Nobody goes to the gym and trains haphazardly here and there – at least not if they want to see progress. Why should it be any different with one-on-one meetings?
A sample agenda ensures that all important areas are trained, so there is room for both professional and personal matters. In this way, your one-on-one meetings become a structured fitness training plan over time.
Whether in a face-to-face, digital or virtual one-on-one meeting, 1-to-1 meetings provide space for feedback and therefore personal development, which is essential in today's working world. And in this article, I'll give you a concrete sample agenda with helpful questions that you can use in your weekly, bi-weekly or monthly one-on-one meetings to have good conversations with your direct reports.
First of all: If you're still unsure about what good one-on-one meetings with employees look like, take a look at our guide: The guide with 6 tips for successful one-on-one meetings.
By the way, I have now also made a YouTube video in which I present the results of my little research: I asked 100 managers in qualitative interviews why they actually hold one-to-one meetings. If you are interested in the goals of one-to-one meetings, take a look:
How do you conduct a one-on-one meeting? 7 tips & questions
Before I jump straight into the sample agenda, I would like to answer the question of how to conduct a one-on-one meeting as a boss or supervisor.
Some aspects of this are relatively obvious, so I'll focus on seven tips that may be less intuitive, but are all the more effective.
Tip 1: Ask for the opposite of what you want to know
💡 Why? If you ask: "What can we improve?", you will get standard answers. But if you ask the opposite, it activates new thought patterns.
🛠 How to implement?
- Instead of "How are you doing with the project?" → "If it was suddenly gone, what would you miss?"
- Instead of "What can I do better as a manager?" → "What should I definitely keep because it works well?"
- Instead of "What's your biggest blocker?" → "What's the smoothest thing going for you right now?"
This reversal often brings deeper, more thoughtful answers.
Tip 2: Wait with the important questions – Let silence work first
💡 Why? Many start the 1:1 with the big issues. But if you come straight in with "How's it going?" or "Do you have any challenges?", the answers are often generic ("Everything fits"). Instead: start relaxed, wait and allow silence. The really relevant points will often come naturally.
🛠 How to implement?
- Don't ask any big questions at first. Start casually ("How was your morning?") and give them space.
- Consciously endure silence. People tend to fill gaps – often with what is really bothering them.
Tip 3: Change the environment – the room influences the conversation
💡 Why? The atmosphere influences what and how people speak. A conversation in the office feels different to a walk or a café meeting.
🛠 How to implement?
- Try out other places: walks help you to speak more casually. A café can seem more informal.
- Virtual meetings? Test different settings, e.g. sometimes audio only, sometimes video – depending on the topic and person.
Tip 4: Avoid "Why?" questions – use "How?" or "What?" instead
"Why?" can sound defensive ("Why did you do it like that?" → feels like criticism). "How?" or "What?" allow for more reflection.
🛠 How to implement?
- Instead of "Why didn't you reach the goal?" → "What prevented you from doing so?"
- Instead of "Why are you doing this?" → "How did you come to this decision?"
The sound makes the difference.
Tip 5: Don't make it a survey – but reveal something yourself
💡 Why? Many 1:1s seem like interviews: "How's it going? What do you need? What are your challenges?" But people are more likely to open up when they realize it's an exchange.
🛠 How to implement?
- Share a small challenge or realization of your own before asking, "Do you know this too?"
- Example: "I've noticed recently that I get lost in details too much. Do you sometimes do that too?"
- This creates trust and opens the door for honest discussions.
Tip 6: Don't just look back, but also look at "future problems"
Why? 1:1s often revolve around past problems ("What went well? What was difficult?"). But even more valuable are conversations about future hurdles before they arise.
🛠 How to implement?
- Question: "Assuming the next quarter goes perfectly – what was the key to this?"
- Or: "What could stop you from being productive in the next few weeks?"
This results in proactive solutions instead of just reacting to past problems.
Tip 7: Stop offering solutions directly – Instead, ask: "What have you already tried?"
💡 Why? It's tempting to give tips directly. However, your staff often already has ideas – they just need reflection.
🛠 How to implement?
- Instead of "You could try X!" → "What have you already tried to solve the problem?"
As a result, employees feel that they are taken seriously and develop their own solutions.
If you would like 5 more tips and the perfect agenda including download: My latest YouTube video is all about this, including 7 creative 1:1 meeting questions. Feel free to take a look.
If you take these tips into account, conducting your one-on-one meeting will most likely be much easier and more productive. Because if your only goal with the one-on-one meeting sample agenda is that your staff doesn't resign, then you have the wrong attitude and your meeting is doomed to fail – see comic.
The best (simple) Sample Agenda for a One-on-One meeting
The fact that you clicked on this article tells me that you are looking for a simple sample agenda for one-on-one meetings with your employees.
That's why you'll first find a simple, tried-and-tested doc template here, which should be a good accompaniment to a classic bi-weekly appraisal interview, for example.
Important: This is a simple standard agenda – but the "best" 1-to-1 meeting agenda is always the agenda that you as a supervisor have customized for your staff. My 7 tips above should help you with this.
You can save the template as a Doc under the actual template, but alternatively also as a PDF, Excel, Google Sheet 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 ⬇️
As you can see, the main aim of this one-on-one sample agenda is to zoom out. This is often very difficult in everyday life, which is why a dedicated block of time is necessary.
By the way, don't be fooled by the sample agenda: Basically, your goal should be for your intrinsically motivated employee to bring as many topics as possible to the table themselves.
"I like this employee, but he's underperforming. How can I address this in 1:1s?"
"I often don't know whether I was too hard – or too soft – in my 1:1s to make a positive impact."
"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."
15 Clever questions to enrich your 1-on-1 sample agenda
In addition to this agenda, there are of course other aspects that you can reflect on in your appraisal interview.
This is why individual questions that stimulate new perspectives are very helpful in one-on-one meetings. I would like to give you a few examples of such questions here.
✅ General One-on-One Staff Meeting Questions to ask
- How are you (really) doing right now?
- On a scale of one (very bad) to ten (very good), how are you feeling right now?
- How focused are you at the moment on a scale of 1 to 10? And why?
- What's going through your head right now?
- What is slowing you down in your work at the moment?
- What's going well for you right now?
- What's not going so well at the moment?
🧑🎨 Creative One-on-One Staff Meeting Questions to ask
- If you had to characterize your mood as a weather report with regard to the project, your job in general and your tasks, what would it look like?
- How often do you feel overwhelmed or stressed at work? In which situations?
- What does a good break look like for you (fresh air, screens...)?
- What are you doing right now that isn't actually getting you anywhere?
- You get a magic wand and have one wish related to work: What would you wish for (excluding a higher salary)?
- What do you currently need to improve?
- What was your biggest challenge yesterday (or last week etc.)?
17 One-on-One meeting questions for the bird's eye view
One of the most important goals of one-on-one meetings is, as mentioned, to zoom out regularly. For this reason, questions that embed the day-to-day work in a larger context are helpful.
I have also brought 17 questions for you as a manager that should enrich your one-on-one conversation.
🧘♀️ One-to-one questions with a focus on positives
- If you could add one responsibility or decision-making power to your role, what would it be?
- Which skill would have the greatest impact on your personal performance if you mastered it?
- What new things have you learned recently (privately or professionally)?
- When was the last time you helped another team member to develop?
- What are the 3 best things you want for yourself professionally in the next 1-2 years?
- When was the last time you experienced a state of flow at work? How easy is it for you to get into flow?
- What would you call the informal role you play in the team and why? (e.g. "Head of Happiness")
- What is currently inspiring you? What currently gives you energy?
🦋 One-to-one questions about improvements
- If you were the CEO of this organization, what would you do differently?
- What are things that drain your energy?
- What are you currently missing in your job?
- If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
- When did you find it difficult to change the context between tasks?
- When was the last time you contributed to a process improvement in our team?
- If you could delegate one of your responsibilities to someone else, what would it be?
- What things slow you down or regularly block your work?
- What question would you ask yourself if you were your coach?
2 Interactive Sample Agendas for One-on-One meetings (PDF)
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, this idea can also be part of your one-on-one sample agenda. I have put together five statements for you here that focus on reflecting important preconditions for every successful employee.
You can also download this agenda 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 for this that you can make part of your one-on-one conversation sample agenda. Specifically, here are 4 behavioral anchors to reflect on, which you can also have answered interactively free of charge in the Echometer one-on-one software and make measurable.
⁉️ 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, I can recommend our corresponding article: 129 Good One-on-One Meeting Questions (by a Psychologist).
15 further Sample Agendas for One-on-One meetings (as Doc, PDF etc.)
You've probably already guessed it. Of course, there are many more sample agendas for one-on-one meetings that you can use sooner or later.
For example, I talk about sample agendas for your one-on-one meeting on salary, your conversation with difficult staff 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 Sample Agenda for One-on-One meetings
As stated above, the "best" one-on-one meeting agenda is always individually tailored to your staff.
However, the knowledge in this article should help you to do just that.
Our AI meeting assistant for one-on-one meetings can also help you with this. If you'd like to find out more, take a look at our website: The best 1-on-1 meeting software.
Most Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters run in circles...
...fixing superficial symptoms. Time to use psychology to foster sustainable mindset change.
