Conducting Course Correcting 1:1s

Problem

Managers have different strategies when it comes to what they are trying to achieve with one-on-ones. Some like to use the time to build the trust of team members, others like to discuss growth and opportunity, while I personally believe that the time during one-on-ones should be used to course correct. This approach is continuous and reduces the need for performance reviews. Here's why.

Actions taken

My one-on-ones are usually conducted every two weeks, but frequency will often depend on the skill level of my report. During this time I select specific anecdotes to discuss:

• Things I noticed the employee doing well,
• Things the employee can work on,
• Something to focus on going forward.

For the first two, I bring to the table three examples each. For the third, it is a simple message that they can take and use as their northstar for the next two weeks. The message is a synthesization of what we discussed and put into plan form. Even for someone who is very senior, this applies. Just because they are doing a good job doesn't mean that they couldn't do better. And for those who are underperforming, it gives you a chance to get ahead of their under-performance way before you have to do a formal review. So if your report remembers one thing leaving that meeting, it should be their message/their plan for the next two weeks.

This is a pretty standard formula but it's short, effective, and to the point. It ensures that I'm having the right conversation for that particular moment with that individual report. More so, it gives me regular documented opportunities to show that I have had these feedback conversations with my employees.

The point of the one-on-ones though is that you are course correcting every time. If you are doing so, in theory, your reports are receiving and responding to your feedback so that there is no need to have performance reviews. In my opinion, there are only two reasons why you need to have performance reviews: One, because you're not providing regular feedback, and two because you need a structured way to figure out who does and doesn't get a raise.

Lessons learned

• One-on-ones are a very focused correction tool for underperforming reports and a very focused aspiration-building tool for overperforming reports.
• The challenge for any manager is staying ahead of your reports in terms of all of the good and bad things that are happening. The worst thing an engineer could learn is that months down the road they are underperforming or haven't been pushed to their full potential.
• If you are giving consistent feedback through your one-on-ones, then performance reviews will be conducted simply as a formality. It should be obvious to everybody involved in the review how it is going to end because you were doing a good job of communicating feedback during one-on-ones.

"The point of the one-on-ones though is that you are course correcting every time."

"One-on-ones are a very focused correction tool for underperforming reports and a very focused aspiration-building tool for overperforming reports."