Don’t Skip Skips
We need a better phrase for what we're talking about today.
The traditional terms, either "skip-level meetings" or "two-downs" sound like something to avoid rather than an opportunity to connect.
Whatever we call it, we're talking about meetings in which a leader meets with an employee two or more levels under them in the org-chart.
As with many things, the value you get from this exercise largely depends on your intent and the level of attention you put into it. Many leaders treat this as a check-the-box activity, and get little out of it.
However, these meetings can pay dividends if you go into them looking to build trust and gain helpful insights.
We'll cover a number of tips for how to approach these meetings, but the key theme is going to be providing very clear communication around expectations to both your manager and their directs throughout the entire process.
Purpose
Success in these meetings starts with being clear on your own intent.
These meetings are most successful when you leverage them to try and improve the overall working experience.
This means taking the time to make people feel heard, addressing things that are within your control and strengthening relationships across the organization in the process.
Give notice
Clear communication starts with giving a heads-up to all parties. Both the manager that reports to you and their directs that you'll be meeting with.
For the manager that reports to you, you don't want them feeling like you are secretly meeting with their team behind their back.
For their direct that you'll actually be meeting with, you don't want to panic them with an invite from their boss's boss (or higher).
I recommend sharing your intent with your leadership team and allowing them to give their team the heads-up. Once they have time to do so, a follow-up email from you (copying their manager) that reinforces the purpose of meeting is helpful to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Timing and content
How often should you be conducting these meetings? At least once a year, but a shorter frequency may be warranted if there are significant culture shifts taking place.
The content of the meeting will depend on the context of where the team is in that moment but your primary goal is to gain a deeper understanding of that individual's experience. Listen more than you talk. Ask open-ended questions. Take time to learn about how they are doing, not just what they do.
Curb your expectations
At first, people will be leery and may not open-up to you. This is understandable and there is no sense in fighting it. Developing trust is a long-game and the more consistent you are with your effort, the more comfortable most (but not all) will become.
Some individuals will give mostly feedback about their managers. Some will share their accomplishments. Some will ask you about things like your leadership philosophy or strategic vison for the group. Know that everyone approaches these meetings a little differently and there is no wrong method.
What, not who
Part of creating a better working experience is sharing any critical feedback the individual has about their manager. This is a difficult line to walk as you need to balance confidentiality with constructive feedback.
I recommend letting all parties know that while you'll be providing any critical feedback to their manager, it will be summarized and aggregated in an anonymous way. In other words, who said what will not be disclosed.
Further, if there is feedback they don't want their manager to receive at all…let them know to share that with you so that you can exclude it.
One quick note on feedback. While you are there to listen, you don't want to undermine their manager. Avoid making decisions that their manager should be making or sharing your thoughts about the performance of others.
Keep your word
Follow-through on the commitment above by summarizing and aggregating the information in a way that does not make it obvious who said what.
Include both the positive and negative feedback. It's important that their manager also hear what they're doing well.
This Week's Action Items:
Make sure that you are holding these meetings for the right reasons.
Give your managers and their directs a heads-up that you plan on holding these meetings.
Seek to listen and understand more than you speak.
Be patient with individuals who are slow to open-up.
Make a commitment to maintain confidentiality for any feedback that you plan to share.
Follow through on that commitment by keeping all feedback anonymous.
