What Is a 1-on-1 Meeting?
A 1-on-1 meeting is a scheduled, recurring conversation between a manager and a direct report — typically 30 to 60 minutes — dedicated to the employee's priorities, blockers, and career growth. Unlike team standups or project syncs, it belongs to the employee: they set the agenda, surface concerns, and drive the conversation.
Done well, these meetings are the single highest-leverage management activity available. According to Gallup research, employees who have regular 1-on-1s with their manager are almost three times as likely to be engaged as those who don't. The problem: nearly 50% of direct reports rate their 1-on-1 experience as suboptimal, according to a global survey by Steven G. Rogelberg, Chancellor's Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.
That gap between potential and reality is exactly what the Blocker-First Coaching Sprint addresses.
Important Lessons for Making 1-on-1 Meetings Great
If you send task updates in a shared file or chat before the meeting, you can use your face-to-face time to actually solve tough issues. This changes the talk from "what happened" to "how we succeed," which makes the team faster and better over time.
If you only talk 20% of the time, it forces the person you are meeting with to take charge of the talk and their own work. This helps them become independent thinkers who feel respected and heard, so they don't need you to check on them all the time.
Setting aside the last 15 minutes of every meeting for career development makes sure long-term progress isn't forgotten because of short-term deadlines. This builds a culture where people always try to get better and keeps your best workers from looking for new jobs.
Rethinking the 1-on-1 Meeting
Most managers use 1-on-1s as a "Status Update Social Hour," going over checklists and small talk. Speed is a competitive advantage, and these meetings drain it. If you use this time to talk about work that is already written down in a project tool, you are checking up on things, not leading.
"The best one-on-ones are not status reports. They are the place where a manager can have an outsized impact on someone's career, their day-to-day happiness, and ultimately their decision to stay or leave." — Steven G. Rogelberg, Chancellor's Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings
This habit drains a team's energy. Employees feel like they are being watched too closely because they have to say out loud what they could have emailed, and managers waste time just collecting facts. When 1-on-1s stay on the surface, people stop growing professionally, and the quiet worries that lead to burnout are missed.
The fix is the Blocker-First Coaching Sprint. Shifting the question from "What did you do?" to "What is stopping you?" turns these meetings into a real tool. That switch converts a slow review into a fast way to remove problems, build skills, and prove you are a leader who gets things done.
How to Run Your 1-on-1 Meeting
As someone who manages Technical Products, I see 1-on-1 meetings as a "service" where the manager is the provider and the team member is the customer. To give the best service, you need to choose how much support you can offer. The chart below compares three ways to run the meeting so you can pick the one that fits your goals as a leader right now.
The Basic Level
When to Use:
If you are new to managing people or handle many employees and only have time for quick check-ins.
What You Do
- Focus on Status
- Set a regular meeting time.
- Talk mainly about "What are you working on?"
- Get verbal updates on tasks.
- Fix problems that are happening right now.
The Benefit:
Basic Check-in: Makes sure work is moving forward. It stops projects from getting stuck and keeps you aware of daily tasks without checking up constantly.
The Standard Level
When to Use:
If you want to build a team that performs well and you want to keep your best people from leaving.
What You Do
- Focus on Growth
- Use a shared document for the meeting topics (you work on it together).
- Listen 70% of the time, talk 30%.
- Regularly discuss goals for their career.
- Write down things to follow up on.
The Benefit:
Building Trust: Changes the focus from just tasks to the person. Research from Harvard Business Review found that the direct report should ideally speak between 50 and 90% of the meeting — not the manager. This reduces quitting and creates a reliable way for them to give feedback, making the team feel supported.
The Expert Level
When to Use:
If you want to train the next group of leaders and need to focus on big-picture strategy instead of daily tasks.
What You Do
- Focus on Strategy
- Deep coaching (ask questions, don't give answers).
- Focus on "High-Context" (the big picture reason for doing things).
- Spot long-term habits and patterns.
- Be completely honest in a safe space.
The Benefit:
Creating Future Leaders: This builds a team that can manage itself. When you lead like this, your team starts solving its own problems and connects their personal success with the company's long-term goals.
Choosing Your Path
Tips for Choosing
Choose Basic:
If you're a new manager or just need to quickly check in with many people.
Choose Standard:
If your goal is a high-performing team and keeping your key staff.
Choose Expert:
If you are ready to develop leaders and focus on long-term plans.
The 3 Parts of a Great 1-on-1
I created a 3-part way of thinking to turn normal check-ins into strong, impactful meetings. This structure makes sure meetings balance what is needed right now with what the person wants for their career later.
The Human Part
The Base
- Goal: To build a strong relationship based on trust, so the employee feels valued as a person first.
- Action: Start by asking how they are doing personally and in life outside of work to connect as people before talking business.
The Blockage Remover
Removing Obstacles
- Goal: To find and get rid of the specific things (problems, lack of tools, bad processes) that are slowing them down day-to-day.
- Action: Ask open questions about what is frustrating them and agree together on one small thing you can do right away to make it easier for them.
Looking Ahead
The Future
- Goal: To connect what they do daily with where they want to be in their career later on.
- Action: Use the last part of the meeting to talk about new skills they want to learn or future projects that excite them.
These three areas — personal connection, fixing current problems, and thinking about the future — all support each other to make sure every check-in is helpful, productive, and aimed forward. If you're building this kind of trust-based leadership style, you may also find our guide to the servant leadership model useful for understanding the philosophy behind it.
The Action Plan: Changing Problems into Smooth Work
This practical step-by-step plan changes common workplace issues (Friction) into effective, productive routines (Flow) in your key regular meetings.
Talking about status updates out loud: Using the meeting time to list off tasks that are already visible in project tools or emails.
Updates Beforehand: Don't talk about status. Make them send a short written update in Slack or a shared file before the meeting, so you can start immediately by asking: "What is the single biggest thing slowing you down?"
Starting with an empty agenda: Having no plan, which leads to awkward small talk or just trying to fill the time randomly.
The 24-Hour Rule: The employee must add at least two specific topics to a shared list 24 hours before the meeting. If there's no list, the meeting is moved to respect both people's time.
The Manager Talks Too Much: The manager takes up most of the time, turning a coaching session into a lecture from the top.
Listening 80/20: The employee controls the conversation and speaks 80% of the time. The manager’s job is only to ask three specific questions: "What else is happening?", "What is the real issue here?", and "How can I help?"
Talking about careers "Someday": Only discussing job growth and promotions during yearly reviews, making the employee feel stuck.
The Growth Timer: Make the last 15 minutes specifically for the "Growth Lab." Focus on one specific skill or project that helps the employee move to the next level, even if deadlines are tight. If you're also making a larger role shift, see our guide on creating a 30-60-90 day plan as a new manager — the same principles apply to individual development.
Your Plan for Running a 1-on-1 in 24 Hours
Follow these steps to change your next 1-on-1 from a regular check-in into a powerful meeting about strategy.
Look at the shared list of topics and notes from your last meeting at least 24 hours before. This makes sure you are ready to talk about current projects and haven't forgotten anything you promised to do.
Go to a private, quiet place and turn off all phone and computer notifications five minutes before you start. Doing this shows the other person that their progress and feedback are the most important things to you right now.
Listen more than you speak by asking open questions like "What is the hardest thing you are dealing with right now?" Let them lead the talk to find hidden problems or worries.
State what needs to happen next, who is responsible, and when it is due during the last five minutes of the meeting. Never end the meeting without a clear agreement on the next steps.
Send a short summary of the main points and "next steps" by email or chat within an hour. Writing down the conversation right away keeps the energy going until your next talk.
Improve with Cruit
Fix: Talking About Status
Journaling ToolKeeps track of your successes and what you learned as things happen. The AI Coach helps turn your experiences into a professional summary for your 5-minute written update, keeping 1-on-1s focused on fixing problems.
Fix: Manager Monologue
Career Advice ToolActs like a personal coach that asks questions to help employees find what they don't see in themselves and create plans during the "Growth Lab."
Fix: Talking About Future Career
Career PlanningShows you a clear path for your next job move, pointing out skills you already have and skills you need for higher positions.
Common Questions
What do I do if a team member says they have "no problems" and everything is fine?
When someone says everything is fine, it often means they are being safe or haven't really looked for things that slow them down. Challenge them by asking:
- "If we had to finish this project three days sooner, what would be the biggest thing stopping us?"
- "Which part of your daily work felt like it was wasting your time this week?"
This changes the talk from just getting by to figuring out how to work better, making them think about efficiency instead of just reporting their status.
Should I skip the "Growth Lab" part if we are in the middle of a big project crisis?
Never skip it completely, or you'll fall back into just talking about old status updates. Even when things are crazy busy, spend at least five minutes on career growth. Ask:
"What is this busy time teaching you about how you lead?"
By keeping the Growth Lab time, you show that their long-term career matters, even when there is an emergency. This helps prevent them from burning out and makes them more loyal.
What if the employee always forgets to send the agenda before our 1-on-1?
Don't just start talking about status updates to fill the time. If the agenda is missing, use the first five minutes of the meeting to create the agenda together right there. This shows them that the meeting can't start without their input. Once they see that being unprepared wastes their own coaching time, they will start taking charge of the "Blocker-First" plan.
How long should a 1-on-1 meeting be?
Research by Steven G. Rogelberg at the University of North Carolina found that weekly 30-minute meetings produced the highest employee engagement ratings. Bi-weekly sessions of 45 to 60 minutes ranked second. The key is consistency, not length — a cancelled 30-minute meeting does more damage than a shortened one. If you only have 20 minutes, use all 20 minutes well. Never skip it entirely.
How often should managers hold 1-on-1 meetings?
Weekly is the gold standard. Gallup research shows that weekly check-ins between managers and direct reports improved results and retention by an average of 8%, compared to just 3% for biweekly meetings. Monthly cadences showed the lowest engagement gains. For new hires or team members going through a tough project, weekly is a baseline, not a luxury.
Focus on what actually counts.
To lead a team that performs well, you must stop acting like a human tracker of tasks. Continuing the "Status Update Social Hour" only makes sure you keep looking at the past instead of building the future. The Blocker-First Coaching Sprint is the proven way to stop the "Tuesday Treadmill" and give your team the leadership it needs. The question shifts from what has already been done to what is getting in the way — and that shift changes a routine meeting into a real competitive edge. Stop repeating work that is already written down and start clearing the way for your team's next big success.
Start Leading Now
