Welcome to Iteration, a podcast about programming, development, and design.

• John Intro — My name is John and I am a software developer for a home services startup.
• JP Intro — Hi, I'm JP and I am a software developer.

What makes a good 1:1 (IC perspective)?

• JP a manager who listens
• JP clear action items for problems

What makes a good 1:1 (Manager perspective)?

• John When reports are honest about motivations (I want more money, etc)
• John Clear feedback about my management

What makes a bad 1:1?

• JP when 1:1s just become another medium for standup updates
• JP when 1:1s become a way for your manager to micromanage

Format

What do you talk about?

Basic framework John follows:

• private running doc between manager and report, either party can always add to it, reviewed on a regular cadence. I've found every 2 weeks to be really effective.
• This meeting is for building trust, context, sharing progress on goals, professional development things like that.
• Principles / concepts
  • Focus on the report — 1:1's are primarily for the report, the employee, not for the manager or the company.
  • 70/30 — Manager should be 70% listening less than 30% talking.
  • Honesty — be direct. Forbidden conversations.
  • Objective — Do the work to find objective examples, provide numbers and letter grades.
  • Flexible — Don't overthink or over structure, let it flow, let report guide conversation
• Moneyball firing clip

Picks

• John: https://www.chia.net/
• JP: Tailwind is coming out with official React support!