If yes, how often do you do it? Is it something na mandated ng company niyo or your own initiative? What do you do during those times?
Right now, I have monthly 1 on 1s with the team leads in our team. We usually do it over lunch/merienda and we just about issues they want to discuss (career development, problems, etc). Kung wala naman silang masabi, may list of questions ako na fallback Curious as to how others do this. I mostly got this practice from books. My boss doesnāt schedule 1 on 1s with me. I probably should ask.
Yes. Itās a practice that Iāve picked up from my past job.
As someone who reports to a boss, I use the generals just to solicit feedback. I generally update on the progress of all my deliverables, share any issues, then ask for feedback. Itās important to ask for feedback para pag rating season na, tapos may issue pala siya, puwede mo sabihan na ābakit di mo sinabi sa akin yan during our generals?ā Monthly ang cadence namin ni boss.
As someone who rates people din, I generally use it to do a temp check and establish a more personal connection with direct reports. Sa Pinoy, based on experience, masaya sila pag kilala mo anak nila etc etc. I also use the generals to ask feedback on what I need to change as manager. Monthly ang generals ko din, but we usually eat lunch together din so minsan wala na kami mapag usapan
I also do skip level checks - eto yung kausapin mo one /two levels down (so kung director ka, talk to supervisors, junior managers, minsan analysts). Kasi minsan hindi nanghihingi ng feedback yung direct report mo, or takot magsabi yung mga direct report nya. Parang medyo āsumbunganā session puwede mangyari, so you really have to set the tone kung ano objective ng mga skips. But I generally find a lot of good work ideas during these meetings din.
Last. Pag may sinasabon ako, I invite him/her to lunch. Para pigil ang sasabihin ko So my old team does not like it when I say, kain tayo sa Cibo for our general?
for the bosses above, i use it to update and consult about things, present options and provide decision points. para din aware sila sa mga ginagawa namin. there are also times that i skip the direct supervisor and go directly to the boss, pero kapag may mga bagay na directly kaming nag-uusap.
for those below, its for tasking, providing direction and expectations and feedback. i also use it for them to update me on the things they are doing, so i can monitor progress of things they are working on, and remind them of deadlines/deliverables. i also use it to make a little sabon. i make it a point kasi to praise publicly but criticize privately.
Oh, thanks! Itās very helpful I just got the practice from some management books. Wala kasing management training dito sa UP (at least if youāre project based staff ).
Oo nga eh. Sobrang important nga. Sa case ko naman, dalawa (out of four) sa direct reports ko ay galing sa ibang team nung previous project namin. Ako kasi naging team lead nila after our teams merged. So medyo adversarial nang 'onti yung relationship namin sa simula (iba kasi team culture nila sa amin). They barely talked nung simula but they opened up naman later. Took about a year or so though.
Oh, sisimulan ko na dapat ito but I kept putting it off. More than twenty kasi kami sa team so medyo na-ooverwhelm ako (how do you find the time? ). How often do you do do the skip level checks? Baka gawin ko na lang na quarterly. haha
Hindi ko pa sila nasasabon. I probably should do that. Hirap akong magbigay ng negative feedback right now eh. Kelangan magpractice
skips - quarterly. hindi ko āto ginagawa na one on one, group usually. hindi kaya eh.
time? i just schedule in advance. tapos i donāt cancel whatever the case maybe, kasi important pa rin to talk to people. we work through people so the soonest you work on a problem attitude or reinforce something good, mas maganda.
Negative feedback - i often say pag alam ng manager ang problema, pero di nya na correct, sya na ang problema. You just really need to do it. In time magiging comfortable ka rin.
Yes, I do fortnightly one-on-one meetings with my manager and my direct reports. We have a shared OneNote agenda per meeting that we fill out to list discussion points and action plans. I scheduled them by myself. One of the good things about our company is we can talk to directors freely, not worrying about hierarchy too much.
My manager is based in Sydney so itās important that we have regular catch ups. Nakakasawa na mukha niya in a good way LOL. Sometimes we donāt follow the agenda and just talk about whatever we want. Kanina mga reality shows and diet ang topic namin
Re feedback, sanay kami magbigay ng face to face feedback both positive and constructive. Iba yung mindset na na-instil sa amin sa simula palang and we constantly seek feedback. I can share more about it pero off-topic na hehe.
We had a re-structuring recently so wala na akong direct reports (yay! less stress). I never did formal 1-on-1 with them, itās mostly coaching and just checking up on how they are/where we are with projects/work.
But with my supervisor now we have quarterly meetings to give/receive feedback, re-calibrate goals, etc. I think yung regular meeting helps someone, who is not comfortable in giving criticism/feedback/comments, prepare to speak up to their boss. I always tell my colleagues to use that opportunity to say something.
May monthly meetings kami slash open forum pagkatapos. So ok na din un. Pero may mga topics na di mo maopen sa ganung set-up. Kaya minsan may mga 1 on 1 din kami ni boss or nun team lead namin. Culture kasi dito talaga sa Canada un naobserve ko un simpleng āhow are you?ā, nagmamatter talaga and sincere yun. Kaya pag ako tinanong ni boss ko nun, itās their way to reach out and to hear you out if may concerns ka. Importante sa kanila dito na masaya ka sa work mo and lahat ng concerns mo addressed. Kasi kung di ka na masaya, di ka nila uuriratin magstay, ok lang sa kanila na humanap ka ng ibang work. Nothing against you.
Just noticed na kelangan nga ito. Most people donāt tell you when things go wrong tapos mabibigla ka na lang. I think partly because most bosses are crap at walang culture of safety
Yay! Thatās good to know
Wow. Andalas sa inyo
Haha. Sige, will PM for more details nalang Or maybe another topic? Para mas marami matuto
@calvinlucas Ang hirap nga eh. Most people wonāt give feedback even though sinabihan mo na. Pinoy culture I guess?
Nakakamiss nga ang walang direct reports Yung responsible ka lang sa outputs mo. hahahuhu. Pero iba rin kasi impact mo as you go up. Ugh. Pick your poison na lang talaga.
@Zen-Zen Para relatively mas open nga sa Western cultures no? Dito kasi sa Pinas, para mas subservient ka sa boss mo. More so sa academe (at least in my limited experience). Parang feudal society pa dito.
hehe medyo nga. Kasi yung isang tumagal na work ko sa Pinas, minahal ko talaga yun pero sadly, di ako mashadong open sa boss ko. Tinanggap ko na yung truth na trabaho lang to, pera pera lang. Di ko na inisip yung sistema, basta gawin ko na trabaho ko, ssweldo ako. Tapos. Dito sa Canada natutunan ko maging makwento sa boss ko. You donāt need to be friends with your colleagues pero nahahalata nila yan pag di ka na masaya. Kaya sasabihin nila, āhow can I help?ā di man nila totally ma-address yung problema mo, but they will do something para mabawasan ang stress mo. Vinavalue nila ang empleyado pero pag ayaw mo na, susupportahan ka din nila sa decision mo.
My ābossā is also my director, colleague, friend, consultant, mentor, therapist. It didnāt happen overnight though. Being new in the field, I had to prove my worth and worked my a** off to gain his trust. Once I did, itās been a great working relationship. When he is on site, we talk and discuss agenda. He is available through text and phone any time if I need to consult on complex cases. We talk freely about process improvement. Feedback is immediate and informal. We call each other out when things could have been handled better. We vent to each other and even cried together (cause in medicine, shit gets real and raw). Pero sa lahat ng naging boss ko, siya talaga yung naka-gets sa akin. Suwertihan lang minsan.
Over the years, I realized that technical expertise is a given, and that leading people is what differentiates those who move up more. And if you really want to advance youāll have to work on people skills the most. My boss calls me a āCapt. Kirkā though to be honest Iād really like to be left alone and be a āSpockā
Before lockdown, almost everyday one-on-one with my direct supervisor before we start the day at work. We usually meet everyday at 7:00am then I head to the office by 8:30am.
Weāre a little casual with this even when I check on my team so it makes work better. Weāre not a big office kaya more interaction and direct feedback.
When Iām in HQ, if my boss is in town with me, we still meet at the same time at 7:00am to discuss things. If not, we message each other about work updates. Right now, we video call every 2-3 days in the morning, his time in the US.
In my personal experience yes, prevalent nga ito sa Pinoy culture, āyung mga teammates ko na Pinoy lagi ko nire-remind na they should not be hesitant to speak up. Everyone is busy with their own work - especially mga supervisors and managers; so if they are not aware of any issues, di nila ma-address āyun.
Apart from official quarterly check-ins, good to have more casual sit-down sessions in between, after every milestone or project. The more immediate, the better - but then again, timing is also critical, esp if it might further demotivate the person
I learned from my people management mentor, itās good to keep a log of your observations/ comments about your direct report. So I used to have a section for that on my notebook, then eventually shifted it to digital (just notes on my email) - the more specific, the better. So that you see a pattern of where your direct report is good at and not so good atā¦ so that every feedback is objective and based on specific eventsā¦ and more importantly, it helps your feedback be more actionable. It helps to have something to refer to, because we cannot really trust our memories and emotions.
Iāve handled Pinoy, Vietnamese, Singaporean direct reports, and the same āAsian treatmentā (more personal) has worked well so far.
Of course, also important to always get feedback from your direct reports, we learn a lot from everybody.
For my bosses: Iāve had Pinoy, Indian, French and British bossesā¦ Pinoys and Indians, they practice the same 1-on-1s schedule and feedback sessions, they also get personal. But the Europeans, you will have to ask for it. To them, if you didnāt approach them, then itās all good.
Thanks for this. Weāve been doing this for half a year pa lang but nag-eemerge na nga ang mga patterns Nakanotebook pa nga din ako. Get easily distracted if I use my phone
Related question, how do you all do 1 on 1s during this pandemic? Sa amin kasi, chat na lang ngayon. Hindi kasi ideal ang conditions sa bahay nila so hindi na muna kami gumagamit ng Zoom as medyo sensitive yung mga topics na dinidiscuss namin at walang privacy ang mga tao. Either maingay or too busy.So weāve mostly used Google Docs at Slack. Am curious as to how you all do it
Video calls pa rin kami via WebEx or MS teams. Thankfully may privacy and space naman sila sa bahay kaya possible pa rin.
My bosses are in Sydney so parehong video call lang din. Actually required kami may video kasi rude na wala kang video tapos sila meron (unless may acceptable reason kung bakit wala).
Yes, both ways. Normally upwards, more on updates and then utos sa akin
For my direct reports if I canāt do it weekly, like now na mas busy, I do it twice a month. Mostly catch up and I just ask about status of their projects or feedback on certain work tapos offer of support syempre, baka may āhelp neededā from me.
Then sa indirect reports ko, I hold a monthly skip level, per group designation. Dito hirap ako. Ayaw magsalita in a group setting pero paglabas ng room kanya kanyang ping sa akin pero nakakatuwa din they approach me.
Curious as to how others do this. I mostly got this practice from books. My boss doesnāt schedule 1 on 1s with me. I probably should ask.
Monthly ang cadence namin ni boss.
So my old team does not like it when I say, kain tayo sa Cibo for our general? 
I just got the practice from some management books. Wala kasing management training dito sa UP (at least if youāre project based staff 
).
). How often do you do do the skip level checks? Baka gawin ko na lang na quarterly. haha
You just really need to do it. In time magiging comfortable ka rin.
Yung responsible ka lang sa outputs mo. hahahuhu. Pero iba rin kasi impact mo as you go up. Ugh. Pick your poison na lang talaga.
