Do you have regular one-to-one meetings with your colleagues and want to make sure that appraisal interviews are not perceived as boring?
That's a good idea! Especially when you look at studies:
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"Of 250 direct reports [...] nearly half rated their 1:1 experiences as suboptimal."
Source: Harvard Business Review
And of course there are various ways to achieve this. But the first obvious step can be to give the regular one-on-one meeting or appraisal interview an attractive name.
This is exactly what we will focus on in this article: Which 1 to 1 meeting names and titles are there for which types of one-to-one meetings and which are useful in which situation?
One-to-one meeting names & titles: Different types
I've spoken to hundreds of Team Leads over the last few months to develop our one-to-one meeting software (Read more: The 3 best 1:1 software in comparison). It has become quite clear that 1-to-1 meetings and regular employee appraisals are carried out with different objectives in practice. To give you some examples:
- Operational 1:1s: Some team leads, for example, hold a weekly 30-minute one-to-one meeting with each team member to primarily go through the employee's individual tasks together: Are there blockers in your tasks? Where should I give you feedback so that, for example, you implement the tasks according to the customer's expectations?
- Employee development 1:1s: Other managers focus on, for example, bi-weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings that are more focused on developing the team member. For example: What skills (for example, programming languages, soft skills) are you still lacking? What goals do you need to achieve in order to be officially declared a Senior Software Developer?
- Hybrid one-to-one meetings: These one-on-one meetings are completely open. Both managers and team members bring their topics, which are either aimed at operational tasks or personal development and feedback, etc.
A tip in between: If you belong to either the second or third group above, I can recommend that you hold the one-to-one meeting on a walk (outside, of course). Fresh air and exercise can be very stimulating when it comes to reflecting and thinking "outside the box". And no excuses: I can say from personal experience that even in remote teams, it's easy to have a relaxed phone call while walking with the help of headphones and have fantastic conversations.
1-1 Meeting names & titles for operational meetings
Let's move on to a list that now focuses on operational meetings and employee appraisals. What standard names are there, and what unusual alternative titles are possible?
Standard names for operational 1:1 meetings
- Jour Fix
- Catch-Up
- Weekly Check-In
- Weekly Debrief
- 1:1 [Name of employee] x [Your name]
- Status update
- Task-Talk
- Weekly review
- Project update
Creative names for operational 1:1 meetings
After the usual names, here are some more creative examples of one-to-one meetings and employee appraisal titles:
- Tactics meeting
- Mission Briefing
- Next-Step-Session
- Task Lounge
- Sync & Solve
- Focus Forum
- Action Hour
- Workflow workshop
- Roadmap update
- Special Ops Meeting
Unusual or fun names for operational 1:1 meetings
After the creative names, here are some unusual and fun examples of one-to-one meeting titles:
- Task-Tuesday (or adapt to the respective weekday)
- What's on round
- Master plan meeting
- Coffee klatch
- The to-do show
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Communication
Where do you see your team: How are contributions distributed?
Where do you see yourself? What role do you play, depending on the meeting?
What would be a first step to ensure that contributions are distributed more evenly within the team?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Fail forward
When was the last time you had the feeling that you had made a mistake with something?
How did you react to this mistake?
What would be a constructive view of this "mistake"?
What are the next important mistakes you need to make to get closer to your goals?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Learn from the best
Who in your team do you look up to and why?
What are the things you want to learn when you think about your colleagues in the company and beyond?
Get in touch with the people you want to learn from.
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Conflict types
Name a recent conflict you had in your team.
Take a look at the 5 different conflict styles: Can your behavior and attitude be classified into one or more of the conflict styles?
How could you have handled the conflict better?
One-to-one meeting name & title: Employee development
This should give you good inspiration for meetings and regular appraisal interviews that focus on operational tasks. Let's say, however, that you want to focus primarily on the employee's further development in the meeting.
Then the first tip I can give you is to choose good questions. Good questions are key to initiating a constructive coaching process. Have a look here: 129 Clever one-on-one meeting questions.
So let's move on to some examples of unusual and fun names and titles for your regular one-to-one routine:
Standard names for development-oriented 1:1 meetings
- Development check-in
- Career feedback interview
- Coaching session
- Development discussion
- Progress review
- Career 1:1
- Personal growth talk
- Destination check-in
- 1:1 Performance Review
Creative names for Development-oriented 1:1 meetings
After the usual names, here are some more creative examples of one-to-one meeting titles:
- Grow & Glow (my personal favorite)
- Unfolding round
- Next-Level-Talk
- Future time
- Growth workshop
- Skill spotlight
- Personal roadmap session
- Development Debrief
- Up-Talk
- Growth engine room
Casual or humorous names for development-oriented 1:1 meetings
After the creative names, here are some unusual and fun examples of one-to-one meeting titles:
- Level-up round
- Career coffee break
- Boost & Balance
- Dream Big Talk
- What-do-you-want-to-be-round
- Feedback & fine-tuning
- Next Step Catch-up
- Booster Talk
- Grow-Time
Personalized names (depending on the employee or context):
Basically, it obviously makes sense to adapt the meeting name to the person or to mention the names of both participants. In the best case, this can be done by using a suitable word that fits the person, perhaps an alliteration (see first two examples). Alternatively, you can simply introduce the name as it is.
- Growing Gregor 1:1 | [Your name]
- From Robert to Rocket 1:1 | [your name]
- [name of employee]'s development check | [your name]
- Your-plan-1:1 | [Your name]
- Growth path with [name of employee] | [your name]
- Tobi's Talent Talk | [Your Name]
- Vision session | [Your name]
Examples of common 1-1 conversation names & titles
If you haven't found anything suitable here because your one-to-one meetings may be aimed at different goals, I would like to give you some more general examples of good one-to-one meeting titles and names.
- Work and development discussion
- All-round check
- Target and status update
- Progress & Growth Meeting
- Momentum meeting
- Growth & Goals discussion
- Vision & Action Talk
- Next Steps & Big Picture
- Your Hour
- Flow & Feedback Round
- Coffee & clarity
- To-dos and dreams
- Mission & Vision Sync
As there aren't so many suggestions this time, I've mixed the fun and unusual names with the classics. I think you'll still be able to tell them apart...
Too boring? Fun 1:1 meeting names per weekday
Depending on the day of the week, it can be a refreshing routine to come up with a special name for each day of the week:
Monday
- Mission Monday
- Madness Monday
- Magic Monday
- Mindful Monday
- Motivation Monday
Tuesday (tip: also works for Thursday)
- Turn-Up Tuesday
- Tackle Tuesday
Wednesday
- Work-In-Progress Wednesday
- Winning Wednesday
- Wisdom Sharing Wednesday
Thursday (tip: also works for Tuesday)
- Thankful Thursday
- Think Tank Thursday
- Thriving Thursday
- Throwback Thursday
Friday
- Feel-Good Friday
- Finish Friday
- Focus Friday
What software developer wouldn't be happy to receive an invitation to an appointment with a title like that? 😄
Conclusion - Fun & Fancy One-to-One Meeting Titles
Regular one-to-one meetings are a key tool for managers to advance operational issues as well as to promote the personal and professional development of team members. However, the success of these meetings depends heavily on perception: Is the meeting perceived as inspiring and valuable, or merely worked through as routine?
An attractive name for your one-to-one meeting is a simple but effective first step to clearly communicate the focus and intention of the discussions – and perhaps also create some anticipation.
In the end, of course, it's not about the name, but about the attitude behind it: Use the opportunity to solve blockers, give feedback and build real relationships. Of course, good one-to-one meeting software can also help you do this. If this sounds interesting to you, take a look at our Echometer tool. You can simply start the software via the link below, maybe the template is even suitable for your regular "Grow & Glow Meeting":
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Communication
Where do you see your team: How are contributions distributed?
Where do you see yourself? What role do you play, depending on the meeting?
What would be a first step to ensure that contributions are distributed more evenly within the team?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Fail forward
When was the last time you had the feeling that you had made a mistake with something?
How did you react to this mistake?
What would be a constructive view of this "mistake"?
What are the next important mistakes you need to make to get closer to your goals?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Learn from the best
Who in your team do you look up to and why?
What are the things you want to learn when you think about your colleagues in the company and beyond?
Get in touch with the people you want to learn from.
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Conflict types
Name a recent conflict you had in your team.
Take a look at the 5 different conflict styles: Can your behavior and attitude be classified into one or more of the conflict styles?
How could you have handled the conflict better?
