
Questions for our first 1:1 - wallflower
http://larahogan.me/blog/first-one-on-one-questions/
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kator
Funny in my 1:1's I always remind my team members my job is pretty easy, I
only have four things to do:

1) Provide Air Cover

2) Provide Resources

3) Provide Direction

4) Get the F out of the way.

My first 1:1 is usually a reminder of this, basically "How can I help you be
successful, what can I do to protect you, get you the resources you need and
get the F out of your way?"

I'm always coaching my team "What is your passion?" because I believe if you
work in your passion you don't work a day of your life. To me my goal should
be to help my team find that passion, sometimes that is beyond the confines of
my group. I play the long game, I've helped many people move beyond the group
I was working in. Years later some have came back with gratitude and a lot of
learning about themselves and what works, and more importantly what doesn't
work for them in a partnership.

Life is short, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey and all
the amazing people you meet along the way.

Stop managing people, start being a partner to the people you work with no
matter where they sit in your organization.

~~~
solipsism
_I 'm always coaching my team "What is your passion?" because I believe if you
work in your passion you don't work a day of your life. To me my goal should
be to help my team find that passion, sometimes that is beyond the confines of
my group. _

What if the passion is beyond the confines of the job? Some of us work for the
money, and despite that we do a great job.

It sounds like you're a great manager, but honestly, as an experienced
developer, I'd rather my manager not try to align my passions with my work.
That's my job.

~~~
mc32
So much this.

Yes, some people can work on their passion and their job is not a vehicle for
personal sustainability --but for a good many people work is work. They are
good, they are great at their jobs, but ultimately it's a job they do well
--however they may have passions --things they can suffer over, elsewhere. And
I really don't see an issue there.

I think it's a great misconception management sell where it's sold that
passionate people are the only true workers worthwhile. It really shows how
out of touch some people are with the outside world.

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nxc18
I love this. The baked goods question, in particular, is especially valuable
if at first glance it seems humorous.

Some of the other questions require a level of self-reflection that many lack.
Sometimes people say what they think their new manager will like to hear. If
they are relatively young/inexperienced, they just might not know the answer
or have ever thought about it.

There are few people (in western society at the very least) who can't tell you
what their favorite baked good is.

Actually caring enough to remember (even if you had to write it down)
someone's favorite baked good is a powerful signal, and the person gets their
favorite baked good. Everyone wins.

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zachrose
Asking "what makes you grumpy?" would pair well with "what beings you joy?"

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_RPM
For every company I've worked at so far in my career, there hasn't been a
manager like this article describes at all. Never had a one on one. I
requested one with my manager, and he said we can sync up, but I get the
feeling he is full of shit. He seems to do the weekly status report document.

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rrecuero
As Andy Grove said, as a manager you only need to worry about two things:
Motivation and Growth. Some of these questions are really good, they give you
information that can help you in tricky situations down the road. However, by
themselves are not going to create a foundation.

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vrbelli
Two startups that I know of who are trying to solve this problem:(shameless
plug, I work for Duuoo)

[http://duuoo.io](http://duuoo.io)

[http://clanbeat.com](http://clanbeat.com)

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sgt101
Questions and answers in 1:1's is a bad sign. Open talking employee and
listening + coaching manager are the positive signs.

I ask you, you say something, I write it down is not good karma.

~~~
itsdrewmiller
Pretty sure these are specifically for your first 1:1 - getting to know
specific things about the person that will be helpful in future coaching
situations. I think your first few 1:1s with someone where you don't have a
prior relationship are going to be awkwardly formal no matter what approach
you take.

