Welcome back to another issue of ‘Career Guides Weekly’ by Career Guides.
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Alright, let’s dive in!
🧠 Are You Doing Your 1-to-1s Right?
Ever find it awkward having 1-to-1s with your manager? Not sure what to talk about? Chances are you’re probably missing out on making the most of these meetings. After all, done correctly they can be a surefire way to ensure you climb the corporate ladder and progress up the ranks a lot faster.
Read on for 7 pointers worth implementing ahead of your next 1-to-1 meeting with your manager:
1. Clarify priorities and expectations
Make sure you’re on the same page as your manager when it comes to your performance and output. Check that you’re on track and meeting/exceeding expectations with existing projects and workload. If you feel overwhelmed, let them know. It’s better to be transparent and manage your workload accordingly rather than trying to do much and then eventually burning out.
Correctly prioritising workload and career goals with the buy-in of your manager is a great way of ensuring you’re both on the same page. It also means you’ll avoid any awkward surprises i.e. underperformance, at your year end review/s. Being on the same page is also a great pillar to use for bargaining later on in promotion or bonus discussions.
2. Ask for guidance and input
Use the time to get help from your manager on tasks or projects you’re struggling with, or express the need for additional resources/input/support. Flagging things early and often is better than leaving things to the last minute and creating project related disasters.
Most of us prefer not asking for support for a number of reasons, however, you can always make yourself feel good about asking for support if you try your best to ‘hit the ball out of the park’ with the end result. This tells your manager that you’re not incompetent, and you were simply stretched with a lot going on (which is totally acceptable as an ‘excuse’ to ask for help).
3. Get a better understanding of your role and how it fits into the broader organisation
It’s always good to know what’s going on in the minds of senior management (think, your managers manager) and how it might impact the future of your team/role. As such, use your 1-to-1 to find out what’s top of mind from a strategic business perspective. Doing so will also enable you to see how your day-to-day activities and the time you spend in your role over time fit into the broader business, division or bottom line.
If you're aware that senior management is contemplating restructuring certain areas of the business, and it might have adverse effects on your team, it's a good time to take a proactive approach and begin considering your next career move.
4. Seek growth opportunities and career advancement
Always go into 1-to-1s prepared i.e. have some notes in your pad that you’ll use to guide and lead the topics of conversation during the 30-60 minute meeting. It’s your job to take the lead, not your managers so be sure to display initiative and proactiveness.
Go into the meeting with both long-term (6-12 month) and short term (3-6 month) goals. Make sure that your manager is in agreement with the relevancy and alignment of the goals to your role and leave the meeting knowing exactly what you need to do next to achieve each goal.
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5. Get feedback on your performance
It’s important to get an idea of how you’re doing in order to avoid things piling up for your mid-year or end-of-year review. No need to make every 1-to-1 meeting a formal evaluation of your performance but it’s important to check in here and there and ‘calibrate’.
You want to try and be the person who is exceeding expectations in all aspects of their role, but also keen on improving even further.
6. Build a relationship
At the end of the day, your manager is a human being just like you. They have a ton of stuff going on outside of the four walls of the office you work in. They have interests, hobbies, challenges and dilemmas. Spend some time at the beginning or end of the meeting connecting with your manager personally. Building and nurturing a relationship in such a way can go a long way in your career.
7. Offer support
Always try to see how you can lend a hand to your manager for them to meet their own goals. Get curious - ask them questions that peak your interest. What are they working on? What’s proving challenging right now? Is there any way you can free up some time for them and reduce their workload? Your offer of support will rarely be taken up but sometimes it’s just the thought that counts.
That’s all for today. Be sure to implement at least 2 of the 7 points above in your next 1-to-1 meeting with your manager and let me know how it goes.
Have a great weekend!
Best,
Afzal
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