Why “Let’s skip our one-on-one this week” is never just one week
Skipping feels harmless, but your employee hears that they are not a priority. Move the meeting instead of cancelling it, and put the new time on the calendar.
THE QUICK ANSWER
Say this instead: “I can’t make this time. Can we move it to Thursday?” “Let’s skip our one-on-one this week” feels harmless, but your employee hears: you’re not a priority. Skip it twice and it quietly stops happening. Move it, don’t cancel it, and put the new time on the calendar.
GO DEEPER
Why a skipped one-on-one rarely comes back
When the week is busy and nothing urgent is pending, skipping the one-on-one seems sensible. You are saving an hour, and you will catch up next week.
Your employee hears something different. It is their time, and you have just told them something else matters more. They may say it is fine, and they may mean it. But they remember.
The real danger is the second skip. Once a one-on-one has been skipped twice, it quietly stops happening, and the problems that would have come up in it stay hidden. Many managers find out too late that the weekly meeting was where they heard about trouble early.
If you truly cannot make it, move it, don’t cancel it: “I can’t make this time. Can we move it to Thursday?” Put the new time on the calendar straight away. The one-on-one notebook helps you keep a running agenda so each meeting is worth having.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Move a one-on-one instead of cancelling it, and put the new time on the calendar straight away.
TEST YOURSELF
Something came up and you cannot make this week’s one-on-one. What should you do?
PRACTISE IT
Try this lesson in the arcade
Quick retro games that start with this lesson’s situations. One thumb, one to three minutes, free.
