Better 1:1s
Better 1:1s for all!
Effective 1:1s are the foundation of good performance, solid growth and healthy relationships.
Sometimes, though, the flow of our 1:1s can falter - maybe the relationship is new, maybe we are too deep in the weeds or we have just found ourselves in a regular pattern of checking-in and moving on.
I've collected a set of questions and prompts for managers and team-members that help to take conversations deeper.
Enjoy a game of 1:1 roulette with a random set of questions, or use the question bank to explore questions in a particular area of growth and development.
Questions for managers to askTap a question to remove it
Questions for team-members to askTap a question to remove it
Question Bank
Show me questions about:
Questions for managers to askTap a question to add it above
What has been the highlight in your work this week? What hasn't gone as well as you would have liked?
Who in the organisation can teach you the most right now?
What projects would you enjoy working on or would you give you opportunities to grow and develop?
How would you describe yourself at work, and the work you are doing a year from now?
If you had all the time and resources you needed, what would you be doing?
How is the work you are doing now different from the expectations you had when you joined the organisation? How does that impact you?
What other roles in the organisation appeal to you? What changes would need to happen for you to take them on?
How can I support you to achieve your professional goals?
What do you tell people has gone really well, in and out of work, during the last month?
In the month ahead, what are you looking forward to spending your time on outside of work?
If we could change just one thing about the team, to improve its performance, what would it be?
What would you change about the way we communicate? In our 1:1s and in other situations?
What's the most important conversation for you that we should be having now?
How effectively do you think our team collaborates?
Tell me about how you would manage this team.
Tell me about someone on our team who is doing some great work
What do I need to change in order to give you exactly the support that you need?
How do you like to receive feedback on your work?
Have there been any times when our communication hasn't worked as effectively as you have needed?
What does our team need to understand more clearly at the moment?
Am I making our priorities clear enough?
How might I support you better in your day-to-day work and where should I be stepping back?
How can we make our team meetings more enjoyable and effective?
What do you take away from our 1:1s? How can we make them more effective?
What would be helpful for you to know about any of the other roles that we have in our team?
What 's your top priority this week and what else is important to you?
What are the problems or challenges for the team that I might not be aware of?
What task or achievement can you commit to now that we can talk about in our next session?
How well does our organisation work cross-functionally? How should we improve this?
What would be the first thing you would change, if you ran this entire organisation?
If we could change one thing about work that would have a positive impact on your personal life, what would it be? What would the impact feel like?
What's made you feel proud this week?
What makes you feel passionate at work and in the rest of your life?
Who in our team has done some great work that we should be celebrating?
What should I be doing more and less of?
Tell me about a manager you've worked with who has inspired and motivated you.
Tell me about an experience with a manager that has frustrated or demotivated you.
Tell me about your ideal working day. What makes it productive? Satisfying? Enjoyable?
What kind of projects make you feel excited and motivated?
What would make your role feel more satisfying and enjoyable?
On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you at work at the moment?
What parts of your daily work don't you enjoy?
What would you change about our team's or organisation's culture to make you feel more satisfied?
What could we change about your physical environment to make you feel more productive?
Which aspects or examples of your work make you feel proud?
How do you split your time between contributing and leading? Is the balance of these right for you?
What do you need to change about your work-life balance right now?
How confident do you feel that we can meet our individual, team and company goals?
What do you tell family and friends that you enjoy about your work in this organisation?
How satisfied do you feel about your goals and the progress you're making towards them?
Which emoji would represent how you've been feeling since our last session?
What should I be doing as soon as possible to make work better for you?
Where do you need help?
How well do you understand what our team-mates are working on at the moment?
What do you need? What could make your day-to-day easier?
Which role or resource are we lacking in our team at the moment?
What conversation should we be having, but feels too difficult to start?
How are you feeling about the week ahead?
What can I tell you that will make your day-to-day work easier?
Which parts of our strategy and objectives do you feel uncertain about or disagree with?
Is there anything I should have done that is blocking you at the moment?
What's causing you to feel stress at the moment at work?
What parts of your day-to-day work are harder than they need to be?
How am I helping you, as your manager? What do I need to change?
Over the last month, how far has the level of support I have given you met your needs?
What can I help you with right now?
Where should my focus be at the moment?
What would you recommend I try doing differently, as a manager?
How can I give you better feedback?
What don't I know, that I should?
What would I need to change to manage and support you better?
Where do you think trouble might be brewing in our team?
What would you recommend I work on to be a more effective leader?
Which of your working relationships do you find the most and least effective?
Who might you be a role-model for? Who might you consider mentoring and why?
Who do you see as our team's stakeholders? What value do you think we deliver to them?
Questions for team-members to askTap a question to add it above
What should I be doing now to help me progress in this organisation?
Which skill should I focus on between now and our next session?
How do you see my role and the work I am doing evolving over the next 6 months?
How can we make opportunities for me to mentor colleagues or peers?
What kind of training or development resources would you recommend for me to investigate at this stage in my development?
How can we make opportunities for my learning and development in and outside of this organisation?
Is there a key skill that I should develop to improve my performance?
What skills do you think our team should focus on developing?
How can we make opportunities for me to share my skills more widely in the organisation?
Who in the organisation would you suggest is an appropriate role model for me at the moment?
Who are your mentors? Who inspires you?
What should I be doing more or less of to improve performance in our team?
Who in our team should I be supporting at the moment?
What do you think about our team's progress on its goals?
What roles in our team do you feel we are lacking or that we need more of?
How would you like collaboration in our team to improve?
What do you suggest my priorities should be at the moment?
Where should I be taking more ownership?
In the next 6 months, what are the biggest changes for our team and organisation?
If we had unlimited time and budget, what kind of changes would you make in our team?
What's the key improvement we should make as a team?
Where is our team most successful?
What are we doing to make ourselves stand out from our competitors?
What are the key risks that senior leadership is concerned with?
What aspects of my work do you need more clarity over?
How would you describe the quality of my work?
I'd like some feedback on [this task/project/achievement]
When is it most effective for me to seek feedback on my work at this stage in my development?
What should I be doing more and less of?
How can I change or improve my collaboration in our team?
What makes for a successful 1:1 for you?
How do you experience me in team or organisation meetings? What changes would you like to see?
Where do you see my strengths and opportunities for development in collaboration and soft-skills?
Can you tell me about a situation you feel I have handled well? And any that I can learn from and improve?
How can I communicate more effectively?
What feedback is there about me that I'm not aware of?
How can I give better feedback to our team and colleagues?
How might I help to improve our team and organisation culture?
What are the key qualities and characteristics that we need in our team?
What would you change about our team and organisation culture?
How do you manage workload, stress and burnout?
How do you respond to failure and challenge?
What should I be doing to make you more effective in your role?
What are your biggest concerns for our team and organisation?
What's your biggest challenge as a leader in this team and organisation?
What parts of your day-to-day work bring you the most satisfaction?
Which aspects of leadership do you find most challenging?
Which improvements in my performance would have a direct impact on your success and the success of our team?
How would you compare the 1:1s that we have with the ones you have with other team-mates?
Which of our colleagues would you recommend I have a 1:1 conversation with in the next week, and why?
How could we improve how we set goals and priorities in this organisation?
Are there any goals that you think I should be considering, that I haven't brought up in our discussions?
How can we make opportunities for me to take on more leadership?
What skills or characteristics should I focus on to grow my leadership skills?
Who would you recommend in our organisation that could be a strong mentor or role-model for me?
How well do you think we manage relationships with our stakeholders?