ALTERNATE UNIVERSE DEV

Iteration Podcast

➡️ One on One's ⬅️

Welcome to Iteration, a podcast about programming, development, and design.

  • John Intro — My name is John and I am a software developer for a home services startup.
  • JP Intro — Hi, I'm JP and I am a software developer.

What makes a good 1:1 (IC perspective)?

  • JP a manager who listens
  • JP clear action items for problems

What makes a good 1:1 (Manager perspective)?

  • John When reports are honest about motivations (I want more money, etc)
  • John Clear feedback about my management

What makes a bad 1:1?

  • JP when 1:1s just become another medium for standup updates
  • JP when 1:1s become a way for your manager to micromanage

Format

What do you talk about?

Basic framework John follows:

  • private running doc between manager and report, either party can always add to it, reviewed on a regular cadence. I've found every 2 weeks to be really effective.
  • This meeting is for building trust, context, sharing progress on goals, professional development things like that.
  • Principles / concepts
    • Focus on the report — 1:1's are primarily for the report, the employee, not for the manager or the company.
    • 70/30 — Manager should be 70% listening less than 30% talking.
    • Honesty — be direct. Forbidden conversations.
    • Objective — Do the work to find objective examples, provide numbers and letter grades.
    • Flexible — Don't overthink or over structure, let it flow, let report guide conversation
  • Moneyball firing clip

Picks

Episode source