thrive at work/1:1 meeting template
Free tool · Managers
One-on-one meeting template: build your agenda.
Pick the questions that fit this week, add your notes and print or bookmark the agenda. Thirty questions in six themes, from workload to growth.
By Jerry Fiser, Founder & CEO · Reviewed by Marcin Bulik, Research Director · Updated November 8, 2026
What should a 1:1 meeting agenda include?
A good one-on-one covers four things: how the person is doing, what is blocking their work, what they need from their manager, and their growth. The employee should own most of the agenda. Keep a short shared list of topics and agreed actions so each meeting picks up where the last one ended.
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- A 1:1 is the employee’s meeting first and the manager’s second.
- Cover how they are doing, blockers, priorities and growth; not just status updates.
- Ask at least one question about workload and recovery, not only about tasks.
- Write down actions with an owner and a date, and start the next 1:1 with them.
- Every two weeks for 30 minutes is a common rhythm; adjust it to the person.
Build your 1:1 agenda.
Tap the questions you want to ask. Your agenda appears on the right; add notes and agreed actions, then copy it, print it or save the link to reuse next time.
Build your agenda · tap to add
Check-in
Workload
Priorities
Growth
Feedback
Team
Your 1:1 rhythm
Your 1:1 agenda
Pick questions on the left, or let us pick five for you.
Hours per month = minutes per 1:1 × direct reports × meetings per month ÷ 60, with weekly counted as 4.33 meetings a month and every two weeks as 2.17. Your agenda is saved in the page link, so you can bookmark it and reuse it for each meeting.
What a one-on-one is for.
A one-on-one is a regular, private conversation between a manager and one member of the team. It is not a status meeting; updates on tasks can happen in writing. The time is for the things that are hard to raise in a group: workload, worries, feedback, career plans and problems that are not yet visible.
Andy Grove, who popularized the practice at Intel, argued that the meeting belongs to the employee: they should set much of the agenda, and the manager’s job is to listen, ask and remove obstacles.
A simple structure.
Most good one-on-ones follow the same rough order.
- 1Check in. Two or three minutes on how the person is really doing.
- 2Their topics. Whatever they brought. This is the core of the meeting.
- 3Workload and blockers. What is stuck, what could move, and whether the load is sustainable.
- 4Growth or feedback. One topic, not all of them, every time.
- 5Actions. Who does what by when. Read them back before you finish.
How often, and how long.
| Rhythm | Works well when |
|---|---|
| Weekly, 30 minutes | The person is new, the work is changing fast or they are under pressure |
| Every two weeks, 30–45 minutes | The default for most teams |
| Monthly, 45–60 minutes | The person is senior and settled, with other regular contact |
Use the planner in the tool above to see what your rhythm costs in hours. With many direct reports, the time adds up quickly; that is a signal to look at team size, not to cancel one-on-ones.
Ask about workload, not just work.
Most one-on-one templates focus on tasks and goals. Few ask whether the person has the energy to deliver them. A question such as “Is your workload manageable right now?” or “Are you able to switch off after work?” often surfaces problems weeks before they show up in missed deadlines or sick days. Capacity is the energy, recovery, focus and resilience a person has available to sustain performance. If several people on a team give similar answers, the cause is usually in how work is planned, not in the individuals. See signs of overworking.
Common mistakes.
Cancelling or moving the meeting whenever something urgent comes up tells people they are the lowest priority. Turning it into a status update wastes the one protected slot for harder topics. Doing most of the talking leaves no room for the employee’s topics. And not writing down actions means the same issues come back each time.
One-on-ones with remote staff.
For people who work remotely, the one-on-one is often the only time they speak with their manager alone. Keep cameras on if the person is comfortable with it, close other windows, and leave a moment at the end for anything else. Because remote employees have fewer informal check-ins, it is worth asking more directly about workload and how connected they feel to the team.
thrive at work measures engagement (purpose, leadership, connection, growth) and capacity (energy, recovery, focus, resilience) in one anonymous assessment: see how the assessment works.
Most engagement problems show up first as falling energy, recovery and focus. thrive at work is a workforce performance platform: an employee engagement platform that also measures capacity to perform, so you can see strain by team before it turns into absence or resignations. Read more about employee capacity.
Common questions
What is a 1:1 meeting?
How long should a 1:1 be?
Who sets the agenda for a 1:1?
Is my agenda saved?
See which teams are running low.
A 30-minute call shows what a first engagement and capacity assessment would reveal.