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4 Tips to Transform Your One-On-Ones With Your Boss

If you get regular one-on-one time with your boss, consider yourself lucky! Don’t think of it as a weekly rehash or waste of time—think of it as your chance to flesh out awesome ideas, ask the important questions, and to really shine. The key is to go in with a strategy.

Don’t wing it. Think about your topics of discussion beforehand, fleshing it out with notes or even an agenda, if that’s your or your boss’s best learning style. You may not end up steering the meeting, but you’ll be organized, well researched, and prepared to hit your talking points.
Get to the point. Your one-on-one is valuable business time; and while small talk is valuable too, it’s best saved for a more casual window. Hit your agenda running! You can talk about the fine weather in any time left over at the meeting’s end.
Lead with your project updates. And be quick about it. You want to maximize your time spent on other important matters, such as that awesome project idea you wanted to pitch. You don’t need to go in to your methodologies; try, “I’ve identified the reporting criteria and am running the reports tomorrow.”
Ask for feedback. You don’t need to—and in fact, you shouldn’t—wait until your performance review to get feedback from your boss. Regular, constructive criticism can only help you achieve bigger and better! So get your boss thinking about your achievements and ways you can improve.

Your one-on-one with your boss doesn’t have to be the pits! And while it may not be the highlight of your week, you can certainly use it to highlight your week and your achievements, and to help yourself learn and grow professionally.

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