A template for ongoing 1-1 meetings

Get a basic structure for ongoing 1-1 meetings to make them effective for you and your direct report. 1-1 meetings provide a time for deeper discussion outside of day-to-day communications with your direct report. The focus is on what your direct report needs and how you can help them. It is their time and they should eventually own the meeting agenda. 

Every manager should have recurring 1-1s with each of their direct reports, preferably weekly, but at least every other week. Begin on time as a signal to your direct report that this time is valuable. If you can’t make a regular 1-1 due to unforeseen circumstances, reschedule immediately.

• Reserve 15 minutes longer for remote 1-1s than in-person 1-1s. Local employees see you in the halls, eat with you at lunch, stop by your office, etc. But, remote employees don't have that access and can feel distant. This extra time to connect is key. 
• Camera on or camera off? Be flexible and check in. Sometimes it can be welcome to get the extra context of being able to observe someone's facial expressions or body language. But sometimes, it can require extra energy that folks don't have.
• Avoid distractions to the best of your ability. If you need to check your phone or look away, pause and let your employee know so they don’t guess or wonder why they lost your attention.

A template for your ongoing 1-1 meetings

Here is an example of the typical flow of a 1-1. For a downloadable 1-1 template, visit here. 

1. Temperature check

Resist the temptation to jump into status updates. Use the first few minutes to talk about non-work related topics (weekend plans, kids, pets, or last night’s big game) — something light-hearted and personal. This will help you build trust and rapport. It’s also important to ask a simple and often overlooked question: “How are you feeling today?" 

Start with wins

Ask questions like: “What went well this week?” or “Did anything make you happy this week?” Wins can be big or small events that made your direct report happy over the course of the previous week or since your last 1-1.

Follow with frustrations

Once you’ve discussed some of your direct report’s wins, follow up by talking about frustrations—big or small. It's important to air these frustrations because they will likely affect their work and productivity. If you jump into work status updates too quickly, you will likely miss out on this crucial information. 

Use questions like: “Did anything frustrate you last week?” or “Last week, what didn't go as planned and how did that make you feel?” 

Pro-tip: Temperature checks are also an important opportunity to watch out for two common remote-work culprits: loneliness and burnout. If you see they are consistently logging extra hours, you should encourage your direct report to:

1. Make more time for personal activities or plan some time off.
2. Engage them socially with the rest of the team whenever possible.
3. Encourage them to get out of the house, whether going to a coffee shop or co-working space to work, or getting out to go to events or meetups in their area.

2. Work progress

Once you’ve done a temperature check, you can now jump into work progress updates and discuss any roadblocks your direct report might be facing.

If there is a recurring list of OKRs (objectives and key results), projects or quarterly goals, it’s a good idea to refer to your documentation and ensure that you don’t skip anything important during the 1-1.

For every project/quarterly goal/OKR on the list, ask:

“How likely are you to complete this in time?” “How happy are you with the quality of the work?” “What are any roadblocks or concerns we can discuss?” 

3. Feedback

Give feedback during every 1-1 meeting. This sends a clear message that you notice them and their work, and you care about their future. Ask for feedback as well. For example: "One thing I'm working on is more frequent communication. What could I do to become 10% better?” 

A tip on giving specific feedback: Use the SBI model

SBI stands for Situation, Behavior, Impact. This technique grounds your feedback in detail so that your report can learn exactly how and when they need to improve, and the impact. Using SBI also helps to make your feedback about someone's performance and not them as a person.

For example: 

• (S) Stress was high on the team last week. 
• (B) I noticed you maintained a positive attitude.  
• (I) Several of your teammates shared with me, in private, how grateful they were for your noticeable impact to team morale

4. Administrative items

Use the last few minutes to answer any questions or to address administrative items. Things you could cover include:

• Action items from the 1-1 or a previous meeting
• Unapproved expense reports
• Time off requests
• Upcoming tasks related to reviews, surveys or other tasks
• Information you or they need to pass on to/from others
• Any other topic not directly related to their role or questions they may have

A great 1-1 meeting is one where your direct report does most of the talking and you give them your undivided and focused attention. The meeting ends with clarity and a sense of forward progress on a goal that both you and your direct report care about.