An Example Catch-Up Routine

Ben Madley, 17 May 2020

Catch-ups are the most important thing you do as a manager. When I read a book or watch a talk about management and they ask themselves “If you wanted people to start one thing off the back of reading this what would it be?”, they invariably answer “catch-ups.” They:

  1. Give you a chance to sniff out problems/opportunities,
  2. Give your managee a chance to bring you problems/opportunities,
  3. Give you a chance to guide the learning and development of your managee,
  4. Give you a chance to motivate your managee
  5. Give you a chance to completely devote your attention to your managee

In my time managing I’ve started using the following routine. It works very well with the people I manage. The caveat for the whole of this post is that I believe that catch-ups are my managee’s time and if there is anything they want to do differently that’s what I’ll do.

Overview

  1. Start walking to catch-up location
  2. “How’s everything going?”
  3. Reach the catch-up location
  4. “How’s everything going?”
  5. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”
  6. Anything I want to discuss/”What are you enjoying working on?”/”What are your thoughts on ?"
  7. Objectives
    1. What progress has there been since last week?
    2. What are you going to do for next week?
  8. “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”
  9. Start walking back to the office.
  10. Do some low-key chat.

Logistics

When

There are largely two camps:

  1. As early in the week as possible. This lets the catch-up set you both up for the week and a more motivating feel.
  2. Later in the week. This gives the catch-up a retrospective feel.

I tend to favour Monday catch-ups, as I personally find a catch-up important for my motivation.

Duration

I always do hour long catch-ups. I believe they’re that important and people I have managed have always responded well to devoted attention. Also this can lead to some really interesting conversations. The main thing to consider here is that I’ve only managed 4 people at one time. This has meant I’ve never had that many catch-ups to do.

Location

I leave the location of catch-up down to my managee, for whatever will make them feel most comfortable. Safety is the most important thing in a catchup. Physical and psychological safety. The person you are catching up with needs to feel physically safe. That means no meeting rooms that can’t be seen from the wider office. I sit furthest from the door, especially if it’s a small meeting room. Psychological safety is important to ensure your managee can say what they need to. If my managee has no strong preference then I tend to go have catch-ups outside of the office, either walking or in coffee shops.

The Script

I start by checking how they’re doing. I ask them twice. The first time as we’re leaving the office, this normally leads to a discussion about what they were just working on. When we reach the destination I ask again. The time to think and more privacy means they are more likely to tell me any concerns. Doing this in every catch up lets you know what answers are usual and immediately allows predictable space for your managee to talk.

I then ask if there is anything they would like to talk about. Results of this question vary from absolutely nothing, to technical questions, to awkward team dynamics.

If I have anything that I’d like to discuss, I bring it up now. If there’s nothing specific, then I ask a question. I tend to ask either “What are you enjoying working on?” - as it can be motivating and mood lifting to talk about something that’s going well - or I bring up something I’ve seen in a blog and ask their opinion (are code reviews beneficial if the code has already been pair programmed?).

Then we go onto one of the most important subjects, personal objectives. At my previous company, we set objectives quarterly. I ask how they’ve progressed since last week, what more they’re going to do for next week.

Finally, I ask a “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” This is a last chance to get remaining problems cleared up. When anything here has been dealt with, we walk back to the office. It’s a good time for more low-key chat, which can be good for bonding.

One Last Note

I’m trying to say less in catch-ups. It’s important to leave time and silence to let your managee compose their thoughts.