Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

Contracting: Your First One-to-Ones

Your first one-to-one meeting can be somewhat harder than the ones that follow. Just like meeting any human being for the first time, your first one-to-one could unfold in a multitude of different ways. You might be lucky enough to immediately gel with your direct report: the conversation flows and away you go. Equally, you might be unlucky enough to sit down, stare at each other, and not really know what to say. Depending on your direct report’s experience in their career, the company, their cultural background, and their personality, they may approach this meeting in different ways. Could there be a method in which to normalize this first meeting so that it works better for both parties?

If you’ve started ...