Part 5: Set Up Coaching & 1-on-1 Discussions
Talent Development
Talbit 101 Series

Part 5: Set Up Coaching & 1-on-1 Discussions

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November 1, 2021
Talent Development

Part 5: Set Up Coaching & 1-on-1 Discussions

“Coaching & 1-on-1 are unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. It is about helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” - skillyouneed.com

This quote pretty much sums up, why employees need to have coaches and 1:1s throughout their development journey.

As you may know, Talbit was built to help you grow your talent bit by bit. This speaks to the individual employee but also to the company as a whole. We all know that the best results are not gained through those once or twice a year performance review meetings (because they do not deliver) but rather through continuous development and discussion.

Why do we need coaching?

When you, as an individual embark on a journey to grow and develop your talents, you need two things to support that growth:

coaching support growth
Figure 1. Two components to support your growth

The best person to assist you is someone who has “been there, done that”. Someone, who is senior in those competencies you need, who has tried, failed, tried once again, and succeeded. Someone to listen, challenge, ask difficult questions, and help steer into the right direction, when needed. In other words, every employee needs a coach or an advisor to support their personal development journey.

Why do we need 1-on-1s?

Though having a great coach is already great, the chemical spark between coaching & 1-on-1 is simply magic. Again, there are two basic elements to an efficient 1:1:

1-on-1 discussion
Figure 2. Two key elements of 1-on-1 discussions

Ben Horowitz has stated in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things that 1:1s should have a 10/90 rule. The manager talks 10% and the employee 90%. If this is a challenge for a manager, feel free to check out the Become an Active Listener path from the Talbit Library and enhance the listening skills.

“1:1s are quiet, focused collaboration time for employees and bosses to connect. The most important chance for you to hear from your employee, and it’s their time, not yours. As a senior or junior manager, you must create the space for this.” - Kim Scott, Radical Candor  

Overall, when you are creating your Agile Development Sprint, please ensure you schedule the 1:1s at least on a monthly basis, if not weekly or bi-weekly in the Sprint creation. Once you get the ball rolling, you can adjust the frequency and cancel if and when the 1:1 is not needed.

coaching and 1-on-1 talbit
Figure 3. Schedule Coaching and 1-on-1 discussions

Importantly, a week before the scheduled 1:1, Talbit will send you a short questionnaire to help you reflect on the past and look a bit into the future. Your coach will also receive your answers to gain an understanding of where you stand and where you may need support.

1-on-1 questionnaire
Figure 4. Questionnaire before 1-on-1 discussion

If you, as a coach are unsure on how to run efficient 1:1s, you can review Dave Bailey’s blog on How-to-run-exceptional-one-on-ones.

In a nutshell, as an employee make sure you have a good coach, you set frequent meetings with the coach to keep you eye on development. As a coach, make sure you are able to listen, challenge, and shift focus on the things that matter.

coaching 1-on-1

What do you think about coaching and 1-on-1 meeting? Feel free to send us your opinion. You can also Get in touch with the Talbit Team if you need any assistance in creating 1-on-1s.

You can also download Part 5 of Talbit 101 Series here.

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