Skip level meeting template, with questions to ask
Last updated
This skip level meeting template is for the meeting between a manager's manager and an individual contributor who does not report to them directly. It is a different meeting from a one-on-one: there are no priorities to set and no feedback on the person's work to give. The senior manager is there to hear how things look from the ground, to learn what the direct manager may not be seeing or saying, and to be available. The notes are mostly for the senior manager, and the template separates what stays confidential from what, with agreement, goes back to the direct manager.
Download the Word file or copy the plain text, and read the example between a VP of product and a designer to see the tone.
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:
- Senior manager
- Team member
- Direct manager
- Date
- Location (or video platform)
- Cadence (quarterly / half-yearly / ad hoc)
- Previous skip-level
Then the body follows the meeting in this order:
- 1. Purpose and ground rules — Say what the meeting is for and is not for, and what will and will not be shared with the direct manager. Record that this was said.
- 2. About the person — Role, how long in it, what they are working on. Enough to anchor the conversation; this is not an interview.
- 3. How the work is going — In their words. What is satisfying, what is frustrating, what gets in the way.
- 4. The team and the manager — How the team works, how decisions get made, what support looks like. Listen for patterns across several skip-levels rather than reacting to one.
- 5. The wider organisation — What they think of direction, priorities and communication from above. This is where the senior manager learns what is not landing.
- 6. Questions for the senior manager — Their questions to you. Answer what you can; record what you will find out.
- 7. Career and interests — Light touch. Where they want to go, and whether anything in the wider organisation could help.
- 8. What goes back to the direct manager — Only with the team member's agreement, and recorded here so there is no ambiguity about what was agreed to be shared.To share: · Agreed by team member (yes / no): · Not to share:
- 9. Actions — Mostly the senior manager's. Follow through visibly; a skip-level that produces nothing teaches people not to bother next time.
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.
Skip-Level Meeting Notes Senior manager: Team member: Direct manager: Date: Location (or video platform): Cadence (quarterly / half-yearly / ad hoc): Previous skip-level: 1. Purpose and ground rules [Say what the meeting is for and is not for, and what will and will not be shared with the direct manager. Record that this was said.] 2. About the person [Role, how long in it, what they are working on. Enough to anchor the conversation; this is not an interview.] 3. How the work is going [In their words. What is satisfying, what is frustrating, what gets in the way.] 4. The team and the manager [How the team works, how decisions get made, what support looks like. Listen for patterns across several skip-levels rather than reacting to one.] 5. The wider organisation [What they think of direction, priorities and communication from above. This is where the senior manager learns what is not landing.] 6. Questions for the senior manager [Their questions to you. Answer what you can; record what you will find out.] 7. Career and interests [Light touch. Where they want to go, and whether anything in the wider organisation could help.] 8. What goes back to the direct manager [Only with the team member's agreement, and recorded here so there is no ambiguity about what was agreed to be shared.] To share: Agreed by team member (yes / no): Not to share: 9. Actions [Mostly the senior manager's. Follow through visibly; a skip-level that produces nothing teaches people not to bother next time.] Action items Action | Owner | Due | Status
How a skip-level differs from a one-on-one
A one-on-one is a working meeting between a manager and their report: priorities, blockers, feedback, growth. A skip-level has none of that. The senior manager does not set the person's work, does not assess it, and should be careful not to give direction that cuts across the direct manager. The meeting exists to give the senior manager an unfiltered view and to give the team member access they would not otherwise have.
That difference shows up in the notes. One-on-one notes are shared with the report and used over time. Skip-level notes are the senior manager's, are usually brief, and are most useful read together across a whole team: one person's complaint is a data point, the same complaint from four people is a finding.
What to record
- That the ground rules were stated: what the meeting is for and what will be shared.
- Themes rather than quotes. "Felt that decisions about the roadmap arrive without explanation" rather than a verbatim account.
- Questions the team member asked that you could not answer, with your action to find out.
- Exactly what the team member agreed could be passed to their direct manager, and what they asked to be kept between you.
- Your own actions, with dates. These are the part of the note you will be judged on.
Confidentiality and what goes back to the direct manager
Most of what you hear in a skip-level should go nowhere identifiable. The exception is when the team member wants something raised and would rather you did it, or when the same theme comes up often enough that it should be discussed with the direct manager as a pattern, without attribution. Before the meeting ends, agree out loud what you will share, and write it in the section provided. Never surprise the direct manager with something the team member said, and never surprise the team member by sharing something they thought was private.
If you hear something that you are obliged to act on, such as a safety concern or conduct that your organisation's policies require you to report, say so in the meeting rather than acting silently afterwards. Check your organisation's own guidance for what those obligations are.
Questions to ask
- What is the best part of working on this team right now, and the worst?
- If you were your manager for a month, what would you change first?
- What is something the leadership team seems to believe that you think is wrong?
- What decision from above did not make sense to you, and did anyone explain it?
- What do you spend time on that you think nobody values?
- Is there anything you would want me to know that you would not raise with your manager?
- What would you need to do your best work here next year?
- What should I be asking that I have not?
Common mistakes
- Turning it into a status update on the team member's project. You can get that from the direct manager.
- Solving problems in the room that belong to the direct manager. Note them, and raise the pattern, not the instance.
- Doing one round and stopping. The first skip-level is cautious; the second and third are where people say things.
- Having no follow-up. If a question could not be answered, the answer should arrive within a week.
- Taking notes that read like a personnel file. Keep them short and about themes; assume the team member could one day read them.
Example: filled-in skip-level meeting
What the template looks like once it’s been used. The organisation and people are made up.
Skip-level notes, Helena Marsh and Diego Alvarez
Senior manager: Helena Marsh, VP of Product
Team member: Diego Alvarez, Product Designer
Direct manager: Anna Kowalski, Design Lead
Date: Thursday 15 October 2026
Location: Meeting room 3, then coffee
Cadence: Half-yearly
Previous skip-level: April 2026
1. Purpose and ground rules
Helena explained the meeting is not an evaluation and not about Diego's current project, and that nothing would be passed to Anna without agreeing it at the end. Diego said he remembered this from April.
2. About the person
Diego has been a product designer on the onboarding team for two years, the last eight months on the new-customer setup flow. Previously at an agency.
3. How the work is going
Satisfying: the setup-flow redesign has shipped in stages and Diego can see the completion rate moving, which he did not get at the agency.
Frustrating: research is being squeezed. The last two rounds of user interviews were cut to make a release date, and the team then argued about things the interviews would have settled.
4. The team and the manager
Diego described the team as collaborative and said Anna gives good design feedback and protects the team's time well. He feels decisions about scope are made between the product manager and engineering lead before design is involved, so design is often reacting.
Helena noted this is the third time the design-involved-late theme has come up across the product group this half.
5. The wider organisation
Diego said the quarterly strategy update is clear on what but not on why. He gave the example of the enterprise push announced in September: the team understood the target but not what it meant for the onboarding roadmap. Helena acknowledged the update had been thin on reasoning.
6. Questions for the senior manager
Is design going to get a head of design, or stay under product? Helena: no decision yet; it is being discussed for the next planning cycle and she will say when there is something to say.
Is there budget for a research tool subscription the team has asked for? Helena did not know and will find out.
7. Career and interests
Diego is interested in moving towards a lead role in a year or two, and is more interested in research-heavy work than in visual design. Helena mentioned the platform team will be looking for a designer with research strength next year and suggested Diego raise this with Anna in his next one-on-one.
8. What goes back to the direct manager
To share, agreed by Diego: that he is interested in a research-heavy lead path and that Helena suggested he raise it. Also the research-being-cut concern, as a theme, without the specific examples.
Not to share: Diego's comment about scope decisions being made before design is involved. Helena will raise this as a product-group pattern with all three leads, not as Diego's observation.
Action items
| No. | Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Find out whether the research tool subscription is in the Q1 budget and tell Diego | Helena Marsh | 22 October 2026 |
| 2 | Add a why section to the next quarterly strategy update | Helena Marsh | Next update, December 2026 |
| 3 | Raise the design-involved-late pattern with the product, engineering and design leads as a group | Helena Marsh | 30 October 2026 |
| 4 | Mention the research-lead interest to Anna, as agreed | Helena Marsh | 20 October 2026 |
Tips for skip-level meeting
- Say the ground rules every time, even with someone you have met before. Note that you did.
- Ask the direct manager beforehand if there is anything you should know, but do not let them set the agenda.
- Take few notes during the meeting and write them up straight after. A senior manager typing while someone talks about their manager is not a comfortable sight.
- Agree out loud what goes back, and write it down in front of them. The section in the template is there to force this.
- Read all your skip-level notes for a team together before acting on any one of them.
- Close the loop on every question you could not answer, within a week, by message if not in person.
Related templates
- One-on-one meeting template — A running record for the regular manager and report conversation: priorities, support needed, feedback and growth.
- Team meeting minutes template — The weekly meeting of one team: last week's numbers, blockers, decisions and this week's priorities.
- All-hands meeting template — The whole-company update or town hall: numbers, spotlights, new joiners, and a record of what was asked and answered.
- 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.
- 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 is a skip level meeting?
A meeting between a manager's manager and someone who reports to that manager, without the manager present. Its purpose is to give the senior manager a direct view of how the team is working and to give the team member access to someone above their manager. It is not a performance conversation and does not replace the one-on-one.
What questions should I ask in a skip level meeting?
Open questions about how the work and the team are going, what the person would change, what decisions from above did not make sense, and what they need to do their best work. Avoid questions about their current project status or their manager's performance directly; the themes will come out without asking.
How often should skip level meetings happen?
Quarterly or half-yearly per person is common for a senior manager with a group of 20 to 60 people; more often than that and they become a second one-on-one. The important thing is that they recur. The first meeting is usually careful; people say more once they have seen that the first one led to nothing bad.
Should I tell my manager what I said in a skip level?
That is up to you. A well-run skip-level ends with the senior manager agreeing with you what, if anything, they will pass on. If you want your manager to hear something, say so and it can be shared with attribution; if you do not, say that too. If the senior manager does not raise this, ask.
Should a skip level meeting be recorded with an AI note taker?
Generally not. The meeting works because the team member is speaking candidly about their team and manager, and a recording undermines that. If notes are needed, the senior manager writes a few lines afterwards about themes and actions. If a recording is ever used, it should be with explicit agreement and deleted once the notes are written.