Dr. Steven Rogelberg

This session has the following primary goals:

1. Changing meeting culture starts with each leader running their meetings in the most effective/inclusive manner possible.

This is not only key for maximizing productivity but given that leader practices become normative for others, it is critical that the practices that cascade informally down the organization are optimal.

Leveraging the science of meetings, evidence-based approaches to running meetings, and preventing meeting overload, will be discussed and illustrated. 

2. Within every organization, an implicit and explicit meeting ecosystem exists.

This ecosystem drives meeting load/demands and meeting practices.

To address the importance of examining and altering the ecosystem to support meeting excellence leaders will learn what and how to implement new standards and approaches to meetings with their teams designed to maximize meeting quality, but also return time to their teams through decreased meeting activity, decreased meeting sizes, and decreased meeting  time.

Would it surprise you to know?

• Nearly half of 1:1s are rated as being suboptimal 

• That managers believe their 1:1s went better than their direct reports

• That 1:1s done effectively can drive organizational success

• That poorly conducted 1:1s can derail employee engagement, thriving, and inclusion 

• That 1:1s are arguably the more important tool for building genuine connection and retaining employees, especially in hybrid work environments

• Besides the potentially critical productivity, retention, alignment, relationship and development outcomes for directs, that successful 1:1s can elevate manager success and lead to re-captured time

• There is a robust science to help us navigate key 1:1 decisions around cadence, agenda creation, the types of questions to ask, and what a leader needs to do assure a constructive and valuable experience.

There are approximately 200 million 1:1 meetings a day around the globe.  Yet, the research clearly shows that 1) the effectiveness of these meetings is far from optimal; 2) that managers self-ratings of their skills in conducting these meetings is inflated and not aligned with their directs.  Hence, an incredible opportunity exists to fill the skills gap and maximize return of a tremendous time investment.

1:1s could be one of the most critical meeting types for the success of team members, manager, teams, and organizations. The best managers recognize that 1:1s are not an add-on to their role as a manager—conducting 1:1s successfully ARE foundational to being a manager.   In many regards, these 1:1s are where leadership really happens in a deep and meaningful way.  When a manager fully embraces this, the potential of 1:1s for transforming their people and their team can be realized.  Successful 1:1s positively affect day-to-day activities through discussion of productivity blockers, coordination, and alignment.  And, they are also so much more.  Namely, these meetings fundamentally influence a direct report’s experience at work, including how they engage and attach to their role, perceive the effectiveness of their manager as a leader, and envision their future at the organization.  1:1s also promote manager success. Namely, effective 1:1s make team members more focused, engaged, aligned, and successful -  managers are judged by the success and achievements of those they lead.  

Despite 1:1s filling managers’ calendars, meaningful guidance on how to conduct them effectively is quite sparse. This session is about how to realize the full potential of every 1:1 meeting, without feeling like you are just wallowing in wasted meeting time.   

Leveraging research and evidence I have collected over 20 years from leaders, directs, and c-suite leaders from some of the most respected companies in the world, some of the topics covered include:  

• Why effective 1:1s are critical to your success and the success of your team – contrasting with ad hoc meeting approaches

• How 1:1s done effectively drive economic success

• Keys to success and 10 common mistakes to avoid 

• How to personalize your 1:1 approach to fit you and your direct reports – one size does not fit all

• Messaging and positioning 1:1s for maximum value 

• Finding the correct 1:1 cadence and meeting length to maximize positive impact without over-meeting

• Managing the intricate balance of productivity-building, relationship-building, and employee development

• Designing 1:1s with intentionality, from where to conduct the meeting (e.g., virtual) to building agendas to optimize effectiveness

• Acting as leader coach and leveraging key skills around facilitation, listening, and feedback-giving

Importantly, while this session focusses on the manager/direct report 1:1, learnings are highly relevant to 1:1s with peers, customers, and skip-levels.

Keynote can be connected to and framed as addressing any of the following macro themes: preventing leader derailment, building an engaged and inclusive work force, retention of top talent; team success, and agile workplace cultures.

While we often think about meetings as being places of drain, meetings done well can actually be places of personal and team gain.

The key, leveraging evidence-based practices to make meetings genuinely engaging and inclusive. You will learn what we know about virtual, hybrid, and face-to-face meetings from an evidence-based perspective and gain knowledge and resources on how to effectively lead meetings to promote engagement and inclusion.

The goal, better meetings and people leaving your meetings energized and feeling valued, rather than frustrated and suffering from meeting recovery syndrome. Keynote can be connected to and framed as addressing any of the following macro themes: leader and team success, creativity and innovation through meetings, fostering a culture of engagement and inclusion, and enhanced productivity through less wasted time.