Download the 121 form / template - 
DOC 65.5 KB
What are 121s ?
121's and staff reviews are part of the same process; that of getting the best from your staff and developing them to their fullest potential. Staff review is where annual objectives and your personal development plan are discussed and agreed. 121s are more informal and focus on short-term progress.
Why are 121s important?
The key elements of a 121 are that they are open; an opportunity to give and receive feedback, review objectives, cover issues and problems and talk about training and development needs and plans. They are also an opportunity to discuss progress and to praise performance. They are part of building a long-term relationship with a member of your team.
Regular 121s help in building relationships and develop a greater understanding between the employee and their line manager. A good open conversation will help in pre-empting and minimising problems before they arise e.g. discussing how outside factors are affecting your work.
Overall they are an active way of explaining and linking strategy at all levels to individual objectives, increasing motivation, developing performance and improving communication between employee and line manager.
How to structure a 121 meeting
121s are a two way process between the employee and line manager. A 121 will usually include:
- Performance towards annual objectives, as agreed in the staff review
- Discussion of any important issues or problems
- Where you identify any training needs, looking at the personal development plans
- Where you and your manager build your relationship
- Review issues and actions agreed at previous 121s
- At the end of your 121, the key points discussed and any actions recorded.
The 121 form - 
DOC 65.5 KB is there as a guide and to summarise your discussion and any action points.
Best practice for Line Managers 121s
It's your opportunity to inspire, influence, motivate, coach, listen, solve problems, make decisions, and create an environment where employees feel energized.
- Schedule them for the coming 3-6 months, for about an hour each. 121s should occur every four to six weeks. You should plan the dates for the following 6 months at the time of staff reviews.
- Don't cancel them. Yes, things come up – so reschedule if needed. If they keep being cancelled, employees may not feel that they are important and valued.
- Give 100% attention Meetings should take place on a face to face basis, if your team are based at another location to you, a telephone conversation may be appropriate; however you should try to ensure face to face meetings take place every other month.
- Meetings should be private with no interruptions, find a quiet place to hold them, shut your door, don't answer your phone, turn your mobile to silent, - if you don't have an office, book an appropriate room or us another distraction free area.
- Tailor meetings to the needs and style of each employee. Some may prefer informal with no agenda - others may prefer agendas and formality.
- Build rapport by taking some time to find out what's new. This helps to create a relaxed atmosphere and build trust, allowing for more of an open and honest conversation.
- Always let your employees lead their 121. Clear their agenda first – it's their time. Then cover any items on your list.
- Always try to end on a positive note – let your employee know how well they are doing (if it's genuine); and how much you appreciate their efforts. Review the effectiveness of your 121 by observing your employees when the meeting is over. Are they leaving energized, enthusiastic, and motivated?
How to give feedback
People grow from receiving feedback and we should practice giving feedback regularly. Feedback when well given, is constructive and enlightening and therefore an essential part of learning and developing. When feedback is delivered in a harsh way, with no thought as to how it will be received, it serves no purpose other than to leave the receiver feeling hurt, upset and with no way of knowing what to do different to correct the error/mistake. Giving and receiving feedback is a skill and like any other skill practice helps us to get it right.
Five key principles of constructive feedback
- Try to make it a positive process and experience. You will need to prepare your comments and be clear about what you are going to say. This helps you stay on track and stick to the issues. Before giving feedback, remind yourself why you are doing it. The purpose for giving feedback is to improve the situation or performance. You will not accomplish that by being critical or offensive. You will often get much more from people when your approach is positive and focused on improvement. If your feedback is negative, ensure it is delivered in private and limit the number of issues to two at a time any more might make the person feel attacked and demoralised.
- Be timely. The closer to the event you address the issue, the better. It is easier to provide feedback and recall the details about a single job that has not been done properly than it is to feed back about a whole year of failed jobs. Exception: when the situation is highly emotional, wait until everyone has calmed down before you engage in feedback.
- Ask the person how they thought they did and what they thought went well. When giving feedback, the temptation can be to launch straight into your observations. To aid development it can be more useful to ask the person what they though went well and how they might do things differently in the future. This helps them develop their ability to learn through reflection.
- Be specific. The feedback should focus on the issue, not the person. Describe the specific observed and observable behaviours and reactions, what you saw and heard. Focusing on observable behaviour means the recipient of your feedback is left in no doubt what it is you are pleased or unhappy about. It also keeps 'personality' out of more critical feedback. In other words, it's not the person you're criticising when you say an action is not good, it's the behaviour. Describe the consequences of behaviour in terms of its impact. This helps them identify which behaviours need to be continued or amended and why.
- Follow-up. The purpose of feedback is to improve performance, and the person must leave owning the feedback and any actions. Discuss what is working and what needs to be modified and the actions to be taken. You need to measure whether or not that is happening and then make adjustments as you go. You may need to document your conversations.
How to receive feedback
- Ask for it – be selective, find people who will be direct and honest with you. Ask them to be specific and descriptive. Ask questions that will help you to understand what you did and when you did it. What exactly was observed about your behaviour? Asking questions means that if the outcome was good, you know what behaviour to build on. If the outcome was poor, you understand what behaviour to avoid in future. Show that you are genuinely interested in improving.
- Direct it – If you need information to answer a question, ask for it. Tell people what you are working on and the kind of feedback that will be specifically helpful to you.
- Accept it – Do not defend or justify any behaviour. Simply listen to what they have to say, ask for specific examples or clarification but do not defend. Say 'Thank you' to the person giving you feedback, it serves two purposes: it helps to stop you going on the defensive and it acknowledges the effort the person has made to give you feedback. Once you have received the feedback, go away, and reflect on it. Do you feel it is an accurate picture of your actions or behaviour? What steps will you take to develop as a result of the feedback? Use what is helpful and disregard the rest.
