5 Questions to ask in EVERY One-on-One Meeting

One-on-One meetings are one of your most powerful tools as a manager. The key to unlocking their power is asking the right questions. (Expand for timestamps!).
Ready to level up as an engineering manager and find you dream job? Join the community at manager.dev 🚀
I’ll share 5 questions you can always ask to get a better sense of how your reports are growing, feeling, and thinking. And most importantly, I’ll share tactics and real-world examples that you can use to get the most out of those questions.
MY LAST VIDEO: "3 Tips for Managing Up" • 3 Tips for Managing Up...
My One-on-One template (Google Docs): bit.ly/37MQXwK
1:17 - Basic structure and ground rules for 1-1s
3:34 - Question #1: What’s been on your mind this week?
4:25 - Question #2: When did you feel the most happy/productive in the last week?
5:22 - Question #3: Where did you feel friction in the last week? Specific meetings, conversations, and other interactions are all in-bounds.
7:12 - Question #4: What is amplifying the team’s productivity, and what’s dragging it?
9:52 - Question #5: What feedback do you have for me? Where can I lean in, and where can I lean out?
I'd love to hear your feedback. Agree? Disagree? What questions do you love to ask in your one-on-one meetings? Leave a comment below.