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One-on-one meetings keep you connected with your people and give you a pulse on the work your team is generating. And the right one-on-one meeting template will help make every conversation focused and productive.
Keeping your process streamlined and efficient can be challenging, especially when you’re having these essential conversations weekly or even monthly with multiple direct reports. And that makes it tough to reap all the benefits of regular one-on-ones.
With an agenda for one-on-one meetings, you cover the right talking points, follow up on action items, and create continuity from one conversation to the next.
Use one of our 3 key one-on-one templates for your next meeting with a team member, so you can both walk away with a clear and shared understanding of your next steps.
Level up your productivity with easy-prep one-on-one meeting templates:
The practical purposes of one-on-one meetings include everything from getting status updates on employees’ priorities and deliverables to removing blockers and planning what’s coming up. But they can also a moment to tackle difficult conversations, exchange feedback, discuss career goals, and much more.
18% of employees are dissatisfied with how often they communicate with their manager.
Officevibe Pulse Survey data
Ultimately, the purpose of these one-on-one meetings is to maintain ongoing communication with each member of your team. Better one-on-one conversations with your direct reports can help drive employee engagement, career development, and team alignment.
Many managers find that using a meeting agenda template sets the stage for great conversations and makes their job easier.
Having a one-on-one agenda helps you plan, think out discussion points in advance, and not miss any pressing issues, making one-on-one conversation flow. Everyone can tell when the other person has come to a meeting prepared. Doing so shows your employees you care and builds trust and rapport.
đ In addition to the templates below, we’ve also put together a detailed one-on-one meeting guide for managers that covers everything you need to get started with one-on-one meetings.
Having a tried and true structure helps you cover all the key meeting agenda items and guides you through the meeting, ensuring enough feedback throughout. Setting yourself up with a one-on-one agenda template can save you a lot of time in the long run.
Download or print any of our free one-on-one templates below to prepare for your next one-on-one meeting with ease and speed.
When you meet regularly, as you should with one-on-ones, it may be challenging to know what to discuss. However, the great thing about weekly or bi-weekly one-on-ones is how just a few questions can drive great conversations. We’ve compiled these questions and created the classic one-on-one meeting template with talking points to bring up during your meeting.
Click to download a FREE printable PDF version of the classic one-on-one meeting template.
Regular one-on-ones are a time for leaders and their team members to have a meaningful touchpoint. This 30-minute version of “the classic” is designed for leaders short on time who want to discuss the most critical topics while taking a pulse and making sure their team member is on the right track.
Prefer to work with a printable PDF copy? Save and edit the classic one-on-one meeting template PDF.
This meeting might be your first one-on-one with a new employee or just a regular touchpoint. Start the conversation off with a warm tone. Especially when you’re working remotely, itâs important to maintain connections with employees. Ask your direct report what they got up to over the weekend, or what they’re most looking forward to in the next month.
Let your team member lead the discussion and aim to keep this part positive. Find opportunities to give recognition and express that you value their hard work.
Talking point prompts from Officevibe’s one-on-one software:
Find an easy-to-edit agenda template for classic check-ins in Officevibe’s one-on-one software.
Look ahead together and mitigate any risks or blockers to your team memberâs success in their upcoming work. With the context of their recent accomplishments still top of mind, you can also give specific feedback that applies to what they’ll be working on next.
Talking point prompts from Officevibe:
Access dozens of other suggested talking points to manage employee workloads in Officevibe’s one-on-one software.
Highlight the key takeaways of your discussion and set 2-3 action items together. Officevibe’s one-on-one software makes wrap-ups easy by letting you set trackable action items after every meeting.
Talking point prompts from Officevibe:
â Pro-tip: If you don’t have time for weekly or bi-weekly one-on-ones in your schedule, a good practice is to schedule a meeting every month with each employee. Monthly one-on-ones are a great moment to look back at what has happened in the last few weeks, and naturally, these meetings will take more time.
Use the long version of the classic template to structure and guide your monthly one-on-one meetings.
One-on-one meetings are an opportune time to set career development goals. Both managers and employees know that individual professional goals are part of the success of the entire organization. The one-on-one goal-setting meeting template has questions to guide a conversation that will get every employee thinking about a goal they want to achieve.
Click to download a FREE printable PDF version of the one-on-one meeting template for goal setting.
Find an easy-to-edit agenda template for employee goal setting in Officevibe’s one-on-one software. Plus, have team members outline their individual goals directly in the app, so it’s easy to track progress week to week.
Prefer to work with a printable PDF copy? Save and edit the goal-setting one-on-one meeting template PDF.
Have your direct report reflect ahead on their skill sets and strengths, and how they might leverage these in their work.
Aim to set 2 or 3 goals with your employee and balance performance goals with development goals. Beyond setting employee goals, be sure to discuss how your team member can achieve them, and what support theyâll need.
Questions for goal setting one-on-one meetings:
Access dozens of other suggested talking points for setting employee goals directly in the Officevibe app.
How can you and your employee make strides towards accomplishing these long term goals? How can you equip them to succeed? Set a few smaller action items together, and add them as talking points in your next meeting agenda. Officevibe helps you follow up on every action item with meeting notes that carry over week to week.
Not all one-on-one meetings are routine, where you set priorities, give constructive feedback, and celebrate wins. Sometimes, one-on-ones are called to address a specific team member’s actions or attitudes and should be handled differently. The one-on-one difficult conversation meeting template includes extra guidance on preparing for a difficult or sensitive conversation with an employee. It has talking points with expert tips to structure the conversation to ensure a positive outcome.
Find an easy-to-edit agenda template for having difficult conversations in Officevibe’s one-on-one software. Not sure what to say? Select from dozens of prewritten questions and talking points.
Prefer to work with a printable PDF copy? Save and edit the difficult conversations one-on-one meeting template PDF.
Give visibility on what youâd like to discuss by setting a talking point ahead, and start the difficult conversation with the employee by establishing a common objective. Do you want to give feedback, understand your team memberâs perspective, or plan a solution to a problem? State your intentions clearly and give the employee a chance to do the same.
Get straight to the point and focus on the facts when you’re having a one-on-one with a difficult employee. What is the issue, what is its impact, and what are the potential consequences? Whether youâre addressing problematic employee behaviour or giving negative feedback, remember you can be both clear and compassionate at the same time.
Allow time for your team member to express themselves, ask a question, or share their plan for moving forward. You can ask open-ended questions to encourage them to share their perspective and reflect on the situation.
One-on-one meeting questions to ask employees:
Especially when youâre addressing more sensitive issues, you want to take the time to check-in and establish the next steps at the end of your conversation. Ask your employee how theyâre feeling and what theyâre taking from the discussion. Set your top priorities so youâre both clear on expectations as you advance.
One-on-one meetings are how you stay connected with each direct report and build alignment across your team. No matter how the context changes week to week, having a template to structure the conversation helps you cover the most important agenda items and set action items that lead to tangible outcomes.
Great managers come prepared. Use one of these free printable one-on-one meeting agenda templates to lead your next one-on-one:
âŹïž Classic one-on-one meeting agenda template
âŹïž Goal setting one-on-one meeting agenda template
âŹïž Difficult conversation one-on-one meeting agenda template
Noticing the nuances between these three main one-on-one meeting types, you can tell how different meeting scenarios call for different types of preparation. Officevibe has over 45 templates (and counting!) made by our experts. Use them to guide your next conversation to build confidence as a leader and better rapport with your employee.
Some examples of specific templates are:
Explore our full template gallery or one-on-on meeting and employee survey templates designed to solve challenges quickly and build stronger relationships with your team.
One-on-one meeting agendas can become the guiding light to running productive meetings and building solid relationships with your people. How to use them? We suggest trying out a few different ways to see which works best for you:
Your one-on-one meeting conversation topics will vary depending on the context of your team and what each employee is currently working on. From task management to personal life and job satisfaction, one-on-one time with employees is valuable to build rapport and achieve goals. Whether you’re following up on an action item you set in your last meeting, preparing for performance reviews, or giving constructive feedback to your team member, the conversation will be more efficient with a clear plan.
Even better is when you both contribute to the agenda, which boosts employee engagement and participation in the conversation.
Officevibe lets managers and employees set talking points in a shared meeting agenda throughout the week. You can save on prep time by selecting one of the customizable agenda templates offered directly in the app. When you both have visibility on what you’ll be discussing, it’s easy to arrive at the meeting prepared.
If youâre still looking for more one-on-one meeting ideas, check out our extensive list of one-on-one meeting questions. We made a list of 40 questions and divided them by subject so you can address any situation and focus on your employeesâ answers and what they need.
These tips will help you keep your conversations organized, productive, and driving real results, no matter what type of one-on-one meeting you’re having.
đ Set a recurring meeting with each employee. Schedule one-on-ones at regular intervals with every team member to keep communication ongoing.
đ Have a dedicated space for meeting notes. Plan your meeting agenda, take notes, and set action items all in one place (whether itâs a google doc or one-on-one software), so you can easily prepare in the flow of your work.
đ Make a habit of following up. Get in the habit of adding an agenda item for your next one-on-one each time you wrap up, so you always follow up on commitments.
As a leaderâheck, as a humanâlearning to develop better relationships is evergreen. In the world of work, one-on-one meetings can be invaluable to flexing your rapport muscle. Hungry for more? We’ve rounded up the top one-on-one meeting tips to help you facilitate insightful conversation, develop trust with your employees, and inspire results from your team.
Officevibe can help you have better conversations with your employees. Whether it’s your first meeting with a new employee, or a goal-setting session for the upcoming quarter, having your own templates on hand will bring confidence to any meeting scenario.
The best managers come prepared and ready. Show up equipped for your next meeting: Explore our many 1-on-1 meeting and employee survey templates designed by our experts to solve challenges quickly and build stronger relationships with your team.
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