January 2024 Newsletter

Five Best Practices for Conducting Better 1-2-1 Meetings

by Tim Fulton

How often are you conducting 1-2-1 meetings with your employees?

How would you rate the effectiveness of those meetings?

How would your employees rate the effectiveness of those meetings?

I calculated recently that I have conducted over 7500 1-2-1 meetings with clients in the past 25 years. One day, I expect to hit 10,000 meetings. What have I learned about conducting these meetings?



Here are five best practices:

1. Always have a meeting agenda. It should be a collaborative effort between you and your colleague and published before the meeting. This ensures a structure to your meeting and that you are talking about what is most important to both of you.



2. Be intentional about how the meeting starts and how it ends. I often start a 1-2-1 meeting with some type of check-in. Maybe a quick review of the past month in terms of highlights and lowlights. Likewise, I usually end the meeting with a brief review of key actions for the next 30 days.

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Tim Fulton

President, Small Business Matters

FEATURED PODCAST

I recently had the privilege of appearing on "Rounding the Bases" with Joel Goldberg. Tune in to hear our discussion on small business and inspiring the next generation of business leaders.



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BOOK REVIEW

As a child, I pursued several dreams. I dreamed of going to Princeton University and becoming a famous attorney. I dreamed of making my high school basketball team and then moving my athletic talents to the collegiate level. I also dreamed of joining a rock band and traveling the world playing concerts in front of huge audiences.

I never achieved these dreams. I was too short and not good enough to play high school basketball. My grades were not good enough to get into Princeton and I had no interest in seven years of college. I never learned to play an instrument and my singing is only appropriate in the shower or on a distant Spanish trail.

While I had potential in each of these dreams, I lacked the skills needed to achieve any of them. In best-selling author Adam Grant’s newest book, Hidden Potential, he provides the reader with a framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Grant shares ample evidence, surprising insights, and great examples of how just about anyone can achieve their dreams.

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Click here to purchase your copy of The Progress Principle. This is a paid link.

TIM'S BOOKS

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DID YOU KNOW?

Remote Workers Were 24% Less Likely To Be Promoted in 2023

In December, ResumeBuilder.com surveyed 1,190 full-time employees who have a job that could feasibly be done remotely. The survey consisted of 417 remote workers, 567 hybrid workers, and 206 fully in-office workers.

Overall, we found that in 2023 remote workers were the least likely to be rewarded at work, receiving fewer promotions and raises. However, this group was equally as likely or more likely to report being more productive, happier, and less stressed than hybrid and fully in-office employees.

Key findings:

• Remote workers least likely to get promotions or raises in 2023.
• Fully in-office employees report more stress, and unhappiness at work.
• All three groups report similar levels of connectedness to their company, co-workers, and bosses.
• Half of fully in-office workers say they will look for a new job next year, compared to 36% of remote workers and 43% of hybrid workers.
• 92% of remote workers like their current work-location arrangement, compared to 35% of in-office workers and 69% of hybrid workers.

The Differences Between Men & Women

• If Laura, Suzanne, and Debra go out for lunch, they’ll call each other Laura, Suzanne, and Debra. But if Mike, Charlie, and Bob go out, they’ll refer to each other as Godzilla, Champ, and Grubby.

• A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item she doesn’t want.

• A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

• A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, a razor, soap, and a towel. The average woman has 377 items. A man wouldn’t be able to identify most of them.

“Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.

There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy”.

- Henry Kissinger