‘My 1-1s always over-run. What can I do?’ (3 things, actually) 😊

This was a great question from one of the delegates on a masterclass series I’ve been running on Performance and Feedback Conversations.

They’ve loved the ideas I’ve shared from Conversational Intelligence®, on Cats and Dogs (you have to be there) and more.

It’s a conversation I often have with the coaches I supervise too. (And – guilty as charged – in my early days I often let my coaching sessions over-run).

Anyway – you care about your team members (or coachees) so it’s tempting to just keep chatting – and yet……. It cuts into everybody’s time and means we’re working late to catch up or not getting round to the important or going round in circles.

This is what helps me:

• Be clear on the time allocated for your 1-1 (not ‘as long as we need’).
• Set your intention at the beginning. Something like ‘We’ve got the action list to work through and it would also be great to catch up and see how you’re doing – where would you like to start?’
• Manage your time accordingly. Half way through, you can check whether things are on track and what you need to do to make sure you finish on time. And make sure you’re summarising/closing with 5 or 10 minutes to spare.