4 ms·

I second this one. I am currently reading the Manager's path and it mentions a lot 1-1s. Like, a lot. However, let's be honest. A - 1-1 takes time, effort, wi

by mk89 7y ago

I second this one. I am currently reading the Manager's path and it mentions a lot 1-1s. Like, a lot. However, let's be honest. A - 1-1 takes time, effort, willingness to do something. Listening, trying to solve a problem, etc. Retaining your employees... Blabla. The more I read it, the more I feel like it's a dream. Reality is:80-20%. 80% is good, 20% is need to improve or try to get rid of. And in the worst case, I hire new people. The good ones will go? Sad. We will see how to prevent such things... However, the answer is: caring. Performance reviews are just a formal way to do what the first poster has written.

pdpi 7y ago
Speaking as a senior IC with some management experience, I find that 1:1s depend a lot more on the report than on the manager. I had exactly one really good manager in the past who could extract value from our 1:1s when I wasn't actively helping make the 1:1s productive, and, as a manager, I sucked at getting value out of the 1:1s. Today, as an IC again, I'm in a place where I can make the 1:1s valuable by driving the conversation myself — by preemptively telling my manager what my concerns are, and what I need from him, and I achieve this largely by saying the things my old manager knew how to coax out of me, and the things I wished my reports had told me.
- shinryuu 7y ago
  I've always found it a bit difficult to fully trust the manager because of the power differential. So that way I've often not done a lot of talking driving the conversation.
  - mk89 7y ago
    And I think you are right. However, I wonder how you communicate your needs for... Let's say a raise? Or a better position?
    - pdpi 7y ago
      You don't want to approach a promotion by saying "I want a promotion now-ish". Rather, you proactively start the conversation by saying "I want to be promoted in 6mo/1y. How do I get there?", and then you keep that conversation going. For raises, if your relationship with your manager is half decent it's fine to just ask for it. If you're a junior-ish IC your manager is also likely a lower-level manager who feels more affinity for ICs than for upper management and he'll side with you when bubbling your request up to the right people. If you're more senior, you have more leverage and the power dynamics start inverting a bit too. Also, you're expected to have the soft skills to manage that conversation.
  - pdpi 7y ago
    The power differential is often not nearly as pronounced as you think (this definitely becomes much more noticeable as you become more senior). Also, when I say that you should be talking about your concerns and being proactive, I mean that, with my manager, 1:1s revolve around topics like me expressing concern that, as upper management pushes for senior ICs to spend more time working on company-level (as opposed to team-level) work, the more junior members of the team are getting less support from me than they should, and we talk about how to manage that, by reprioritising hiring or by pushing back on some less-important initiatives. We talk about how much babysitting our intern will require over the next few weeks and who'll handle it, and about him asking for my opinion/advice on technical topics his other teams are dealing with that smell weird and he wants a second opinion, or me asking his opinion/advice on whether I'm striking the right balance between individual contributions and supporting others. That sort of thing.

by mk89 7y ago

pdpi 7y ago

Speaking as a senior IC with some management experience, I find that 1:1s depend a lot more on the report than on the manager. I had exactly one really good manager in the past who could extract value from our 1:1s when I wasn't actively helping make the 1:1s productive, and, as a manager, I sucked at getting value out of the 1:1s. Today, as an IC again, I'm in a place where I can make the 1:1s valuable by driving the conversation myself — by preemptively telling my manager what my concerns are, and what I need from him, and I achieve this largely by saying the things my old manager knew how to coax out of me, and the things I wished my reports had told me.

shinryuu 7y ago
I've always found it a bit difficult to fully trust the manager because of the power differential. So that way I've often not done a lot of talking driving the conversation.
- mk89 7y ago
  And I think you are right. However, I wonder how you communicate your needs for... Let's say a raise? Or a better position?
  - pdpi 7y ago
    You don't want to approach a promotion by saying "I want a promotion now-ish". Rather, you proactively start the conversation by saying "I want to be promoted in 6mo/1y. How do I get there?", and then you keep that conversation going. For raises, if your relationship with your manager is half decent it's fine to just ask for it. If you're a junior-ish IC your manager is also likely a lower-level manager who feels more affinity for ICs than for upper management and he'll side with you when bubbling your request up to the right people. If you're more senior, you have more leverage and the power dynamics start inverting a bit too. Also, you're expected to have the soft skills to manage that conversation.
- pdpi 7y ago
  The power differential is often not nearly as pronounced as you think (this definitely becomes much more noticeable as you become more senior). Also, when I say that you should be talking about your concerns and being proactive, I mean that, with my manager, 1:1s revolve around topics like me expressing concern that, as upper management pushes for senior ICs to spend more time working on company-level (as opposed to team-level) work, the more junior members of the team are getting less support from me than they should, and we talk about how to manage that, by reprioritising hiring or by pushing back on some less-important initiatives. We talk about how much babysitting our intern will require over the next few weeks and who'll handle it, and about him asking for my opinion/advice on technical topics his other teams are dealing with that smell weird and he wants a second opinion, or me asking his opinion/advice on whether I'm striking the right balance between individual contributions and supporting others. That sort of thing.