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Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

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Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#41

Post by beached_whale »

teekert wrote: post #25

First we talk about our Home Assistant setups and how we're using HA to chart and improve our houses. Then we discus how the kids are doing in school and in general (they're of similar age, have similar issues). Then, in the last 20 min or so, we turns to work and she asks about the things she wrote down last time (is this still the same, has it improved?), she asks if I'm still happy doing what I'm doing, what she c…

This is similar to mine. Being regular people(we are over 1500km away from each other) and then discussing some work things. But most work things get addressed as they’re issues or come up anyways. But it’s a time to just be people. I have a good relationship with my manager though, so YMMV for others.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#42

Post by ryanSrich »

mshake2 wrote: post #7

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…

> They only serve to make a manager feel like they know what everyone is doing, all the time.

As a manager, I DESPISED doing 1v1s at my old company. We don't do them at my new company. It's an incredible waste of time. Create a culture that allows employees to come to you when THEY need to. If this isn't within the realm of possibility, at least make 1v1s optional for employees that just don't have anything to discuss every 1-2 weeks. Some people just like to do their jobs and get paid. As a manager, you should be able to see what your people are working on. If you have questions about it, ask them. But for the love of god, don't schedule a recurring meeting just so they can tell you things that are easily gleaned by reading a git commit.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#44

Post by kraquepype »

Ideally, there isn't much to talk about wrt the work you are doing. It should be covered in daily interactions and regular scrum/status updates.

Everyone is different, but 30 minutes of what should be a casual conversation is hard to structure and get good use out of.

An hour every other week would be nice. It would give enough time to talk about yourself, what you've been working on, and gives enough time to open up about issues/concerns/ideas that may take a while to discuss organically.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#45

Post by massysett »

mshake2 wrote: post #7

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…

"They only serve to make a manager feel like they know what everyone is doing, all the time."

As a manager it is critically important that I have a sense of what my staff is doing. New assignments come in all the time that require quick turnaround. I need to know who on my staff is available for such projects.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#46

Post by akerl_ »

mshake2 wrote: post #7

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…

As a counterpoint, my experience has been that having a recurring 1:1 on some cadence makes it feel less weird to flag an issue. If somebody has to block out an adhoc meeting to raise a concern, it feels like a bigger deal. That won’t stop all people or all issues, but it does set a higher bar and that means some conversations won’t clear it.

My 1:1s are not all on the same cadence, and some of them end up spending more time on general rambling than others, but it means that there’s a known space where people who report to me know they have my time and can just bring up whatever. Notably, I do not use 1:1 time to ask tactical questions about projects that are ongoing, there’s other existing channels for project status tracking.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#47

Post by hbcondo714 »

We use https://lattice.com/ for our people operations and managing 1:1s. Some suggested talking points they recommend include:

  career growth 
  collaboration / teamwork 
  engagement / morale
  feedback
  productivity
Action items include setting growth areas and defining OKRs

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#48

Post by theiz »

Depends on your role. I (ea for quite a big company) use the time to discuss strategy and roadblocks. Additionally I address personal development if required. For myself I want to also check if I am doing the right things (by now I do know I do things right) and ensure my manager does delegate tasks that can be moved down. If your on a junior level it should be mostly about you: what can you start doing, how can you develop. Mid career it is a mix of checking the value you bring and if you can learn and develop more. Another thing to bring as checkpoint is stress and workload: your manager is the only person that can help you if needed, raise the topic early. Overload kills you and makes you deliver poor work, hence no benefit for employee nor employer. Oh, and look at Daniel pink - drive, might be beneficial.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#49

Post by timr »

agloeregrets wrote: post #38
forgotusername6 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My management do not attend standup and I prefer it that way.

Wait WHAT. Who is standing up then?! Just the workers? haha That is hilarious. If you never had the stand up again, do you think anything would change in your day-to-day?

It's common for standups to be attended only by workers. They're a forum for open lateral communication, not communication up the ladder.

As soon as you add management into the mix, people get cagey and the standup becomes less effective.

Re: Ask HN: What do you talk about in 1-on-1s with your managers?

#50

Post by sgt »

I have a bunch of 1-1's with my team but I tend to tell them it's not necessary unless there's something in particular they need to bring up. If business as usual, then skip it and focus on work. I'm not entirely sure if that's the right approach though. Thoughts?
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