One of the lessons I learnt from my two years (plus) secondment to the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) from 1998 to 2000 when I was building up my team as the Head of Finance & Administration from three staff to ten staff was to hold many one-to-one conversations with each of the newly hired as well as transferred staff arising from the consolidation of the early childhood teacher training staff from the various educational institutions into NIEC.
The conversations allowed me to understand more about what made each of the individuals in my team tick, what motivated them, what were their backgrounds and how they came to be part of my team.
It was during those two years of intensive practice that I gained quite a lot of experience in managing one-to-one conversations. When I just started working, I would classify myself as more of an introvert rather than an extrovert. However, work requirements and also my own initiative to join the Toastmasters movement helped me to come out from my shell more and with the encouragement of ex-colleague from my first organization, I also started to get involved in professional associations as a volunteer on their boards where I learnt to work with different stakeholders.
I realised that such conversations and getting to know your team was critical to getting the team to work well as you figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and to try to match the work the organization required to the innate personalities and talents of the team members. Speaking to each team member also required me to have clear ideas on the four Ws (What, Where, When, Who) and H (How) for the work goals and outcomes the team needed to deliver. At the same time, it allowed two-way communication between staff and myself to better understand each other’s needs and wants.
This afternoon, I also had a one-to-one with one of the newer board members who has just joined the volunteer board of directors. I caught up with him over coffee to just catch up and explore how he could and would like to contribute to the association and ideas to make the association more effective in carrying out its role.
Now that I have stepped out from the 9-6 grind of being an employee, I am more able to schedule such sessions where I get to know people slowly at a deeper level and also to explore how we can both work together more effectively for the greater good of the association. I have come to the realisation that such conversations really help both sides understand where each other is coming from and also to co-discover what lies ahead for both parties. It makes the working relationship a bit warmer and more human than the traditional task-oriented, results-focused management style that is common in the work environment.
If you are a leader or a supervisor with direct reports under you, how often do you hold such one-to-ones beyond the mandatory annual appraisal? How much do you understand the people who work for or with you in your work or volunteer capacity?
During this festive period, when there are more opportunities to catch up over Christmas events, year-end Dinner and Dances or other celebratory, do take the time to do coffee or lunch with the people that matter in your circle.
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