Active listeners are deliberate. They remind themselves frequently that their goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying. They set aside all other thoughts and behaviours, and concentrate on the message. Developing active listening skills requires you to analyse your position within the conversation. It is essential that you understand how you ‘come across’ as you listen.

Managers need to become better listeners. In fact, not only is it a good managerial skill, it’s also a key leadership skill. I firmly believe that the higher up you are in an organisation, the more listening you should do. But listening can be really hard! All the distractions of the day clog our minds. Read my tips on how to stay focused on the 1-on-1 interactions that count.

When a 1 on 1 with a direct report comes around, remember: the most important task in your calendar is to be present, right now! You have both put aside the time to be here and meet. It isn’t urgent, but it is critically important. Use the time you have put aside for the intended purpose. Shut the laptop, turn your phone off, and move these devices aside.

As managers, you are responsible and accountable for the performance, growth, and on-the-job wellbeing of your direct reports. The 1-on-1 meeting is the simplest and most effective way to invest time in your direct reports. This investment will pay dividends in almost every area of your business.

Being able to prioritise is an effective skill of anyone with direct reports to manage. As they say in airplane safety videos, attach your own mask before you attach masks to your children. Managers need a way to prioritise what they do each day for themselves, before they can support the team around them.

Fourteen years ago, I decided to leave the world of primary teaching and accept a role in a global recruitment firm. Six months later, after a series of 1-on-1 conversations with my manager, an opportunity opened up. I took a promotion and found myself managing the local branch. What a learning experience!

I often find people are promoted due to their technical abilities. This seems to make sense – the person who performs best in their role is rewarded with more responsibility. The problem is, their expertise is in the discipline they just left – not in leading people. Most new managers simply lack the necessary skills and tools to successfully manage and lead the people they have been promoted to oversee.

The qualities of a leader have been long vaunted as crucial and important in our businesses. Management is seen as a little old fashioned but it appears that we have forgotten about the basic fundamentals of management skills which help our people succeed. Managerial expertise is a necessary complement to the leadership skills we’re so hung up on. Without the former, the latter won’t succeed.