A Manager’s Checklist for Employee Check-Ins

We often discuss the topic of employee ‘check-ins’ (or one-on-one meetings, progress meetings, sit-downs, etc.) in our blog or with our clients. No matter what it’s called, increasing the frequency and quality of employee performance conversations remains a priority for most companies today.

Some companies have mandated weekly employee check-ins, some schedule them as needed, others ask managers to ensure meetings are complete after every project, and other companies schedule formal check-ins throughout the year. Regardless of the frequency of these conversations, their purpose remains the same: keep the lines of communication open between managers and employees in order to engage and manage performance effectively.

The more employees and managers can communicate, the better they will be able to work together to accomplish goals, develop skills, and give/receive feedback. Although check-ins should appear relatively casual to employees, managers should follow a loose structure to ensure this time spent remains valuable and drives action.

We thought it would be handy to prepare a checklist of discussion points and conversation starters that managers could use to make the most of check-ins with employees.

Conducting Effective One-on-One Meetings

Before the meeting: Prepare

Nothing is worse than going into a meeting with a manager that comes off as uninvested or unprepared. Take 5 minutes to prepare before the meeting. Managers should easily access and skim past meeting notes and performance if you are using a central location or tool for goal tracking, feedback, and/or journal/meeting notes.

Review any notes taken during the last meeting to get up to speed on any planned deliverables.
Review the employee’s list of goals and projects to see if there are any due or running off course.
Make a note of important department or company changes that should be discussed.
Review any feedback sent/received to identify any discussion points.
Unplug from other activities so the employee knows they have your complete focus.

During the Meeting: Possible Discussion Points

The bonus of frequent check-ins with employees is that managers don’t need to open a fire hose in every meeting. They can select specific goals, projects, or coaching points to focus on in each meeting. Employees might also start the conversation and guide the focus (even better).

Generally, managers and employees should prioritize discussion points based on due dates and progress. What is discussed will change meeting by meeting.

Sample Employee Check-In Agenda/Discussion Points:

Get the Employee Talking!
- Use conversation starters to engage the employee in conversation
- Use open-ended questions to keep them talking
- Let the employee steer the conversation but make sure you discuss any essential items
Goal/Project Updates
- Discuss the status of short-term goals and long-term projects
- Adjust/update existing goals with the employee
- Discuss any challenges or lessons learned
- Offer coaching and/or assistance for any roadblocks
- Discuss if any other priorities might affect the goal progress
- Ensure all goals is still on track
- Acknowledge any milestones or accomplishments
- Discuss/confirm any new goals for the employee
Recent Accomplishments
- Acknowledge recent accomplishments and provide feedback
- Ask the employee for any recent accomplishments
Status of Training/Learning
- Discuss any training items due/in progress
- Ask the employee if there are any training requests
- Ask if the employee feels they are getting enough feedback
- Ask if the employee is learning from peers/mentors or if they would like to
- Recommend training items to improve skills and further career
- Discuss how training is/should be executed
Company or Team Updates/News
- Discuss any vital company/team updates or news
- Confirm any action items needed
Employee Ideas/Requests for change
- Ask the employee for any ideas/input
- Discuss any areas needing change (company, team, project etc.)
- Ask the employee if your management style is effective for them and get suggestions for change
- Discuss any overall roadblocks or distractions that might be affecting the employee
Employee Career Development
- Discuss employee’s career goals
- Discuss how you can work together to achieve their career goals
- Discuss opportunities and career paths for the employee
- Set clear expectations for any lateral/upward movement
Plan for the Week/Month/Quarter
- Review the priorities for the short and long term

Conversation Starters: Keep Them Talking

Some employees are more reluctant to speak up, but this doesn’t mean that a manager should do the bulk of the talking. There are simple ways to get the employee to engage and keep talking during the check-in meeting. Remember, this meeting is about them. The more they contribute to the conversation the better.

Here are some open-ended questions to get employees talking:

Tell me about your week/month – what’s it been like?
Tell me about what you’ve been working on.
Where do you think I can be most helpful?
Are you on track to meet the deadline?
What areas are ahead of schedule?
What questions do you have about this area of responsibility or project?
How are you going to approach this?
What have you learned about this area of responsibility or project?
What didn’t go as you had hoped? Why?
What can you/we do differently next time?
What suggestions do you have?

Here are some tried and true conversation starters to keep employees talking:

“Go on…..”

“Tell me more…”

“Why do you say that..”

“How do you mean…”

“Can you give me an example…”

“What else…”

At the End of the Meeting: Summarize

Before the employee leaves the meeting, spend a few moments summarizing the key discussion points. This will help remind employees of any action items and reinforce any acknowledgment or coaching tips provided. Ask the employee if anything was missed and remind them of when the next meeting will be.

After the Meeting: Document

This small step is significant and often skipped over, but it can make a big difference. Take 2-5 minutes after each meeting to record key discussion points, action items or feedback. This will help kick-start the next meeting and serve as a useful log when managers need to review performance trends. Keep these notes in a centralized location. A performance feedback and journaling tool like emPerform tag can serve this purpose nicely.

We polled our clients and found that managers who made 1-2 notes about each employee per month shaved 50% of the time off of entering year-end comments during the annual review. That is because they aren’t sitting trying to remember key milestones or trends in behavior).

How Did You Do?

Take a few moments after each meeting to evaluate how you did. Even the best managers should strive to improve their communication and meeting skills.

Did you talk too much/not enough?
Did you actively listen?
Did you ask questions?
Did you acknowledge the employee’s feelings?
Did you paraphrase essential items to confirm understanding?
Did you provide practical coaching tips?
Were you distracted in the meeting?
Do you feel the meeting was valuable?
Did you discuss all the critical points?
What could you do to improve the next meeting?

Overall, frequent check-ins with employees are a must to ensure clarity, provide coaching, and offer the support needed for an employee to succeed. Although finding time in the day can be a challenge for many managers, check-ins are time well spent and will pay off in the long run for the manager, the employee, the team, and the company.

For additional resources on providing feedback:

Performance Goals, Projects, and Check-ins

All in One Place.

Looking to help managers and employees document and monitor performance goals, projects, and check-in discussion points? Check out emPerform for ongoing goal management, feedback, and performance logs.

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Contact us to see how we can help you transform performance management to better align, develop, engage & retain a world-class workforce.

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Sources: County of San Mateo Human Resources Department: How to Conduct One-on-One Meetings https://hr.smcgov.org/how-conduct-one-one-meetings-guide-supervisors

Even with the great advances in performance management tools and technologies in the past decade, we have yet to encounter anything that can replace the power of one-on-one meetings or informal ‘check-ins’ between managers and employees. There are certainly ways to train managers on increasing the effectiveness of these meetings (and we’ll get to that below) and for documenting key action items discussed during the meeting (like tag) but overall, nothing engages employees like the time and attention that they get from their manager in a good old fashioned ‘check-in’.

After all, people love to talk. The English language has over a million words that allow us to do just that (although some might debate the validity of recently added ones like “meatspace” or “grrrl”). Human beings are social animals who spend a large portion of their time communicating in some form or another with others. This ability to communicate has played a key role in our species’ ability to grow and survive in many different environments. It is also how work gets done and businesses ultimately succeed.

That’s why we think it’s time to bring back the one-on-one meeting or ‘check-in’ or whatever you call that frequent and informal time when managers and employees stop communicating and start talking.

One-on-one meetings become even more important in a modern workplace where employees operate remotely (and may never actually see their manager) or where everyone shares an open space and group chat is the norm. No matter how busy we get in our jobs or how dispersed our company’s workforce may be, we can’t forget about the importance of face-time between managers and employees. It is during those few moments of uninterrupted attention and communication where employees and managers bond, employees can vent and share detailed accounts of accomplishments and concerns, managers can engage in effective coaching, and both parties achieve clarity and synergy (yeah I said it) on whatever might be going on around them.

Isn’t that what an annual appraisal is for? No! Annual reviews aren’t a substitute for ongoing employee check-ins. Performance appraisals are certainly a great time to re-group, re-focus, plan, and formally acknowledge goals and accomplishments, but they are by no means a replacement for one-on-one meetings. In fact, many companies are realizing the value in re-tooling traditional once-a-year appraisals by introducing more informal check-ins throughout the year – and are getting great results from it!

No matter how frequently your managers choose to meet, it is important that the time be encouraged. Too often, meeting time is viewed as ‘wasted’ and the first step in fostering a culture of engagement and development is to support one-on-one meetings and train managers to be effective at them.

Foolproof Tips for Successful One-on-One Meetings with Employees

Be Present: Employees should feel like their one-on-one time is a safe space to speak freely and discuss elements of their role and job. Managers should maintain eye contact, acknowledge they are listening with verbal and physical cues and should never, ever, ever stare at their computers or phones while an employee is talking. If a manager seems distracted or uninterested, employees will sense it and disengage from the conversation and likely feel offended and unimportant. The same is true for employees – this is a prime time for managers to coach employees on effective communication and guide them to being good listeners.

Keep it Regular: Whether meetings take place weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly (gasp), that time shouldn’t be shifted. If a manager commits to one-on-one time, that time should be considered cemented in their calendars unless a tornado strikes. Going back to being present, employees will disengage quickly if one-on-one meetings are frequently bumped or cancelled. Employees should feel they have consistent and reliable time with their managers.

Stay Loose: One-on-one meetings should be relatively informal and fluid. Some managers find it helpful to follow a loose schedule and format but we find it more effective to let the employee guide the discussion points. If there are urgent matters to discuss like looming deadlines, or the status of goals, then introduce the topic as a question for the employee and guide them through finding a solution or suggesting improvements and action-items on their own.

Keep the Chit-Chat Flowing: During one-on-one meetings, it’s important that managers follow the 80/20 role where the employee does 80% of the talking. This is isn’t easy for some managers but it can be achieved if they go into a meeting with that very intent. Managers should ask open-ended questions to steer the conversation back to the employee and avoid interrupting even if they don’t agree completely with what the employee is saying. This is the perfect time for managers to coach employees into finding solutions on their own – vital skills which will serve them well in their career. Managers can keep the chit-chat flowing with some simple ‘starter phrases’ like;

Tell me more… What do you think? How would you do things differently next time?

Or when the employee isn’t engaging, managers can always bring up everyone’s favorite topic – themselves!

What keeps you up at night? How was your lunch/weekend? Any plans for the coming holiday? What’s going on lately? (It amazing how many managers never ask ‘how’s it going?)

Keep it Real: Managers aren’t expected to have all the answers and there is nothing worse than the ones who think they do. If an employee asks questions or makes requests where the answers are unknown, a manager should simply acknowledge it and let them know they will look into the answer. Employees won’t power down or start a coup if a manager says ‘I’m not exactly sure’.

Ask Them About You: Old-school leaders might want to brace themselves before reading this. A one-on-one meeting is not only a great opportunity to learn more about an employee, it can also be a chance for managers to develop. I’ve checked…twice…and there is no actual law stating that a manager cannot or should not ask an employee for feedback. Every so often, it doesn’t hurt to ask the employee if there is something they would like to see adjusted in regards to approach or methods, in order to better suit the employee’s learning or working style. In fact, it has been proven to improve working relationships. A manager might not agree with everything but asking the question will offer a deeper understanding of the employee and a small dose of self-awareness. An important warning: don’t ask the question if you don’t actually want any answers. It will do more damage than good if a manager simply spends the meeting arguing the employee’s requests or perceptions. If the requests are reasonable, a manager should commit to attempting some form of action.

End with a Bang: No matter what, managers should try their hardest to end one-on-one meetings on a high note. Thank employees for a job well done, tell a joke, or even circle back to a positive part of the conversation. No matter what, employees should leave the meeting refreshed and with a bounce in their step – not deflated. Unhappy conversations are unfortunately the reality of business, but there is a time and place for them, and it isn’t a one-on-one meeting.

For support with one-on-one meetings and overall performance logs, be sure to check out emPerform tag.

Sources:

10 Ways to Have Better Check-Ins With Your Employees by Craig Cincotta Posted in Entrepreneur Online March 2015 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244164

The New Workplace Reality: Out of the Office by Naveen Narayanan, HCL Technologies Posted on WIRED. https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/06/the-new-workplace-reality-out-of-the-office/

Tag: one-on-one meetings