The whole idea of meeting one on one with their direct reports on a regular basis is scary for many leaders. There are a variety of reasons for this, none of which hold much water.
Excuse #1: I don’t have time. This is the most common excuse managers cite for not meeting regularly with their people. Interestingly, they don’t have time to meet with their people individually on any regular basis, yet they seem to have time for an unlimited series of drop-in (or “drive-by”) meetings every day. Here’s an idea: buy yourself an hourglass that has two-minutes worth of sand. Next time one of your direct reports asks you if you’ve got a minute, reply, “For you… I’ve got two minutes.” Then turn over the hourglass.
Excuse #2: It’s too intimate. When we suggest one on one meetings, we’re not suggesting that you light some candles, dim the lighting, and put on some John Tesh at Redrocks bootleg music. Rather, have your direct reports be responsible for planning, scheduling and running of your one on one meetings. If possible, go to their office or station to have the meeting – it’ll do you good to get out of your office.
Excuse #3: I don’t like my direct reports. If you don’t like your directs, it’s probably a condition of the prejudice you’ve developed about them because you don’t interface with them very often. It makes no sense not to like people, just because you don’t know them. If you take the time to really get to know your people, you’ll find all kinds of legitimate reasons not to like them – and this would make sense. Besides… one of the conditions of sitting at the big-kids table is dealing with the fact you have to deal with people you don’t like.
I would never suggest you have to like all your direct reports – but you do need to communicate with them, and there’s no better way to do so than with highly-structured, highly-focused, regularly scheduled one on one meetings.