Harmonic Minute
Here’s what happened when the CEOs of Nvidia and Airbnb cancelled 1:1s
Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and Jensen Huang (Nvidia) believe one-on-one meetings between managers and their staff are a waste of time and should be deleted immediately.
They believe these kinds of meetings don’t work for three reasons:
- The agenda of the meeting is usually owned by the employee
- The manager becomes the therapist
- Any opportunity for others to learn collectively and problem-solve as a group is lost
Here’s what happened when they shifted to group meetings:
- Collaboration, transparency and productivity increased
- People felt they were trusted to make decisions and work autonomously
- People felt valued because they had a seat at the table and were able to learn from and help others with problem solving
Getting it right involves a few safeguards.
You’ll need to communicate and rebrand
If you go and cancel all your 1:1 meetings, telling people they have to air their issues in a team setting, you’ll fail.
Explain what you’re doing and why.
Call it a Strategic Brains Trust (or something like that – ChatGPT can help you brainstorm)
Be clear about your intent
This is about increasing the brain power of the team as well as transparency and collaboration around problem solving, and all the other things listed above.
It’s a different kind of on the job learning and, if you get it right, people will lean in.
Use 1:1s strategically and make it clear private meetings will still happen for confidential matters.
Finally, if you’re a manager of managers and are considering filtering this throughout the organisation, make sure their leadership skills are up to scratch and there’s some coaching on how to make this transition a success.
What do you think? I’d love to hear how you get on or if you’ve tried it. You can contact me here.
Nina
PS. You can learn more at Sydney Morning Herald, Forbes, Fortune