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by werbel 2321 days ago
* Performance (e.g. challenges, obstacles, short/long term goals, feedback, productivity)

* Professional development & engagement (e.g. professional goals, training, engagement, coaching)

* Contribution to company growth (e.g. process improvement, supporting colleagues, training pilot/ buddy programs, any other activities)

* Things done / achievements since last 1on1

* Feedback for the manager (e.g. what he/she could have done better/differently since last 1:1, what you/the team is missing)

In summary: What can be done for you, the team and company aside from just "correct individual contribution".

Try to avoid discussing things related to lifecycle of ongoing projects. Those should be handled within your team's standard execution flow. If there's need to talk more on a 1:1 then probably you have a gap there.

Of course in an ideal world in a company that supports ongoing feedback and people are not afraid to raise any issues on a daily basis it should be just: "Hey, do you have anything to talk about? - Nope, everything we discussed on a daily basis. - Ok, same here".

In the real world, there are always things which "there's never a good time for" and periodical check-up is useful for that just like a team retrospective.

1 comments

Good point about feedback for the manager, I forgot to mention it. Depends on how well you get along with your manager, but I went as far as to say "you were joking about thing X (usually hiring/firing/PTO/performance etc. topics) which I didn't like".
Yes, I realize not all of us have the luxury of being part of organization where direct, open, constructive feedback whether it's positive or negative is just a thing people do. (Many organizations will boast about values but not live them. If you live them there's no need to even talk about them.)

1:1 or not, good manager should not only make everyone safe with giving him/her and everyone feedback but also ask for it if he/she takes the responsibility of taking care of the people seriously.

Even if that's not a part of the culture then it seems to me it makes sense to try to be the leading example (with a clear, expressed explicitly if needed intent of doing this to make everyone's life and cooperation better) if it doesn't put your job at jeopardy.

However, if it is, maybe it's worth considering what future lies ahead for you in the company? This of course depends on personal goals.