One-on-One Prep Skill

The 1:1 is the highest-leverage meeting you have — and it's wasted when it defaults to status (which belongs in writing). This skill preps an agenda built around the outcomes you want: the decisions to unblock, the asks to make, the feedback to exchange, and the career threads to keep warm — so 30 minutes moves things instead of just reporting them.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• Direction — prepping for a 1:1 with your manager (managing up) or with your report (managing down)? The agenda differs.
• What's on your mind — blockers, decisions, tensions, wins, career topics (rough notes are fine).
• Anything time-sensitive or any hard thing you've been avoiding raising.
• Last 1:1's follow-ups, if any.

Output Format

1:1 Prep — with [name], [date]

1. Top topics (most important first) — for each: the topic, the outcome you want, and the framing. Lead with what needs a decision or unblock, not updates.

Topic	Outcome I want	How I'll frame it

2. Asks — explicit requests (a decision, air cover, a connection, time). Naming the ask is the point of the meeting.

3. Status — kept brief — 2–3 bullets of what they genuinely need to know; link the rest. Don't let this eat the meeting.

4. Feedback (both ways) — feedback to give (specific, kind, actionable) and a prompt to ask for feedback on yourself.

5. Growth / career — the longer-game thread to keep warm (a stretch goal, a development area, a promotion track).

6. Follow-ups — from last time, and what you'll commit to from this one.

Direction note: managing up → lead with decisions you need and asks; surface risks early; make it easy to help you. Managing down → lead with their agenda and growth, listen more than you talk, end with clear next steps.