Why you should be running skip level meetings at your company

Skip-level meetings can be crucial to keep senior team leaders in touch with what’s happening around the organization. 

What is a skip level meeting? 

A skip level meeting is a one-on-one meeting where a manager meets with their direct reports’ employees. For example, this could be the Head of Engineering meeting one-on-one with the people who report to the Director of Engineering. Skip level meetings are often focused on getting to know a broader team better, and supporting managers. 

Why do skip-level meetings?

Skip-level managers are likely removed from the day-to-day work of their larger teams. This is natural, but makes staying connected harder. Being remote can make this even more challenging. There are benefits to both the skip level manager and the employees. 

For skip level managers, these meetings are helpful for: 

• Understanding how managers are doing
• Getting insight into what’s happening across the team
• Receiving feedback from team members 
• Recognizing new and high performing employees  

For employees, skip level meetings are helpful for:  

• Getting to know senior leaders better
• Understand the organization’s goals 
• Regular opportunity to provide feedback

Skip level meeting agenda

Skip-level meetings should not be spent on status updates - review those ahead of time if needed using tools like Slack or Confluence. Send the agenda, including some of the questions you’d like to ask, to the employee ahead of time so they can provide input. This co-created agenda helps the employee feel involved, and gives people time to think about their answers. This is especially useful for more introverted employees who may need more time to process. 

Here’s a sample skip level meeting agenda (view all of our skip level meeting questions here)

1. Rapport/Personal connection (10 minutes)

• What made you decide to join our company?
• What motivates you to come to work each day?
• What’s a good book you’ve read / podcast you’ve listened to / movie you saw recently?

2. Concerns/Issues (15 minutes)

• As a company, do you think we’re behind the curve on anything in particular?
• When have you been disappointed with a decision or the direction that the company has gone in the past quarter?
• Do you have the resources you need?

3. Feedback (10 minutes)

• When have you felt most proud of being a part of the company this past year?
• Could I be doing a better job outlining the vision and direction for where we’re headed?

4. Takeaways / next steps (10 minutes)

• What have we not covered that you’d like to talk about next time?
• Review any action items or topics you didn’t get to.
• What they will do - such as sending you some information
• What you will do - such as implementing suggestions.
• To discuss with their manager: If needed, make clear what you will discuss or address with their manager.

If this is your first meeting, don’t expect people to immediately share insights with you. Build trust and connection first by getting to know each other. The key is to demonstrate you care about them as an individual. Even if it’s your fifth meeting, spend a few minutes catching up as people before you get into other parts of the agenda. 

Employees may be cautious at first, so be prepared to direct the meeting by sharing key initiatives or asking questions until the conversation starts flowing.  Over time though, many skip-level team members will start to feel comfortable bringing things up themselves.

While you may have a number of topics you’d like to cover, don’t let that block them from talking about what’s burning on their mind. Ideally, you are doing more listening than speaking in these meetings.

Remember this is a conversation, not an interrogation. Asking, “what’s on your mind?” or “what should we talk about today?” can get the conversation going, especially with a tenured employee. 

Pro tip: if you ask a group of skip-level team members the same specific question, you can spot patterns to identify what to prioritize based on what you hear.  

Skip level meeting implementation and communication plan 

Communicating why skip level meetings are happening is important. Your skip level managers should communicate with their direct reports about what is happening, when, and why. 

Here’s our communication plan for skip level meetings: 

1. Share your intention and set expectations with your managers 

Don’t let your managers be surprised or concerned about these meetings. They should know your intent is not to gather gossip about them, but rather for you to maintain a close understanding of what is happening on-the-ground.

If you have a one-on-one meeting with them soon, you can bring it up there using the content of the email template below. To put them at ease, you can also share with them the agenda you create for the skip-level meetings.

3. Schedule your recurring skip level meetings 

Aim for a one-on-one once a quarter with each skip-level employee, for 30-45 minutes. Be sure to not leave any of your skip-level employees off the calendar. If you need to cancel, offer a new time to meet. 

Do’s and Don’ts for skip level meetings

Do 

1. Schedule a meeting with everyone on the team. 
2. Practice active listening and be in learning mode. Come from a place of empathy and attempting to collect more data for you to think about later — you’re not trying to make the call now. 
3. Take notes: It’s a simple act, but it means so much. When they tell you something and you demonstrate you care enough to make a note, it shows you value their input.
4. Ask “Have you talked to your manager about this?” to reinforce and encourage good communication between team members and their manager. You want them to know they can come to you, but also that their manager should be their first call. If they’re not, that’s worth understanding why and addressing. Then, you can coach their manager on either building more trust or helping them behind the scenes to address the issue.

Don’t

1. Hold a skip-level meeting in reaction to another event, as this sends the signal that something is wrong. 
2. Make decisions. Your manager should make decisions in accordance with their domain and scope. You may unintentionally undermine them if you make immediate decisions in that skip-level meeting without consulting them.
3. Escalate. If something surprising comes up, resist the urge to immediately escalate it. Rather, thank the person for the feedback and give yourself time outside the skip-level meeting to calibrate what might be the best response. 
4. Refute. The surest way to dissuade the employee that you’re not truly open to feedback is if you right away jump to refuting their point. “Well, here’s why that’s the case…” or “Let me tell you…” is a natural, instinctive response, but it comes across as defensive. 
5. Dismiss items you feel aren’t important. Remember, employees who see only a narrow slice of the organization may express what seems like a small issue. But what they point out could be indicative of systemic problems.