One-on-Ones

• One-on-Ones for the direct report

Michael Lopp breaks one-on-ones into three buckets:

1. The Update (business as usual)
2. The Vent (something’s up)
3. The Disaster

The “update” is should not be taken at face value, if you are a manager hearing a status report you should be looking for something to talk about or dig into within the update. Failing that, the manager should have either:

1. Prepared talking points (about the individual, team, company)
2. The Mini-performance review (follow ups from the previous performance/review checkin)
3. What the manager is currently facing/focused on.

The “vent” and the “disaster” are emotional outlets for the team member. The disaster is a more extreme version of the vent¹.

A simple framework from Marco Rogers is²:

• Every one-on-one: (how is it going)
• Organization development (approximately once a month)
• Career path (approximately once a quarter)
• Tell me your thoughts on the direction of the team (as needed)

Potential questions for a 1-1:

• What’s one thing that could be better?³

1. Lopp, M. The Update, The Vent, and The Disaster. Rands in Repose (2010).

2. Rogers, M. My Approach to 1-on-1s. (2020).

3. Lily Konings. 1:1 Tweet. @lilykonings (2021).