Speakers
Farai Madzima
Born in Zimbabwe, Farai was going to be doctor but didn’t get the grades. Now he’s a designer. Make of that what you will.
Using words, scribbles, and pixels he’s spent the last 14 years helping design and build products and teams in the UK, South Africa and Canada.
Today, he makes a living designing interactions and leading a team as a UX Manager at Shopify in Ottawa.
In South Africa, Farai designed banking apps used by many across the continent. He grappled with unique design challenges because most internet users have never used a laptop or desktop. And some buy data by the megabyte.
Farai enjoys speaking about bridging knowledge gaps between designers. He’s appeared at events worldwide, including IXDA Interaction and IASummit.
He organises Pixel Up!, a series of UX and design conferences and meetups in South Africa. These events connect designers and developers in Africa with their peers around the world.
Also, he adores verbiage, in all languages, township jazz, nerdy hip-hop, and the number 127.
About the talk
What to say in 1:1 meetings
Ever had a 1:1 meeting where neither of you don’t know what to say. How awkward is that?
More than awkward, bad 1:1 meetings between team members and their managers are a missed opportunity to unlock potential, unblock career progress, and create a better work-life.
In a well executed 1:1 meeting managers and their team member can identify, diagnose, and make plans to tackle any friction or blockers that get in the way of performance and career growth. 1:1s are a time and space dedicated to sometimes difficult but necessary conversations about promotions, performance, compensation, belonging, harassment, family trouble and more.
Ineffective 1:1s happen because most of us learn how to do 1:1s by observing how our managers do them (which is not always well). And the internet advises us to just “Ask great questions”, whatever that means.
So, how can we as managers ensure productive outcomes for everyone in every 1:1?
From this talk, you’ll take away a practical framework for having 1:1 meetings that will engage both you and your team members in meaningful conversations that will
In this session, Farai shares his experience with 1:1s both as a manager and an Individual Contributor, his successes and failures, and the critical lessons he’s learned on the way. You’ll take away a framework for scheduling and structuring your 1:1 meetings. You’ll also find heuristics handling various 1:1 meeting situations. This talk will suit you if you manage people, want to manage people, or have a manager.