GLOBAL GUIDE

How to run effective

1:1s with your team
Contents
Let’s get internal communication right 03

How to run an effective 1:1 06

What questions could you ask in a 1:1? 08

The benefits of 1:1s 11

The art of feedback 12

We’re going to keep this introduction short

and simple: implementing 1:1s can be the
difference between building a good team
and a great team. If you’re ready to reap the
benefits of 1:1s because you’re aware that
communication is one of the most important
pieces of the high-performance-puzzle, this
guide is for you.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is current as at 8 August 2023, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709)
and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to
assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. The Information is based on data supplied by third parties.
While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to
date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable
for any loss or damages arising either directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article.
You should undertake your own research and to seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.

2 | Internal Recruitment Strategy

Let’s get internal communication right
First, the basics
What is internal communication?
Internal communication (also known as
IC) refers to a group of processes or
tools that are responsible for effective
information flow and collaboration among
participants within an organisation.
We have three innate psychological needs
— competence, autonomy and relatedness.
When those needs are satisfied, we’re
motivated, productive and happy.
Daniel H. Pink, Drive: The Surprising
Truth About What Motivates Us
How does internal communication
relate to 1:1s?
You can’t have effective 1:1s and feedback
without strong internal communication.
It’s important to realise that strong internal
communication underpins everything in
the workplace. For feedback and 1:1s, you
should structure it in the most effective
way that will make your team more
productive and motivated to succeed.
The last thing you want to do is provide
feedback in a way that demotivates them.
How do we know?
According to a recent study, 60% of
companies don’t have a long term strategy
in place for their internal communications.
This means that there is no regular
communication across the team, which
could contribute to workplace silos.
Why is internal communication
important?
Regular and effective internal communication
is essential for all employees to reach
their full potential. As a manager, ongoing
communication is an important part of
creating a high performing, engaged team.
Strong internal communication fosters trust,
keeps employees engaged and encourages
professional development and growth within
your organisation. It can also help keep
everyone aligned to the company’s goals and
purpose. While we’re all aware of the benefits
associated with strong internal communication,
we know that many of you can relate when we
talk about internal communication challenges.

Grammarly’s State of Business Communication report with The Harris Poll found that
miscommunication costs US businesses $12,506 per employee per year. Now more
than ever, there is a direct line between effective communication and business results.

And there’s more harrowing data on poor communication:

+18% -12% 15% 7%

written communication effectiveness productivity decline stress increase
Time spent on written Leaders report a 12% decline Leaders report “decreased Workers report “increased
communication has in the effectiveness of producivity” (+15% YoY) due stress” (+7% YoY) due to
grown since last year written communication to poor communication poor communication

3 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

What are 1:1s?
Effective 1:1s contribute to all of the elements
of creating engaged employees. It allows for:
→ A safe communication space
→ Career discussions
→ Linking to broader organisational goals
→ Space to check-in
→ Relationship building
→ Idea sharing
→ Listening
→ Feedback
A 1:1 is a scheduled meeting in your
calendar and in your mental map for
open-ended and anticipated conversation
between a manager and an employee.
Unlike status reports or tactical meetings,
a 1:1 meeting is a place for coaching,
mentorship, giving context‌or even venting.
The 1:1 goes beyond an open door
policy and dedicates time on a regular
cadence for teammates and leaders
to connect and communicate.
Not only do 1:1s serve to strengthen
professional relationships, they contribute to
improved communication and trust within the
business, a great benefit for any workplace.
By having a transparent relationship with your
direct report(s), you’ll be able to understand
how they’re feeling. Whether they’re feeling
anxious about an upcoming project or
need some assistance with a task, 1:1s help
you as a manager, support your team.
Additionally, 1:1s aren’t just for determining
roadblocks or challenges in the workplace.
Use this time to find out if your direct
report(s) are feeling happy, inspired and
engaged with their work. This is important
for managers for them to manage their
direct report(s) effectively and put strategies
in place if something requires attention.
Before we continue, ask yourself
these two questions.
1. When was the last time you checked
in with your direct report(s)?
2. How do you effectively manage someone
you aren’t regularly checking in with?

Why are 1:1s so important?

1:1s can strengthen the relationship
between managers and their team, reduce
turnover and increase productivity. For
1:1s to be as effective as possible, they
should adhere to three key things:

→ Scheduled

→ Recurring

→ Structured

4 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

Let’s take a look at this scenario:
Your direct report is completing great
work, so you assume they’re loving their
role. However, one month later they resign
from their role and you feel blindsided and
confused. You assumed that they were
working long hours because they loved
what they were doing; however, this was
not the case. In the exit interview, they
reveal that they were feeling extremely
burnt out and underappreciated in
their role, so when the opportunity
came about to jump ship, they did.

We’ve all seen this scenario time and time

again, and it’s something that we believe
can be avoided with better communication.
If you knew that your direct report was
feeling underappreciated, you could have
taken the appropriate action to reward
and recognise their efforts. If you knew
that they were feeling burnt out, you could
have reduced their workload, expanded the
team or encouraged them to take leave.

At the end of the day, poor communication

can be detrimental to business success. To
decrease your risk of losing top talent, we
suggest that you implement 1:1s, pronto!

5 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

How to run an effective 1:1
To run an effective 1:1, both parties need to be
open and honest about communicating. If you
prepare a few questions before the meeting,
it can help guide your discussion and result
in a productive outcome. To help you get the
most out of your 1:1s, we’ve rounded up our
top tips that, in our experience, will make
your 1:1s as efficient and open as possible.
Be prepared
As the old saying goes, failed to prepare?
Then prepare to fail. Start by thinking about
a few questions your direct report(s) will
find useful so you can help them achieve
their goals. By setting an agenda, you’ll
be able to support your employees and
ultimately be more collaborative.
Not sure what questions to ask? We’ll share
a few examples of 1:1 templates later in
this guide so you can go into your next 1:1
meeting feeling confident and prepared.
Set a regular cadence
Whether you choose a weekly or bi-weekly
cadence, having your 1:1s on a recurring
schedule in your calendar means they won’t
suddenly disappear from your agenda.
Even when times are busy and you have to
reschedule your 1:1s, make sure you move
them to a different time or day. You don’t
want to fall into the routine of continually
saying “Sorry, can we reschedule our 1:1?”
ending up with a session that never happens.
However, if things are going well and you’re
both happy to miss the occasional 1:1, that’s
A-OK too — just make sure to reschedule!
6 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team
Don’t make it too short or too long
This comes down to personal preference and
finding out what works best for you and your
team. If you’re unsure, we suggest pencilling
in 30 minutes for your 1:1s and seeing how
that amount of time goes. Try not to make
them too short as you don’t want your team
to feel rushed when they’re talking through
their successes or roadblocks. However,
making them too long could equally make
them less efficient. Remember that timing
depends on a lot of different factors such as:
→ How often do you communicate with them
throughout the week?
→ How often do you catch up with your direct
report(s)?
→ Are you working on the same projects?
Remain flexible
Although you should have set questions
planned for each week, it’s important to
remain flexible on the structure. If the 1:1
focuses specifically on one roadblock and you
find a solution, that’s still a great outcome.
The key to a successful 1:1 is not to be too
rigid! Sometimes your 1:1s will be 10 minutes
(especially if you regularly talk to your direct
report(s), sometimes they’ll be an hour. There’s
no right or wrong way to run a 1:1 — it can be a
process of trial and error, and finding out what
works best for both you and your employees.
Don’t make it too formal
The last thing you want to do is make your 1:1s
a formal, robust process where your employees
feel like they can’t have a personal conversation
about how they’re feeling. If some weeks you
only focus on one issue, that’s still considered a
productive 1:1. They’re designed to increase
trust and communication within teams so you
can help them develop both professionally and
personally.
Remember:
1:1s are a casual way to share
feedback, progress and roadblocks
with your direct manager — they
aren’t annual performance reviews.
7 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team
Be honest
At the end of the day, honesty and trust go
together. When you are open, transparent and
honest with your 1:1 buddy, you’ll be happier
and in a better position to achieve your best
work. Trust forms the basis of all strong
relationships and everyone appreciates
honesty in the workplace.
Remember:
Employment Hero has a built-in 1:1 feature
that can help you manage your team
effectively. 1:1s in Employment Hero will
guide managers and employees through
structured and regular meetings with the
goal of providing an environment for
coaching and feedback.
What questions could you ask in a 1:1?
It’s important to have a list of questions
ready for your 1:1. If possible, ask your direct
report(s) to fill them out before your meeting
so that you can both come prepared.
This will make sure that you stay on track
and get the most out of your session.
Before any more formal questions,
make sure you check in
Begin your 1:1 with open-ended questions —
this is about your employees, not you, ask:
How are you feeling?
What’s on your mind?
What are your roadblocks?
How can I help?
Most importantly, listen to what’s being
said. An important aspect of being a
manager is to make sure your employees
feel heard safe and empowered
8 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team
It’s not all about the questions
Asking questions is all well and good,
but as a manager you’re also going to
need to facilitate solutions. Here’s some
ideas on how you could do that:
Uncover what your employee is excited
about, how you can mentor them to be
successful, and unblock them to do their
best work? Here are some ways to make
sure you create a space of trust:
→ Confirm their points first - did you hear and
interpret them correctly?
→ Disclose your weaknesses, places where
you’ve stumbled in the past
→ Be unconditionally on their side/team, even
(and especially) when giving them blunt
feedback about opportunities for growth
→ Respect them as a person, not just a
performer of tasks; treat them as a peer
Looking for more of a template? Here are some examples of more
formal questions you could use in your 1:1 sessions include:

Rate your happiness on a scale of 1 to 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

What are you proud of in the last week?

What are your roadblocks right now?

How are you progressing with your long term goals?

9 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

Have you made any progress this week?

Are there any skills you would like to improve?

How can I help you achieve your goals?

What are you committing to next week to progress your goals?

10 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

The benefits of 1:1s
We all know that frequent communication
is the key to building a high performing team. Quinn’s Hero Tip
Here are some short-hand benefits
During your 1:1s, write a to-do list of tasks you
we’ve already highlighted but are worth
want to achieve in the next week and then
mentioning again:
review them in your next session. It’s a great
way to stay motivated, especially in busy times.
→ Improved communication

→ They improve productivity

→ They allow for career

development discussion
→ They allow for goals to be
proactively set and checked
→ They build trust and improve
professional relationships
Did you know?
Employment Hero lets you manage OKRs
too. You can clearly see how everyone is
contributing to the wider business goals
on a team and individual level. It’s goal
alignment. Made simple.

11 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

The art of feedback
Day-to-day feedback happens organically → If you are emotionally charged about the
during conversations — for example: “Alex, feedback, how can you personally prepare
I think you could improve your knowledge
for the conversation? What words can you
on this by speaking to Dave”. However, if
you’re looking to give more structured use to start the feedback?
feedback in real time but you can’t directly → How might they react or respond to this
talk to the person, document it. Once
feedback? How will you prepare for this?
documented in a central place, you can:
→ Assess: Do I give the feedback verbally or
Pick a time and a medium for ‌feedback. There
are certain types of feedback that you are best through a feedback tool
to give in a conversation (by video or in-person).
Try mixing it up!
Decide whether this feedback ‌might be taken
the wrong way if not given in a conversation. Set the cadence but build in flexibility — not
every 1:1 needs to be the same. You should:
Here are some tips on preparing
→ Do a coaching session once a month
feedback
→ Set goals quarterly
→ What are your intentions for sharing this
feedback? → Have a quarterly review of projects or goals

→ What would be a successful outcome of → Have a dedicated 1:1 to talk career

this feedback? development and building skills!
Not all 1:1 has to be on video… you could
→ What was the situation?
try a walking meeting, have a coffee
→ What behaviour did the employee exhibit? meeting, meet in a coffee shop. You
could also add in a team building activity
→ What was the impact of the behaviour on together. 1:1s are an opportunity for you
you and/or others? to build relationships. If something isn’t
working, pause, review and change.
→ What information do you have to support
what you will say?

And there you have it

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, effective 1:1s are not just a tool for
managers but a strategic approach to nurturing talent, retaining top employees and driving
overall business success. By embracing and mastering the art of running effective 1:1s, managers
can make a tangible difference in building great teams and achieving organisational goals.

12 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

About
Employment
Hero

Employment Hero is the smarter way to
manage people, payroll and productivity
for busy businesses with big ambitions.
Our software empowers Aussie businesses
by providing automated solutions,
launching them on the path to success by
powering greater productivity every day.
Join over 200,000 businesses and 1 million
employees around the world using
Employment Hero.
Employment Hero makes EOFY easy
Our complete HR, payroll and benefits
platform makes record keeping, reporting
and workforce management easy at
EOFY. Learn more about how we can help
you at tax time by speaking with one of
our small business specialists today.

Our features include:

Performance reviews Applicant tracking system Custom surveys

Employee happiness scores Paperless onboarding Feedback

OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) Learning management system (LMS) 1:1s

Policy & letter templates Reward & recognition And so much more…!

BOOK A DEMO
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13 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team

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14 | How to run effective 1:1s with your team