Why I have 1-1s with devs on my team
(2 minutes reading time)

As a Tech Lead, I always make time to have 1-1 catch-ups with the devs on my team. This is alongside the 1-1s I have with the people I line manage, who are outside of my team. This is just the way we’re set up in GDS. But the former is key, as that’s actually voluntary on my part, and I’ll tell you why I do it.
We have a lot of team meetings that take up a lot of energy. So the key for me is that these meetings are efficient – I book only 15 minutes. I don’t always even use the full 15; usually, it’s 10! And I work with six other devs, so I can’t see them all that frequently. Therefore, I’ve tuned it to once a month (for my line management responsibilities, I meet every two weeks). When we do have our chats, I will often find out something that’s not been raised in our team meetings or that I just missed. In a one-on-one situation, I give my full attention to the devs’ needs.
That’s where the operational value comes in, and right there and then, I’ll do something like create a card in our backlog, add it to the agenda to discuss, or fire off a question to someone else. I get to dig out of people’s heads their musings that they won’t have voiced elsewhere. I’ll also ask them what their objectives are (because I’m not their line manager, I won’t necessarily know!) and I’ll keep in mind what I can do to help align with their goals.
But also of great value is that I build a decent working relationship where we’re both comfortable with having a catch-up and sharing our thoughts.
Being open, receptive, and responsible for the devs on the team is a big part of what I do. I trust them a lot, and I want them to feel they can trust me too.