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I have been doing the O3s for 12 weeks and recently polled my directs on their opinion of how the O3s are, if they would like to continue them, any feedback they would like to share.

I was floored! Everyone was afraid I was going to stop conducting them. They all loved them and I received the following remarks:

  • It’s our time to share with each other outside the pressure of the floor production.
  • I like them because I have been able to complete a personal goal.
  • I get faster feedback on things so I can correct any errors more timely, than the monthly reviews. (I am still struggling with rolling out feedback, but that’s another post.)
  • Don’t you dare stop!

Needless to say, I had no intention of stopping, but was encouraged that they also saw a benefit to them.

angelicdoctor's picture

This is very encouraging!  I've been asked to update my boss' boss on the utility and effectiveness of conducting one on one's where there is a dollar figure attached to each person's time.  I am hoping that I, too, will be able to present the data or feedback from both my directs and my peer managers, who don't have one on ones, using a pair of surveys I've created and will publish soon.

angelicdoctor's picture

Sadly, I didn't have a good outcome.  In fact, I've been asked to make my O3s optional for my direct reports.  My boss' boss got a ton of pushback both from my peer managers and from some of my directs on my desire to meet with my engineers for 30 minutes even every two weeks.  Despite the counter arguments I provided to the best of my ability using the guidance provided here, regularly scheduled O3s have been discontinued until further notice.  Will have to go the 'Soft O3' route.  I am speechless.

rayagarcia's picture
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So sorry to hear this feedback from your boss.  When I started as a manager 15 years ago and began doing O3s, one of my employees had some low performance and got a bad rating.  My boss asked about how I was addressing this and I mentioned that I was conducting a weekly O3 with him.  My boss said "That is way too much time to spend on this."  I then mistakenly mentioned that I held weekly O3s with all my staff.  He then reiterated that I was spending too much time meeting one-on-one with everyone. So I renamed the O3s on my calendar to Project Status or Operations Review meetings. I kept the same agenda as O3, but I didn't call it an O3.  Since they are allowing you to make O3s optional, take advantage of that.  Then with the other directs, schedule the Project Status or Review meetings.

Eventually, that boss moved on and I went back to calling them O3s with no pushback from anyone.  Good luck with your soft O3s

angelicdoctor's picture

Thank you, sir, for the encouragement, your story and recommendation.  This certainly makes managing my people more difficult and may impact some of their annual reviews especially if I am not properly armed for fighting for them during the 'stell cage death matches' that are our 'rack and stack' meetings. Until then, I'll need to work harder and more creatively to get what I need.

shellandflame's picture

I had been doing 03s for about 18 months.  There was some upheval, and we went through a strategic refresh on our department goals and objectives.  One of the comments that came out was "no one" liked 03s.  I told the team it was non-negotiable, but we'd change the frequency to every other week and they could pick times that worked best for them.

Turns out, it was 1 person making a lot of noise.  The rest of the team quietly asked to go back to weekly.  The squaker is getting some very sepcific coaching.

My manager heard about this and told me he thought the 03 were too much.  He asked, very pointedly, if I wanted him to do the same thing to me I was doing with my people.  I  gave a hearty "yes."  After 3 sessions, my boss admitted the whole concept was worthwhile.  He's looking at how to implement with his other directs.

I'm saying all this to give you a bit of hope.  Maybe you could ask your boss for an O3 with them.  Once they see the value, they may jump on board.