The Art of a One-on-One

How to Build Relationships That Build Power

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One of the most important tools organizers have in their toolbox is the one-on-one meeting. Like it sounds, a one-on-one is an intentional organizing meeting between two people to get to know one another, check in on progress on a project, escalate a volunteer to leadership, and more. These meetings often happen between Indivisible Organizers and group leaders, and we encourage group leaders to have them with their members as well!

No matter how many new and exciting digital tools we develop to organize and stay in touch, there will never be a replacement for face to face conversations. Relationship building is one of the most important parts of organizing, and one-on-ones are one of the best ways to develop and maintain those relationships. 

Maintenance one-on-one: You can’t just meet someone and then never follow up! A Maintenance one-on-one is what happens in between introductions and escalations—it’s any time you’re having an intentional conversation to check in on progress on a project, role in the groups, etc. 

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One-on-One Framework 

Every one-on-one will follow a slightly different flow—they are a conversation after all!. But there are four key components for all successful one-on-ones. 

Intention

There must be a purpose or a goal in setting up a one-on-one meeting. It could range from, “I know you care about immigration and want to talk to you about what our group is planning around this important issue” to “You’ve been part of this group for a year and I want to learn what really draws you to this work.” Don’t beat around the bush, be upfront about what your interest is in the meeting. 

Exploration

Most of the one-on-one is devoted to exploration by asking probing questions to learn the other person’s values, interests, and resources and to also share your own. Example probing questions can be: “what brought you to this work?”, “what are you interested in working on next?”, “you played a big role in this action. How did you feel?” This should go deeper than just talking about Trump or the weather—really dig into what drives someone and what their personal stake in this work is. You should also share about yourself too! 

Alignment/Agitation

Using the shared values you just identified together, it’s important to take a moment to share the large-picture vision. This could be the vision of your group or your vision for this leader’s development. “Earlier, I heard you say that you want to do state legislative work next, the great news is that we have a state legislative committee that I think you would be a great fit for.” 

Commitment or Ask

A successful one-on-one meeting ends with a commitment or an ask. Sometimes the ask is very specific, “can we count on you to join our next action” and other times it can be a commitment to meet again. Regardless of what the ask is, the commitment is to continuing the relationship. 

Conclusion 

You can’t overdo it on the one-on-ones! Once you start investing in having regular one-on-ones with group members or prospective group members, you’ll start to see more folks showing up to events, new members taking on leadership responsibilities and a stronger community based on shared values. While one-on-ones take some time, they’re certainly worth the investment!