Skip to content Accessibility statement
HR
HomeStaff homeHRManaging teams and hiring staffPerformance and developmentReviewing progress

Reviewing progress and regular check-ins

This guide is intended to support managers with the art of the continuous conversation through having regular and meaningful one-to-one meetings with their members of staff. These discussions will help you review progress towards goals and identify any development needs.

Regular one-to-ones

Managers should meet regularly with their staff throughout the year. The continuous conversation approach takes the pressure off the annual PDR meeting providing space for on-going feedback and support as and when it's needed.

These meetings should not be about micromanaging. Instead, focus on being accessible to staff , maintaining regular contact and talking openly about expectations, workload, wellbeing, development, and support.

These check-in conversations fall into two different categories: 

Task updates: these are purely operational catch ups, covering progress against day-to-day activities, providing two-way updates or guidance on how to progress work. They are transactional and focus very much on the short term. 

Performance check-ins: these conversations are more future focused. Exploring what the individual can do to become more effective and how their manager can support this. Managers may explore career aspirations, how engaged the staff member is feeling and how they can develop. It is an opportunity to reflect and to seek and receive feedback.

When, where and how often

Frequency: A continuous conversation doesn't mean a formal hour long meeting every week. Instead it can be a simple 10 - 15 minute pulse check.

The frequency and duration will vary between individuals depending on their experience, level of skill, motivation, and appetite for feedback and discussion. Managers will know their team members and whether they respond best to informal conversations or more routine diarised meetings.

Location: Meetings should be conducted privately, particularly if it's a performance check-in. Managers should ensure enough time is available for a full discussion, free from distractions. 

Transitions: Most people will require more support when they are new to a role or going through a particular transition, such as returning to work after a period of absence or joining a new team. 

Probationary periods: Where formal review stages exist (as is the case for staff in their probationary period) these should be supplemented with interim discussions to maintain the appropriate level of feedback and support.

Themes and questions to consider during one-to-ones

When planning your agenda, think about the following themes and questions. 

Wellbeing/introduction

  • Ask the employee how they are doing.
  • Look at flexi levels and annual leave use. Check time off is being planned and taken and that peaks of workload are being managed effectively.

PDR objectives

  • How is progress going against these?
  • What are the key successes and challenges?
  • Is there any additional support you need to meet your objectives (eg training)?
  • Are they all still relevant or have any of them evolved?

Performance (if applicable)

For specialised communication strategies on how to handle these conversations, we recommend reading our dedicated guide: 

  • Acknowledge and commend good performance. The meeting is an opportunity to provide positive feedback, which can have a really motivating impact on performance
  • Bring any concerns with the employee’s performance to their attention. An honest conversation may be needed in terms of whether they can deliver the level of performance required and the one-to-one may be the first opportunity to do this. Don’t wait until the PDR to raise performance issues
  • Depending on the complexity and level of concern about the issues to be discussed, this may merit a separate informal performance meeting to explore the reasons for this and discuss support and improvement. For further help with this, please refer to guidance on dealing with under performance.

Support

  • Is the workload manageable?
  • Is there anything you could stop/start/continue to help manage your workload better?
  • Consider whether you can offer support with any problems identified
  • Seek HR advice if there appears to be an underlying health issue and signpost the employee to other sources of support if applicable such as:
    • the Employee Assistance Programme (PAM)
    • the University's Individual Stress procedure
    • Individual Stressor Questionnaire (ISQ)
    • Mental Health First Contact network
    • Consider if a referral to the Occupational Health Advisor would help identify the support which could be offered. 

Empowerment

  • Do you feel you have the tools/authority you need to do your job?
  • If not, what has changed? How can we improve this?
  • Have you any ideas about how we can improve this in general across the team/department?

Learning and development

  • Update on progress around individual development priorities
  • Learning from any courses attended/ coaching/ on the job experience?
  • What, if any, shadowing opportunities would be useful to you and why? (Consider both within the department and externally)
  • If an opportunity seems reasonable/possible how can we make it happen?

Documenting progress

The true value of the discussion comes from turning your conversation into actionable support. Use the final minutes of your meeting to agree on actions, then capture a couple of summary sentences in a shared document.  

This isn't about creating extra admin, instead these frequent check-ins and short summaries will make the annual PDR conversation and write up much easier. 

Identify development needs

As a manager, you should proactively identify and address training needs by connecting your one-to-one discussions to the bigger picture. You should:

  • Understand your department's upcoming plans and priorities. How do the different roles in your team support these plans and how do they translate into individual objectives?
  • Consider the knowledge, experience, skills, behaviours and attitudes needed in your team. Where are the gaps between what the team has and what the future work requires?
  • Take into account the implications of new or changed roles, or when an employee is returning from a long-term absence.
  • Encourage your staff to think about how and in what direction they would like to develop within the context of departmental plans. If a shadow opportunity, course or coaching request seems reasonable and possible, determine together how to make it happen.
  • To ensure development needs aren't forgotten, ensures they are documented and tracked as part of regular performance check-ins.

For help with setting objectives, see our guide:

Related resources:

Previous
Setting expectations and agreeing objectives
Next
Giving effective feedback about performance