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1:1s are not micromanagement at all. They're just a regular opportunity for you to have guaranteed, uninterrupted face time with your manager. I'd go further an

by nilkn 7y ago

1:1s are not micromanagement at all. They're just a regular opportunity for you to have guaranteed, uninterrupted face time with your manager. I'd go further and say that a manager who can't spend even 30 minutes a week with a direct report listening to their thoughts and concerns really has no business being a people manager.

stephc_int13 7y ago
I speak as a CEO and manager, the principle of a 1:1 meeting is of course valuable, but not like was is described in this article. Forcing everyone to explain what he is doing, getting feedback that is very often unwanted and unnecessary is a huge waste of time and will quickly cripple the autonomy of your team. If you have to ask them what they did last week, that's because you're not paying attention. If you have to ask them if they are struggling, that's also an issue, you should know better, this is your job.
- tempguy9999 7y ago
  > getting feedback that is very often unwanted Oooh, interesting. I find that feedback that is unwelcome is often the most valuable sort as it gets to the heart of assumptions that need questioning (I think Drucker's point about disagreement is much the same point). Did you mean unwelcome in a different way? > If you have to ask them what they did last week, that's because you're not paying attention. If you have to ask them if they are struggling, that's also an issue, you should know better, this is your job. Oh god, a competent manager. Duck, everyone, the sky must be falling.
- tempguy9999 7y ago
  @stephc_int13 I'm genuinely interested in what you mean by unwanted feedback. Like I said, it can be the most important. re the quip about competent managers, I regret putting that in, and it wasn't meant badly; see my comment of a few hours earlier https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20917668 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20917668 which said something quite close to what you said about know what your employees are doing.
- deleted 7y ago
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by nilkn 7y ago

stephc_int13 7y ago

I speak as a CEO and manager, the principle of a 1:1 meeting is of course valuable, but not like was is described in this article. Forcing everyone to explain what he is doing, getting feedback that is very often unwanted and unnecessary is a huge waste of time and will quickly cripple the autonomy of your team. If you have to ask them what they did last week, that's because you're not paying attention. If you have to ask them if they are struggling, that's also an issue, you should know better, this is your job.

tempguy9999 7y ago
> getting feedback that is very often unwanted Oooh, interesting. I find that feedback that is unwelcome is often the most valuable sort as it gets to the heart of assumptions that need questioning (I think Drucker's point about disagreement is much the same point). Did you mean unwelcome in a different way? > If you have to ask them what they did last week, that's because you're not paying attention. If you have to ask them if they are struggling, that's also an issue, you should know better, this is your job. Oh god, a competent manager. Duck, everyone, the sky must be falling.
tempguy9999 7y ago
@stephc_int13 I'm genuinely interested in what you mean by unwanted feedback. Like I said, it can be the most important. re the quip about competent managers, I regret putting that in, and it wasn't meant badly; see my comment of a few hours earlier https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20917668 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20917668 which said something quite close to what you said about know what your employees are doing.
deleted 7y ago
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