Get more out of one-on-one meetings

To make the most of one-on-one meetings be more deliberate about how you structure them. First, schedule them. It doesn’t matter how often they occur — every week or once a month — but they should be repeating events on your calendar. Make sure there’s an agenda. Ask your direct report for a synopsis of what she’d like to talk about before the meeting. You should do the same for her. When in the room together, be present. Turn off your phone; close your office door. Start the meeting by complimenting your colleague on something she does well. Then, be curious. Listen to your colleague’s concerns and provide feedback on how she might solve problems. Always close the meeting with a note of appreciation.

(Adapted from How to Make Your One-on-Ones With Employees More Productive, by Rebecca Knight)

If you’ve made a bad decision, act fast

Maybe you hired the wrong person, took a job that wasn’t a good fit or launched a new product that no one seems to want. When you realise that you’ve made a mistake, act quickly. It’s far better for your career to accept the loss now, rather than dragging it out and wasting even more resources. Think carefully about how you might make the situation better. You may not need to pull the plug completely. If you hired the wrong person for the job but she has the right attitude, she may be open to training to improve her skills. But some problems require drastic, decisive action. If you hate your new job after a month, you may want to resign immediately so that the company can make an offer to another candidate. Once you’ve taken action, reflect on what happened. Could the problem realistically have been avoided?

(Adapted from What to Do When You’ve Made a Bad Decision, by Dorie Clark)

Establish connections in the first few minutes

If you want your team to be engaged during your next virtual meeting, try helping them establish a connection from the start. Open the conference line a couple minutes ahead of schedule, and stay on the line while people join. If it’s a small group, use this opportunity to model the kind of collegiality you want to see during the meeting itself: “Hi, Desmond! Looks like rain where you are. How’s the weather?” Such small talk will give attendees the opportunity to interact casually without taking time out of the meeting itself. With bigger groups, this isn’t always possible, so consider using the first few minutes to share updates. Before the meeting, ask everyone to send in a sentence about their work. Share the list digitally right before the meeting starts so people can add their own updates and discuss while stragglers trickle in.

(Adapted from Running Virtual Meetings from the 20-Minute Manager Series)

Make your team feel like they belong

New research shows that fostering a sense of belonging helps reduce stress levels, and consequently improves physical health, emotional well-being and performance. Here are a few ways you can create a culture where everyone feels they belong:

— Make introductions. Don’t introduce people just by their title. Add tidbits that are unique to the individual and show that you appreciate him.

— Solicit input. Don’t expect everyone to show up and speak up. Invite people who you want to include, ask their opinions and follow up with questions.

— Share stories. Stories show that you, as the storyteller, care enough about your audience’s career to show your own vulnerability and share your mistakes and successes.

(Adapted from Diversity Efforts Fall Short Unless Employees Feel That They Belong, by Pat Wadors)

Beware the confirmation trap when analysing data

Even with the best analytics tools, we’re still vulnerable to human mistakes. For instance, we’re likely to pay more attention to findings that align with our beliefs and to ignore other facts in the data. This is called the confirmation trap. You can avoid it by trying to embrace information that counters your beliefs by doing the following:

— Specify in advance the data and analytical approaches on which you’ll base your decision. This will reduce the temptation to cherry-pick findings that agree with your prejudices.

— Actively look for findings that disprove your beliefs. Ask yourself, “If my expectations are wrong, what pattern would I likely see in the data?”

— Treat your findings like predictions, and test them. If you uncover a correlation from which you think your organization can profit, use an experiment to validate that correlation.

(Adapted from HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers)

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, December 19th, 2016