What if you and your staff were on the same page every week? What if you knew about an employee’s mom that had recently been diagnosed with _______ fill in the blank? Do you ever talk to your employees about goals for the firm and for themselves? Once a year maybe if they are lucky – right?

Many companies are eliminating the yearly review. 2 years ago Adobe stopped the annual review process in favor of the “check-in”. They found that they can give feedback in real time and this has a direct influence on performance. This could be constructive criticism or feedback that reinforces positive results.

With just 30 minutes a week for each employee you can dramatically change the culture and productivity in your office. Human beings crave feedback.

Here is the basic outline: (It’s pretty simple)

• Meetings are 30 minutes long. You break it down so they can talk, you can talk and you both can talk. 10 minutes for them, 10 minutes for you and 10 minutes so both of you can share.
• Meetings are never missed. Make them important and your staff will respond.
• Meeting are focused on the team member. This is not about you the manager it is about listening to what the team member has to say.
• Have it as a regularly scheduled meeting.

Here are some tips to make them more effective:

• How’s it going? Ask this question first and then just listen. Get comfortable with silence. Let them talk. If they answer “Good.” Ask why is it good? Don’t let the conversation end.
• Conduct them in a private or semi-private location. You may be talking about private information and you want your employee to share.
• Take notes and follow up. This is your job not theirs.
• Have an agenda. You need to talk to the team member about certain things budgets/schedules/deadlines now is your chance. But do it efficiently.
• Save time at the end to look ahead and talk about your goals and the team member’s goals. You can gain a lot of insight if you listen and ask the right questions.

Here is how I as a manger prepare for the meeting:

• I check my notes from last meeting. What are the loose ends that needed following up on.
• I ask myself and write down agenda items that I need to communicate to the team member.
• I always want to give positive feedback. Let them know when they did a good job.
• I also want to give corrective feedback. Tell people immediately if they are not meeting your expectations and tell them why. Be specific.
• Can I delegate something? Try to delegate a task or project that will be helpful for their development.

30 minutes may seem like a lot of time to spend with a team member.  But isn’t it worth it to tell them they did a great job right after doing a great job? Instead of waiting 6 months for a review.

How do you engage with team members?