The One-on-One: Part Four

The fourth question in the One-on-One template makes it clear to see how you, the manager, are guiding your team member along, crafting a narrative, telling a story that has continuity and makes sense.

You started by helping your team member recognize what motivates them, what tasks or opportunities they want to find more of in their every-day work. Then, you moved them through what they find frustrating or what areas of improvement are for the team or for them. You followed that with finding out what they want to learn, where they want to grow. Now, it’s time to figure out what to do with all that information.

Time for Question 4: What do you need from me to ensure your success?

This question has been strategically placed following the questions about Loves, Frustrations, and Development in order to hone in on how your team member envisions you partnering with them to improve their life at work, to create more opportunities to find the things they love, to improve their working environment or relationships, to grow themself into a more effective person and employee.

Answers to this question will range quite a bit. And sometimes, I will prompt with options like —

1. Are there any blockers you need help removing? What role do you think I can play in that?
2. Is there anything you need to process through out loud (I can be a rubber ducky!)?
3. You mentioned ______. Is that something you want to work on or do you think it would help if I got involved? How do you plan to tackle that issue?
4. You mentioned ______. What do you think is the best way to solve this problem? Is that something you want to spearhead or do you think it will land better with the team coming from me?
5. Are there any networking relationships you would like to create? People you want me to introduce you to?
6. Is there a part of the organization you want to learn more about?
7. Is there a webinar, conference, or training you want to attend?

But most often, I find that after talking through the first three questions, many team members have more clarity on how they want to move forward and then can more easily envision and articulate how they may need to leverage your partnership to achieve their goals.

What is absolutely CRITICAL, however, is that you:

DO what you say you will do.

This will make a deep impact on the trust you are building with your team member. So do not over commit yourself. Be honest and explicitly clear with your team member about what actions you are taking and what actions you expect from them. Report back on your actions and ask for the same from them. I will often say,

“Is there anything I said I would do that I haven’t reported back to you on?”

This helps me be honest with myself and my team member as well as makes sure my team member knows if I’ve missed anything it’s out of genuine forgetfulness and not mis-prioritization of their needs.

Remember, this is a partnership. You are not here to solve all their problems. You are here to support them to the best of your ability. And sometimes your ability could be hampered by:

• the structure or red tape of your organization
• your own relationships, position, or status within the organization
• your team member’s position, time in position, or overall visibility within the organization

It’s okay to talk about these challenges openly with your team members. They may one day be in your shoes, managing a team at the same organization, and they will need to know how to navigate the specifics that you are dealing with. Your keys are: Transparency, Follow Through, and Accountability.

All right, it’s almost here, y’all: The final question in the One-on-One!

Look out for my next post in the series, The One-on-One: Part Five.

Follow the entire One-on-One Series here.