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1-on-1 meeting questions

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Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#271

Post by jshowa3 »

RotaryTelephone wrote: post #63

My 1on1's at a 100k+ international corporation always went like this: Manager: so how's it going? Me: great Manager: any issues? anything you want to discuss? Me: everything is fantastic! I'm very happy with my job :D Manager: cool cool... well let's do this again next month. Me: yay! I don't want someone in a similar situation like I was to get inspired by lists like these and go into their next 1on1 wrecking havoc…

Sounds like a horrible way to do a 1-on-1. I understand that you may not care and that may work, but the problem with a lot of companies is the lack of communication perpetrated by this. Sometimes this is the only opportunity to really inquire and ask questions about what's going on. And unless you've been solving the same problems and doing the same job for years, you're not really taking advantage of the time and neither is the manager.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#272

Post by tootie »

skizm wrote: post #61

As a grunt IC 1 on 1s are a nightmare for me. I never know what to talk about. All current project stuff is hashed out in or after scrum. Career development is more of a once per year thing (at least not weekly). If I had a problem with any of my team members I would have brought it up by now (assuming I thought others felt that way, I don't want to be the only one to bring it up or I'll be seen as the problem). For…

Is your relationship with your manager tense? Do you not see them regularly through the week? I'm a manager and I spend a lot of one on one time just doing a mini version of couch therapy. Just ask how they're doing. Ask some mundane questions about their dog or their vacations. Rapport is as important as anything else. Once you have trust and a high comfort level, you get a lot more openness and honesty. And it goes both ways. I sit in the meetings with the directors and the CTO and then I disseminate relevant info about the organization and upcoming projects as it pertains to individuals. And also try to get a sense of any of the managerial initiatives are actually helping anyone.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#273

Post by notyourday »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #140
ken wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are fortunate that the problems with modern software shops happen to align with the types of problems you can deal with. For example, there aren't plenty of companies with quiet offices searching for developers. When I tell my manager "The noise in this new open floorplan office is killing my productivity", they say "OK, well, that's not going to change", and then we spend the rest of the hour rearranging deck ch…

What about remote? It's kind of an offshoot of that (quiet place for productivity).

If a company does not have a culture of addressing developers quality of worklife issues (developer: the noises are killing my productivity. manager: well, we aren't changing our office setup to accommodate people who want it to be quiet ) then it is extremely unlikely that the company would allow remote.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#274

Post by sweeneyrod »

BurningFrog wrote: post #66
ratherbefuddled wrote: post #52

Contrived wooden questions like these would be a solid reason to not work for a manager. If someone isn't able to empathise with other humans well enough to discover how they're doing without trying to artificially manipulate a conversation with a checklist, they certainly shouldn't be managing anybody. Just talk. Do it often and do it honestly. That's all.

> Just talk. Do it often and do it honestly. That's all. One good thing to always keep in mind: What comes easy and effortlessly to you can be a real struggle for others. Some people need help with things that you find utterly trivial, just like you probably struggle with things others excel effortlessly at.

People have different strengths and weaknesses, and should try to find jobs that fit theirs. It seems doubtful that someone for whom the conversation starter suggestion "How’s it going?" is useful has the strengths needed to make management a good choice.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#275

Post by seppin »

koonsolo wrote: post #73
RotaryTelephone wrote: post #63

My 1on1's at a 100k+ international corporation always went like this: Manager: so how's it going? Me: great Manager: any issues? anything you want to discuss? Me: everything is fantastic! I'm very happy with my job :D Manager: cool cool... well let's do this again next month. Me: yay! I don't want someone in a similar situation like I was to get inspired by lists like these and go into their next 1on1 wrecking havoc…

What a strange, helpless way to look at the world. Employment is not a boss->servant relationship, it's a relationship where both parties gain something. You offer a service, and they pay for that. End of story. They act out? Then you find someone else who needs your services. As a programmer myself, I'm in this great position where there is a shortage of good developers, and plenty of companies searching for good de…

Know that your situation isn't common and have some empathy towards people that can't treat their employment the way you do.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#276

Post by cco »

samdoidge wrote: post #258
dehrmann wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You offer a service, and they pay for that. No, the company pays for that. A manager's job is to help ICs be effective and to help the company make the most of ICs' work. My first manager told me something really good: don't look at it as a boss telling people what to do. ICs manage code, the manager manages people.

IC = ?

Individual Contributor, i.e. someone that produces, not manages.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#277

Post by fixie »

chadlavi wrote: post #267

Title's a bit unclear, these are manager questions for 1-on-1 meetings. Would be interesting to see a similar list for questions you should keep in mind as the direct report in a 1-on-1.

Looks like there are career development questions in the section below the manager questions. https://github.com/VGraupera/1on1-questions#career-developme...

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#278

Post by skizm »

tootie wrote: post #272
skizm wrote: post #61

As a grunt IC 1 on 1s are a nightmare for me. I never know what to talk about. All current project stuff is hashed out in or after scrum. Career development is more of a once per year thing (at least not weekly). If I had a problem with any of my team members I would have brought it up by now (assuming I thought others felt that way, I don't want to be the only one to bring it up or I'll be seen as the problem). For…

Is your relationship with your manager tense? Do you not see them regularly through the week? I'm a manager and I spend a lot of one on one time just doing a mini version of couch therapy. Just ask how they're doing. Ask some mundane questions about their dog or their vacations. Rapport is as important as anything else. Once you have trust and a high comfort level, you get a lot more openness and honesty. And it goes…

Tense for me, not for them. I see them everyday and I just act how he expects me to act. Throw out the occasional generic negative criticism (communication needs work, too many meetings, estimates need work, etc.) to make it seem like I care and that I'm not a kiss ass, and ultimately just try and not rock the boat or change anything. It's a balancing act to try and be just on the border of friendly and friends. I never want to tip into the friend zone, but also want it to seem like I'm making an effort to be friends.

The sad part is that it works. I get it, I just don't like it. Funny enough, the worst part about my job is "hey got a minute?". My heart always skips a beat and my first thought is always "Oh god, they found out. I'm fired." Oh well. Just got to make it 10 more years...

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#279

Post by ilikehurdles »

LaGrange wrote: post #206
tbabb wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your boss is taking the time to give you a 1-on-1, then there is an opportunity for both sides to listen to each other. If you have problems/complaints and you never say anything about them, then don't be surprised if they never change. If there is a 1-on-1 meeting happening, then a communication channel is open. I suppose you can choose to cynically shut it again, but if you make that choice, then don't be surpri…

> If your boss is taking the time to give you a 1-on-1, then there is an opportunity for both sides to listen to each other. Naw, there's an opportunity for your boss to divide & conquer, and for you to screw over your coworkers for short-term gain. You might not _think_ you're doing that — the way it's designed it's very easy for both sides to not think that — but that's the actual dynamic of the situation. This is…

I gotta agree that I feel the same way. I've survived layoffs where I pretty much saw all the "most valuable" people (plus one or two people who we probably shouldn't have hired in the first place) laid off while us underpaid suckers got to keep our jobs. Layoffs are a cost saving measure and unless you're cheap to retain or have built up too much of a "bus factor" around your skillset, your work is probably not good enough to save you. Someone with 15% less skill and 30% less pay will replace it.

Re: 1-on-1 meeting questions

#280

Post by kentrado »

gambiting wrote: post #252
bosie wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mind sharing those 5 metrics?

Achieve Consistently, Collaborate Constructively, Challenge Yourself, Leadership Mindset and finally Job Expertise. All of these apply to everyone, it's just that different levels have different expectations(so for example a Junior is still expected to perform well in "leadership mindset", but for them it's enough to demonstrate willingness to discuss and negotiate ideas, convince others to their plans etc, they don'…

Sounds a lot like the core "values" in my current company. Mind you, they are a bit different (are these protected by copyright?).

I don't think I can play that sort of game. I know I have to do it in order to get promoted, but my mind won't stop complaining about the facade.

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