As employees start to become more invested in their own L&D goals and career trajectories, L&D professionals will need to meet with their trainees more often one-on-one. Here’s how to ensure that you have more productive one-on-one meetings with your trainees.
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Have Trainees Fill Out a Questionnaire or Survey Ahead of Time
Send your trainees a questionnaire or survey ahead of each of your meetings. Keep it brief, but ask them about things that they want to discuss during your next one-on-one meeting.
This way, you’ll know how you can help them and what to expect when you meet. Not only will doing this help focus your meetings and what you discuss, but it will also give your trainees an opportunity to feel more engaged in their own learning and development path.
Provide Trainees with a Bullet-Point Agenda Ahead of Time
Once you get more information about what your trainees want to discuss, you can send a short bullet-point agenda to them before your meetings so they are also aware of what will be discussed.
Sometimes, you might want to add certain things that need to be discussed to the agenda, too. But the agenda should serve as a guideline when you meet; it will ensure you don’t go over the time you allotted for your meeting while also allowing you to have a productive and focused conversation. An e-mail with an agenda in it can also serve as a reminder e-mail so that your trainees remember to show up.
Keep a Miscellaneous or Follow-Up Notes Column When You Meet
During your one-on-one meetings with trainees, keep notes for things that are mentioned during your discussion but that aren’t on the current meeting’s agenda. This way, you can be sure to add them to the agenda for your next one-on-one meeting while staying focused on your current agenda.
But you can still prioritize what you’ll discuss as you and the trainee see fit—just be sure to take notes so that important discussion topics aren’t missed. You can also take notes regarding supplemental materials or information you can send him or her after your meeting to better personalize his or her learning experience.
Have a Welcoming and Relaxed Attitude When You Meet
If you want your trainees to be excited about and engaged during your one-on-one meetings, remember to be welcoming and relaxed. Offer them coffee or water, and let them know you’re glad to see them. And while you’ll want to follow an agenda to stay focused, remember the real purpose of the meeting—to help them with their learning and development goals.
They will not open up to you or trust you with their learning or career goals and training if they don’t get a real sense that your intentions are authentic and that you genuinely care about their success.
If you want to have more productive one-on-one meetings with your trainees, follow the tips mentioned above.