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Discussion on: What do you talk about during your one-on-one meetings with your engineering (or other) manager?

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Jess Lee

I think this really depends on the manager. My 1:1s tend to be more personal, where I want to know about your general well-being, both at work and at home. This is also the time where I'm trying to figure out what each individual needs: how we can be more supportive, facilitate effective communication, and eliminate bottlenecks. These are pretty typical questions I'll ask:

  • How are you feeling?
  • If they're not jumping into discussion immediately, more specifically, how are you feeling about a specific project/task?
  • What can I do to be helpful to you?
  • If nothing comes to mind, more specifically, are you blocked on anything?
  • How do you feel about the xyz change we implemented?

We all work out of one room so there isn't much 'water cooler' time. I view 1:1s as an opportunity to catch up and don't really expect anyone to be 'prepared' with anything.