Questions to ask your employees in one on one meetings

Turn your One-on-ones around by asking the right questions.

One On One meetings with staff are one of those under appreciated management arts. Do One on Ones done right they will put you on the path to management Nirvana because you can take care of almost all your management duties in one go.

One of the management skills is asking the right questions in your One on One meetings with employees. By getting your employees to do the talking, you can get better results than by doing all the talking yourself. This is an active listening skill that is totally underrated.

What do you want from your One-on-One Meetings?

• You won’t be left wondering what your employee has been doing
• You’ll know where your employee is struggling, this will tell you:
  
  If there is anything that might blow up that you need to attend to or
  What performance areas to work on improving with your employee
  
  
• You’ll know what your employee is planning to do in the future which gives you an opportunity to re-align priorities and
• You will have motivated your employee to take ownership for their own work and solve their own problems
• If there is anything that might blow up that you need to attend to or
• What performance areas to work on improving with your employee

Questions to ask during One on One meetings: The employees agenda

Instead of doing all the hard work yourself - put the ball in their court and let them do the talking. This encourages your employees to take ownership for their work. And once you’ve started, keep the ball in their court. Here are some really helpful questions:

• Is there anything that you’re struggling with?
• Are there any problems or issues that I should know about?
• What do you think you can do to fix that problem?
• What could you have done differently?
• Is there anything that you need from me?

Questions to ask during One on One meetings: Future Deliverables

• What are your priorities for the week ahead?

Questions to ask during One on One meetings: Growth

• What areas of your job do you find difficult that getting better skills at would help?
• What skills do you have that you think are underutilized?
• What capabilities linked to career growth do you want to develop?
• Where do you think we can do better?

Don’t feel like you have to have all the right answers

Super User Tip: If you found this helpful, 3 Steps 2 Easy 1 on 1’s is a short, online training program that will show you more tips and best practice for having effective one on one meetings with staff. Or download your free a one on one meeting agenda.

About the Author:

Keith Tatley is a Chartered Accountant with a Yoga Teachers Training. He loves business strategy and helping people to find success in their jobs. He founded Manager Foundation to show people the real world skills they need to manage employees.