Prioritizing the One-on-One

Meet with your staff. 

Totally obvious, right? But it’s surprising to me how many organizations I work with where most staff have never met individually with top leadership. And interestingly, it seems just as true within the organizations I work with that have 100+ employees as those that have 20. 

Meeting with staff increases your understanding of the realities of your work and impact. Yes, 100% work closely with your leadership team, engage in all-staff meetings, and explore small-group meeting options. But individual conversations (What is working? What isn’t?) can give you a whole new level of understanding of the organization, allow some unearthed ideas to emerge, and can vastly improve morale – helping staff feel heard and valued.

I get it – leaders are pulled in loads of directions at once. And the bigger the staff, the more challenging it becomes to find time to do this. But rather than not doing it at all, perhaps consider what time investment would be reasonable for you. This is an especially powerful way to begin a new leadership position, but is also a great way for established leaders to stay connected.

Would four 30-minute sessions per week be feasible? More? Less? Can you prioritize reaching out to folks whose perspective you are least likely to hear? You can couple this active outreach with an invitation (reiterated time and again at staff meetings, etc.) for folks to reach out to you first, ensuring that while you work through the list, folks who particularly want/need the engagement get it. Online scheduling tools can help you provide staff with a bank of hours you have set aside for this purpose.

In short, if you want to know what staff are thinking, ask.