LeaderLab: Enriching the 1-1

A regular, predictable and purposeful conversation is possibly the most readily available tool for modern managers keen to enable connection, resilience and performance.

But when you talk to teams, or read exit interviews, low-quality (or worse, a lack of) 1-1s are common, and often a motivation for people to move on. With busy schedules and teams more distributed than ever, it's easy for 1-1s to slip down a manager's priorities, drop in frequency and lack purpose, which is a massive missed trick. We hear endlessly from team members that they crave the kind of certainty that these conversations can create.

And we also know from studying the behaviours of the most effective managers, across the hundreds of organisations we support, that those who establish a realistic rhythm of structured 1-1s, and defend the time to have them, drive disproportionate impact in their teams.

The good news is that actionable insights and practical tools are all that's needed to motivate managers to get more inventive with their 1-1s. Once they start to experience quick-wins, and notice the impact on others, they become hungry for more. LeaderLab session is all about openly examining and sharing the best of them.

Drawing on the seminal work on self-determination by Richard Ryan and Edward Deci — simply put: why we do what we do — managers can link to the levers of Autonomy, Relatedness and Competency, three things we all want to experience more of in our work. We call this the 'ARC of Engagement', and great things happen when managers are intentional in practically creating these feelings.

Embracing the 'ARC of engagement'

Within the context of regular 1-1 conversations, there are plenty of small, intentional ways that managers can satisfy our natural craving to experience these emotional states. Understanding that we have choice, that we're connected to other people, and that we're continually improving, helps team members to visualise the progress they're making, and creates agency through deliberate coaching questions using 'connected language' to show how tasks relate to wider organisational goals and provides crystal clear developmental feedback on what's working well.

In this open and collaborative 60 minute session, we'll examine these levers in greater detail, share evidence of impact and lift the lid on some of the most high-impact micro-techniques for bringing them into 1-1s.

We'll actively pull in the perspectives of those along, and point to resources that encourage onward experimentation and paying things forward in your teams.

Who this LeaderLab session is for:

We use the language of leadership and management interchangeably, and this session is for those leading/managing others — whether continually, or on a project basis — that are keen to bring more impact to those relationships through richer 1-1s.