How Good Are Your
1:1 Meetings?
Most managers run 1:1s on autopilot. This scorecard helps you see what's actually working and what's quietly failing.
10 questions across 5 dimensions. Takes about 4 minutes.
What makes a great 1:1?
Research from companies like Google (Project Oxygen), Gallup, and management thinkers like Andy Grove, Kim Scott, and Michael Bungay Stanier converge on the same idea: the best 1:1s aren't status updates. They're the single most important tool a manager has for building trust, surfacing problems early, and developing people.
Structure & Consistency
Do your 1:1s happen reliably and with intention?
Depth of Conversation
Do you go beyond surface-level status updates?
Growth & Development
Do your 1:1s help people grow, not just perform?
Follow-Through
Do things discussed actually lead to action?
No signup required. Your answers stay in your browser.
Your 1:1 Meeting Score
Five Dimensions
How your 1:1s score across each area.
What you're doing well
Keep doing this
Your biggest opportunity
Try this in your next 1:1
Anti-Patterns to Watch For
Based on your answers, here are traps you might be falling into.
What the Research Says
Andy Grove (former Intel CEO) called the 1:1 "the most important tool a manager has." He argued it should be the direct report's meeting, not the manager's — a time for them to raise what matters, not for you to check status.
Google's Project Oxygen found that the best managers have regular 1:1s and are good coaches in those conversations — not taskmasters. The number one differentiator wasn't technical skill but the quality of the human connection in these meetings.
Gallup found that employees whose managers hold regular 1:1s are 3x more likely to be engaged at work. But frequency alone doesn't help — it's the quality of the conversation that matters. A bad weekly 1:1 is worse than no 1:1 at all, because it signals that the meeting is an obligation, not a priority.
Kim Scott (Radical Candor) emphasizes that the 1:1 is where you "care personally" — the meeting where you learn what motivates someone, what they're struggling with, and where they want to go. The worst thing you can do is turn it into a project status meeting. You have Slack for that.
Quick Wins for Each Dimension
Practical changes you can make starting with your next 1:1.
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Knowing is one thing.
Practicing is another.
Your 1:1 scorecard revealed patterns. Voohy's simulators let you practice the conversations that matter most — giving tough feedback, coaching through a problem, handling pushback — with AI that responds like a real person.
Try a Free SimulationFree to start. No credit card required.