This guy sounds like a horrible manager. The screed about too many people in the wrong meetings is good, but there are large meetings that have a reason to be. Also, the emphasis on email over meetings is misplaced — it’s not either or, of course you do both. The worst part is the tone described in his one on ones, which apparently are blame games and witch hunts. It’s spectacularly unproductive to encourage team members to throw each under the bus as a normal rule.

One on ones are hugely valuable, but in my experience managers who emphasize those over team meetings are usually practitioners of differential communication — telling everyone a message customized to make them happy — otherwise known as spin. This is usually associated with new managers who practice a weak form of management, focused on being liked over results. That isn’t this guy’s problem, though!

One on ones should be focused on specific discussions the employee is thinking about. Topics include career development, performance management, company issues, and most importantly concerns they have that need to be addressed before they become truly serious. In that way they serve as an early warning system for issues that are affecting the team.

Think about it, the one on one is probably the only time you are guaranteed to have a direct, personal interaction with your manager that is likely to be more than a brief interaction. It’s definitely the only time you’re not meeting to talk about specific projects. Anything other than mostly listening by a manager during this time is a bad plan.