"Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first." -Angela Ahrendts

1:1 meetings seem like the epitome of management for the sake of management - and a loss of time in productive corporate settings.

That is just wrong - 1:1 meetings are actually the epitome of a productive corporate setting.

Here are 4 reasons why should lead 1:1 meetings with your direct reports:

The 4 big benefits of 1:1 meetings you never knew existed

• 👉 1. By doing 1:1s, you build the relationship with your employee and it doesn't have to take a lot of time.

❌ The former manager: "Oh... 30 minutes a week, I have a huge amount of important things to deal with, I don't have time to waste, and with all my employees it would be wasting more than 2 hours a week... IMPOSSIBLE"

✅ The new manager knows that the relationship with his or her collaborator is also an important "thing," and that 30 minutes per week is only 2.5 days over an entire year - so the time given to your collaborator is still minimal.

• 👉 2. By doing 1 to 1's, you actually save time, because your collaborator knows they have recurring listening time - they won't interrupt you as often.

❌ The former manager: "I was cut off 5 times in one morning... I'm NEVER going to finish my file... What a hell!"

✅ The new manager no longer has this problem, his employee decides to keep all of his questions and queries and write them down in a corner to ask them all in a row during the listening time he is given each week.

• 👉 3. By doing 1 to 1s, you foster a caring, problem-solving oriented environment and more importantly, you have the opportunity to anticipate them.

❌The former manager: "How? The two new employees don't get along? But how come I was convinced otherwise... How am I going to do it? I planned to have them work together on a project until the end of the year...

✅ The new manager doesn't have to worry about this issue, having held 1:1 meetings all year, Julie was able to tell him about the lack of compatibility as working partners with her employee. As a result, he was able to plan his teams accordingly and defuse the issues.

• 👉 4. By doing 1 to 1s, you access more honest feedback from your employees.

❌The former manager: "I feel like some things aren't clear, but all of my employees are kindly responding that everything is OK, so let's move on, I need to get my head around it! "

✅ The new manager has established through face-to-face meetings a climate of trust, and his employees are used to talking to him with franchise, they really feel at ease, and don't hesitate to say so as soon as something goes wrong.

💡The key takeaway :

The key is to remember that 1:1 meetings are a great way to keep communication open and effective between both parties.

By implementing these regular meetings, you can improve productivity and strengthen relationships with your team!