One of my team leads once told me that having a 1-1 with me feels like having a session with a therapist. This was a huge compliment for me. Having 1-1s helps me to understand my team, to recognize problems early on and to support my employees and the team to grow.

Getting to a point where a one on one meeting feels like a good use of time for the involved is not easy and takes some training. I had a good mentor and some years of (sometimes awkward) training and will give the audience a head start by sharing my experiences.

First I will explain why 1-1 meetings are important for me as a team lead but also as a direct report. How they provide a channel for employees to raise issues to a higher level and to make them feel taken seriously. In the second part, I will speak about the practical things: How to schedule a 1-1? How to prepare and follow up on a good one to one meeting? What to do in a one on one and what not, how to guide the conversation and make the 1-1 a safe space that is dedicated time for the team member you are with. Finally, I will talk about specific questions that I ask and how to use this information. I will also explain why the second most important question for me is: What is your favourite baked good?
 

At Zalando, Stacia Carr leads a cross-functional team of experts who harness vast amounts of data using machine learning, to make intelligent predictions on variations in size across the industry. Find out how she approaches creating, scaling and supporting a high performing cross-functional data product development team for important customer problems.