If your 1:1s feel like a weekly chat with no edgeyou’re burning time and missing problems until they explode. Run them properly and they become your simplest lever for performanceretention and culture. If you want the broader leadership contextcross-reference People & Culture: The Business Leadership Playbook and then come back here for the operating detail.
In this articlewe’re going to discuss how to:
- Set a cadence and structure that people trust
- Use an agenda and question bank that drives growthnot gossip
- Track simple signals so your one to one meetings produce real outcomes
Define One To One Meetings In Practical Terms
One to one meetings are a recurringdocumented conversation between a manager and a team member that produces clear actions: decisions madeobstacles removedcapability built and expectations reset. If you can’t point to what changed because of the last 1:1it wasn’t managementit was a chat.
A practical framing that works in small teams and scale-ups:
- It’s a coaching and execution meeting: Not a status update.
- It’s employee-ledmanager-owned: They bring the agendayou protect the standard.
- It’s documented: Notesactionsdatesowners.
- It’s a system: Cadenceagendaquestions and follow-through.
Sense-check your current setup. If any of these are trueyou’ve got work to do:
- More than 30% of 1:1s get cancelled or moved.
- You spend most of the time on task updates that could be in a doc.
- Performance issues ‘surprise’ you in reviews.
- The employee can’t tell you what ‘better’ looks like this month.
Start With Cadence: The Minimum Viable Rhythm
Cadence is your first decision because it sets behavioural expectations. Inconsistent 1:1s create inconsistent standards. People stop bringing real issues and start saving them for ‘the next time’which never comes.
Use this simple rule:
- New starters and new managers: Weekly for 30 mins for the first 8 weeks.
- Most roles: Fortnightly for 45 mins.
- High autonomysenior roles: Fortnightly or monthly for 60 minswith weekly async check-ins.
Two operational guardrails that protect time and quality:
- Never cancelonly shorten: If it’s a busy weekdo 15 mins. Keep the habit.
- Same daysame time: Reduce calendar thrash. Predictability beats novelty.
Completion check for you: look at the last 6 weeks. If you held fewer than 5 out of 6 planned meetings with each direct reportyour cadence isn’t real.
Build A Simple Agenda That Produces Outcomes
Your agenda needs to do three things: surface friction earlybuild skill deliberately and set expectations clearly. If it doesn’t do all threeyou’ll feel busy while standards slip.
The 45-Minute Agenda That Works In Real Companies
Use this structure for most one to one meetings. It’s boringwhich is exactly why it works.
- 5 minsCheck-in: Energyworkloadanything urgent.
- 15 minsProgress and priorities: What movedwhat didn’twhat’s next.
- 15 minsBlockers and decisions: Risksdependenciestrade-offsyour calls.
- 10 minsGrowth and feedback: One skill to buildone behaviour to adjust.
Keep it tight. If you need more time on a projectschedule a separate working session. Don’t let the 1:1 become a project meeting by accident.
Make It Employee-Led Without Losing Standards
Here’s the deal: employees should bring the agendayou bring the bar. Tell them what ‘good’ looks like and hold it.
Offer template you can copy: ‘Bring a 3-point agenda to our 1:1: Your top priorityyour biggest blocker and one thing you want to get better at. I’ll bring feedbackdecisions and support.’
Then enforce it. If they show up unprepared twicedon’t lecture. Re-set the expectation and give them a structure. Most people want to do wellthey just need the operating system.
Gather Signals In A Few Hours: Internal FirstThen Public
You don’t need a survey platform to run better one to one meetings. You need basic signals that tell you whether the rhythm is working.
In 2 to 3 hourspull this internal data:
- Calendar reality: Attendance ratecancellationsaverage meeting length.
- Action follow-through: % of 1:1 actions completed by the next meeting.
- Workload pressure: Overtime patternsweekend messagesmissed deadlines.
- People risk: Unplanned absencechurn risk flagsexit interview themes.
- Performance variance: Who’s consistently missing standards and where.
Then do a quick public scanespecially if you’re hiring or scaling:
- Role benchmarks: Typical ramp times and KPIs for the role in your sector.
- Competitor sentiment: Glassdoor patternscommon complaintscommon praise.
- Market pay ranges: Not to match thembut to understand pressure points.
Why bother? Because your 1:1s should respond to reality. If cancellations are up and action completion is downit’s not a ‘communication problem’. It’s an operating problem.
Questions That Drive GrowthNot Therapy
Most managers either ask fluffy questions or go full interrogation. Neither builds performance. You want questions that produce claritydecisions and skill.
Use this rotation. Pick 2 to 3 questions per meetingdon’t machine-gun them.
- Clarity: ‘What does success look like by next Friday?’
- Priority: ‘If you could only ship one thing this weekwhat is it and why?’
- Blocker: ‘What’s slowing you down that you haven’t said out loud yet?’
- Decision: ‘What decision are you waiting on me for?’
- Learning: ‘What did you trywhat happenedwhat will you change next time?’
- Standards: ‘Where did we accept ‘good enough’ that we shouldn’t?’
- Feedback: ‘What should I do more ofless of or start doing?’
One rule: always anchor to evidence. If someone says ‘I’m overwhelmed’follow up with ‘Talk me through your last 5 working dayswhere did the time go?’ You’re not being harshyou’re being useful.
Turn Notes Into Action: The 3 Artefacts You Need
Without artefactsone to one meetings fade into memory and everyone tells a different story later. Keep it lightweight and consistent.
Artefact 1: A Shared 1:1 Doc
Use a simple shared document with the same headings every time:
- Wins since last time
- Top priority until next time
- Blockers and decisions needed
- Growth focus
- Actionsownersdue dates
Completion check: at the end of the meetingthere should be 1 to 3 actions written downeach with an owner and date. If there are zero actionsask why you met.
Artefact 2: A Simple Scorecard (Not A Formal Review)
This isn’t HR theatre. It’s a weekly or fortnightly reality check. Pick 3 to 5 role outcomes and score them RedAmberGreen.
Example for a customer success manager:
- Renewal risk managed: Green if no unmanaged red accounts.
- Usage engagement: Green if top 20 accounts have weekly touchpoints.
- Customer feedback loop: Green if 2 product insights shared per week.
Discuss movementnot blame. The point is to spot drift early.
Artefact 3: A Decision Log For Repeat Issues
When the same problem shows up three timesit’s not a person issueit’s a system issue. Start a small decision log:
- Problem: What keeps happening?
- Decision: What are we changing?
- Date: When will we review if it worked?
Validation In 7 To 14 Days: Small Tests That Prove It Works
If your current 1:1s are messydon’t roll out a massive programme. Run a short pilotmeasure it and keep what works.
Here’s a validation path you can run this fortnight:
- Pick 3 people: One high performerone steadyone struggling.
- Use one agenda: Same structure for all three for 2 cycles.
- Track 2 metrics: Action completion rate and ‘blocker time to resolution’.
- Do a 5-minute retro: Ask what to keepstopstart.
What good looks like quickly:
- Action completion rate: 70%+ by the next meeting.
- Fewer repeat blockers: Same issue should not appear unchanged in 2 consecutive meetings.
If you can’t move those two metrics in 14 daysyour agenda is too vagueyour actions are too big or you’re not making decisions.
Pricing And Unit Economics: The Real Cost Of A Bad 1:1
Even if you don’t ‘sell’ meetingsyou still pay for them. The currency is timefocus and opportunity.
Do this quick calc for a 45-minute 1:1:
- Manager cost: £70k salary roughly equals £35 per hour loaded cost if you include employer costs and overheads. 45 mins is about £26.
- Employee cost: £50k salary roughly equals £25 per hour loaded cost. 45 mins is about £19.
- Total meeting cost: About £45 per 1:1before prep time.
Now multiply it. If you have 6 direct reports fortnightlythat’s 12 meetings per month. You’re spending roughly £540 a month in meeting timeplus context switching.
So you need a return. The simplest ROI is avoided churn and faster execution. If one decent 1:1 prevents one resignation a yearyou’ve saved recruitment feeslost productivity and management time. Even in a small businessthat’s often £5k to £15k of real cash and a lot of headache.
The point: treat one to one meetings like an operational investment. If you wouldn’t spend £540 a month on a tool that produces nothingdon’t accept meetings that produce nothing.
Operational Guardrails That Protect Margin And Time
Good 1:1s don’t happen because you care. They happen because you set guardrails and follow them.
These protect time and keep standards high:
- Async updates first: Ask for a 5-line update in the shared doc 24 hours before. Use the meeting for decisions and coaching.
- Timebox problem-solving: If a blocker needs deeper workbook a separate 30-minute working session.
- Escalation rules: If something blocks delivery by more than 48 hoursit gets raised immediatelynot saved for the 1:1.
- One growth focus per month: Don’t ‘develop’ 10 things. Pick onepractise itreview it.
- Behaviour expectations in writing: ‘What great looks like’ for the role should be clear and referenced in 1:1s.
Guardrails are how you scale without turning into a firefighter.
Mini Examples: What Good Looks Like In Different Roles
These are shortreal-world patterns you can copy.
Example 1: SDR In A B2B SaaS Team (Manchester)
The manager moved status into an async doc and used 1:1s for call review and objection handling. In 2 weeksactivity stayed flat but meetings booked rose from 6 to 9 per week because talk tracks improved. Actions were specific: ‘Practise the pricing pushback script 10 timesrecord 2 callsreview on Friday.’
Example 2: Shift Supervisor In A Warehouse (Leicester)
The 1:1 agenda focused on safety incidentsstaffing gaps and process bottlenecks. They introduced a decision log for repeat issues like late pick lists. Within 14 daysrepeat issues dropped because decisions were recorded and followed upnot re-litigated.
Example 3: Designer In A Small Agency (Bristol)
The manager used a simple RAG scorecard for qualityspeed and client comms. The ‘growth focus’ was presenting work with rationalenot just visuals. Client revision rounds reduced from 4 to 2 on one key accountsaving billable time and reducing stress.
Example 4: Ops Manager In A Multi-Site Service Business (Glasgow)
They set an escalation rule: any supplier issue causing a 24-hour delay was flagged same day. The 1:1s became about root causes and prevention. Margin improved because last-minute fixes stopped eating labour hours.
Common Risks And How To Hedge Them
One to one meetings go wrong in predictable ways. You can avoid most of it with a few habits.
- Risk: The 1:1 becomes a complaint session. Hedge: Move from feelings to factsthen to actions. ‘What happenedwhat’s the impactwhat do we do next?’
- Risk: You avoid hard feedback. Hedge: Put feedback on the agenda every timeeven if it’s small. ‘One thing to keep doingone thing to tighten up.’
- Risk: The employee stays passive. Hedge: Require the 3-point agenda and send it back if it’s vague. Teach them what a good agenda looks like.
- Risk: You over-index on personal stuff. Hedge: Be humanbut anchor to work outcomes. You’re there to help them perform and grownot to be their therapist.
- Risk: You make promises you can’t keep. Hedge: Only commit to actions you can deliver. If you can’t decide todaywrite ‘Decision by Tuesday 12:00’ and follow through.
A Do And Don’t Checklist You Can Use This Week
This is the tight version. Print itstick it near your screen.
- Do: Keep the cadence sacredshorten not cancel.
- Do: Use a shared doc and leave with 1 to 3 actions.
- Do: Ask questions that lead to decisions and skill-building.
- Do: Track action completion rate and repeat blockers.
- Don’t: Let it become a status meeting.
- Don’t: Save feedback for quarterly reviews.
- Don’t: Allow the same unresolved issue to show up three times.
- Don’t: Wing it. If you ‘see how it goes’it will go nowhere.
Download The Management Cadence Playbook And Make This A System
If you want these one to one meetings to stickyou need a wider rhythm that supports them: weekly prioritiesmonthly performance checks and quarterly planning. Download the Management Cadence Playbook: WeeklyMonthly & Quarterly Rituals and plug your 1:1s into a cadence your team can rely on.
Key Takeaways
- Run 1:1s on a fixed cadence with a simple agendathen document actions so growth becomes visible.
- Validate fast by piloting for 7 to 14 daystracking action completion rate and repeat blockersthen tighten what’s vague.
- Protect margin and time with guardrails like async updatestimeboxing and decision logsso meetings don’t turn into expensive chats.
FAQ For One To One Meetings
How often should one to one meetings happen?
Weekly for new starters or when performance is wobblingthen fortnightly for most roles once things stabilise. Monthly can work for seniorautonomous roles if you keep a light weekly async check-in.
What should I do if an employee has nothing to talk about in a 1:1?
That’s a signal your expectations aren’t clear or they don’t feel safe raising issues. Give them the 3-point agenda template and ask them to add it to the shared doc 24 hours beforethen coach them on making it specific.
How do I stop 1:1s turning into status updates?
Move updates into an async written format and use the meeting for decisionsblockers and growth. If you catch yourself reviewing task listspause and ask ‘What decision do we need to make right now?’
What are good 1:1 questions for performance and growth?
Use questions that force clarity and actionlike ‘What does success look like by next Friday?’ and ‘What decision are you waiting on me for?’ Rotate 2 to 3 questions each meeting so it stays focused and doesn’t feel scripted.
Should I take notes in one to one meetings?
Yesand they should be sharedsimple and action-led. If it isn’t written down with an owner and dateit usually won’t happen.
How do I handle sensitive personal issues in a 1:1?
Listen properlybe human and clarify what support you can offerbut don’t try to play therapist. Agree immediate next stepsdocument only what’s appropriate and involve HR or professional support when needed.
What’s a good metric to tell if my 1:1s are working?
Start with action completion rate by the next meeting and how often blockers repeat unchanged. If actions don’t get done and the same issues keep returningthe meeting isn’t producing outcomes.
