31–40 of 287 posts
1. Here's what I'm working on. (Is this a good use of my time?) 2. Here are my blockers. (Can you help clear the way so I can do my work?) 3. Here's what's going on in my life (relationship building, context for manager to understand your work and capacity)
imo you shouldnt feel like you need to fill the entire allotted time every week (just reach out that morning and say something like 'no big updates this week, ok to cancel?'), and it's a great time to also align calendars and set agendas for deeper dives if you do need more time
i wouldnt see it as 'blowing your trumpet', this may be the only honest exposure your manager gets to your project some times, since others on the team are probably also on their plate
These have always been an enormous waste of time from my perspective. They only serve to make a manager feel like they know what everyone is doing, all the time. Anything process-wise should be handled through scrum. Anything personal can be handled with ad-hoc 1-on-1 meetings as needed, but should be pretty rare. 1-on-1s for process really do harm to transparency and accountability. If I had a nickel for every time…
DO you consider yourself an introvert by any chance?
These have always been an enormous waste of time from my perspective. They only serve to make a manager feel like they know what everyone is doing, all the time. Anything process-wise should be handled through scrum. Anything personal can be handled with ad-hoc 1-on-1 meetings as needed, but should be pretty rare. 1-on-1s for process really do harm to transparency and accountability. If I had a nickel for every time…
DO you consider yourself an introvert by any chance?
Also: introversion != lack of motivation or overall perspective
I personally doubt introversion has much to do with the parent comment. Several bad leaders over time can easily jade a person's perspective towards their leadership, ESPECIALLY if they end up discussing daily operations during their 1-on-1 instead of the big picture.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't the first two covered at standup every day?
My management do not attend standup and I prefer it that way.
If you've done that in depth already maybe you have too many 1on1s.
1. The most value I get is when people complain. It can be about the tech stack or about processes or lack of change. I then choose whether to solve the problem or teach the individual how to solve (coaching or teaching).
2. When the individual uses me to make organizational change happen. This usually happens with managers or staff engineers.
3. Gives me enough context to pull on threads and refactor the organization.
If you don't wanna do any of that and we don't even have fun stuff to talk about (once a month'ish) then I end the convo early.
Also, I often tell employees that it's their time, not my time and to come armed with topics and I'll do the same. But not everyone does this so I end early maybe 20% of the time.