A 1:1 is always your meeting. My meetings are performance reviews and formal calendar invites. As always, others have written with more eloquence than I on the topic, so I picked one for you that summarizes my approach.
Format of a 1:1 doc
I like to have these categories in my 1:1 docs:
- Prioritized topic backlog
- Action items
- Dated summary of items discussed
1. Backlog
The topic backlog is a dumping ground for things that come up during the week that you or I would like to discuss together. It’s a place to put things like “Alice and Bob had a weird fight in their pull request this week, wtf was up with that” or “my learning feels like it’s stagnated, what work can I take on to challenge me a bit more?”
This list of topics should be prioritized by what’s most pressing, weighing on you the most, or is the most time-sensitive.
2. Action items
Here we’ll hold each other accountable to what either of us will be doing to follow up on a topic we discussed. Every item in this list needs a feasible due date, and we will try to audit the action item list every check-in.
3. Dated summaries
When something from the backlog is discussed, move it to the dated summary so we have a record of your progress and growth.
Sample 1:1 doc
Backlog
- What’s the long-term plan for the banana stand?
Action Items
- 2022-01-11 (@ceo): share the job description for Mister Manager
- 2022-01-04 (@cashier): check the receipts in the banana stand to determine its daily earnings
- 2022-02-30 (@cashier): Install fire extinguisher in banana stand
Agenda
2022-01-04
- How much money is in the Banana Stand?
- When can I get promoted to a manager of the banana stand?