Sales leaders often wonder as to what could be some ways to make these meetings more effective for the managers and their teams. Writing for MIT Sloan Management Review, Jessica Wisdom, co-founder and People Science leader of Humu, offers 5 research based suggestions for making the most of 1:1 meetings: 

• 1. Meet more often 

Humu’s research found that individual contributors who had regularly weekly meetings with their managers reported 

• feeling 20% less anxious, 
• dreading them 17% less, and 
• feeling 12% more successful at their jobs, on average, 

• compared with those who met with their managers less often

Action Insight: Calendarise meetings and ensure a regular cadence. Meetings can be short but must be sufficiently frequent. Achieving sales targets in a constantly changing environment calls for regular course corrections and tactical changes. So, quality of meetings alone is not enough. Quantity matters too

• 2. Set clear expectations on outcomes  

Managers must make a conscious effort to tailor their relationship with each direct report suggests Jessica Wisdom. The benefit of such an individualized approach is a building of “a meaningful connection based on trust”. 

Research by Humu established that employees with highly rated managers were more than three times as likely than those with poorly rated managers to say that their supervisors show that they care and take the time to get to know them

Action Insight: In crafting individualized relationships managers must take into account 3 essential factors of every direct report: 

1. Unique needs
2. Interests 
3. Feedback preferences

Mercuri approach of ‘managing by support’ also calls for a similar individualisation. Each Salesperson has varying needs in terms of (a) Quality of sales work capable (b) Self-management capabilities on quantum of efforts (iii) Current conditions of individual’s market or territory: Favourable/ Not so favourable/Adverse. Successful sales managers tailor their meeting messages keeping these unique needs in mind 

• 3. Encourage two-way agenda 

Meetings must address the needs of both the manager and the reports. To achieve this, Jessica Wisdom recommends 5 key questions managers can focus on with varying amounts of time for each, depending upon individual team member needs:

1. What’s going well? (Encourage self-reflection, offer recognition)  
2. Where can I help? (Clarify directions, Help work through any roadblocks)
3. What are your top priorities these days? (Get a clearer line of sight into employees’ work, clarify any misaligned priorities) 
4. Is there anything new or upcoming you’d like to put on my radar? (Pre-empt potential issues)
5. How are you feeling outside of work? (Build personal rapport, Know the individual more fully) 

These questions aside, Wisdom is of the view that team members should be empowered to add more bullets if needed 

Action Insight: Calendarise meetings and ensure a regular cadence. Meetings can be short but must be sufficiently frequent. Achieving sales targets in a constantly changing environment calls for regular course corrections and tactical changes. So, quality of meetings alone is not enough. Quantity matters too

• 4. Empower rather than micromanage 

As the MITSR article highlights, an empowering approach allows managers to lead with trust while providing direct reports with a safe space to experiment, fail, and improve. It sows the seeds for professional growth

Action Insight: Sales stars promoted as team leaders are likely to be tempted to ask a lot of “What” and “How” questions in 1:1 conversations with their reports. But in their eagerness to help they may unwittingly block opportunities for their people to make mistakes and learn. It is only when a team member is seen struggling should a sales manager extend support by identifying issues and brainstorming collaboratively for solutions 

• 5. Follow through 

When a manager is seen to follow through on something the employee asked for in a meeting, it builds trust, that’s crucial for a rewarding long term relationship between the manager and his team. Follow-on communication via mails or phone calls can reframe difficult conversations in positive light 

Action Insight: Taking notes is a best practice used by successful sales professinals, that both sides can adopt. Meeting summaries and action items in bullets can be used to review and complete whatever was agreed upon to get the best out of 1:1 meetings 

Jessica Wisdom sums it all up when she says: “Meeting just for the sake of it won’t move the needle, but when one-on-one conversations are useful, consistent, and human, they can become something that both managers and employees actually look forward to” Read the research details here