When conducted effectively, one on one conversations can be valuable to your organization. 55% of highly engaged organizations said employees are expected to have one-on-ones monthly or quarterly, compared to only 22% of disengaged organizations.
But these conversations can sometimes be intimidating to both employees and managers. You might not know what to discuss, but with the right one on one meeting questions, you can pump new life into your meeting and make the most of everyone’s time.
To make sure you can put these questions to good use during a one on one meeting, consider these steps:
- Keep it lightweight. We recommend keeping a one on one to five questions or less.
- Be specific. Present the feedback you want to share and be prepared to provide examples.
- Come prepared. Share the agenda and key talking points before the meeting and request that your employee does the same.
- Gather additional feedback. Ask peers and coworkers for feedback on your employee’s performance.
- Be honest. Adopt a growth mindset and coach your employees to overcome challenges.
- Be kind. Be considerate with your delivery in these conversations.
- Be present. Take an active role by actively listening, asking questions, and silencing devices.
Here are 150 one on one meeting questions for addressing job performance and employee development.
One on one meeting questions for job alignment
Greater alignment leads to better employee performance and higher engagement. Find out if your employees feel their strengths, skills, and goals align with their roles and responsibilities with these questions:
1. What is your favorite part of this job?
2. What is your least favorite part of this job?
3. What do you wish you could do less often?
4. What do you wish you could do more often?
5. What is going well in your role?
6. What is not going well in your role?
7. What are the necessary skills needed in your role?
8. How are you performing on and growing these skills?
9. Which of your strengths are under-utilized in your current role?
10. When was the last time you felt like you were fully using your strengths in your work?
11. What excites you the most about your day-to-day responsibilities?
12. What are your current career priorities and goals that most excite you?
13. Are the responsibilities of your role what you expected? Why or why not?
14. How do you think this job aligns with your personal values?
15. What makes you proud of the work you do?
16. How does this job align with your future career goals?
17. What ideas do you have about how we can match your talent to responsibilities?
18. What other areas of the team or the company could benefit from your strengths? How?
One on one meeting questions for checking on progress
Keeping a pulse on daily tasks, projects, and goals helps both managers and employees succeed. By understanding where they stand, you can determine how you might help them in the future. Stay up to date with progress on current responsibilities by asking these questions:
19. How are your projects or tasks going?
20. How do the projects or tasks you are working on align with your goals?
21. Do you have clarity regarding your responsibilities?
22. How are you prioritizing your projects or tasks?
23. How will you, the team, and the company benefit from this project or task?
24. How will you evaluate the success of this project or your work?
25. What do you want to learn from this project? What have you learned so far?
26. What is keeping you from accomplishing your work?
27. What are the roadblocks or bottlenecks?
28. What could keep you from completing your projects or tasks on time?
29. How will you ensure your projects and tasks are completed on time?
30. What would help you complete your projects or tasks?
31. Was the project a success?
32. Did you complete your work successfully?
33. What went well?
34. What could have gone better?
35. What could we change in the future to improve these types of projects or tasks?
36. What other projects or tasks would you like to work on?
37. How can you contribute to other projects or tasks for which our team is responsible?
38. How do you think you've done on the three key areas we discussed in your last progress check?
39. What do you think will be the keys to your success over the next four months?
40. What worries or concerns do you have about your ability?
One on one meeting questions to deliver the right tools and resources
When employees have the right tools and resources to do their jobs, they will be more productive. Consider all aspects of your physical environment; from office furniture to technology and software. Make sure all the logistics are covered so your employees can avoid distractions, stay motivated, and produce high-quality work by asking these questions:
41. Do you have the resources and tools you need to perform your job?
42. What resources and tools could help you perform your job better?
43. What resources and tools help you the most?
44. Which resources and tools do you use most often?
45. Are there tools your colleagues use that you don’t know how to use or have access to?
46. Are there any resources or tools that you find useless?
47. What technology could improve your workspace?
48. Do you have all the information needed to do your job effectively?
49. Do you prefer different work environments for different types of work? Explain.
50. What is your preferred work environment?
51. Is your workspace comfortable and supportive of your health?
52. What could be improved in your environment to produce high-quality work more efficiently?
One on one meeting questions to improve processes and workflows
Similar to the physical environment, the processes and workflows that guide our jobs can make a huge difference in our day. Determine if work is happening as efficiently as possible and what can be done to help with these questions:
53. How are you accomplishing this project or task?
54. Do you have the information you need to complete your tasks?
55. What activities take the most time out of your day or week?
56. What distractions or interruptions keep you from getting your work done?
57. What mental thoughts or roadblocks get in the way of your success?
58. What part of your working routine keeps you the most productive?
59. What part of your working routine keeps you the least productive?
60. What part of the day or week do you have the most energy and focus?
61. What aspects of your work environment help you focus?
62. What type of work takes the most focus and energy?
63. What are the biggest time wasters for you each week?
64. What causes you to lose focus or energy?
65. What do you do when you feel unfocused or unmotivated?
66. What could help you bounce back quicker?
67. In an ideal, productive day at work for you, what tasks could you accomplish?
68. Which coworkers do you admire for their productivity and efficiency?
69. What behaviors do you notice in their work styles?
70. What changes can you make to become more productive at work?
71. What tools could help your productivity?
72. How can your schedule be changed to help your productivity?
73. How can your work environment be changed to help your productivity?
74. How can I help you become more efficient in your role?
75. How can I help you become more effective in your role?
One on one meeting questions for addressing workload
Employee stress can make or break the productivity and culture within your teams. Taking inventory of your employee’s workload is one way to help reduce stress at work. Find out if your employees are ready for new responsibilities or if they are drowning in stress with these personal productivity questions:
76. How are you doing?
77. Are you feeling stressed or burned out?
78. Do you feel the time you are allotted per task is too little, too much, or just right?
79. Is the work you’re doing interesting?
80. Do you feel challenged by your responsibilities?
81. What work is too demanding or causing burn out?
82. Do you feel balance in the types of tasks you are doing?
83. Do you feel overworked, underworked, or just right?
84. Are you ready to take on new responsibilities?
85. How can I help alleviate your workload?
86. What work could be shifted off your plate?
87. What work could we delegate so you can take on new, more challenging responsibilities?
One on one meeting questions for improving performance and behavior
Dive into what behaviors are enhancing and detracting from employee objectives and goal setting opportunities. Discover what’s hindering top performance by adding these questions to your next meeting:
88. How did you perform on your goals?
89. How do you think you could improve as an employee?
90. How can I help keep you accountable for achieving goals and results?
91. How will you keep yourself accountable for meeting goals, deadlines, and results?
92. How are you being efficient with your time?
93. How are you being inefficient with your time?
94. What actions can be taken to help improve your performance in the future?
95. What steps have you taken to improve your performance?
96. How have you seen your performance improve?
97. What areas of performance are in need of improvement?
98. How can we take action? Include S.M.A.R.T objectives that include dates, outcomes, and improvements.
99. Discuss current satisfaction in your current performance and areas you would like to improve.
100. What specific training do you feel would enhance your job performance and job satisfaction?
101. What is a recent situation you wish you had handled differently?
102. What would you have changed in that situation?
103. What behaviors do you bring to your work and to the team that have a positive impact?
104. Are there other situations where you can use these strengths?
105. What behaviors do you need to improve or continue to grow?
106. How will you practice improving these behaviors?
107. How would you advise someone else who is working on these behaviors?
One on one meeting questions for professional development
Demonstrate that you care about the success of your employees through personalized professional development. Focus on opportunities for developing skills and increasing expertise by asking these questions:
108. Which of your skills would you like to develop further with coaching or training?
109. What do you want to learn about or experience but haven’t yet had the opportunity to do so?
110. What new skills would you like to develop?
111. Are you interested in any training that would go beyond your role or take you on a different path?
112. What obstacles are standing in the way of your development?
113. What types of professional development opportunities do you find most valuable?
114. What are you doing to improve your skills and expertise?
115. What are your education goals?
116. What programs could help you further your education?
117. What training do we offer internally that could help you in your development?
118. After doing some research, what conferences, trainings, or educational opportunities interest you?
119. What local groups interest you for networking or skill development?
120. What qualities do you look for in a mentor?
121. Is there anyone in our organization you’d like as a mentor?
122. How would you want to benefit from a mentor?
123. What are you learning from your mentor?
124. What professional development goals can we set for you?
125. How have you improved on your development goals since our last meeting?
126. How have you been encouraged in the past to pursue your professional development?
127. What can you start doing to help you reach your development goals?
128. What can you stop doing to help you reach your development goals?
129. What can you keep doing to help you reach your development goals?
130. What was your last professional development experience? What did you learn?
131. What could you teach others from your last professional development experience?
132. How will you use what you learned to move forward in your job?
One on one meeting questions for career advancement
Beyond professional development, employees want to know that they are a future-fit within the organization. Dig into advancement opportunities in upcoming career conversations with these questions:
133. Where do you see yourself in two, five, or ten years?
134. Look across the organization. What role do you want in two, five, or ten years?
135. In the past six months, what have you done to move toward your ideal role or career?
136. In the next six months, what could you do to move toward your ideal role or career?
137. What role or career would let you use your strengths every day?
138. What are your biggest dreams?
139. What do you want your next position in this company to be?
140. What opportunities for advancement are you interested in?
141. What additional responsibilities would you like?
142. Are you interested in leading others?
143. What more are you wanting in your career right now?
144. What other areas of the company do you want to learn about?
145. Are there other roles in the company that you want to learn about?
146. How do your long-term goals align with your career advancement goals?
147. What skills are you developing to meet your career advancement goals?
148. What are you doing to achieve your career advancement goals?
149. What obstacles are preventing you from achieving your advancement goals?
150. How can we help develop your career further?
Determining the right questions to ask during your next one on one conversation shouldn’t be difficult. Grab our Big Book of 350 One-on-One Meeting Questions for our full set of topics and questions to discuss.
