Topics Considered a Top Priority During a 1:1
Gaining wider context and discussing long-term goals are more important for individual contributors than managers may think, while managers may overestimate how much employees prioritize discussing life outside of work or celebrating accomplishments in one-on-one time.
To develop an agenda structure that allots an appropriate amount of time to each topic, managers can focus on five key questions when meeting with a direct report:
What’s going well? This offers a dedicated moment for self-reflection and recognition.
Where can I help? Use this agenda item to clarify directions and work through any roadblocks. This question touches on the core topics of structure (tactical details, prioritization), feedback, and mission alignment.
What are your top priorities these days? Aligning on priorities on a regular basis creates a clearer line of sight into employees’ work, as well as more understanding overall. If there is misalignment, this question can help managers identify long-term development needs or potentially important feedback.
Is there anything new or upcoming you’d like to put on my radar? Asking this question is another way to stay on the same page, and it helps managers identify potential issues before they arise. If there is a potential issue, managers can address it early and provide support.
How are you feeling outside of work? Including topics beyond day-to-day work helps build personal rapport and trust and can help mitigate the risk of proximity bias in a hybrid setting.
These questions can frame the overall agenda structure, but direct reports should also be empowered to add more specific bullets to the agenda throughout the week between conversations. This allows employees to use the time effectively to get what they need while making it clear that they are jointly responsible for making the most of one-on-one time together.
Focus on outcome, not the process. If an employee is struggling to achieve an outcome or identify the best course of action, managers can use one-on-ones to identify issue areas and brainstorm collaboratively about solutions. This approach creates the right conditions for psychological safety, allowing managers to lead with trust while providing direct reports with a safe space to experiment, fail, and improve. If employees don’t feel safe enough to be open about their missteps, they’ll struggle silently instead of using their manager as a resource to solve problems.
Topics Considered a Top Priority During a 1:1 Gaining wider context and discussing long-term goals are more important for individual contributors than managers may think, while managers may overestimate how much employees prioritize discussing life outside of work or celebrating accomplishments in one-on-one time.
To develop an agenda structure that allots an appropriate amount of time to each topic, managers can focus on five key questions when meeting with a direct report:
What’s going well? This offers a dedicated moment for self-reflection and recognition. Where can I help? Use this agenda item to clarify directions and work through any roadblocks. This question touches on the core topics of structure (tactical details, prioritization), feedback, and mission alignment. What are your top priorities these days? Aligning on priorities on a regular basis creates a clearer line of sight into employees’ work, as well as more understanding overall. If there is misalignment, this question can help managers identify long-term development needs or potentially important feedback. Is there anything new or upcoming you’d like to put on my radar? Asking this question is another way to stay on the same page, and it helps managers identify potential issues before they arise. If there is a potential issue, managers can address it early and provide support. How are you feeling outside of work? Including topics beyond day-to-day work helps build personal rapport and trust and can help mitigate the risk of proximity bias in a hybrid setting.
These questions can frame the overall agenda structure, but direct reports should also be empowered to add more specific bullets to the agenda throughout the week between conversations. This allows employees to use the time effectively to get what they need while making it clear that they are jointly responsible for making the most of one-on-one time together.
Focus on outcome, not the process. If an employee is struggling to achieve an outcome or identify the best course of action, managers can use one-on-ones to identify issue areas and brainstorm collaboratively about solutions. This approach creates the right conditions for psychological safety, allowing managers to lead with trust while providing direct reports with a safe space to experiment, fail, and improve. If employees don’t feel safe enough to be open about their missteps, they’ll struggle silently instead of using their manager as a resource to solve problems.
Follow up.