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Spotify: Out of The Hourglass - Holding Effective 1:1s

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Spotify: Out of The Hourglass - Holding Effective 1:1s

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Spotify: Transform Your Performance (Effective 1:1 Meetings)

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Spotify: Transform Your Performance (Effective 1:1 Meetings)

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5 Actions for Effective One-on-One Meetings with Team Members

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Liz Fosslien: How to embrace emotions at work

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"You can't just flip a switch when you step into the office and turn your emotions off. Feeling feelings is part of being human," says author and illustrator Liz Fosslien. She shares why selective vulnerability is the key to bringing your authentic self to work.

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TED: 5 Ways to Create Stronger Connections

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TED: 5 Ways to Create Stronger Connections

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Robert Reffkin: 5 ways to create stronger connections | TED Talk

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In a tech-obsessed culture, it can be difficult to build genuine relationships with people, especially in the workplace. Robert Reffkin shares his tips and tricks for establishing authentic connections on the job.

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Dr. LeeAnn Renninger: The Secret to Giving GREAT Feedback

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Dr. LeeAnn Renninger: The Secret to Giving GREAT Feedback

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The secret to giving great feedback | The Way We Work, a TED series

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LifeLabs Learning: Feedback Delivered Three Different Ways

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LifeLabs Learning: Feedback Delivered Three Different Ways

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Culture Amp: Why 1:1s Are Central to Meaningful Employee Engagement

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Culture Amp: Why 1:1s Are Central to Meaningful Employee Engagement

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1-on-1 meetings are more than a weekly progress check-in with your direct reports. They play a critical role in employee engagement and give employees the opportunity for communication, direction, and connection they need to meet and exceed their manager's expectations.

For managers, these meetings are just as important. They are the perfect time to sit down with direct reports, catch up on personal matters, discuss career growth, check in on progress, and identify roadblocks.

The most challenging part of leading a successful 1-on-1 meeting lies in perfecting your meeting's structure so you and your employee can maximize your time together. After all, 30 minutes doesn't leave much time for you to deviate from a packed agenda. Still, you can easily cater your meetings to each direct report to ensure they get the right balance of coaching, guidance, and camaraderie.

From questions you should ask every meeting to common pitfalls to avoid, we've put together everything you need to lead an effective 1-on-1 meeting with your direct reports:

Professional development

With 87% of millennials saying they value growth and professional development in a job, it's essential to incorporate career advancement and professional growth opportunities into your ongoing conversations. 1-on-1 meetings are the perfect time to casually and formally discuss personal and professional growth. As a manager, you want to give your direct reports ongoing feedback and identify skill gaps or improvement areas. This can help your employees focus on growing specific skills or be more conscious of their weaknesses.

You should also use these meetings as an opportunity to discuss upcoming projects, assign projects that might be in their area of interest, or give them a chance to learn new skills and get more time with senior leaders.

By investing time in understanding where their employees want to take their careers, managers can better understand how to motivate their direct reports and serve them better. Managers are crucial to ensuring employees have the resources they need to grow and feel that the company is invested in their career development. That might look like finding your employee an internal mentor, having them participate in stretch assignments, or encouraging them to take a class outside work to learn new skills.

Additional resources on professional development

Trust

1-on-1 meetings are also the perfect time to get to know your employees on a personal level and ask them how they are - how they really are. The alone time allows your employees to bring up any personal issues or come to you for help.

For example, a problem at home could be causing their performance to slip. Being aware of your employee's challenges allows you to help find an outcome that benefits both your employee and your business. You could agree on a flexible schedule that lets your employee pick their child up from school in the middle of the day or, if your company is in-office, give them the option to work from home when needed. That way, they don't have to scramble for last-minute childcare when their child wakes up sick.

That said, 1-on-1s won't always be lighthearted chit-chat or come with easy resolutions. Sometimes you'll have to have difficult conversations with your teammates. If and when these situations do arise, remember to act with empathy. Approach the topic softly, keep things objective, and rely on facts, not impressions, to coach employees toward a solution.

Additional resources on building trust

Performance

Quarterly and annual reviews are too late to check in on project progress and goals. 1-on-1s let you check in every week or every other week to better understand how things are progressing and if employees will meet, exceed, or miss their targets. This holds employees accountable and lets you address questions and concerns as they pop up and stay up-to-date on changes in project scope or direction. It also gives you a better idea of who's underperforming so you can work with that employee to understand what's causing them to fall behind and how you can help.

Additional resources on performance

Agility

Another benefit of 1-on-1 meetings is their ability to increase your team's agility. Weekly or biweekly check-ins allow you to address issues as they arise, so progress isn't stalled on significant projects. You can quickly identify and eliminate roadblocks, so projects can move forward seamlessly and stay on track to meet established deadlines.

Additionally, if a project needs to change in scope or direction, you can easily pivot from your initial idea and discuss ways to grow, shrink, or change the project design. You can also keep on top of your employees' workloads and better understand who needs more support and who is around to lend a helping hand. This can help you better allocate your team's resources and move items across the finish line faster, helping your team be more efficient and stay on track to meet goals.

Additional resources on increasing agility

All together now

If you think that's a lot to cover in a weekly 30-minute call, don't worry. The odds are you won't get to each item on this list every single week, and that's okay. 1-on-1s are meant to be dynamic and owned by you and your employee.

Each week your agenda will change and evolve based on current projects and priorities, as well as the needs of your business and your employees. Just be sure to cover these four core elements at least once a month, so you can continue investing in your employees and ensure your team is on track to meet its goals.

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Why 1-on-1s are central to meaningful employee engagement | Culture Amp

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Use regular 1-on-1 meetings to invest in an employees' growth. Read on for tips and resources for how to focus on development, trust, and agility.

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Lattice: The Ultimate Guide to Manager 1:1s

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Lattice: The Ultimate Guide to Manager 1:1s

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Managing people makes for a busy schedule. Delegating tasks, keeping track of project updates, and reporting progress to leaders takes time and flexibility. This means managers have to be intentional in how they prioritize their calendars, without forgetting to check in with each of their direct reports individually.

It can be tempting to do these check-ins asynchronously over email or Slack, but nothing can truly take the place of a one-on-one meeting: 30 minutes for managers to get real-time feedback from their direct reports, including pressing issues, new ideas, and chronic frustrations that require the nuance of face-to-face conversations.

But for managers with multiple team members, this can seem time-consuming. How can they make the most of these 30 minutes? We're breaking down everything managers need to know about running successful, meaningful, and effective one-on-ones with their team members.

What are One-on-Ones?

One-on-Ones (or 1:1s) are a regularly scheduled time for managers to check-in with direct reports.

Effective 1:1s help companies and managers understand how employees are feeling about their day-to-day work, their professional development, and the organization as a whole. These meeting are typically viewed as a management tool to increase output, track progress towards goals, and stay in touch with employees' happiness. But they should be framed as the employee's meeting rather than the manager's meeting.

Elements of an Effective 1:1

Employee-led: Individual contributors own the agenda and dictate the conversation, which provides agency and opportunities for constructive feedback.

Consistent: Meeting cadences should be regular, whether they're weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Consistency helps employees set expectations about a manager's availability, and help managers keep a regular pulse on how their team members are doing.

Comprehensive: Agendas should be a cross between day-to-day challenges, career development, job satisfaction, and anything else on the employee's mind. 1:1s are not a status update meeting. If status updates for tasks are necessary, they should be kept short (5 minutes or less).‍

Ongoing: Open-ended conversations are a feedback mechanism to help employees grow their skills and overcome challenges. 1:1s make sure performance review conversations happen more than once a year.

Why Do 1:1s Matter?

One-on-ones help employees, managers, and companies understand each other in different ways.

For employees

One-on-ones are a sacred time where employees get a manager's undivided attention. It's an opportunity to:

Clear roadblocks. Managers can provide perspective and context to help employees overcome challenges in their projects. 1:1s give employees an opportunity to get advice from managers solve problems in a candid, safe space.

Gather feedback. Submitting work without receiving feedback can lead to confused or misguided employees. 1:1s are an opportunity for employees to talk with managers about their productivity and output to understand how to improve and get recognition when they did a great job.

Discuss career growth. Employees with a growth mindset may have questions about developing new skills or the next step in their career progression. 1:1s are a touch point for having regular, transparent conversations about career development to learn now to unlock the next level of their role or specialization.

Share feelings and ideas. Building a meaningful, supportive relationship with a manager means employees feel empowered to share their thoughts and ideas about the company, their team and their workflow. 1:1s are an appropriate, private forum for them to share feelings (good and bad) and bounce ideas off their manager.

For managers

Managers are often evaluated by the performance of their team: the greater the team output, the more successful the manager. It's the job of the manager to provide advice and help their team cross the finish line. The challenge for managers is that time is scarce; managers are responsible for so much work that they have to delegate to the team. This dynamic means managers must focus on high-leverage activities, actions that have an exponential rate of return on investment. By having frequent 1:1s, managers are able to:

Help employees overcome challenges. 1:1s are a safe space for employees to express concerns or needs with solving problems in their workload. Managers should lean into their working relationship with each employee to empower their skills development and capacity to overcome challenges.

Steer employees down the right path. Recurring meetings are an informal touch-point for managers to guide their team to success. Because 1:1s are more open-ended than status updates or reports, managers can provide mentorship and valuable guidance to align employee growth with team goals and OKRs.

Uncover new ideas or improvements. Empowering employees to own the meeting agenda can encourage them to bring up new ideas or opportunities for innovation. In return, managers can decide to escalate potential improvements to leadership, or support employees in solving problems themselves without feeling like they're being micro-managed.

Build trust with their team members. During these conversations, managers have an opportunity to make employees feel valued and make sure their concerns about the workplace are addressed. Asking open-ended questions can help build trust and accountability between managers and employees, which leads to more engaged and satisfied workforce.

For companies

One-on-ones are the essential building blocks of your company communications. They provide a communication architecture for escalating problems all the way up to executive leadership. Without well-designed structures for communication and valuable information about key challenges, ideas and innovation may fall through the cracks. This free flow of ideas helps keep your company moving forward and makes employees feel empowered. When employees at every level are participating in regular 1:1s, companies holistically benefit in several ways:

Employee engagement: When companies invest in the structure and culture that comes from regular 1:1s, employees are more likely to reflect on their past week of productivity and needs, and are more engaged in their day-to-day work.

Talent retention: Workers feel important and valued when they are confident their voices and contributions matter. Having managers spend time recognizing their employees' needs and contributions shows employees the company cares about their team goals and career goals.

High-performing teams. Meaningful communication and engagement helps managers keep a pulse on their team's growth and productivity. When managers are well-informed and employees are empowered to share feedback, teams can achieve their goals more effectively.

Across the board, investing in 1:1s ensures employees get the training they need to overcome work challenges, receive recognition for significant achievements, and they get the support they need when dealing with personal issues.

How to Run a Successful One-on-One

Just having a regular meeting cadence isn't enough. 1:1s have to be meaningful and mutually beneficial. A few things for managers to keep in mind when having one-on-ones with your team members:

1. Make it about them.

Remember that the meeting is about the employee: how they're feeling about work, current challenges, innovative ideas, career aspirations, and aptitudes for growth. The entire conversation should be focused on the employee to show them you're hearing what they're saying, giving them the continuous feedback (and recognition) they deserve, and demonstrating how the company values their contributions.

Start by asking what's on the their mind. Employees should own the meeting agenda and generally dictate the flow of the conversation, but when the discussion starts to slow down, it's on the manager to ask employee-centric questions that touch on key issues. This is especially important for creating a sense of psychological safety so employees know they can share what matters most to them.

2. Create a schedule and stick to it.

In the day-to-day shuffle, it's easy to think about 1:1s as non-essential meetings, especially when they're not directly related to the bottom line or client work. But the opposite is true: A 30-minute conversation with your employee can go a long way in making sure they're on track and happy with their job.

Most 1:1s last between 30 and 60 minutes. Put the time on your calendar and do your best to not cancel. If for some reason you can't make it, always reschedule. Not only will this show employees that they're a top priority but will also improve the work product and efficiency of the team.

3. Ask for an agenda.

Productive meetings take preparation and 1:1s are no exception. Since it's the employees meeting, it's on them to own the agenda and prepare ahead of time. The employee should decide how they want to use the time with their manager.

At Lattice, we've found it helpful to have consistent opening questions each week to get the conversation flowing:

What did you focus on this week?

What are your plans and priorities for next week?

What challenges or roadblocks do you need help with?

Is there anything else on your mind?

For more ideas about what to ask during 1:1s, download our agenda templates for remote 1:1 questions and manager 1:1 agendas.

4. Help them open up.

Often times the conversation during a 1:1 stagnates - perhaps a slow week resulted in no roadblocks, or a new hire feels hesitant about being candid. This is where it's time for the manager to ask questions rooted in empathy and care. Some questions we've found effective:

Short and Long Term Goals

Company Improvement

Career Development

Manager Suggestions

Job Satisfaction

Besides asking leading questions, another effective strategy to help employees open up is a change in scenery - go for a walk, get a cup of coffee, walk around an art museum. This change of pace can help managers build stronger relationships, which will help employees comfortable enough to open up.

5. Take Notes and Follow Up

If you're running a successful 1:1 as a manager, then each week you'll uncover different challenges and insights about the employee, such as a desire to grow a new skill or a problem they're experiencing on a particular project. It's essential to follow up on any issues in subsequent 1:1s. This shows you truly care about their concerns because you took the time (and remembered) to address their needs.

Take notes during every meeting, so you remember the issues raised and appropriate action items. At Lattice, we use our check-in tool to add structure, take meeting notes, and help managers follow up, but a running Google doc also works. No matter where you're taking notes, make sure to close the feedback loop by following up about important findings.

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Lattice helps teams manage performance with seamless feedback integration and meaningful structures for employee-manager check-ins. To learn more about effective meeting strategies that drive performance and development, download our ebook How to Use Performance Management to Inspire Employee Growth.

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The Ultimate Guide to Manager One-on-Ones

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Strengthen manager-employee relationships with a weekly 1:1.

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Sloane Management: 5 Ways to Make Your 1:1 Meetings More Effective

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Sloane Management: 5 Ways to Make Your 1:1 Meetings More Effective

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Five Ways to Make Your One-on-One Meetings More Effective

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The author shares science-backed steps to help managers better structure meetings and build trust with direct reports.

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HBR: 28 Questions to Ask Your Boss in Your 1:1s

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HBR: 28 Questions to Ask Your Boss in Your 1:1s

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Good one-on-one meetings between managers and their direct reports address the practical and personal needs of the employee, benefitting their performance, growth, and well-being, as well as the success of their team and the broader organization. However, since managers are typically the ones who run these meetings, the employee's needs are often forgotten. Then it's up to the employee to ask questions to get the attention they need. The authors' research points to twenty-eight questions that can drive the best conversations.

When she started a new role, Brianna was told she would be having regular one-on-one meetings (1:1s) with her manager, Jayden. She welcomed this news; she saw it as a great opportunity to get aligned with and supported and mentored by her new boss. But her hopes were quickly dashed. In their initial meeting, Jayden focused only on project updates and then assigned her a few additional tasks. This pattern continued over the weeks and Brianna routinely left their meetings feeling both micro-managed and unsupported in her development.

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28 Questions to Ask Your Boss in Your One-on-Ones

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Good one-on-one meetings between managers and their direct reports address the practical and personal needs of the employee, benefitting their performance, growth, and well-being, as well as the success of their team and the broader organization. However, since managers are typically the ones who run these meetings, the employee's needs are often forgotten.

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HBR: Cancelling 1:1 Meeting Destroys Your Productivity

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HBR: Cancelling 1:1 Meeting Destroys Your Productivity

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We all can agree that we have too many meetings. From the one-off event to the weekly check-in with an employee, meetings are taking an increasing amount of time in our daily work. But removing meetings from your calendar isn't always the best way to take back your time.

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Cancelling One-on-One Meetings Destroys Your Productivity

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Regular check-ins save time in the long run.

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Quantum Workplace: The Best 1:1 Meeting Frequency According to Research

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Quantum Workplace: The Best 1:1 Meeting Frequency According to Research

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One-on-one meetings between employees and managers are important. When conducted frequently, these meetings can serve as a valuable tool to bolster alignment, strengthen engagement, and drive employee growth.

One challenge managers often have with one-on-one meetings is figuring out the right meeting cadence. How often should you have one on one meetings? What's the right balance for checking in with employees? What cadence is most engaging?

Read more to uncover our research and find an effective one-on-one frequency for each employee.

Why one-on-one meetings matter

One-on-ones are key to building strong relationships between managers and employees. Emails and instant messages are effective for the little things-like task updates and quick follow-ups-but one-on-one meetings are key to addressing roadblocks, boosting employee growth, increasing strategic alignment, and strengthening employee engagement.

One-on-ones equip employees with the tools they need to perform at their best. Without regular one-on-ones, employees may lack direction in their role. But with regular one-on-ones, you'll reap many benefits -employees can better mitigate challenges, narrow their skills gaps, and understand available growth opportunities.

Plus, one-on-ones strengthen an employee's connection to their work. When managers have a strong relationship with their employees, employees are better motivated to give their all-day in and day out. Your employees will genuinely care about the success of your business, and will be more aligned, engaged, and productive.

The optimal frequency for one-on-one meetings

Employees and managers meet at a variety of frequencies, making it tough to measure which cadence is the most effective. In fact, our research shows that:

38% of employees have weekly one-on-ones

19% of employees have monthly one-on-ones

8% of employees have quarterly one-on-ones

6% of employees have one-on-ones 2-3 times a year

7% of employees have one-on-ones annually

18% of employees have one-on-ones as needed.

This shows what employees and managers are doing now for one-on-one meetings. But what do employees prefer?

Our research shows that employees want weekly one-on-one meetings with their managers. Weekly one-on-ones strengthen the connection between managers and employees and enable them to discuss and respond to opportunities and obstacles in real-time. If managers can't meet weekly with each employee, the next best option is monthly.

Our research also shows that different one-on-one meeting cadences impact levels of employee engagement. The engagement data matches with what employees want. The most engaged employees have weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings with their managers.

How to determine a one-on-one meeting cadence that works for you

While it's important to prioritize one-on-ones at least monthly, everyone is different. Consider you and your employees' individual needs to determine the best meeting cadence for you. Here are some tips to find a frequency that works:

1. Consider the number of direct reports you have.

The one-on-one frequency you adopt has to be realistic and attainable, or you're likely to burn out and lack consistency. If you have a large team, it's unrealistic to conduct a weekly, hour-long one-on-one with each employee-you'll fill up your entire work week. Find a cadence that meets employees' needs but still gives you the time you need to conduct business as usual.

2. Set one-on-one goals.

Determine the goals you want to accomplish with each one-on-one conversation . Perhaps you want to coach performance, build relationships, or discuss employee goals . Your priorities-and their connection to business success-can help you identify individuals who need an increased one-on-one frequency.

3. Try out different frequencies.

It's important to stay open minded with your one-on-one cadence. At first, managers should try out different cadences. If you think your employees' time could've been leveraged better outside of a meeting, consider reducing your frequency. If you think your employees would benefit from more one-on-ones, consider increasing your frequency. Be flexible and continually make adjustments as things change.

4. Request employee feedback.

It's important to keep a pulse on your employees' one-on-one meeting needs. During your meetings, ask employees if they think your current cadence is working, or if they prefer more or less one-on-ones. This feedback will help you ensure every meeting is effective and helpful for your employees.

5. Be consistent.

While it's important to stay adaptable, consistency is key. Once you choose a frequency that works, avoid rescheduling or canceling meetings. Managers should determine a day and time of the week that works for each employee and stick to it. That way, employees can prepare for your conversations and aren't left with issues that need to be addressed.

How to optimize your one-on-one meetings

Holding regular, effective one-on-one meetings can be tough without the right tools. Luckily, one-on-one meeting software can streamline your strategy to keep managers and employees connected and aligned. The right software will facilitate your conversations to increase employee and business success. With a robust platform, you can:

Launch a 1-on-1 from anywhere, at any time

Visualize cross-platform performance activity to provide adequate coaching

Integrate goals and feedback features for better conversations

Create templates to guide your conversations

Automate 1-on-1 cycles to stay on track

An integrated one-on-one platform helps managers focus on what matters, facilitating the conversations that are key to your business. With the right tools, you can boost performance, increase trust, promote accountability, and drive success with ongoing one-on-ones.

Now that you have the background you need for ideal one-on-one meeting frequencies, understand what questions to ask. Download our Big Book of 350 One-on-one Meeting Questions to fuel your conversations.

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The Best One-on-One Meeting Frequency According to Research

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Finding an optimal one-on-one frequency can be tough. Read more to discover our research and engage your employees with an effective one-on-one cadence.

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Forbes: The Benefits of Employee 1:1  & the 3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Them

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Forbes: The Benefits of Employee 1:1  & the 3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Them

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Companies are struggling to find a balance between automation and a human-centric approach to their employee experience. Automating processes can save time and money but if not used thoughtfully can negatively impact retention, productivity and employee engagement.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders, author ofHow to Invest Your Time Like Moneyand founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training states employee "one-on-ones are one of the most important productivity tools you have as a manager." Applications such as make it easy to automate check-ins and elicit feedback from employees on a weekly basis. Managers tend to fail when they rely solely on these platforms without scheduling face-to-face meetings with their employees.

When it comes to the development of employees, the human element can never fully be replaced . Face-to-face meetings allow managers to ask probing questions, sense body language and gauge responses while creating a personalized touch showing the employee their feedback, concerns and growth are valued.

When conducted properly, they're a valuable way to build trust with employees. For new hires, they help establish a relationship with their manager and gain a deeper understanding of how the business operates, receive guidance on their career goals and questions. For tenured employees, this helps train them on how to get what they need from their manager and team.
Create a Flow that Prioritizes the Employee's Needs
Most employees dread one-on-one meetings with their manager because they believe it to be equivalent to a report card on their performance or an opportunity for their manager to increase their workload. Managers can reduce these fears by collaborating with the employee to set a clear agenda of what they wish to cover during their meeting. This gives the employee the opportunity to revise as needed giving them dedicated meeting time to air their thoughts and concerns. Employees should be encouraged to prepare for these meetings ahead of time so they don't risk forgetting important discussion points.

James Meincke, Senior Marketing Manager at recommends establishing separate meetings for performance evaluations and using the one-on-ones to focus on development. Meincke has experienced great success by keeping the meetings casual with open-ended questions such as "tell me how things are going?", "how can I support you on this project?", "where are you currently struggling at the moment?" and letting the conversation unfold organically.

Founder and CEO of Spoonfed Motivation, Cherita Weatherspoon, prioritizes employees' agenda first to ensure they have the opportunity to get through their discussion points. Otherwise, they'd have to schedule another meeting or would feel too discouraged to address their points in the future. As an executive leader, Weatherspoon has found how to get the most from her one-on-ones with her employees.

She starts by spending a few minutes asking how they're doing and acknowledging significant events in their personal life that could impact their professional life. She then transitions into giving the employee a platform to brag about their progress and goal achievements. Next, she leads into general updates on projects they're working on and challenges or concerns they have.

Once those points have been addressed, Weatherspoon shifts the conversation into future goals, identifying any challenges and creating actionable steps to overcome them. She ends the discussion by wrapping up with anything additional that wasn't mentioned and establishing their next point of contact, whether through informal check-ins throughout the week or setting up their next one-on-one.
Lead with Strengths and Weave in Opportunities
The greatest mistake people make when leading conversations is immediately putting employees on the defensive by starting with the negatives. When people go on the defensive they block out everything else immediately following the criticism even if the remainder is praise.

Managers can prevent putting employees on the defensive by highlighting recent contributions, achievements and any successes. Focusing on what is working helps to make them feel good about the work they're doing and eager to tackle their weaknesses. Whereas, if a manager starts off with their failures and struggles, it knocks them down making it almost impossible to pick them back up and motivate them again.

As the new generations drive the workforce, managers must find ways to keep motivation and engagement high through a strategic delivery of strengths, personal development and areas of improvement. Tomer Yogev of TandemSpring says managers can coach employees to become high performers by helping them focus on doing more of what works while leveraging their strengths to improve their weaknesses.
Develop a Two-Way Communication Loop
Brian Zotti of Trilogy Education Services, Inc. , invites managers to make the one-on-one a two-way street where they ask for feedback from the employee on how they can be more effective to them as a manager. The key is being open and acknowledging the feedback, making a commitment to putting the pieces in action that make sense and following up with the employee to gain perspective on the impact it's made.

Establish actionable steps moving forward and make sure everyone involved has a thorough understanding of their expectations. Sending a recap email as a reminder after the meeting is an effective way to keep tasks at the top of mind. This provides a paper trail of progress on both ends and an easy reference point for evaluations. Managers should take the lead in following up with the employee between one-on-ones to check-in, offer support and clear up any misunderstandings.

The role of a manager is to provide coaching to improve employee performance and help guide them to achieve professional goals and milestones. The benefit of in-person one-on-ones is the ability to ask clarifying and more personalized questions and making sure all of their points are addressed. A successful one-on-one gives actionable steps in a continuous effort to develop the employee to their highest potential. Everyone walks away feeling positive about their responsibilities with the confidence they're on the same page in achieving their goals together.

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The Benefits Of Employee One-On-Ones And 3 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Them

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Three simple and effective strategies to get the most out of one-on-ones and building trust with employees.

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Fearless Culture: The Power of Clarifying Questions

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Fearless Culture: The Power of Clarifying Questions

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An introduction to clarifying questions - and why your colleagues should use them more often

The quality of your team's conversations is directly correlated to the questions people ask. It has never been more important to facilitate fruitful discussions. Unfortunately, proper questioning has become a lost art. The rush to act now - to keep up to speed with the fast-moving world - leads us to poor decision-making.

Great leaders avoid jumping to conclusions or assumptions; they rely on powerful questions to understand the facts before passing judgment. Clarifying questions help leaders understand what others are saying - they can better understand a problem, identify new solutions, and evaluate alternatives.

In today's world, organizations need to think more than ever. Regardless of whether you are a leader or team member, active listening can improve communication and, above all, collaboration.

Here's how to improve your team's conversations by asking better clarifying questions.

What Are Clarifying Questions? (And Why They Improve Active Listening)

Most people think being a good listener comes down to paying attention, not interrupting the speaker, and being able to repeat back what they said. However, we've got it all wrong, according to research.

Good listening is not about being a passive observer engaging in fruitful conversations. Questions turn the "speaker versus hearer" division into a dialogue, making everyone feel heard and thrilled.

Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman reflect on their research findings: "While many of us have thought of being a good listener being like a sponge that accurately absorbs what the other person is saying, instead, what these findings show is that good listeners are like trampolines. They are someone you can bounce ideas off of - and rather than absorbing your ideas and energy, they amplify, energize, and clarify your thinking."

Questions make your colleagues feel supported and help them refine their ideas or opinions. Good listening is a cooperative conversation.

Asking questions means you want to learn. They improve dialogue and minimize any misunderstanding, confusion, or ambiguity. Clarifying questions help us become better listeners by encouraging us to seek more information, rather than assuming we understand.

For example, instead of reacting to a team member's idea with, "That's a terrible idea," you could ask, "Can you tell me what inspired you to come up with this idea?" or "How do you think it will help solve our customers' problems?"

Clarifying questions also provide feedback to the speaker, indicating which parts of their message were unclear. If you're confused, asking for more details will provide clues about what's missing. For example, ask, "Can you explain more about what it would take to implement this new process you just described?"

There are two types of clarifying questions:

‍Open questions: They ask the speaker to elaborate on a certain part of their message. Most of them have the form of when, why, where, or how types of questions and encourage the speaker to openly expand their thoughts and ideas.‍

Validation questions: They simply reiterate a part of the message and invite the speaker to confirm or not what or whether the listener understood.

Effective team conversations require building off each other's solutions. Uncover the value of an idea before discarding it simply because you didn't understand or like it at first glance.

There are four types of questions (I cover this in the bonus section at the end of this article). However, for now, I want to focus on two: Clarifying and Probing.

Probing questions can come across as confrontational or critical, discouraging open dialogue. Clarifying questions provide a pause, delaying the urge to jump to reactions, while probing questions offer judgment. We want to encourage the first and avoid the latter.

Unfortunately, people usually use probing questions when presented with a new concept or opinion - very few teams leverage the power of clarifying questions.

Here's a comparison of both types of questions with some examples.

Great questions aim not to judge what's been said but to keep the conversation going. Often, at work, we minimize, underestimate, and even attack other people's ideas because we got them all wrong.

We end up judging our interpretation of the idea - not what the other person actually said.

Clarifying questions help team members truly listen to each other. Some of their benefits are:

1. They help you clarify instructions from your manager or colleague

2. They allow you to fill in the gaps so you can understand the whole picture

3. They encourage speakers to be clearer and more specific

4. They promote a fluid dialogue between speakers and listeners

5. They train you to practice active listening

So, why are clarifying questions so important?

The Benefits of Asking Clarifying Questions

Companies have realized that leaders who ask good questions are more valuable than those who want to have all the answers. As I explained in a previous post, facilitating courageous and productive conversations is a valuable leadership skill.

Research shows that the demand for executives who listen empathetically, welcome input, and rally people around a shared future is increasing.

A team of Harvard Business School Professors, who analyzed thousands of executive job search descriptions created over 17 years, found that the demand for social skills is increasing in every category of the economy.

Headhunters and corporate recruiters want executives who can:

Actively listen to others

Empathize genuinely with others' experiences

Persuade people to work toward a common goal

Communicate clearly

Misunderstandings can happen more often in a hybrid workplace as I explain in my book Remote, Not Distant. If we're not careful, issues can get blown out of proportion because we assume rather than try to understand what the other person meant.

Asking clarifying questions before assessing an idea or opinion has many benefits. Let's review the most important advantages.

To pause instead of jumping to conclusions

Asking clarifying questions is a choice to go beyond the superficial. Getting more information, details, or context prevents your team from making poor decisions. It encourages us to assume positive intent - rather than judging, we want to learn more.

This is crucial to turn feedback into a gift. Feedback givers should ask questions to help the receiver reflect on the feedback received; receivers must use clarifying questions to ensure they got the right message instead of jumping to conclusions.

To better understand a position or idea

Clarifying questions are also a good way to properly understand the nuances of someone's opinion. By asking open clarifying questions, the listener pushes the speaker to explain their thoughts or elaborate on their ideas - usually ending in an improved version of the original concept.

To explore ideas outside of our comfort zone

How many times have you felt uncomfortable when someone is sharing a novel idea? It's easier to criticize the idea than to realize that it's our mental frame that needs to be revisited. Asking clarifying questions facilitates our journey - to move from resistance to acceptance.

Often, a set of questions can help you tackle a large problem in small chunks. Follow-up questions make it easier to understand a complex problem or solution. Great ideas are the result of smart questions, while fixed statements often justify our resistance to change. Use clarifying questions to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

To help colleagues think through their ideas

Great questions can help challenge not only your assumptions but also those of the idea owner. It's natural to fall in love with one's thoughts and fail to see what's missing. Great clarifying questions help people reflect not only on the solution but also on how and why it was created.

Asking questions can help teammates consider other angles, uncover the purpose behind a solution, and dive deeper into implementation details.

To elevate the quality of the conversation

Good leaders think like good detectives: they use questions to get to the truth, often tapping into distinct sources. Asking clarifying questions not only helps the originator to think through their ideas but also promotes collaboration - team members feel compelled to elevate the original idea.

Gathering information from diverse sources is vital to make effective decisions - and to drive innovation. Clarifying questions help receivers better understand someone else's thoughts or opinions by encouraging active listening. Asking clarifying questions elevates the quality of the conversation, welcoming the team to think like detectives.

Above all, clarifying questions lead to smarter solutions. Replace judgment with questions that aim to build rather than obstruct.

Clarifying Questions Help Teams Make Better Decisions

Communication is one of the most important leadership skills - it's critical for successful team collaboration. However, listening is hard work. We all fail to master this precious skill.

A study of over 8,000 people found that virtually all respondents believed that they communicate as effectively or more effectively than their co-workers. How can it be possible that everyone is above average? It's simple: we all overrate our ability to be good listeners. On average, we all listen at only about 25% efficiency.

Identifying gaps in your understanding is the first step toward having better conversations - and decisions.

I was first introduced to the power of clarifying questions when I learned how to facilitate the Integrative-Decision Making method - also known as consent (don't confuse it with consensus - check the differences here).

The more I facilitate the Integrative-Decision Making (IDM) method with consulting clients or workshop participants, the more I'm convinced that asking clarifying questions is a vital instrument of conversational acumen.

Team members rarely ask others to expand on an opinion or further describe an idea. They usually jump to judgment. Then, when they do ask questions, their intent is not to seek understanding but to express an opinion or judgment.

The IDM process includes a step to prevent this from happening. Each participant canof pose one or more clarifying questions after hearing a proposal from a colleague. This practice encourages people to listen and, most importantly, to fully understand an idea before criticizing it.

During this step, only clarifying questions are welcome - opinions or reactions disguised as questions should not be allowed.

Let me share a real-life example from one of our decision-making workshops. The team leader shared a proposal and I used the IDM to facilitate a productive conversation between all members.

Proposal: "I want to shift our team's schedule to adopt a four-day workweek, working 9 hours per day instead of 8, as we currently do."

Clarifying questions

Here are some of the questions that the team shared with the leader. He answered them all one-at-a-time often prompting follow-up questions to seek further clarification. Notice how people look for understanding or additional details - there weren't just repeating what the leader said.

When are we starting with the new workweek and how will we manage the transition to the new model?

Why a four-day week?

Can team members choose the days they work or must everyone follow the same schedule?

How will we manage clients' expectations (that we'll deliver support five days a week)?

Is this an experiment or are we going all in into a four-day workweek?

Will the team workload be adjusted to the new schedule?

Avoid opinions disguised as questions

Following are some questions that were rejected because they were opinions, not real questions - the intent wasn't to learn more about the proposal but rather to question its validity.

Don't you think that reducing the workweek will harm productivity? (I'm worried about the current workload and this will make things worse).

How are we going to track that people are working 9 hours a day instead of 8? (I don't trust people are going to work without control mechanisms).

Shouldn't we involve the whole team and do more research before moving forward? (I'd rather delay this proposal)

What happens if it doesn't work? Are we going to stick to the new model or go back to a five-day workweek? (I don't think this proposal will work in the long run).

The facilitator must push back when people are expressing their opinions, encouraging them to use clarifying questions instead.

If you're curious about how the whole consent method works, check this post.

The Quality of Questions Improves Team Conversations

Great leaders lead with questions, not perfect answers. They tap into collective wisdom, leveraging people's unique views, backgrounds, and expertise.

Clarifying questions are a powerful tool for team collaboration, as they encourage active listening and understanding rather than jumping to conclusions or reacting. They also tackle both ends of the (miss)communication spectrum: lack of clarity from the speaker or lack of understanding from the receiver.

To use clarifying questions effectively in team collaboration, everyone should be aware of the different types of questions - prioritize using clarifying ones over probing questions. Make a conscious effort to ask clarifying questions during team meetings and discussions and encourage others to do the same.

Clarifying questions support learning, decision-making, and conflict resolution. They invite in new information, provide transparency, and get everyone on the same page. They can help your team reframe problems, generate new solutions, and evolve existing ones.

Most importantly, clarifying questions help build trust by replacing judgment with curiosity.

Effective team conversations are vital to uncover possibilities, build on each other's ideas, and accelerate innovation. Often, misunderstanding and judgment get in the way, blocking dialogue and exploration. Asking clarifying questions is a simple way to have healthier debates and elevate the quality of your team conversations.

Reach out if you need help coaching your team to ask better questions and have better conversations - or enjoy this article's bonus below.

[Bonus] The Four Types of Questions

Different types of questions generate different types of answers - and responses. Great leaders understand the four different types of questions and which to use when.

Clarifying questions aim to better understand what the speaker is saying - and their intent - before we jump to conclusions. Examples: "Can you tell me more?"

"How will it work?" "What do you mean by?" "Can you give me an example?"

Probing questions challenge the speaker's views or ideas - often to criticize or highlight flaws. While effective in certain contexts, they usually shut people down. Examples: "Do you think this is going to work? Why?" "How do you know your assumption is true? What if the opposite is true?" "Why haven't you considered X, Y, and Z instead?" "Can I play the devil's advocate?"

Avoid asking probing questions before the team has completed the clarifying questions phase. Ideally, ask exploratory questions - even generative ones - before getting into probing ones.

Exploratory questions help consider different scenarios and possibilities. They are a recommended next step once you completed the clarifying question round. Examples: "What are the long-term effects?" "Will this work in all scenarios?" "Are we addressing the right problem?"

Generative questions identify new solutions or improve upon existing ones. Jumping into generative questions too early in the conversation could create friction as the proposer could feel their idea is not worthy. I often recommend generative questions when a team member is stuck and needs input or after completing the clarification questions or exploratory questions rounds.

Examples: "What other possible solutions can we consider?" "What better ways can we develop to solve this problem?" "Instead of solving for this specific problem, what systemic issues should we solve for?"

Clarifying and probing questions help us zoom in on a proposal or idea - the former to better understand, the latter to evaluate.

Exploratory and generative questions help us zoom out and see the bigger picture - the former to consider different scenarios, the latter to discover and explore new solutions.
Article by Gustavo Razzetti, CEO of Fearless Culture
Gustavo facilitates courageous conversations that drive culture transformation. He is a sought-after speaker, culture consultant, and best-selling author of the book Remote, Not Distant.

Razzetti is also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas - a visual and practical method for intentionally designing workplace culture. His insights were featured in Psychology Today, The New York Times, Forbes, and BBC.

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The Power of Clarifying Questions - And How to Improve Team Conversations | By Gustavo Razzetti

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The quality of your team's conversations is directly correlated to the questions people ask. It has never been more important to facilitate fruitful discussions. Unfortunately, proper questioning has become a lost art. The rush to act now - to keep up to speed with the fast-moving world - leads us to poor decision-making.

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🌱 Recommended Conversation Topics & Questions 🌱

<aside> ❤️‍🔥 Below you will find some recommended topics/questions for your weekly 1:1 dialog with your leader. It is important that you are prepared with any priorities or topics that are important to your work and development.

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Recurring questions (Ask these often!)

Playbacks / split-tracks: So, it sounds like there are two issues, x and y. Which should we focus on first?

Deblur questions: What does X mean to you?

**SOON questions:** What does Success look like? What are the Obstacles? Options? Next steps?

Small talk / purposeful connection

How are you? How was your week? Weekend? How's your family / pet / hobby?

What can I help with to improve your work / life balance by 10%?

On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with how the week went? What's been on your mind?

Questions to understand their motivators / drivers

When do you feel you are at your best? What conditions create it?

Which part of your work is most energizing? Least energizing? What do you wish you could do less of? More of?

What area under your responsibility are you most satisfied with? Least satisfied with?

What would you say your biggest strengths are? What % of time do you get to use them? How can we increase that?

What can you do now that you couldn't do six months ago? How did you learn that?

Questions to develop long-term goals

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1:1 Conversation Topics | Questions | Notion

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🌱 Recommended Conversation Topics & Questions 🌱

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