During my time at Yelp, I had a lot of 1:1’s. They were often the highlight of my day or week. At its core, management to me is about people, and it’s hard to know how you can support them if you’re not listening to them.
One of my go-to techniques in those 1:1’s was to name whatever we were talking about. If it’s a bunch of questions about what they’ll be working on next, is that because they’re concerned about a promotion? Thinking about leaving? Bored by their current project and don’t want another one like it? If it’s a 20-question quiz on how compensation works, is that because they feel they’re underpaid? The topic could be positive or negative, although I find people are often more reluctant to name it if it is negative (at least from their viewpoint).
This isn’t a novel idea. It’s a concept in therapy/psychology known as affect labeling. There are plenty of examples of the same notion in fiction as well, such as the Rumpelstiltskin principle. The general idea is that directly naming the topic removes some amount of fear and anxiety of talking about it. And again, it’s hard for me to support someone if they can’t openly talk about what’s on their mind.
So, next time you’re in a 1:1 and feel like the conversation is circling around something, name it.
🤝