Thread by @clairevo

I cancelled 80% of my reoccurring 1:1s and I don’t think I’m ever going back.

I’ve replaced them with these 5 things that are 10x more effective.

First - why did I cancel them?

Aren’t 1:1s the lifeblood of management?

Between my directs and my skips and my peers I have ~20 people that I had standing mtgs with on a frequency from wkly-monthly.

I was booked 7-9 hours a day. It was completely untenable.

What sucked:
- sitting all day
- no deep work time
- no time to prepare for 1:1s
- short meetings with 30% of time spent on “busy week, huh?”
- only saw my circle of directs/peers/skips
- being pinged on slack constantly during meetings

So, as I do, I declared calendar bankruptcy. And it was intended to be temporary. My EA and I rebuild the calendar about 3x a year so I was do for a refresher.

But instead, I just didn’t re-book them.

What do I do instead now?

1. Weekly prioritized 1:1s

On Monday I decide who I need to catch up with 1:1, and who I don’t. I post this to my staff channel so no one feels left out, and highlight the why/why not.

EA and team keeps me honest if I’ve neglected anyone for too long.

2. Ad hoc 1:1s

I have so much more overlapping open time w my team, now. Which means we’re able to pop into a quick huddle and sync on stuff much more frequently (which I’ve been doing w my CoS forever.) Helpful to:
- debrief mtgs
- triage something urgent
- wrap EOD

3. Wayyy longer 1:1:1s
Instead of a weekly 1:1 w out SVP Eng (my direct) and a bi-wkly w the VPE (skip) - we’ve been having 60-90 minute 1:1:1s to cover everything eng - people, product, infra, etc. We can go deep on topics & cut out telephone - so much better.

4. Real Work

I now have hours more a week for hard work: writing, feedback, org stuff. Instead of spending short bursts trying to manage thru my directs via 1:1s, I have the time to get more hands on w the things I might have gone less deep on before.

5. Open org huddles

I’m now sponsoring near daily “hangs” with the team where I just post up in a Slack huddle and do the real work referenced before, but the huddle has an org-wide open door. They usually last 60-90 mins and have about 10 ppl that join. These are my FAVORITE.

These hangs let me make decisions that would have waited for a formal meeting, see more of the team, and get more social interaction. Other leaders are starting to host hangs themselves, which I love.

Only rule: post a summary @ the end on what was discussed (work & social!)

Anyway, highly recommend everyone claim their life back from the tyranny of a million 1:1s and try instead:

1. Prioritizing 1:1s weekly
2. Doing ad hoc 1:1s
3. Longer small group meetings
4. Actually doing work
5. Open hangs

Post script: I still have a few scheduled 1:1s
- my boss 🙂
- impossible to book people: other execs, HRBP
- EA
- one intl teammate (gotta snag that early spot!)

Experiment is about a month in, will let you know when it breaks. In the meantime, I feel human again.

I mean for real what are we thinking w calendars like this

https://twitter.com/clairevo/status/1410961422905876486