think he said it best when he said “If you’re going to create trust and trusting relationships with your directs then, you’re going to have to talk to them frequently about things that are important to them.” I love this quote, because it resonates so well with me as an employee. I also want that time to discuss those things with my boss.
Here are the rules for this One on One meeting:
- Scheduled
- Weekly
- Lasts for 30 minutes
- Held with each of your directs
- The direct’s issues are primary
- Manager takes notes
When you look at your calendar, it looks full and your days seem busy but he reported that this was a good way to reduce the daily distractions. Employees have a chance to talk about their concerns in a time blocking manner and will save their small concerns for these times. It reduces the amount of transition time between tasks and activities. Less interruptions = More effective time.
We get to talk about these principles in the next few posts. And it will also become a challenge for me to incorporate these principles into my management as well in the following months. Let’s begin!
Pigs and People 