Month: September 2022

A Simple Reusable One-On-One Plan, Part 2

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Anonymous

You don’t have time to rigorously plan each one-on-one. Adopt a universal approach that protects time and maximizes opportunities.

A simple reusable one-on-one plan, part 2:

Items #1 to #3 are posted here.

#4: Ask questions. Listen more than talk.

You want engagement, but people nod and disengage when you ramble on. They’ll let you fill time with irrelevant drivel and feel relieved when they leave your office.

Talking is thinking when conditions are right.

Someone said that you don’t learn when you talk. When experience speaks, listen. But talking is thinking.

When you say, “And what else,” after someone shared something they know, you create a learning opportunity.

A good one-on-one plan increases engagement.

Zip your lip after asking a question. Silence gives power to questions.

#5. Don’t fix.

The more you fix the more you have to fix. Give people space to solve their own challenges.

Share insights and suggestions reluctantly.

People stop thinking for themselves when you think for them.

#6. Create goals.

A good one-on-one plan always includes goals. Say encouraging things, but always seek improvement. There are two goals to consider.

1. Personal development goals.
2. Operational goals.

Prioritize personal development goals. Don’t worry, people who grow improve their ability to deliver results.

Lousy one-on-ones focus exclusively on operations.

#7. Challenge and support.

Challenge with two questions.

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how challenging is this goal?
2. How might you nudge your challenge-number up a little?

Ask the above questions occasionally, not every meeting.

Support people by offering resources, training, mentoring, or coaching.

Challenge and support include action and accountability.

Establish accountability by asking, “What do you want me to ask you in our next one-on-one.”

What suggestions do you have for a good one-on-one plan?

Still curious:

5 Energizing Conversation Starters for One-on-Ones

Solution Saturday: Stop Giving So Many Solutions

A-one-on-one-worksheet.pdf

One-on-one meetings: 4 ways to make them more meaningful

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Saturday Sage: 7 Steps to Blow-up Logjams

In the early days of logging, specialized loggers called River Pigs pushed, pried, and pulled logs off rocks and debris to prevent logjams.

On June 13, 1886, a log jam developed in the St. Croix River in Wisconsin that was described by a local journalist as “the jammedest jam” he had encountered. It took hundreds of men working for six weeks to clear it, eventually using steamboats and dynamite.

Logjams in life can feel like “the jammedest jam.” They lead to boredom, painful dissatisfaction, discouragement, even jealousy. Be a River Pig when you see logjams forming. The good news is enticement is better than dynamite.

Logjams block the flow of life, but a sage uses enticement to blow them up.

Blow-up logjams:

The skill of enticement is like a River Pig’s ability to release the flow of logs, but we’re talking about the flow of life, not logs stuck on debris.

Enticement is using a known interest to motivate a person to experience a renewed flow of life.

Enticement makes blowing up logjams fun:

Enticement blows up logjams by redirecting attention toward unexpected possibilities.

Passengers on Southwest Airlines from Long Beach, CA, to Hawaii experienced enticement when they found a ukulele on their seat. Most of us dread long flights, but this crew gave a ukulele lesson.

Some passengers didn’t love the chaos, but it’s an example of enticing someone into a new experience. Blowing up the jammedest jam can be dangerous, but it’s worth the effort.

Enticement: 7 practical steps to blow-up logjams:

1. Know what needs to be accomplished.
2. Explore the highlights of their life since high school.
3. Facilitate free creative thinking by asking questions that tap into their interests.
4. Watch for revelations to appear out of nowhere.
5. Challenge by asking, “What would you be willing to try that you have avoided?”
6. Develop an agreement to hold them accountable.
7. Celebrate the first sign of accomplishment.

Tips:

Use something like a ukulele to capture interest.

Create a safety net that instills confidence.

An example of blowing up a logjam:

1. Take someone for a coffee at a place neither of you have ever been.
2. Ask, “What have you wanted to try but something stopped you?”
3. Agree with them, “There are probably too many valid reasons not to try this.”
4. Entice them with, “What are 5 things…

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2 Ways to Ask Questions Like an Expert

A leader who doesn’t ask questions is a know-it-all with a closed mind.

“My greatest strength is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.” Peter Drucker

7 things good questions do:

1. Build rapport.
2. Unlock minds.
3. Discover new ideas.
4. Create unexpected value.
5. Encourage learning.
6. Gain respect. Impress the boss by asking smart questions.
7. Inspire creativity and innovation.

2 Ways to Ask Questions Like an Expert

#1. Ask questions frequently.

The path to expertise begins with repetition.

A person who becomes an expert has done something many times. But leading many meetings doesn’t make you an expert at leading meetings.

Focused practice makes you an expert.

1. Set aside the first five minutes of your next conversation to do nothing but ask questions.
2. Ask people what questions you should be asking.
3. Spend time crafting a few questions before your next meeting. You think too much about things to say and not about things to ask.

#2. Follow questions with questions.

The second question yields better results than the first.

Ask a new employee, “What do you do for fun?” Avoid the seduction of stealing the conversation. Don’t respond with, “I have fun when ….” Instead ask…

“What got you interested in (Insert the thing they do for fun here. Say, sky diving.)?”

Use the speaker’s own words. People prefer their words to yours. Don’t say, “What got you interested in that?” Instead ask, “What got you interested in sky diving?”

First questions address obvious issues. Second questions explore meaning, purpose, method, and value.

First question: What’s your mission?
Second question: What makes your mission matter?

First question: Who are your best customers?
Second question: What made them become your customers?

First question: What’s frustrating?
Second question: How can you address your frustrations?

Why don’t leaders ask more questions?

How can leaders become experts at asking questions?

Still curious:

Life is About Questions

Questions Proactive People Ask

Source of the Drucker quote: How to Consult Like Peter Drucker

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