The one-on-one meeting is one of the greatest assets that employees have, and very often they don’t know it.

This type of meeting hasn’t always been as widely used as it is now, and if you don’t have regular one-on-ones, you should absolutely ask for them. A one-on-one is a recurring meeting, usually weekly, between an employee and their boss. One-on-ones gained popularity with the rise of remote work, as managers and their direct reports alike realized that if they don’t make it a point to check in regularly, they might not.

Two things everyone needs to know about one-on-one meetings but sometimes don’t:

1. The one-on-one is the employee’s meeting, not the manager’s
2. The one-on-one is the most powerful tool employees have when it comes to getting raises and promotions

The One-on-One Is the Employee’s Meeting

When I say “the one-on-one is the employee’s meeting,” I mean that the employee should be driving the meeting. They should come with an agenda. It’s their opportunity to raise any concerns they have, ask for help, talk through problems, and so forth.

A manager can certainly ask questions during the meeting and bring up points that are important to them as well. But for the most part, the employee should be driving it.

All managers need to know this so they can inform their direct reports. Otherwise, the dynamics of power suggest that the manager should drive the meeting, which is not going to lead to effective, empowered, self-starting workers.

The One-on-One Is Your Greatest Tool for Promotions and Raises

Employees can and should use their one-on-ones to talk through any current challenges they have with their work, but that’s not the only thing to discuss. At least once a month, employees should take some time to highlight their accomplishments. And at least quarterly, they should use a one-on-one meeting to discuss their desired career path or the next step in their advancement.

When a manager and employee meet once a week and talk about career track, promotion paths, and potential raises regularly, none of it will be a big surprise when annual reviews are due. Potentially the very best use of a one-on-one is to make the conversation about raises and promotions less awkward. The more you bring it up, the easier it is to discuss.

Additionally, when employees regularly tell their boss what accomplishments they’ve had, the boss has those talking points ready when they have to write an annual review. The last thing any boss wants is to have to write every single employee evaluation from scratch. If they have bullet points ready to go from a year’s worth of repeated conversations, they will use them.

Use Your One-on-Ones Strategically

Use your one-on-ones strategically. Think about what you want to highlight about yourself. What do you want your boss to say about you in your annual review? What position do you want next, and what do you have to do to get it? Go to your one-on-ones with an agenda and regularly talk about these bigger issues of your career—at least quarterly. It’s by far the best place you can lobby for your own advancement.

Bonus Tip: Cancel your one-on-one if you have nothing to discuss that week! On average, I would cancel one out of every four or five meetings. And if you only have 11 minutes’ worth of stuff to talk about, end your meeting after 11 minutes.

Image by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash