Level Up Your One-on-One Meeting Agendas

Mark Zuckerberg once shared that the secret to his business relationship with Sheryl Sandberg resulted from weekly one-on-one meetings. But it’s not enough to spend time together—the agenda for the meeting has the power to make all the difference. 

This post shows you how to level up your one-on-ones and create incredible relationships with your team members. You’ll learn the following: 

• What is the purpose of 1:1s
• Some examples of how to structure your agenda template 
• How to use AI to create personalized meeting agendas 
• How Clockwise can help you manage your 1:1s more efficiently

Purpose of a one-on-one meeting and agenda

With the right amount of effort and planning, one-on-one meetings can be game-changers for managers and their reports. Not sure what makes one-to-one meetings so valuable? Keep reading to find out.

1. Use 1:1s to build trust.

As with all types of relationships, work relationships take time to grow and should be nurtured. Managers and direct reports should use these meetings as a safe space for in-depth conversations and to share information. You can use these meetings to connect personally and professionally to develop a deeper relationship. Understanding each other’s comfort levels is crucial to ensure conversations remain productive and acceptable to both parties.

Speaker and author Joe Mull firmly believes in using one-on-ones to focus on connecting person to person. Mull wrote, “The most effective one-on-ones don't focus solely on the work. Significant time is also spent on the person: their needs, goals, ideas, etc. Why does this matter? Because when supervisors focus exclusively on work products, employees feel like a commodity. When supervisors work to understand who this person is, what's important to them, and the ideas or perspective they have inside, people feel valued and appreciated.” 

2. Exchange positive and constructive feedback during one-on-ones.

One-on-one meetings are the ideal time to ask for feedback, regardless of which side of the conversation you’re on. Since they take place in a private, safe setting, managers and reports can ask for and exchange positive and constructive feedback on a regular cadence.

‍Managers can ask for feedback about their leadership and management style, and direct reports can ask for feedback about their performance or where they need to improve to reach the next level. One of the best parts about giving and receiving feedback during 1:1s is that it is regular and timely, making it easier and more relevant to address. Receiving feedback during mid-year or annual performance reviews is great, but it’s not necessarily helpful if the feedback is from many months prior. 

3. Leverage 1:1s to address blockers and barriers.

Sometimes team members may feel stuck, blocked, or stalled in their work for various reasons. Managers and leaders tend to have more authority and additional resources that their team members don’t have easy access to. Managers must check-in, remove barriers, and address blockers with other team members, departments, or leaders to help unblock their reports. 

While these conversations can occur via chat tools or email when necessary, 1:1s allow managers and reports to communicate face-to-face and discuss the blocker or barrier in detail. Talking it through in person can help the manager and direct report determine the best course of action for handling the situation and help relieve frustration and anger by providing support.

4. Discuss progress toward OKRs and goals during one-on-one meetings.

Many organizations commit to objectives and key results as a guiding north star. Even if your organization doesn’t follow the OKR framework, you likely have goals to work toward as an individual, team, and organization. One-on-one meetings are perfect for checking in and following up on OKR and goal progress. 

Discussing goals regularly during 1:1s keeps our goals at the forefront of daily work and conversations. When we don’t prioritize checking in on our goals, they may start to feel unimportant or irrelevant, hurting the chance of completing them. Discussing goal progress during one-on-ones also allows managers to determine if they need to make any adjustments at the individual level. For example, if a team member decides on a goal at the beginning of the year and their job function changes significantly mid-year, they may need to rework some of their goals accordingly. Managers and leaders should always tie employee OKR and goal performance back to the business goals to help their reports feel connected to a greater purpose. 

5. Talk through potential development opportunities during 1:1s.

Managers mentor and coach their direct reports to help them hone their skills and grow in their careers. As a manager, it’s not only your job to support your team members in their daily work, but it’s also your job to help them grow and improve as they move along their career paths. Leaders can use their role to help their team members seek additional mentorship opportunities from others and find development opportunities outside of work. Recommendations for networking events, conferences, books, podcasts, and self-paced learning are great ways for managers to help their reports develop. 

Jeff Mains, CEO of Champion Leadership Group, always prioritize time to discuss development from a feedback and mentorship perspective. “I utilize these sessions to provide suggestions and guidance. I provide them with helpful criticism on how they performed, pointing out both their accomplishments and areas for development. To assist them in overcoming challenges and achieving their professional objectives, I also provide mentoring and support,” Mains wrote.

Example one-on-one meeting agenda template 

1. Check-in 

Take the first few minutes of your one-on-one meeting to connect personally with your team member. Use this time to ask open-ended questions and practice active listening during the conversation. 

Consider doing a quick “temperature” test to understand how your team member is doing emotionally and energetically. Below are some examples of questions to ask: 

• How are you doing?
• How are you feeling today? 
• Is there anything on your mind that you want to talk about today?
• How is your week going so far? 

You can also incorporate questions that allow you to connect more personally. Remember, it’s essential to get to know your team members and express genuine interest in who they are both inside and outside of work to build trust. At the same time, ask personal questions in a non-intrusive manner, and if an employee prefers that the conversation remains strictly professional, don’t force it. Some questions to ask include: 

• How was your weekend?
• Do you have anything fun planned for this weekend? 
• How is your [hobby] going? 
• How are your [spouse/kids/pets/etc.] doing?
• Tell me more about what you’ve enjoyed in your free time outside of work recently.
• How are you managing your well-being? 
• Are there any personal goals you’re working toward?
• Do you have any upcoming events or vacations you’re looking forward to?

2. Progress update

One-on-ones can feel daunting and ineffective when they become strictly status update meetings. However, 1-on-1 meetings are still a good way for managers to stay informed about reports’ work and progress. Here are some tips to make the most of the progress update portion of a 1:1:

• Follow up on action items from your last 1:1 meeting. Did you ask your direct report to complete a few action items at the end of your last meeting? If so, now is a good chance to ask about the status of those items and discuss progress toward completion. It’s easiest to transfer action items from one agenda to the next or keep them near the top for easy reference. 
• Frame discussions around any critical projects or tasks with deadlines soon. Walking through updates on every project and task can be tempting, but your 1:1 starts to feel like a status update meeting before you know it. Instead, try to focus on the most critical work during the meeting. It can also be helpful to ask your direct report what’s top of mind for them to ensure you’re aligned with what they prioritize and then dive into a quick progress update. 
• Schedule a follow-up conversation to dive into a project if needed. Rather than let the conversation go too far down the rabbit hole, set proper boundaries and reel discussions in when they get too far into the weeds. If additional time is needed to talk about a project or task, add an action item to set up a separate time not to derail the entire course of the 1:1. 

3. Feedback 

Positive and constructive feedback should be core to your one-on-one meeting. Before giving feedback, managers can ask for some from their direct reports. Questions might include:

• Is there anything I can do to be a better manager to you? 
• What can I do to help you work more efficiently? 
• What do I do that frustrates or holds you back? 
• What is something that I bring to the team that you appreciate? 
• Do you feel supported in your daily work? 
• How can I best support your growth and development? 

After asking for feedback, managers should also prioritize giving it. Managers can use different feedback models to help ensure their feedback is effective. For example, the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model is a simple and direct framework. In this model, you capture and clarify the situation that occurred, describe the behavior witnessed, and give an example of the impact of the behavior.  

Here’s an example: During our team meeting yesterday, I noticed you were short and didn’t offer many details when answering Sam’s questions about the marketing campaign launch. This could have been an excellent opportunity for us to provide a deeper explanation of the campaign so everyone on the team understands how many leads we hope to drive as a result of this campaign.

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Image source: WKKF Community Leadership Network

After sharing constructive feedback, managers should work with their direct reports to create an action plan to change their behavior. Suggest how they can improve and ask them how you can help support them. Be sure to ask for their ideas so their voice is heard. Creating a plan together reinforces your willingness to support their growth and improvement.

You can use the SBI model to offer positive feedback, too. Consider wrapping up all feedback-focused conversations with kudos for a positive action or job well done to reinforce this behavior.

4. Development opportunities

You might not want to discuss development opportunities at every 1:1 meeting, but you should discuss them semi-regularly. Career development goals could have longer timelines, so discussing development opportunities every week might feel weird if your direct report is working on a plan that will take some time to complete. 

Here are some development-focused questions for your team members: 

• What do you see your career looking like 3-5 years from now? 
• Do you feel like you are learning new things at work regularly? If not, how can I better support your learning objectives? 
• Are there any online or in-person courses you’d like to take? 
• What are your long-term career goals? 
• What skills would you like to develop? 
• Would you value having an assigned mentor here at work to help you grow your skillsets?
• What’s your desired next career move? 

And while you can tie development opportunities back to a report’s specific job function or promotion trajectory, sometimes it’s helpful to keep these conversations more open to fully understand what your team member is looking to do next. 

5. Goal setting

Whether your organization uses OKRs or another goal-setting framework, one-on-one meetings are a natural opportunity to check in on your team members’ goal progress. According to the team at What Matters, weekly 1:1s are perfect for CFRs—or conversations, feedback, and recognition around OKRs.

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Image source: Weekdone

Questions to ask around goal setting include:

• How are you progressing on your OKRs? 
• Are any blockers or barriers preventing you from moving your objectives? 
• Do your OKRs still feel attainable with our shifting priorities? 
• Are there any OKRs we should discuss modifying or eliminating given priority changes? 
• What would you change if you were going to rewrite this OKR? 

6. Action items

Capturing action items is a critical component of all one-on-one meetings. Managers and reports may leave with action items following the conversation. To ensure all action items are captured and recorded accordingly, consider the following questions:

• What specific steps need to occur to complete this action item? 
• When do you think is a reasonable time for you to achieve this by?
• Do you have everything you need to move forward with this task, or do you need anything else from me?
• Do we both agree with the action items we’ve outlined today?

7. Closing

End your 1:1 on a positive note with a few closing words. Summarize the key points covered during the meeting, express appreciation for the time spent together, save space for any final questions, and confirm your next meeting date. And most importantly, try to end the meeting on time. 

How to create a personalized meeting agenda with AI tools

It can be incredibly time-consuming for managers to create personalized meeting agendas for their one-on-ones week after week, especially managers with many direct reports. Fortunately, AI tools can help you save time and create customized meeting agendas in no time in just a few simple steps. 

When you provide AI tools like ChatGPT with enough personal and meeting details, it can quickly generate a meeting agenda for your meeting. 

I created an example prompt and the agenda ChatGPT spit out in return: Generate a 1:1 meeting agenda with my direct report, Emilio. Action items from our last meeting include updating OKRs in Lattice and completing ticket #324. Emilio likes to ride his bike in his free time, so use that as our icebreaker. Include an icebreaker, action item follow-up, progress update, development opportunities, and an end-of-meeting wrap-up. 

1:1 Meeting Agenda with Emilio

Date: [Insert Date]

Duration: [Insert Duration]

Agenda:

1. Icebreaker (5 minutes)

• Discuss Emilio's recent biking adventures or any interesting experiences related to biking.

2. Action Item Follow-up (10 minutes)

• Update OKRs in Lattice: Review progress on updating the Objectives and Key Results in Lattice. Discuss any challenges or questions Emilio encountered while working on this task.
• Ticket #324 Completion: Check the status of ticket #324. Determine if it has been successfully completed and closed. Address any issues or roadblocks encountered during the process.

3. Progress Update (15 minutes)

• Emilio's Projects: Provide an overview of Emilio's ongoing projects. Discuss the progress made, any milestones achieved, and upcoming deadlines.
• Challenges and Support Needed: Allow Emilio to share any challenges or obstacles he is facing. Offer support, guidance, or resources to help overcome these challenges.

4. Development Opportunities (10 minutes)

• Identify Strengths and Growth Areas: Discuss Emilio's strengths and areas where he would like to develop further.
• Training and Skill Enhancement: Explore potential training programs, workshops, or resources that can help Emilio enhance his skills and expertise.
• Career Goals and Aspirations: Discuss Emilio's long-term career goals and aspirations. Explore opportunities within the organization that align with his interests and objectives.

5. End of Meeting Wrap-up (5 minutes)

• Recap and Summary: Summarize the key discussion points, decisions made, and action items identified during the meeting.
• Next Steps: Clarify the action items and assign responsibilities and deadlines.
• Closing and Appreciation: Express gratitude to Emilio for his contributions, insights, and efforts.

Scheduling one-on-one meetings

Elevate your 1:1s with another AI tool to help you schedule and optimize your one-on-one meetings. With Clockwise’s one-on-one dashboard, you can view all your one-on-one meetings at a glance and mark them as flexible to automatically address double bookings. With flexible meetings, Clockwise will also free up blocks of Focus Time for more periods of uninterrupted work.

Go forth and meet

One-on-ones can be a huge waste of time if you don’t properly plan and prepare for them. There are many ways to structure 1:1s to make them effective and meaningful for everyone involved. And you don’t have to go it alone—consider using a tool like ChatGPT to help you generate personalized one-on-one meeting agendas. A meeting scheduling tool like Clockwise can help you easily manage and schedule your one-on-ones.