Why I do individual one-on-one meetings while playing pool :-)

As you know at Nozbe we don’t have a central office. Everyone works from home. That’s why every half a year we organize “team reunions” where we meet at a hotel for a week and we “work and play” together to spend some quality time “in person”. I’ll write more about it in future posts but if you’re curious I talked about it with Radek on episode 5 and 7 of The Podcast. Anyway, part of the reunion is the idea that everyone of my 20+ person team gets to have an individual one-on-one meeting with me. So basically I play pool with everyone, here’s why:

• It’s a slow game. We can stop at any moment to discuss something deeper. And we often do. There’s no rush.
• There are no awkward moments. We’re not just staring at each other. We’re playing. We can be chatty or quiet at times. No stress.
• It brings us closer. Especially the newer team members might feel intimidated when talking to their CEO but I believe that playing puts us on a more equal footing.
• I like to mix work and play. That’s why I love my job.

On our April meeting we actually made some really strategic decisions while having these talks. I think they work. And I get to talk deeper with everyone than on our usual Skype chats.

I’ll finish this post with two technical ground rules:

1. We play the 9-ball game. I love it. It’s faster and less stressful than the traditional 8-ball bar pool game.
2. We don’t count points. I don’t care who wins. If the other person counts them and wins with me and wants to brag about it - I don’t mind :-)

Question: How do you conduct one-on-one meetings? How does your boss do that?