Increase team performance & satisfaction - at the same time

“Previous to Workleap Officevibe, I had more of an informal process for tracking my 1-on-1s,” says Kathryn Kellam, former VP of Sales and Marketing at Modern Marketing & Commerce (MMC), formerly Modern Marketing and Concepts. “I generally used Excel worksheets or OneNote. Sometimes, my notes would be in different places, and from call to call, I wasn’t always sure where they were.”  

Engaging employees with 1-on-1s

That all changed when MMC brought in Workleap Officevibe for its employee engagement surveys and anonymous feedback. The business wanted to look at how they were promoting employee health and morale and measure how well they were meeting the needs of their people.

But Kathryn didn't limit herself to the platform’s classic engagement tools – as an early adopter of Workleap Officevibe’s 1-on-1s, she jumped right in and started using the software to have more productive conversations with her people. MMC as a whole quickly followed suit.

On top of conveniently converting her paper processes, Kathryn says Workleap Officevibe’s 1-on-1s, in conjunction with its surveys and feedback, inspire topics of discussion and keep each conversation efficient. “Sharing the survey results with the team, on top of building them into how we work together, has significantly improved overall satisfaction.”  

Thanks to the collaborative 1-on-1 agenda, her team also contributes their own talking points.

One place for her most important conversations

“It works both ways. I add in agenda items throughout the week – especially if it’s something I don’t want to forget – and my team members also add in things they’d like to talk about,” she says. “It’s a great tool in particular when you’re remote and not seeing people on a regular basis - it helps us to stay aligned.”

The tool has significantly impacted both her team’s satisfaction and their performance within the business. With an engagement score of 9.4/10, they’re well above both their industry benchmark and that of the business.  

I really do feel that using the 1-on-1 platform gave us a formal process for reviewing and documenting things, and that has really helped us reach that score.

While Kathryn says the tool hasn’t saved her time yet (she says she looks forward to the time she’ll save planning year-end reviews, now that all of her notes are in one place), it has made the time she has with each team member more focused and productive. 

A tried and true 1-on-1 formula 

For Kathryn, a good 1-on-1 is all about transparency and feedback. Because she knows her team so well – they work closely together on a daily basis - her 1-on-1 questions tend to stay along the same lines from week to week. 

She begins by asking about their lives outside of work, which is especially important with COVID, a time when Kathryn says employees’ individual situations require greater understanding and may present challenges. She then moves on to their priorities for the week, what they’re working on, and whether they need her help.  

From there, they head into Workleap Officevibe to log the Action Items that have come out of the conversation, assigning items to accomplish before their next 1-on-1.  

Making sure we have those specific deliverables laid out has allowed my team to meet expectations more than they were when it wasn’t being documented, because they have a list they can go back and reference prior to our meeting, and then throughout the week.

When they’ve repeated this formula for three months or so, Kathryn cycles in questions about professional development, making sure she knows where her people see themselves going and how she can help. 

If both parties were able to discuss the things that needed addressing - positive and negative - and if their Action Items were completed, Kathryn’s happy. Add to that new Action Items and notes for next time, and she considers it done. And, with talking points, notes, and action items that carry over from week to week, she knows her next 1-on-1 is almost entirely mapped out for her already.