Work has been a lot lately, a ton of priorities too. But let's talk about something that's been on my mind for a while: one-on-ones.
My first exposure to one-on-ones was in 2022. I was fresh out of school, interning as a Product Marketing Analyst at Arnergy. At the time, I was the baby of the team, and everyone's favourite. Life was good.
I remember that on one occasion, my line manager added me to a call. During the call, she started asking questions like how I was coping, what she could do to improve our working relationship, and whether anyone on the team was making work difficult for me. To me, that was weird.
This went on every month, and honestly, it felt like a chore. "Ahh, I have a one-on-one in three hours," I'd say to myself.
After Arnergy, I moved to a team where I rarely had one-on-ones, and then later to another where I worked hand-in-hand with my line manager. We were literally on every call together, so he always had an idea of what I was doing at any point in time. But should I still have encouraged one-on-ones with him? I'll let you be the judge of that by the end of this article.
Then came Termii Group, another team where I'm empowered to take ownership.
One day, I saw a calendar invite from my line manager titled "Check In." "What could he possibly want to talk about?" I thought to myself.
We got on the call, and my manager started asking questions along the lines of:
- What do you need to do your work better?
- Is there anything I can do better?
- I saw you started a podcast? How's that going?
- How's your postgraduate study? What's the plan?
- How's your journey toward becoming more technical as an AI PM coming along?
- Let me know if you need some time off.
"Oh wow... so this is how you guys do it here?" I thought.
I quickly went from being the one asked the questions to being the one asking them, and soon enough, our meetings turned into real conversations.
At first, I thought one-on-ones were just a formality, something managers did to tick a box. But after experiencing them across different teams, I realised they can make a huge difference. Here's what I've gained from them.
- Alignment with my manager's expectations. These sessions ensure I'm aligned with what's expected of me at any point in time. For instance, I was once tasked with something I thought I'd done excellently, only to learn during our session that it didn't quite meet my manager's expectations. I wasn't just corrected, I was coached on how to do it better next time.
- Free mentorship that doesn't eat into work hours. During one-on-ones, I get to tap into my manager's experience to guide my career choices. Sometimes I even ask about things outside of work that could impact my career directly.
- Faster blocker removal. These sessions give me the freedom to talk about blockers and get them addressed quickly.
Overall, one-on-ones have made me a better person and a better PM.
From experience, your manager doesn't always have to be the one to initiate them, you can too. And honestly, you'll end up benefiting more from it.
You might be wondering, "How often should I have one-on-ones?" Well, that depends on you and your manager. It can be as frequent as once a week or once a month. My candid advice? Be strategic.
The state of your relationship with your manager also plays a big role. And honestly, if you find yourself constantly misaligned with your manager, have one-on-ones every day. Literally.
You're welcome.
I'll be speaking at DevFest Lagos this year! This is a full-circle moment for me, I remember attending my first DevFest in Ibadan, 2022. I sat on a chair on the right wing of the hall, full of dreams, admiring the speakers from afar (and also waiting for them to serve the rice I saw when I entered the hall).
This year, in Lagos, I'll be speaking on November 19th about "The Product Manager's Guide to Leading AI Projects."
Most of my work this year has revolved around the commercial applications of AI from a Product Manager's standpoint. Some lessons were lying right there on the streets for me to learn, while others came from personal experience. It gives me so much joy to be able to share those learnings, especially from a real-world perspective.
So yeah, go get your tickets, and see you at DevFest Lagos 2025!