One-on-One Prep Skill

The 1:1 is the highest-leverage meeting you have — and it's wasted when it defaults to status (which belongs in writing). This skill preps an agenda built around the outcomes you want: the decisions to unblock, the asks to make, the feedback to exchange, and the career threads to keep warm — so 30 minutes moves things instead of just reporting them.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• Direction — prepping for a 1:1 with your manager (managing up) or with your report (managing down)? The agenda differs.
• What's on your mind — blockers, decisions, tensions, wins, career topics (rough notes are fine).
• Anything time-sensitive or any hard thing you've been avoiding raising.
• Last 1:1's follow-ups, if any.

Output Format

1:1 Prep — with [name], [date]