1-on-1 with a report who wants a new role

Help managers have 1-on-1s with direct reports who want to move into new roles.

• Type: Video activity
• Topic: 1-on-1s
• Audience: New managers
• Group Size: 4 - 12
• Duration: 20 - 30 minutes

Intro & set up

“To help us learn about 1-on-1s, I’m going to play a short video about how an experienced manager worked with a direct report who wanted to move into a new role. After that, I’ll ask the group a few questions to see what we can learn from his experience.”

Open the video in a new window.

Discussion questions

• Is the issue of a direct report wanting to move into a different role a good use of 1-on-1 time? Why or why not?
• How might you facilitate a direct report bringing this issue to light?
• Have you ever had the experience of a direct report wanting to move into a different role?
  • How did you respond when the topic was brought up?
  • How did you deal with the issue over time?
  • What were the results of how you and the direct report worked on this issue?
  • What did you learn from that experience?
• Do you agree with Grayson’s approach of dealing with the direct report who wanted to move into a different role? Why or why not?

If you want help preparing to facilitate this activity, check out our article: How to facilitate a group discussion.

Links to learn more or reinforce the activity

• 1-on-1s: Key lessons
• Career management for your team: Key lessons
• How to be a better career conversationalist
• Direct report wants to move to another team