1-1s: Employee's Responsibility

Maximize your 1-1 time with your manager by focusing not on status reports, but on three areas: Highlight, Request & Escalate.

Transcript

Welcome back to my podcast Scaling Out!

Have you seen the movie Office Space? A 1999 film, it quickly became a cult classic because, yeah that was what it was like in a cube farm office environment. One of the favorite quotes of the movie is when the boss asks “I’m Going To Need Those TPS Reports ASAP. So, If You Could Do That, That’d Be Great...”

TPS or Testing Procedure Specification reports were a real thing, but the quote took on the meaning of managers asking for status without caring what was in that status. Unfortunately I have heard that 1-1s are like this for many of us.

Today, I wanted to share what I think the employee’s objectives should be in order to maximize time with their manager.

There are really three categories of topics: Highlight, Request & Escalate.

1. Highlight is when you share the good/bad/ugly on your project work. This doesn’t mean it’s a status report – that could just be emailed to your manager. This is an opportunity to share what you are excited about, how the customer is feeling about your project, and successes. It could also be the opportunity to share risks, giving your manager a heads up that things COULD escalate. Things that don’t necessarily translate well in a status email.
2. Request is when you have specific needs of your manager. You might request approval to attend an external training. Or you could need assistance with identifying a resource elsewhere in the company to contact for an issue/task that cannot be addressed by your team.
3. Escalate items that were hopefully previously shared as risks. Explain clearly & calmly the situation. Detail the impact, the cause, and the actions being taken. Be clear on whether you need your manager’s guidance or involvement.

You know, managing your manager’s time is an incredible skill. Why don’t I talk about that next time?

Until then, stay safe everyone!