Manager Brian Walsh argues that weekly 30-minute one-on-ones with each direct report reduce stress and free up time for deeper work. He compares it to personal finance: just as paying off credit cards first creates breathing room, protecting meeting time from ad-hoc tasks lets managers focus on what matters most.
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Do you want happier employees, less stress and more room for deep work, all without spending more time or more money? I know you're going to be too busy for what I'm about to tell you. You are having issues constantly arise that you got to deal with at a moment's notice. You've got performance reviews to prepare, budgets to review. You got unexpected assignments that come from the boss and project duties that are your responsibility to stay on top of. So if I told you that you need to be doing one on ones with each of your direct reports, you'd show me your calendar and you'd say, I don't have the time. It reminds me of my personal finances when I was younger. I always felt like there wasn't enough money. Between the daily living and the unanticipated expenses, I knew I needed to save, but there was never anything left over. I thought a budget would help, but that just took more time. It was stressful living paycheck to paycheck. But that's what many of you are doing. You're dealing with things as they come up and so is your team. So there's no capacity to take on more. Some of you are working too much. You're building up a deficit that gets harder and harder to overcome. And you look ahead at your calendars and you say there's no room. Well, maybe you need to change your approach. See, I eventually scrapped the budget. Instead I created some simple rules. I said I'm going to pay off my credit card each month. No impulse buys over a certain amount. And then at the beginning of each month, I put some money in savings and retirement first. Then I figured out how I'd live on the rest. Guess what? Our spending habits started matching our income. Our savings started rising. The same principle happens with our time. Parkinson's law states that work fills the time available to complete it. So there are things you are doing right now that are filling the time available. If you gave them less time, they would take less time. If you manage people, they are your priority. Time you spend with them is like an investment. You can't do it when you feel like it. That's like making impulse buys. So you need to make time for your direct reports. First, create a reoccurring weekly 30 minute appointment for a one on one with each of the people you manage and protect that time. And then commit to not increasing your work. Just like you can't keep spending on a credit card. You can't say I'll work more because it will bury you. You make this adjustment and your work is going to settle out the way it's supposed to be because you'll be investing in your people first. Your team will be more productive, they'll be more engaged, and they're going to accomplish more than they are doing now. It's going to leave you time to do the work that only you can do. If you'd like to talk about how you can create a plan for rolling out one on ones with your employees, I offer a free management strategy call. Simply go to shiftfocus.com strategycall and you can book a call at a convenient time for you.
