One-on-one meetings (or 1:1s) is the shortcut term our department uses for meeting individually with someone, most often with a direct report or supervisor. Student employees meet with their supervisor in 1:1s at various frequencies throughout the year, and professional staff meet with their reporting line supervisor in 1:1s on a regular basis as well. I love thinking about how the questions we ask open up possibilities for different conversations. I asked the team what kind of prompts they use in their 1:1s with student employees and there were a lot of thematic similarities.
In these conversations, the question below is just a starting point, from there we can ask follow-up questions and unpack responses in detail. Some supervisors give their questions to the team member in advance, and not all questions make it into every conversation. Here’s a collection:
- How has this past [week, month, term] been?
- Tell me about a highlight from this past [week, month, term]. Or What do you feel like you’re doing particularly well?
- What challenges have you experienced/faced? Or What’s been challenging about your work?
- What is on your radar as you look ahead? What’s coming up?
- What skills do you want to further develop this term? What types of projects do you want to take on? What areas of development do you have in mind?
- In general, or specific to the projects and skills above, what kind of support would you like from me? What would be helpful this [week, month, term]?
- Here’s an upcoming project, change, or workflow ____. What role do you want to play in that project? What do you think your strengths or contributions might be?
These prompts strike me as useful in a range of conversations – in your own 1:1s or similar conversations. I’ll add one of my favorite prompts to the list as well, which is to ask folks, “what would you like me to ask you about/check in on when we meet next?”
