Are the 1-to-1 meetings with your Direct Reports energizing – or a mandatory event? I suspect it's leaning towards the latter. But why?
Well, you know that feeling when you listen to the same playlist over and over again? It's fun at first, but eventually it gets boring. One-on-one meetings between managers and employees work the same way: they need fresh ideas, new questions and a surprising element every now and then to be truly inspiring.
After all, who wants to eat only vanilla ice cream every week? It's a good idea of yours to try out new ideas and topics in your one-on-one meeting.
Imagine you have a greenhouse full of plants, but you only ever water the same three. At some point, other plants or topics that are actually very important will wither away. (Okay, sorry, that was my last metaphor.)
Whether in a face-to-face, digital or virtual one-on-one meeting, 1-to-1 meetings between bosses and employees offer space for feedback and thus for personal development, which is essential in today's working world. And in this article, I'll give you some good ideas that you can use in your weekly, bi-weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings to have good conversations.
First of all: If you're still unsure about what good one-on-one meetings look like, take a look at our guide: The guide with 6 tips for successful one-on-one meetings.
Some typical and atypical topics & ideas in one-to-one meetings
Before I get to the actual ideas, I would first like to give you a few typical topics that should be discussed regularly in your one-on-one meetings. After all, I don't know how broad your range of methods and templates already is.
5 typical topics for one-on-one conversations:
- Goals & progress: What milestones have been achieved and where are there still challenges?
- Feedback: What is going well and where is there potential for improvement – in both directions?
- Resources & blockers: What obstacles stand in the way and what support is needed?
- Personal development: What skills would the employee like to develop and how can the manager help?
- Motivation & satisfaction: How does your staff currently feel and what could increase their motivation?
5 atypical but important topics:
- Energy level & workload: When does the employee feel overwhelmed or underchallenged, and how can this be adjusted?
- Desire for more or less responsibility: Are there areas of responsibility in which the employee would like to grow or reduce their workload?
- Hidden talents: What skills or interests does your staff have that are not yet being utilized?
- Communication style: How does the employee prefer feedback and exchange – directly, in writing, reflectively or spontaneously?
- Time thieves & efficiency: Which meetings, tools or processes take up unnecessary time and should be optimized?
Why do I give you so many topics to discuss?
Of course, so that you know which fields you should systematically cover in your one-on-one conversation. I'll provide you with specific templates and questions later on. But let's start with a very general template first.
Idea or Topic 1: The Standard Template
The fact that you clicked on this article as a supervisor tells me that you are looking for ideas and topics for one-on-one meetings.
That's why you'll first find a standard doc template here, which should be a good accompaniment to a classic monthly appraisal interview, for example.
You can save the template as a Doc under the actual template, but alternatively also as a PDF, Google Sheets, Excel or Word document. Simply click on the "Plus" toggle.
👋 Welcome & Icebreaker
- How are you today, how has your week been so far?
📕 Topics Employee [name]
- ...
👈 Manager topics: Review
- What went well in the last 2 weeks?
- What were the challenges?
👈 Manager topics: Priorities & Goals
- What are your main priorities for the coming weeks?
- Where do you need my support?
🤚 Conclusion
- Is there anything else you would like to discuss?
⁉️ Mood check (survey)
Download template as printable PDF
Preview: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Word document
Preview: One-to-One Meeting Microsoft Word Template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs one-to-one meeting template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Sheets
Preview: Google Sheets one-to-one meeting template
If you would like a template for weekly check-ins as an editable Google Sheet, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly and print it out, for example.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Excel or XLXS
Preview: Excel or XLSX template
If you would like to download the above template as a printable or editable XLSX, simply click on the image below. Then you can flexibly edit or print the template.
Click image to open ⬇️
Idea or Topic 2: Culture of Failure
Now let's move on to an idea or topic that takes a slightly more creative approach to the one-on-one conversation.
Psychological safety is a key prerequisite for successful teams. And to improve this, a healthy error culture is very important. The following idea uses a picture to help you reflect on the topic of "making mistakes" as a supervisor with your staff. Of course, it is best if you combine the picture with the questions.
As you can see, you can also use this template interactively in the 1:1 meeting software Echometer.
1:1 Meeting idea: 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?
Idea or Topic 3: Communication & Speech Distribution
The following topic or idea is probably particularly interesting for introverted employees.
The procedure is relatively simple: you can use the graphic to underline what the distribution of speech looks like in healthy, successful teams. As the manager, you then reflect together with your employee on the role he or she plays in this.
1:1 meeting idea: 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?
Idea or Topic 4: Learning from the best
Sometimes we find it difficult to even come up with ideas on how we can develop further. This idea can help with your one-on-one meeting.
So-called "model learning" is one of the most primal types of learning in Homo sapiens: You copy behaviors from your direct conspecifics.
And at best, you do this with the most competent peers possible. The following exercise attempts to create precisely this effect by reflecting on your employee's peer group. Perhaps a talented employee should try out a different team or project?
1:1 meeting idea: learning 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.
Idea or Topic 5: Conflict Ability
The following topic or idea is not suitable for every one-on-one conversation. However, it can be all the more powerful at the right moment: Namely, when you are in the middle of or shortly after a conflict.
The idea here is that you reflect on the conflict behavior of your Direct Report based on the conflict diagram shown below. In my experience, this scheme in particular makes it easier to talk about the topic constructively.
1:1 meeting idea: types of conflict
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?
Ideas 6 and 7: Health checks as a survey
In addition to the ideas and topics above, there are of course other aspects that you can reflect on in your appraisal interview.
Having spoken to around 100 managers over the last few months, I have noticed a pattern.
Many supervisors occasionally incorporate small surveys into their one-on-one meetings. This means that they simply go through a few questions in a relaxed manner and ask their staff a) whether he or she agrees with a statement (for example from 1 to 7) and then b) why he or she answered in this way.
They expect the following from these micro-surveys in 1:1s:
- More variety and engagement in 1-to-1 conversations
- Taking on new perspectives
- Measurability of (soft) KPIs such as satisfaction over time
And of course you can also use this idea for your one-on-one meeting. I have put together five statements for you here that focus on reflecting on important preconditions for every successful employee.
You can also download this template as a doc, but even better is the following: In our one-on-one meeting software, we have an integrated tool that visualizes the results over time as a metric and gives you tips with an AI assistant – feel free to take a look without logging in using the button below.
⁉️ Mood check (agreement from 1-7): Personal development
- "My work tasks usually progress very quickly, even if external feedback is necessary."
- "If I observe suboptimal behavior, I know how I can constructively draw my colleagues' attention to it."
- "I receive constructive Feedback both to my work and to my personal development."
- "I see an attractive career path ahead of me in the company." #Growth
- "In the last few weeks, I have often been able to use my Strengths at work."
This is what this survey looks like in Echometer:
Download template as printable PDF
Preview: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Word document
Preview: One-to-One Meeting Microsoft Word Template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs one-to-one meeting template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Sheets
Preview: Google Sheets one-to-one meeting template
If you would like a template for weekly check-ins as an editable Google Sheet, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly and print it out, for example.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Excel or XLXS
Preview: Excel or XLSX template
If you would like to download the above template as a printable or editable XLSX, simply click on the image below. Then you can flexibly edit or print the template.
Click image to open ⬇️
As you can see, the statements address key preconditions of staff that feels happy.
Another prerequisite for healthy, productive employees is, of course, a good manager. Yes, I'm talking about you here.
And of course there are also statements that you can take with you as an idea for your one-to-one meeting. Specifically, here are 4 behavioral anchors that you could reflect on in a monthly or quarterly one-on-one meeting with your employee.
⁉️ Mood check (agreement from 1-7): Leadership quality
- "I'm really happy with my team leader." #JobSatisfaction
- "My team leader regularly zooms out to see the higher-level Team goalsexplain the strategy and the vision."
- "My team leader questions things in a constructive way." #Feedback #Leadership
- "My team leader sets an example of what he expects from us as a team." #Leadership
This is what this survey looks like in Echometer:
Download template as printable PDF
Preview: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Word document
Preview: One-to-One Meeting Microsoft Word Template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs one-to-one meeting template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Google Sheets
Preview: Google Sheets one-to-one meeting template
If you would like a template for weekly check-ins as an editable Google Sheet, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly and print it out, for example.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Click image to open ⬇️
Download template as Excel or XLXS
Preview: Excel or XLSX template
If you would like to download the above template as a printable or editable XLSX, simply click on the image below. Then you can flexibly edit or print the template.
Click image to open ⬇️
And, can you hardly wait to ask these questions in your one-on-one meeting? Very good, I'm glad.
If you would like more creative input and ideas, I can recommend our corresponding article: 129 Good One-on-One Meeting Questions (by a Psychologist).
15 more ideas and templates for One-on-One meetings (as Doc, PDF etc.)
You've probably already guessed it. Of course, there are many more ideas for one-on-one meetings that you can use sooner or later.
For example, I talk about templates for your one-on-one meeting about salary, your conversation with a difficult employee or with a completely new employee.
We have additional templates for all of these use cases, which you can find in this article: 15 Free Proven One-on-one Meeting Templates to Edit & Print
Conclusion: The best ideas and topics for 1-to-1 meetings
One-on-one meetings should never be boring – then something is wrong. At the same time, you shouldn't artificially prolong them. If you have a good plan and good ideas for your one-on-one meetings, then it should never get that far.
But there is one piece of wisdom you must not forget: There are countless ideas you can try out – but the most important thing is that you tailor the conversation to your employee.
Our AI meeting assistant for one-on-one meetings can also help you with this. If you want to find out more about it, take a look at our website: The best 1-on-1 meeting software.
“During my 1:1s, it is way too hard to take notes while being focused on the employee.”
"Yes, 1:1 meetings with my employees should be my most important meeting – but I need more guidance for that."
