1:1s are sacred on my calendar. They don't get moved. My employees know their time is protected every single week, and that consistency is the foundation everything else builds on.
The Structure
The split is roughly 80/20. Eighty percent of the time is theirs — their topics, their ideas, their concerns. The remaining twenty percent is for things I need to bring up. This ratio is intentional. The moment a 1:1 becomes a status update or a manager monologue, it loses its value.
I avoid status updates entirely. I expect to uncover project status throughout the week in standups, Slack, and PRs. The 1:1 is for the things that don't surface in those channels — blockers they haven't raised publicly, career aspirations they're thinking through, frustrations that are building, feedback in either direction.
What I Actually Ask
The questions aren't fancy. "What's on your mind?" is usually enough to start. "What's slowing you down?" gets to blockers. "Where do you want to be in a year?" opens the career conversation. The point isn't a script — it's creating space where the person feels comfortable bringing real things.
The best 1:1s are the ones where someone tells me something I didn't know. That means the trust is working.
The Cadence
For most direct reports, it's weekly. Non-negotiable. For longer-tenured working relationships where we've built a strong rhythm, we might extend to every two weeks — but only if both sides agree.
Skip-Levels
Skip-levels are equally important, though less frequent. Maybe once a quarter, I go through my whole organization to make sure I have face-time with every employee. These aren't performance reviews — they're connection points. I want to hear what's working, what's not, and what they wish leadership knew.
The signal I get from skip-levels is different from what my direct reports tell me. Both are necessary. Together, they give me a much more honest picture of how the org is actually doing.