In a small team, the founder often thinks 1:1s are unnecessary. "We talk all day. I sit next to them on chat. Why do we need a meeting?"
Because you talk about work all day, and almost never about the person doing it. The developer who's quietly bored, the designer who's taken on too much, the account manager who's been interviewing elsewhere for a month: none of that comes up in a project channel. It comes up in a private, regular half hour where it's safe to say.
The rule that makes 1:1s work
A 1:1 is the employee's meeting, not yours. They bring the topics. You listen, unblock, and follow through.
The most common way 1:1s go wrong is that the manager uses them to get a status update. Thirty minutes of "where are we on Northfield?" and nothing about the person. If you need status, get it from a daily written update (here's how) and keep the 1:1 for everything that doesn't fit there.
A 30-minute template
1:1 — [Name] and [Manager] — [Date]
Their topics (5–15 min)
-
-
Workload and blockers (5 min)
- What's taking more time than it should?
- Anything you're waiting on from me?
Feedback (5 min)
- One thing that went well since last time:
- One thing to do differently:
- Anything I should do differently?
Growth (monthly, 5–10 min)
-
Actions
| Action | Owner | By |
|---|---|---|
| | | |
Actions from last time: done / not done
Keep it in a shared document both of you can edit, and ask them to add their topics the day before. Start every 1:1 by reviewing last time's actions. Nothing builds trust faster than a manager who does what they said they would; nothing kills it faster than one who doesn't.
25 questions, by what you want to find out
Don't use all of these. Pick two or three that fit, and rotate.
Open the conversation
- What's on your mind this week?
- What's the most annoying part of your work right now?
- What would you like to spend more time on, and less?
- Is there anything you've been meaning to bring up?
Workload and blockers
- What's taking longer than it should?
- Is there anything you're waiting on that's holding you up?
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how manageable was your workload this fortnight?
- Which project or client is taking the most energy?
- If you could drop one recurring task, what would it be?
Team and working together
- Who's been helpful to you recently?
- Is there anyone you find hard to work with?
- Do you feel you have enough say in how your work is done?
- Are there meetings you'd cancel if you could?
Feedback for them
- What are you proudest of from the last month?
- What do you think you could have done better on [specific project]?
- Is there feedback you've been wanting from me that you haven't had?
Feedback for you
- What's one thing I could do to make your job easier?
- Is there anything I do that gets in your way?
- Do you get the information you need from me, when you need it?
Growth and career (monthly or quarterly)
- What would you like to be doing a year from now?
- What skill would make the biggest difference to your work?
- Is there a project coming up you'd like to be on?
- What would make this a job you'd want to stay in for years?
Warning signs
- How are you feeling about work generally, honestly?
- Is there anything that's made you think about leaving?
Question 25 sounds blunt. Asked calmly, in a relationship where it's safe to answer, it's the question that tells you about a problem while you can still fix it.
Bring evidence, not impressions
1:1s are better when both of you can see what's actually happened since the last one: the work that shipped, anything flagged as blocked, how planned work compared with what got done. It's the difference between "you seem a bit overloaded" and "you've flagged the Halden API as blocked four days this week; let's sort it".
If your team does daily check-ins, skim the last two weeks for that person before the 1:1. Look for repeated blockers, plans that keep slipping, and anything they mentioned once and then stopped mentioning.
In Suprwork, 1:1s have a shared agenda with topics suggested from that person's check-ins and growth plan, private notes for the manager, and action items that carry over until they're done. It doesn't book the meeting in your calendar or take notes for you, so you still schedule it and write things down yourself.
Five ways 1:1s go wrong
Cancelling them. The first time you cancel a 1:1 for a client call, you've told the person where they rank. Move them if you must; don't drop them.
Making them status meetings. Covered above. If you're asking about task progress, stop and ask about the person.
Talking more than listening. Aim for them talking two thirds of the time.
Forgetting the actions. Write them down with an owner and a date. Review them first thing next time.
Only raising problems. If every 1:1 is a list of things they did wrong, they'll start dreading them. Name what went well, specifically, every time.
How often, and how long
| Team setup | Frequency | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Founder managing everyone, up to 6 people | Every two weeks | 30 min |
| Team leads with 3–6 reports each | Weekly | 30 min |
| New joiner, first 90 days | Weekly | 30 min |
| Senior, long-tenured person | Every two weeks | 30–45 min |
For a founder with eight direct reports, fortnightly 30-minute 1:1s are four hours a month. That's the cheapest early-warning system you'll ever have.
A filled-in example
Here's what a good 1:1 record looks like after the meeting, for a developer two months into the job:
1:1 — Jonas and Sara — 14 Oct
Jonas's topics
- Wants to get off support rota for two weeks to finish the Halden migration
- Unsure who signs off on database changes
Workload and blockers
- Halden migration taking longer: waiting on client's old DB dump (asked twice)
- Workload: 4 out of 5
Feedback
- Went well: caught the payment bug before it reached the client
- Do differently: flag client delays to the account lead on day one, not day four
- For Sara: would like decisions on tech choices within a day, not a week
Actions
| Action | Owner | By |
| Take Jonas off support rota until 28 Oct | Sara | 15 Oct |
| Chase Halden for DB dump via account lead | Sara | 15 Oct |
| Write up who approves DB changes in the SOP | Jonas | 21 Oct |
Last time's actions: access to staging (done), pair with Priya on QA (done)
Notice that the manager took feedback too, and has two of the three actions. A 1:1 where all the actions land on the employee is a performance review in disguise.
Connecting 1:1s to reviews
If you keep notes and actions from every 1:1, your performance reviews mostly write themselves. You'll have a record of what went well, what was discussed, what was agreed and whether it happened, instead of trying to remember six months of work the week before the review.
This week
Book a 30-minute fortnightly 1:1 with each person who reports to you. Send them the template and ask them to add their own topics the day before. In the first one, ask only three questions: what's on your mind, what's the most annoying part of your work, and what could I do to make your job easier. Then write down what you'll do about it, and do it before the next one.