Top 1:1 Questions


While 1:1’s should be driven by your direct report, we’ve collected some of our favourite and highest impact questions to help you steer the conversation when needed.

    • What is the most important thing we need to discuss today?

    • As your leader, what should I START/STOP/CONTINUE (pick 1) doing?

    • What’s your #1 challenge right now? How can I help unblock you?

    • What are your biggest time wasters?

    • What kind of communication or information do you wish you had more of?

    • Tell me about something new you learned since we last met.

    • What is the #1 problem within COMPANY?

    • What do you like about working here? What's not fun?

    • Who here has been kicking ass lately, and what's set them apart?

    • What's an inexpensive thing we could do to improve the culture/environment at COMPANY?

    • Are there any company meetings/discussions that you feel like you would want to be apart of that you are not? Where else could we include you?

    • Which leader or team do you enjoy working with the most? Why?

    • Which team do you have the most difficulty working with? Why?

    • How confident do you feel with where the company is going?

    • Who on our team would you like to work with more often? Why?

    • How could we be more effective and efficient as a team?

    • How could we change our meetings to be more streamlined/effective as a team?

    • Is everyone pulling their weight on the team?

    • Who on the team do you have the most difficulty working with? Why?

    • Do you feel confident in how you/your team are progressing?

    • Are our meetings a good use of your time?

    • If you were me, what changes would you make?

    • How could I do a better job communicating with you?

    • Do you have any feedback for me on X?

    • What things can I teach you or coach you on this quarter?

    • As your leader, what should I START, STOP and CONTINUE doing?

    • What can I do to make your life or job easier?

    • Which areas would you like more direction/feedback from me on? Which would you like less?

    • Are there any obstacles I can help to remove for you?

    • What would you say are key qualities of my management style?

    • How do you like to receive feedback?

    • What are your top priorities right now?

    • How productive were you this past week? What could be optimized?

    • What capabilities do you want to develop? How can I support you with those?

    • What skills do you have that our team is under-utilizing?

    • What big questions do you have about your career opportunities in the future?

    • What part of your job do you wish you could stop doing?

    • What do you spend the most time on?

    • What part of the day do you have the most energy and focus?

    • What's your #1 challenge right now? How can I help unblock you?

    • What interests you about Project X? Why?

    • What's a recent win for you?

    • What's a recent situation that you wish you'd handled differently?

    • How is your workload right now?

    • How do you feel about your work/life balance? What could improve?

    • What are you committing to between now and the next time we meet?

    • Are there any skills that you’d like to acquire in the short term?