One on one meeting template for managers and reports
Last updated
This one on one meeting template is a shared running document between a manager and one of their reports. Each meeting adds a dated entry with the same headings: check-in, updates since last time, priorities, blockers and support needed, feedback in both directions, growth and career, and actions. The report owns the agenda and adds items before the meeting; the manager adds their own. Over a year the document becomes the honest history of how the work went, which is what makes performance conversations easier rather than harder.
Download the Word file, copy the plain text into a shared document, or read the example between an engineering manager and a developer.
Word file (.docx), free and without signing up. Opens in Google Docs and Pages too.
What’s in the template
The minutes open with these details:
- Manager
- Report
- Date
- Cadence (weekly / fortnightly)
- Location (or video platform)
- Last meeting
- Next meeting
Then the body follows the meeting in this order:
- 1. Check-in — How things are, in the report's words. Energy, workload, anything outside work they want to mention. Not a status update.
- 2. Updates since last time — What happened with the things discussed last meeting. Keep it brief; the point is to close loops.
- 3. Report's topics — The report's agenda items, added before the meeting. These come before the manager's, always.
- 4. Priorities and focus — What the report is working on until next time and whether the manager agrees it is the right thing. Record disagreements and how they were resolved.
- 5. Blockers and support needed — What is slowing the report down and what the manager will do about it. The manager's actions here matter more than the report's.Blocker: · What would help: · Manager will:
- 6. Feedback — Both directions. Specific, recent, and about work. One line each; the conversation is the point, the note is the reminder.Feedback for the report: · Feedback for the manager:
- 7. Growth and career — Not every meeting, but at least monthly. Skills being built, next role, learning, exposure the report wants.
- 8. Manager's topics — Context from above, upcoming changes, requests. Last, so they do not crowd out the report's items.
- 9. Actions — Who does what by when, for both people. Review these first at the next meeting.
At the end: action items, as a table you can keep across meetings.
The template
Download it as a Word file, or copy the text version into your own document.
One-on-One Meeting Notes Manager: Report: Date: Cadence (weekly / fortnightly): Location (or video platform): Last meeting: Next meeting: 1. Check-in [How things are, in the report's words. Energy, workload, anything outside work they want to mention. Not a status update.] 2. Updates since last time [What happened with the things discussed last meeting. Keep it brief; the point is to close loops.] 3. Report's topics [The report's agenda items, added before the meeting. These come before the manager's, always.] 4. Priorities and focus [What the report is working on until next time and whether the manager agrees it is the right thing. Record disagreements and how they were resolved.] 5. Blockers and support needed [What is slowing the report down and what the manager will do about it. The manager's actions here matter more than the report's.] Blocker: What would help: Manager will: 6. Feedback [Both directions. Specific, recent, and about work. One line each; the conversation is the point, the note is the reminder.] Feedback for the report: Feedback for the manager: 7. Growth and career [Not every meeting, but at least monthly. Skills being built, next role, learning, exposure the report wants.] 8. Manager's topics [Context from above, upcoming changes, requests. Last, so they do not crowd out the report's items.] 9. Actions [Who does what by when, for both people. Review these first at the next meeting.] Action items Action | Owner (manager / report) | Due | Status
The report owns the agenda
A one-on-one is the report's meeting. It exists so they have guaranteed time with their manager to raise what they need to raise, which is why the template puts the report's topics before the manager's, and why the manager's updates come near the end. A manager who fills the hour with their own items will find, after a few months, that the report has stopped bringing anything.
In practice this means the report adds their items to the shared document before the meeting, the manager reads them beforehand, and the meeting starts with the check-in and then the report's list. If the report has nothing on the list, that is itself worth a conversation.
Keep one shared running document
Use one document per report, newest entry at the top, that both people can edit. Separate private notes defeat the purpose: the value of the record is that both people agree it is what was said. The running history also means neither person has to rely on memory at review time; the priorities, feedback and growth conversations are already written down with dates.
The document is private to the two of you. If the manager changes, hand it over with the report's agreement, or let the report decide what to carry forward.
Questions to ask
- What is taking more of your time than it should?
- What would you change about how we work as a team, if you could?
- Is there anything you are waiting on from me?
- What have you learned recently that you did not expect to?
- What part of your work do you want more of, and what do you want less of?
- Is there anything I should know that I probably do not?
- What would make the next month better than the last one?
- Where do you want to be in a year, and what is one thing we could do this quarter towards it?
What not to put in writing
The document is a working record, not a file. Some things are better said than written, and some things should not be written in a document that may later be read by others, for instance if either person leaves or a dispute arises. Health, family circumstances and anything the report shares in confidence should be noted only as much as the report is comfortable with, and often not at all. Formal performance concerns belong in whatever process your organisation uses, with HR's involvement where that is the rule; the one-on-one note can say the topic was discussed and refer to that process. When in doubt, ask the report what they would like recorded, and check your organisation's own guidance on employee records.
Common mistakes
- Using the meeting for a status update. Status goes in the team meeting or a message; the one-on-one is for what the report needs.
- Cancelling it when things are busy. Busy weeks are when the meeting earns its keep. Shorten it instead.
- Feedback only one way. The template has a line for feedback to the manager because without it, it does not happen.
- Skipping the growth section for months. Put it on the calendar: first meeting of each month, for example.
- Actions without the manager's name on them. If every action belongs to the report, the manager is not doing their part.
Example: filled-in one-on-one meeting
What the template looks like once it’s been used. The organisation and people are made up.
One-on-one notes, Yusuf Demir and Clara Jensen
Manager: Yusuf Demir, Engineering Manager
Report: Clara Jensen, Software Engineer
Date: Wednesday 7 October 2026
Cadence: Weekly, 30 minutes
Location: Video call
Last meeting: 30 September 2026
Next meeting: 14 October 2026
1. Check-in
Clara said the week has been good but fragmented: three interruptions a day on the old billing service, on top of the migration work. Energy fine, slightly frustrated at the context switching.
2. Updates since last time
Clara paired with Tomas on the migration runbook; it is now reviewed and in the wiki.
Yusuf raised the on-call rotation gap with the platform team; they have added a second engineer from November.
3. Clara's topics
Billing-service interruptions. Clara asked whether she could be taken off first-line support for billing while the migration is in its last four weeks. Discussed: Yusuf agrees in principle, will ask Tomas to take first line for billing until 6 November and bring it to the team meeting on Monday so it is visible.
Conference talk. Clara has been invited to speak at a regional engineering conference in February on the migration. Yusuf supports it; the only condition is that the migration is finished first. Clara to send the abstract for comments.
4. Priorities and focus
Agreed focus until next meeting: finish the data-validation step of the migration and run the first full dry run on staging. Yusuf confirmed this is the team's top item and that the dashboard work can wait.
5. Blockers and support needed
Blocker: the staging database is still a month behind production, which makes the dry run less useful. What would help: a fresh anonymised copy. Yusuf will: ask the data team for a refresh this week and copy Clara on the request.
6. Feedback
For Clara: the runbook is the clearest document the team has produced this year, and the review comments were handled quickly. One thing to watch: in last week's design review Clara dismissed a question from a newer engineer a bit fast; worth slowing down there, because the question was reasonable.
For Yusuf: Clara said the team meeting on Monday ran 20 minutes over because of a discussion between two people that could have been taken offline. Yusuf agreed and will use the parking lot more firmly.
7. Growth and career
Clara wants to move towards a senior role in the next year. Agreed that leading the migration end to end is the main evidence, and that the conference talk is useful too. Yusuf to share the senior-engineer expectations document and go through it together at the first meeting in November.
8. Yusuf's topics
Heads-up that the quarterly planning cycle starts on 20 October and Yusuf would like Clara's view on what the team should take on after the migration. No need to prepare anything formal.
Action items
| No. | Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ask Tomas to cover first-line billing support until 6 November and raise it at Monday's team meeting | Yusuf Demir | 12 October 2026 |
| 2 | Request a refreshed anonymised staging database from the data team, copying Clara | Yusuf Demir | 9 October 2026 |
| 3 | Send the conference abstract to Yusuf for comments | Clara Jensen | 16 October 2026 |
| 4 | Share the senior-engineer expectations document | Yusuf Demir | 30 October 2026 |
Tips for one-on-one meeting
- Start every meeting with last time's actions, especially the manager's. Nothing kills a one-on-one faster than a manager who forgets what they promised.
- Write the note during the meeting, on screen, so both people see what is being recorded and can correct it on the spot.
- If the check-in reveals something big, drop the rest of the agenda. The headings are a default, not a script.
- Date every entry and keep the newest at the top. At review time, read the whole document before writing anything.
- Ask for feedback for yourself out loud and wait. The written line is there so the silence is noticed.
- Put the growth conversation on a schedule, such as the first meeting of each month, or it will be the first thing dropped.
Related templates
- Skip-level meeting template — Notes for a senior manager meeting someone two levels down: what to ask, what to keep confidential and what to feed back.
- Team meeting minutes template — The weekly meeting of one team: last week's numbers, blockers, decisions and this week's priorities.
- Coaching session notes template — For coaches: a brief, client-owned record of each session, from check-in to commitments, kept apart from anything resembling a clinical file.
- Meeting notes with action items template — Notes built around a running action register, for recurring meetings where last week's actions are this week's first agenda item.
- All meeting minutes templates
Or let the notes write themselves
A template helps when you’re the one typing. If you’d rather not be, an AI note taker can draft the summary and action items for you. Most send a bot into the call; QuietNote captures from your own computer instead, so nothing joins the meeting and you decide when capture starts. It’s in private beta. Whatever you use, read the draft before you send it, and tell attendees you’re recording where the rules require it.
Questions
What should be discussed in a one on one meeting?
The report's items first: what is on their mind, what is in their way and what they need from their manager. Then priorities for the coming week or two, feedback in both directions, and periodically career growth. Status updates belong elsewhere. The manager's own items come last so they do not take over the meeting.
How long should a one on one meeting be?
Thirty minutes weekly or 45 to 60 minutes fortnightly is the common pattern. The important thing is that it is regular and rarely cancelled. If it finishes early with nothing left to say, end it; if it regularly runs out of time, the cadence is too low or status is creeping in.
Who sets the agenda for a 1 on 1 with a manager?
The report. They add their topics to the shared document before the meeting, and those are discussed first. The manager adds context, requests and feedback, which come later in the meeting. A report who brings nothing for several weeks running is a sign that the meeting has become the manager's, which is worth talking about directly.
Should one on one meeting notes be shared?
Between the two people, yes: one shared document both can edit, so there is a single agreed record. Beyond the two of you, no, unless the report agrees. Be careful what goes in writing at all; personal matters and formal performance concerns are usually better handled through the conversation and your organisation's own processes than through the running note.
Can I use an AI note taker in a one on one?
Only with the report's clear agreement, and many people would rather you did not. A one-on-one depends on the report feeling able to speak freely, and a recording changes that. If you do use one, keep the output in the shared document the report can see and edit, and delete the recording itself afterwards.