Meetings with direct reports are a great way to make sure that teams and organizations are on the same page. You and your employees are busy, so it’s important to make the most of this time and ask the right questions.
The purpose of the 1:1 is to gauge how an employee is doing professionally, personally, and even emotionally. You can also discuss potential challenges, levels of motivation, and growth opportunities for the individual. Ideally, you would gauge your employee’s position, offer support, and get clear on what the employee needs for success.
A 1:1 may be your only opportunity to get direct feedback about an employee’s experience, wellness, or challenges. Asking the right questions can keep your team members engaged and motivated. Here are 25 questions you can ask to cover some basic areas:
Personal check-in
1. How are you doing?
2. How is your family/partner/life outside of work?
3. Is there anything new or changes in your personal life?
Core topics
4. What is the most important topic we need to cover today?
5. Are there any challenges that you are facing right now?
6. How are you feeling today about your job and position?
Motivation
7. What makes you motivated to come to work?
8. What is most satisfying to you about your job? Most frustrating?
9. Are there any skills or professional opportunities you are interested in?
10. What are you looking forward to in your role?
Improvement
11. What are the biggest time wasters or energy drainers for you?
12. What improvements would you like to see on the team?
13. Are you getting enough feedback and is there any feedback you feel is missing?
14. Are you facing any challenges that aren’t visible to me or others on the team?
Relationship development
15. Is there anything I can help you with right now?
16. Do you have any questions I haven’t answered?
17. Is there anything that you need clarified or would like more information about?
Next steps
18. What is your top priority right now?
19. What steps can you take to make progress on what we’ve talked about?
20. Is there anything I can do to support you in these next steps?
Remember that a valuable 1:1 starts with an underlying desire to understand your employees better. Creating an open environment where there can be authentic sharing will help you make the most of this time and get the feedback you need to support individual employees and bolster your team’s overall productivity.
