Pre-1:1 prep
For: Anyone heading into a 1:1 — manager or report
Most 1:1s default to status updates because nobody prepped. Eight short questions to fill in 5-10 minutes before a 1:1 — so the conversation actually goes somewhere.
- 8 questions
- 2 sections
- ~5-10 min
- Self-prep
1:1s collapse into status updates because the load-bearing prep work — figuring out what's actually going on for you and what you'd specifically like to leave the conversation with — almost never happens in advance. By the time both people are on the call, the path of least resistance is to talk about what you've been working on. This template is the prep work, in eight short questions split across two sections: where you actually are right now, and what you want from this conversation. Fill it in 5-10 minutes before. The 1:1 itself will not feel the same.
How it works
Open it 5-10 minutes before the meeting. Answer honestly — nobody has to see this unless you want them to. Two optional moves at the end: bring the answers (or a summary of them) into the conversation, or share the link with the other person ahead of time so they can prep their side too.
What's inside — 8 questions across 2 dimensions
What's actually going on
your real state right now, including the things you haven't said out loud yet
What you want from this 1:1
the specific thing(s) you want to leave the conversation with
The questions, in full
Every question is included below. You answer them yourself first, then send the same set to the people who've seen you work.
What's actually going on
- Q1Rating (1-5)
I'm clear on what I've been working on since the last 1:1 — I won't blank when asked "so what's new?"
- Q2Rating (1-5)
There's something I've been carrying that I haven't mentioned to anyone yet — and it'd be useful to surface in this 1:1.
- Q3Multiple choice
Right now, my energy / engagement is...
- — High — momentum is good, the work is landing
- — Steady — fine, but nothing's pulling me forward
- — Mixed — some pieces good, some draining
- — Low — I'm dragging
- — Hard to tell — too busy to register it
- Q4Open answer
What's one thing — work or otherwise — that's been on your mind enough that it's worth this person hearing about?
What you want from this 1:1
- Q5Rating (1-5)
I have at least one specific thing I want to leave this 1:1 with — clarity, a decision, an unblock, a request.
- Q6Rating (1-5)
There's a topic I've been avoiding raising in 1:1s. I'm willing to bring it up this time.
- Q7Multiple choice
What I most want from this 1:1 is...
- — Help unblocking something specific
- — A decision I can't make alone
- — Feedback or perspective on something I'm working through
- — To surface a concern they should know about
- — To use the time for development / longer-term conversation
- Q8Open answer
If this 1:1 went perfectly, what would have shifted by the end of it?
The research behind these questions
Drawn from Andy Grove's High Output Management on the canonical 1:1 framework (Intel) — that the report should drive the agenda and the manager should listen, Camille Fournier's The Manager's Path on what makes engineering 1:1s actually useful, Lara Hogan's Resilient Management on emotional surfacing in regular check-ins, Julie Zhuo's The Making of a Manager on the kinds of conversations 1:1s should make space for, and Gallup's Q12 research on what regular check-ins actually correlate with in engagement data. Each question is a short prompt designed to surface a single specific signal in the available prep time.
References
- — Andy Grove — High Output Management (Intel)
- — Camille Fournier — The Manager's Path
- — Lara Hogan — Resilient Management
- — Julie Zhuo — The Making of a Manager
- — Gallup — Q12 research
Ready to run this round on yourself?
Sign up, pick this template, answer it about yourself, and send the same questions to the people who've been in the room with you. The gap between your view and theirs is where the actual learning lives.