You have a new employee in your team, a new team member or a new direct report who reports to you and now you're planning your first one-on-one meeting or appraisal interview? Here you will find all the tips for the invitation, the agenda, the moderation of your 1-1 meeting and everything that goes with it!
First of all, if you're interested in a general introduction to regular one-to-one meetings, take a look at our post on the subject: A guide: 6 tips for successful 1-to-1 conversations.
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A study has shown that over 50% of new employees still do not feel sufficiently prepared for their role even after onboarding. In small companies and remote teams in particular, the figure is over 60%.
One-to-one or employee appraisals are therefore still extremely important even after onboarding has been completed.
Source: The effect of poor onboarding on new employees
Tip 1 for the first 1-to-1 meeting with new employees: The invitation and the preliminary discussion
People who join the company as new employees or new team members are often overwhelmed by the flood of new information. Therefore, the first one-to-one meeting with new employees or team members should always be discussed in person and announced via email invitation.
If the new 1-on-1 meeting routine is not discussed in person in advance, the new employee or team member has little opportunity to prepare accordingly and the invitation to the meeting may get lost in the flood of emails and notifications.
So do yourself and your direct report a favor and address the 1:1 meetings or employee appraisals personally and give the employee the chance to prepare for the first one-to-one meeting.
In the preliminary discussion for the first one-to-one meeting with your direct report, you can address the following points:
- What is the purpose of the one-to-one series?
- How often should the one-to-one meeting take place (e.g. weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and how long should the appointment last?
- On which day of the week and at what time should the appointment take place?
- What are the expectations of the Direct Report for the first one-to-one meeting?
- When exactly will the first one-to-one meeting take place?
After the interview, you can also send an invitation email to your employee for the first one-to-one meeting. This way, the employee can read everything there is to know about the 1:1 in writing. Here is an article with examples: 5 templates and examples for invitation emails for one-to-one meetings.
Tip 2 for the first one-to-one meeting with new employees: Preparing and creating the framework
The first one-to-one meeting sets the tone for all subsequent one-to-one meetings or appraisal interviews. As a manager, it is therefore important to be well prepared for the first one-to-one meeting or appraisal interview.
In the first 1:1 meeting, the manager should start by repeating both the expectations and the benefits for the employee in order to create the framework:
- Expectations of the employee:
- Open communication: The employee should be prepared to speak honestly about challenges, successes and feedback.
- Active preparation: The employee should prepare for the discussions by bringing along topics, questions or concerns.
- Proactive co-design: The 1:1 meeting or appraisal interview is a shared space for discussing ideas, goals or problems. It is up to the employee to actively use this space.
- Responsibility for personal development: The employee should also see the 1:1 as an opportunity to take responsibility for their further development by asking for feedback and defining goals.
- Benefits for the employee:
- Individual support: Employees are given a clear platform to discuss their needs, challenges and goals with their manager.
- Career development: The interviews offer an opportunity to plan professional development and receive targeted support.
- Clarity and feedback: Employees receive regular feedback on their own work and guidance on expectations.
- Improved collaboration: Regular communication builds greater understanding and trust between employees and managers.
- Problem solutions: Concerns or obstacles can be discussed and resolved at an early stage in a confidential setting.
Only when these framework conditions are clear and all the employee's questions about the 1-to-1 format have been clarified should you start with the actual agenda.
Tip 3 for the first performance review with new employees: The agenda (incl. sample agenda)
The actual agenda for 1-to-1 meetings or employee appraisals is often very constant. Nevertheless, in addition to the recurring agenda items, you should always leave room to place individual topics and deviate from the usual format.
The agenda for the first 1-to-1 meeting or appraisal interview can look like this, for example:
- Introduction – Expectations and benefits of the 1-1 (especially for the first appraisal interview)
- Progress: What have you been working on?
- Blockers & challenges: What blockers or challenges do you struggle with?
- Goals for the next week(s)
- Other points from the employee (e.g. feedback or ideas)
- Other points from the manager (e.g. feedback or personal exchange on updates from the company)
The last two points in the template are important as a catch-all for all topics that do not fit in with the previous topics. This ensures that the employee always knows where they can bring up their own topics. If there are no "Further points", you can simply skip this part of the meeting.
Of course, the agenda for the one-to-one meeting can be adapted on an ongoing basis together with the direct report. However, you should avoid making the agenda too complicated for the first one-to-one meeting or appraisal interview. It is advisable to start simply and then continuously adapt and individualize the agenda based on practical experience.
If you are interested in more detailed templates for various one-to-one meetings (e.g. weekly, annual, 1-1 with difficult employees...), take a look at the corresponding article: 15 proven 1-1 meeting templates to edit (free).
Tip 4 for the first 1-to-1 meeting with new employees: Joint shared notes / 1-to-1 tool
From personal experience, I can say that it always feels non-committal and unprofessional to have a meeting for which there are no written notes. Without notes, it's easy to forget what was last discussed in a one-to-one.
To avoid this problem from the outset, I recommend defining where you want to record the agenda items and notes for the one-to-one meeting right at the start of the first 1-to-1 or appraisal interview. The best way to do this is to use a tool that allows collaborative notes that you can both view and edit at the same time.
Using a 1:1 tool makes it easier for you to directly formulate and track measures together. In particular, I would like to mention our 1-1 meeting software Echometer. It helps you to make 1-1 meetings more time-efficient, fun and productive. You can find more information on this website. Alternatively, you can also use the following 1-1 meeting template to get started with the tool:
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: 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?
In addition to the shared notes, you can of course also write down private notes that are not shared with the employee. However, most tools for 1:1 meetings or appraisal interviews also offer an integrated function for this.
Tip 5 for the first one-to-one meeting with new employees: Actively involve employees
It should already have become clear in the first one-to-one meeting that, as a manager, your employee's feedback is important to you.
To emphasize this again, you should ask your employee for feedback at the end of the first one-to-one meeting. For example:
- Can you think of any other ways we could organize our one-to-one meetings to make them even more enjoyable for you?
- Should we set a reminder for 2 months from now and then reflect together on whether the one-to-one format works for us in terms of frequency, meeting duration and agenda?
- In your opinion, what focus should we set for the next 1-1 meetings or employee appraisals?
By the way: If you are a manager of software developers, the following article might be of interest to you: 6 Examples of feedback to software developers.
There are now some special situations in which one-to-one meetings can take place. The examples so far have assumed that you are introducing 1-to-1 or employee appraisals in your existing team with existing direct reports. But what happens when a new employee joins an existing team? Or how can you behave as a manager if you are the only person who is new, but the rest already know each other? I would now like to discuss this.
The first appraisal interview with a new team member in an existing team
When a new Direct Report starts on the team, there are a few things to consider in your first one-to-one meeting as the team's leader to successfully onboard the team member.
Here are the 3 most important tips:
Tip 1 for the first one-to-one meeting with a new team member: Clarify role & expectations
For a successful collaboration, it is important that the new direct report understands exactly what the expectations are.
Therefore, answer the following question in the first 1-1 meeting or appraisal interview: What exactly will the new employee's role be in the team?
Tip 2 for the first 1-to-1 meeting or appraisal interview with a new team member: Explain the team and culture
As a new team member, you have to familiarize yourself with the existing structures. As a manager, you have a good overview of how the team works. So help the new employee in the first 1-to-1 or appraisal interview to better understand who works on what in the team and what the typical communication channels and routines look like.
Team culture is also an important factor here. So use the new Direct Report to share what you value as a team when working together. Perhaps there are even certain working agreements that you can discuss (more on this: Working agreements: 10 examples and templates).
Also offer the new team member support in networking with other team members and inviting them to joint meetings. Of course, it also makes sense to offer to organize a "mentor" outside of your own team.
Tip 3 for the first 1-to-1 meeting with a new team member: Leave room for questions
As a manager, you are responsible for the successful induction of the new direct report. In your first one-to-one meeting with the new team member, create enough space for questions and offer support:
- What do you need most right now for your induction?
- What is the next most important milestone for your induction?
- By when would you like to be able to say that you have completed your induction?
- When should we next review the status of your induction together?
It is best to record the new team member's questions and answers in the notes of your 1-to-1 meeting or appraisal interview. This way you can refer to them later.
The first one-to-one meetings as a manager in a completely new team
If you are new to an existing team as a manager, one-to-one meetings are a good way to build a personal relationship with all team members and get to know their different strengths and perspectives.
I have a few special tips for you for this situation:
Tip 1 for managers in new teams: Use initial one-to-one meetings to build the relationship first
The most important basis for successful collaboration is a trusting relationship. Therefore, use the first one-to-one meetings primarily to get to know your new team members.
Use questions like:
- What led you to this role?
- What do you particularly enjoy about your work, what motivates you?
- What do you do outside of work? (It is best to ask this question only after you have shared something about your private hobbies)
- What is particularly important to you in a manager and in teamwork?
Make sure you also share personal details about yourself. After all, building a relationship is not a one-way street.
Please do yourself a favor and don't skip this step. Believe me, the time it takes to build a relationship is well invested.
Tip 2 for managers in new teams: Address strengths and weaknesses
Even if everything seems rosy at the beginning, at some point it will become clear that your team has both strengths and weaknesses – just like you as a manager.
It is important to be able to openly address mistakes and weaknesses in the team. As a manager, you should set a good example.
Once you have proven that you can talk openly about your own mistakes and weaknesses, it will be much easier for you to talk about mistakes with employees and the team.
Repeat again and again how important an open error culture is to you and then set a good example by sharing your own mistakes or behaviors and situations in which you were dissatisfied with yourself.
Tip 3 for managers in new teams: Integrity in conflicts
When conflicts arise in teams, one-to-one discussions give you the chance to get to know the different perspectives of the team members. However, you must always remain objective and neutral. Never take the side of one person in the 1-1s or appraisal interviews, but make it clear that your aim is to find an objective, reasonable solution.
If there is a conflict between Peter and Sabine in a 1-to-1 meeting, you must not agree with individuals.
Sooner or later, this contradiction will be exposed and your integrity as a manager will be called into question. In the worst case scenario, you will lose the trust of your team.
So: always remain neutral, even in 1-to-1 meetings or appraisal interviews.
The better way to deal with conflicts in the team: Talk about the conflict with all those affected (e.g. in your team retrospective) and not in 1-to-1 meetings.
Ready for the first one-to-one meeting or employee interview with your new Direct Report
The fact that you have read this article alone shows that it is important to you to fulfill your role as a manager well. Your employees can be grateful to have one-to-one meetings with you! 😊
If you want an easy way to improve your 1-1 meetings, I can recommend the following: Try the Echometer tool for free, for example by using the template below:
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: 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?
