Hey fellow managers and leaders,
Welcome to Issue 22 of the Manager TLDR.
Here’s some #MondayMotivation to help you start the week off right:
📝 How to show up prepared to a one-on-one meeting every single time (4 min read)
TLDR: Whether you’re a Manager or an IC, your one-on-ones are one of the most important meetings you’ll have. Here are some things you can do to ensure that conversation flows and you leave those meetings feeling inspired:
- Create a recurring agenda template with specific sections about learnings, challenges, and priorities.
- Leverage the meeting agenda throughout the week instead of trying to come up with a list of questions 10 minutes before the meeting.
- Have conversations about long-term and career development goals.
✋ 5 Tips to run successful retrospective meetings (6 min read)
TLDR: Retrospectives are meetings where you look back over a time period or a project and talk about the things that went well and the things that could have gone better. Here are some best practices to make the most out of them:
- Let everyone know that the retro is coming up and what the format will be.
- Make it abundantly clear that you want to hear about the bad stuff or the decisions that were made that people don’t agree with.
- After the retro, send a feedback request to everyone who came. Then, aggregate the data and summarize the results.
✅ 9 Steps to organize a productive meeting (7 min read)
TLDR: In order to increase productivity and efficiency at your meetings, you’ve got to put in the work before you walk into (or sign into) the meeting room. Here are the first three steps to organize a productive work session:
- State the meeting purpose: Is this a decision-making / problem-solving / project kickoff / retrospective meeting?
- Invite the right people: Remember to use the purpose of your meeting as a guideline for who should be present and invite people who will contribute.
- Develop a preliminary agenda: Encourage your team members contribute to the conversation and come prepared with questions.
📅 Your mid-year leadership check-in (3 min read)
TLDR: It’s halfway through the year. We remain in unknown territory for most leaders, but it’s time to start thinking of how you will move forward in these strange times. To get you thinking about this problem space, Michael Lopp (author of The Art of Leadership) presents ten check-in questions. Here are our three favourites:
- Where are you focusing on improving your leadership skills?
- What’s your current most significant challenge with your direct reports?
- Have you identified your next role? If so, what is it, and what’s your current plan to get there?
🎙 New on the Supermanagers podcast
Vlad Magdalin (CEO of Webflow) talks about the founding philosophies of Webflow and the surprising rationale behind the company’s dual mission. He also shares a template to run effective and inclusive company-wide meetings, and best practices to make the hybrid remote model work for your organization.
P.S. Did you know Fellow.app has a YouTube channel? This week, we recorded a video explaining 5 ways to beat procrastination and boost your productivity at work. Watch the video and subscribe to our channel here 🎬
