This text initially appeared on Enterprise Insider.
This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Jade Bonacolta, a 31-year-old in Miami who started her profession at LinkedIn and is now the top of North American advertising and marketing at Google. Her employment and promotion historical past have been verified by Enterprise Insider. The next has been edited for size and readability.
After graduating from Columbia College in 2015, I landed a job at LinkedIn in San Francisco.
In the course of the six-and-a-half years I used to be at LinkedIn earlier than becoming a member of Google in 2022, I used to be promoted 5 occasions, starting as an affiliate within the Enterprise Management Program and leaving as the top of promoting for enterprise know-how.
A variety of my promotions got here from the best way I dealt with my one-on-one conferences with my supervisor.
Getting ready pre-reads for my one-on-ones
Most individuals go into one-on-ones taking a extra passive method, anticipating their supervisor to current to them and inform them what to do. However managers typically have groups of 5 or extra folks, so having weekly conferences with every of them is usually a lot to juggle.
I observed that my first supervisor would usually ask me the identical issues in each name — “How did this week go? What are you engaged on subsequent week and the place do you want assist?” I knew I wished to be extra proactive and make these conferences extra environment friendly.
I started spending an hour beforehand writing up what I referred to as a “pre-read.” I might draft a easy e-mail with three sections: what went nicely for me this week, what I am specializing in subsequent week, and one new concept or attention-grabbing innovation to counsel for our crew.
I might ship it to my supervisor earlier than we met and convey my copy to the assembly to assist information our dialog.
My supervisor informed me he discovered the pre-reads extremely useful; they made our conversations way more productive and helped him really feel utterly conscious of my work. He discovered the format so helpful that he requested the remainder of my crew members to comply with the technique for his or her one-on-ones as nicely.
3 issues that make an efficient pre-read earlier than a 1:1 assembly
1. What went nicely
First, I created a “wins” folder, and each time I had a win all through my week, I might add it to the folder.
For instance, if, when working with the gross sales crew, I acquired an e-mail from one of many leaders saying, “I’m so impressed with the questions you requested my crew and the best way you supplied worth,” that e-mail would go straight into the wins folder. I might then pull from that folder when making my pre-read e-mail to my supervisor.
I understood that I could possibly be doing the most effective work on this planet, however it did not matter if the correct folks did not learn about it; if I wished to be promoted, I wanted to be seen.
I might additionally save all of my wins in a doc and share it with my supervisor to make it simpler to jot down my efficiency overview and construct a case for my promotion.
2. What I am engaged on
Managers are sometimes anticipated to inform their staff what they need to be engaged on. Nonetheless, it may also be useful and useful if the workers present proactiveness.
After sharing what I did the week earlier than, I might then say, “This is what I believe I ought to work on subsequent week.” A few of these had been ongoing tasks, whereas others had been new initiatives I used to be introducing.
When it got here to tasks, I had a reasonably sturdy intuition on the route I wished to take my profession, and I made the promotion I wished clear to my supervisor. I requested them, “Are there any tasks I might work on that enable me to begin constructing these expertise?”
I additionally tried to anticipate the place I’d want my supervisor’s assist. I might ask myself: “What might probably go mistaken subsequent week?” and “Which particular person do I want to attach with subsequent week that I’d want an introduction to from my supervisor?”
This fashion, I might ask my questions all of sudden within the assembly reasonably than all through the week.
I additionally tried to proactively give you options, reasonably than simply current issues.
For instance, I’d say to my supervisor, “It looks like we’ve to get our funds in by this date, so is there a approach that I can submit this earlier this week with a view to make it possible for that deadline would not sneak up on us?”
3. One new concept
In my pre-read, I might additionally share one new concept.
All through the week, I might take note of issues that my supervisor discovered irritating or inefficiencies that got here up over the previous week — issues that had easy fixes.
Then, in my one-on-one conferences, I might provide an concept or answer to resolve these points. I spotted that the concepts did not should be massive. Actually, when presenting a brand new concept, the hot button is to make it small, as you do not wish to tackle an unhealthy quantity of labor and burn out, or neglect the primary elements of your job.
As soon as, my crew and I had been doing actually nice work, however nobody in our broader group knew a lot about it. As I wished to lean extra into the advertising and marketing world, I requested my supervisor, “What if we began a really fast, common e-newsletter?”
My supervisor agreed.
I took on possession of that e-newsletter. Each month, I consolidated and despatched out the e-newsletter to your entire group, sharing updates on what our crew was doing. It was easy, and different groups weren’t doing it, and I used to be reaching the leaders of different groups.
When these leaders would attain again out to my supervisor about how the e-newsletter was nice, my supervisor would reply: “It was really her concept. I did not even ask her to try this; she simply volunteered to take this on.”
Spending an hour to organize was price it to provide my supervisor visibility
I’ve repeated this course of in each new position I’ve taken and each new supervisor I’ve had at Google. My managers have liked it, and I’ve acquired unimaginable suggestions each time I’ve carried out it.
Even in my now senior-level position, my management crew deeply appreciates my weekly standing updates and new concepts for the crew. They deal with me as a thought associate reasonably than only a direct report.
Profiting from one-on-one conferences offers your leaders extra visibility into all of the work you are doing.
