One-on-ones are one of the most powerful tools a leader has for driving both team and organizational growth. But without a clear and intentional approach, they can easily become just another meeting on the calendar.
That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome Doug Ramirez to the podcast! Doug has a proven structured approach to leading impactful one-on-ones that truly make an impact.
With 35 years of experience as a software architect, engineering leader, and trusted advisor, Doug has worked across diverse industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, communications, and manufacturing. His recent article on Medium grabbed our attention—it’s a practical, bite-sized guide for engineering leaders who want to maximize the potential of their one-on-ones.
In this episode of the Scaling Tech podcast, Arin and Doug dive deep into the essentials of successful one-on-ones. They cover why consistency matters, why starting meetings on a positive note is a game-changer, and how empathy plays a huge role—especially when you’re working remotely.
If you’re ready to make the most out of your one-on-one meetings, this episode is full of actionable tips to help you refine your leadership approach and make your team feel seen and heard. Tune in now!
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Key Insights are below
About Guest:
Name: Doug Ramirez
What he does: He’s a Software Architect, Engineering Leader, and Consultative Trusted Advisor.
Doug’s Medium article:How to Conduct Effective 1-on-1s
Where to find Doug: LinkedIn
Key Insights
⚡A structured approach is essential for making the most out of your one-on-ones. With the right structure, you can address key topics like performance, goals, and challenges, and well-being, all while being productive and focused.
Doug explains, “In my experience, not only just in software engineering but a lot of things in life that in order for something to become a habit, you have to practice it sometime. And what I’ve found in dealing with engineers on my teams and other people around me, my peers, is that having a process to follow really helps start to build some muscle memory around that habit. So if you practice what I’ve been doing, I think it starts to take away some of the cognitive load, so to speak, so that you can really kind of get into the meat of really understanding what’s going on with the people that are working with you, for you and around you.”
⚡Humans first, resources second. When leaders take time to understand how personal circumstances affect performance, they foster trust and build a culture where people feel valued—not just as resources, but as individuals.
Doug explains, “One of the things that we emphasized a lot at the company that I started, our consulting company, was that we really wanted to make sure that we put an emphasis on human first, resources second. And so, setting some time aside to ask somebody, ‘Hey, how are you doing? How are things outside of work?’ and doing it in a thoughtful way that doesn’t really encroach or violate some H.R. policies. It’s not about that. It’s really about being a human being and trying to empathize with people to understand is the quality of the work they’re doing might be being impacted by something outside of work that I might not catch if I’m just saying, like, where are you on this, where are you on that?”
⚡Tools are just means to an end, not the goal itself. The SBI model (Situation, Behavior, Impact) is a helpful tool for giving clear, concise, and objective feedback, but it’s not the end goal. As Doug explains, “The one thing I’ll say about SBI, and this is true for this process as well, is that it’s just a too. Going through SBI or using SBI isn’t the goal. The goal is really to try to figure out a way to give somebody feedback clearly, concisely, in an objective way. And it and it’s hard to do. And being remote, it’s even more difficult. So Situation, Behavior, and Impact, it’s a way of kind of describing something that you may have observed, like what was the situation that you were observing?”