A 1-on-1 without a template is a status update wearing a relationship mask. A 1-on-1 with the *wrong* template is a corporate questionnaire that neither party wants to be in. The template here is the middle path — enough structure that the meeting has shape, light enough that the conversation can still go wherever it needs to.
The structure
Every 1-on-1 has five jobs to do. Not all five every week — but over a month, all five should appear at least once:
1. Open — short, human, signals this isn't a status update 2. Wins — what worked since last meeting; specific, recent 3. Blockers — what's stuck, what's draining, what needs a decision 4. Growth — career, skills, scope; the conversation that gets skipped first when meetings run late, and the one that compounds the most 5. Feedback — both directions; quarterly minimum; weekly if you can handle it 6. Action items — the 2–3 things either party will do before next time
How to use it
Tick the questions you want to cover *this week*. The 4–7 sweet spot still applies — you'll never get through everything, and trying makes the meeting feel rushed. Click "Copy agenda" for a plain-text version you can paste into your notes app or share with your report before the meeting.
The most-skipped section is the most important one
In every survey, the most skipped category in 1-on-1s is *manager feedback to the manager*. It feels uncomfortable; it produces 80% of the long-term value. Run it once a quarter at minimum. Run it more often if you can. Reports who feel safe giving their manager feedback stay longer, raise problems sooner, and trust the relationship more — all of which compounds over years.
For a richer question library, see one on one questions (same renderer, different framing). For one-up and skip-level meetings, the same one on one questions library works with the "manager’s manager" framing. For agenda history and action tracking across meetings, the full LemTask app has 1:1 spaces with history built in.