{"id":30580,"date":"2021-02-17T15:58:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T14:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/?p=30580"},"modified":"2021-02-17T15:58:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T14:58:13","slug":"remote-one-on-one-meeting-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/blog\/remote-one-on-one-meeting-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"30 questions to ask during remote 1:1 meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A while back, we published an article featuring\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/blog\/24-questions-ask-next-11-meeting\/\"><em>24 questions to ask in your next 1:1 meeting<\/em><\/a>. It\u2019s one of our most-read posts, which shows just how much people crave inspiration for their meeting agendas. With more managers running 1:1s from home, we decided to create a list of remote 1:1 meeting questions to ask your team members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow is a remote 1:1 agenda different?\u201d, you may ask. Sure, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/resources\/1-on-1-meetings\/#benefits\">purpose of a 1:1 meeting<\/a>\u00a0is the same, and the general talking points might not change much either. What\u2019s different about virtual 1:1s is the\u00a0<em>emphasis<\/em> you put on topics like relationship building, productivity, and well-being.<\/p>\n<h2>Basic rules for effective remote 1:1 meetings<\/h2>\n<p>We won\u2019t go into the details of conducting virtual 1:1s. But these three rules are the foundation of a smooth check-in with your team members:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use video<\/strong>: <span>Make sure you\u2019re not missing out on the non-verbal cues. Video chat offers the richest form of communication, only exceeded by actually being in the same room. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Do them weekly:\u00a0<\/strong>Biweekly 1:1s can be fine when you work from the same office. But as GitLab, a fully distributed company, recommends in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/about.gitlab.com\/handbook\/leadership\/1-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their employee handbook<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s better to have a short meeting with little to discuss than to go too long without an opportunity to communicate face-to-face.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t multitask:<\/strong> It\u2019s tempting to switch to another browser window while in a video meeting, right? Don\u2019t. Just don\u2019t. If you really want to look something up that contributes to your conversation, let the other meeting participant know. Otherwise, give them your full attention and actively listen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more advice on how to run virtual 1:1 meetings, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marcuswermuth.com\/virtual-one-to-ones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this detailed guide<\/a> from a manager at fully-remote Buffer.<\/p>\n<h2>The core remote 1:1 agenda<\/h2>\n<p>A consistent agenda format ensures you never skip essential questions. Complement the core agenda with occasional questions on areas like wellbeing and communication.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How are you? What\u2019s going on inside and outside work?<\/li>\n<li>What accomplishments are you proud of?<\/li>\n<li>Is anything blocking you?<\/li>\n<li>What are your top priorities right now?<em> (Are we aligned?)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>What can I do to support you?<\/li>\n<li>Anything else you\u2019d like to talk about today?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Transition to remote work<\/h2>\n<p>Newly remote employees face unique challenges and usually need some time to find their remote working style. It\u2019s part of a remote manager\u2019s job to guide this journey.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What do you like and dislike about working from home?<\/li>\n<li>How are the new tools we&#8217;re using working for you?<\/li>\n<li>What can I or other people in our company do to make remote work easier for you?<\/li>\n<li>How has remote work impacted the team dynamics \u2013 positively and negatively?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Relationship building<\/h2>\n<p>Building a strong relationship with your report is harder when you\u2019re not in the same office. Chatting about non-work topics can replace those vital water cooler moments.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How has working remotely impacted your family routines?<\/li>\n<li>What vacation (or staycation) plans do you have coming up?<\/li>\n<li>Can you recommend any good podcasts or books?<\/li>\n<li>What was one of your funniest moments at work?<\/li>\n<li>Any cool movies you watched recently?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Well-being<\/h2>\n<p>Remote work <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.com\/workplace\/288722\/keep-remote-worker-wellbeing-high.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">can impact<\/a> your team member\u2019s physical and mental health. Ask these questions to help keep their well-being high.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Does work feel energizing or draining to you right now?<\/li>\n<li>What adjustments can we make that would improve your well-being?<\/li>\n<li>Have you been able to find clear boundaries between work and personal life?<\/li>\n<li>Do you feel like you\u2019re able to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle?<\/li>\n<li>Do you ever feel lonely or isolated at work?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Communication<\/h2>\n<p>Frequent, effective communication is a pillar of successful remote collaboration. Check in with your team members to help them meet their communication needs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How do you feel about the amount of communication in our team and organization? Would you prefer more or less?<\/li>\n<li>Are you getting enough feedback from me and your colleagues?<\/li>\n<li>How well do you feel informed about what\u2019s going on in the rest of the organization?<\/li>\n<li>Do you feel that important conversations happen publicly?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s something I can improve about my communication style and habits?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Productivity<\/h2>\n<p>Remote workers can be more productive than office workers, but only if they have a supportive work environment.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How productive have you been feeling lately?<\/li>\n<li>How\u2019s your workload? (Anything we should delegate or deprioritize?)<\/li>\n<li>Do you have enough clarity about your role and responsibilities?<\/li>\n<li>How challenging is it for you to stay focused when working from home?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have access to all the resources and information you need?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Addressing specific topics in your remote 1:1<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to regular check-ins, you can use some of your 1:1s to talk about particular themes, such as career growth, goal-setting, or performance issues. If you\u2019re looking for inspiration, have a look at our other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/resources\/1-on-1-meetings\/#templates\">1:1 meeting templates<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not sure how to approach your next 1:1 meeting with a remote team member?  Here are three rules and 30 questions for an effective remote 1:1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":9374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feedback","category-leadership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}