Establishing two-way communication in 1-on-1s

Help managers establish two-way communication with their direct reports in 1-on-1s.

• 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 establishes two-way communication with direct reports. 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 establishing two-way communication, or making sure a direct report knows they can come to you instead of waiting for you to come to them, a good goal for 1-on-1s? Why or why not?
  • What steps might you take to make sure that 1-on-1 time reaches that goal?
  • What might be barriers to reaching that goal in 1-on-1s?
• What about 1-on-1s makes them particularly good (or not) for establishing two-way communication between a manager and direct reports?
• What additional ways might you work to establish two-way communication with your direct reports?

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

• How to run 1-on-1s
• 1-on-1s: Common mistakes