Leveraging Hybrid One-on-Ones For Better Connections

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One of the most difficult challenges to overcome in a hybrid or remote work environment is the lack of social connection between team members—and worse, the often insufficient time that managers spend individually with their reports. Spending too little time one-on-one with your team members can have career-hindering effects: there’s not enough time for many of the conversations that lead to better work outcomes, such as giving feedback, career development discussions, and social time to build trust.
 
One-on-ones are the best tool at your disposal for ensuring that those vital conversations happen and that your team feels connected, even when you aren’t working together in an office every day. They’re incredibly valuable no matter what a team’s work setup is, but even more so when working in hybrid and remote teams: they might be the only time that an engineer gets to spend alone with their manager, putting a lot of importance on this single meeting type.
 
In this talk we’ll discuss why one-on-ones are so vital for teams that aren’t co-located, and how to leverage them to build strong relationships and a healthy team. We’ll also cover topics such as:

  • The big benefits of virtual one-on-ones over their in-person counterparts

  • How to structure hybrid one-on-ones to make the most out of the setup

  • Why and how to use a shared agenda

  • Common one-on-one issues, and how to troubleshoot them

  • How to leverage one-on-ones to foster stronger relationships with peers

You’ll leave with many practical steps to successfully run your hybrid and remote one-on-ones, and learn how to use them to keep the team connected while working apart.