Just a moment

We talk about time, all the time. About moments and lifetimes and forever and one day and never having enough hours in the day. Time is a resource, we get paid for it, we waste it, we invest it in others and others invest it in us. It is a limited resource bound by hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades and it culminates in a finite lifetime. Time is precious right? It should be used wisely, and it should be invested in people. Let's take a moment to think about the people who invest time in us and what transpires from that. We feel worthwhile, valued and listened to. We also gain clarity, direction, inspiration and feel more engaged. Consider how important it is to regift that time to others, to really put our attention on them?

Zooming in to the team context, we need to ask ourselves, "Are we spending consistent and quality time with the people that we lead?" Let's be more specific:

1. Do we purposefully schedule 1:1 time each week, with our people, that is sacrosanct, not interrupted and takes a cataclysmic event to cancel?

2. Does that time spent together result in valuable outcomes? This may be anything from increasing trust, to helping to find a resolution to an issue, to getting on the same page, to reinforcing team and organisational values.

Some tips:

1. The quality of the 1:1 is highly dependent on how well we listen. Ernest Hemingway put it best when he wrote, "When people talk listen completely. Don't be thinking what you're going to say. Most people never listen."

2. Furthermore, we don't need to have all the answers and even when we think we have the answer we don't need to provide it. Our primary goal in the 1:1 is the development and progress of our team member. Our job is to focus on coaching them in how to find the answers or the way forward, not prove how smart we are.

A clarification:

What I haven't directly talked about are the ultimate goals of the 1:1 approach, there are two and, in my mind, they are equally important. Firstly, team members with clarity, who are aligned with organisational goals and engaged in the purpose of the team will perform better and, in turn, the organisation will perform better. Secondly, people will feel better about themselves, they will enjoy the workday more, and they will be developing personal skills that enhance their interactions and outcomes in other spheres of their lives. Giving our time is one of the most important things we will ever do!

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