What do you usually discuss in 1:1s with your manager?

I take (and sometimes give) feedback. Ask follow-ups to understand feedback. Note down all the useful points received in a doc and share it with my manager. This running doc is useful at the time of appraisals and promotions. Many times, I also discuss proposals and suggestions to improve the team. I note these down in yhe same doc too. Sometimes, I ask for help to resolve alignment issues with other teams (or rarely someone inside the team).

Use 1:1s for your own growth and then for the team's growth and then lastly to meet your work objectives. Your manager should become a tool in your tool box that you can rely on as you grow in your career.

I am a manager and have 1:1s twice a month. We discuss the following:

1. Team health
2. Project update
3. Personal development

Someone asked this in another post, here was my response there.

A good manager should know what kind of person you are, and then tailor the 1:1 accordingly. Having said that, a good employee should also be proactive in letting the manager know what works for them and what doesn't.

Here's what an ideal regular 1:1 looks to me (been practicing for a while as well)

• first 5-10 minutes on updates from personal life, that each other should know about
• next 5-10 minutes on action items from the last 1:1
• next 10-15 minutes on where you can go from here

The last part is where I sometimes get up and close, and ask some very pressing questions, some of which are:

• what's the 1 thing I've done since the last 1:1 that you didn't like (or that I can improve on)
• what's the 1 major accomplishment or improvement that you've seen from the last 1:1
• what's the 1 thing I can do (as an employee) to improve/help your work as a manager

If none of these work for you, the best alternative would be to talk about the biz world, and what you can incorporate in your work/product/service.

Hope this helps! :)

My last two bosses used to hate 1:1, tried all excuses to avoid them.

"If you have any questions, just mail them over"

Boss prior these, would keeping on talking for an hour, then say I have a meeting - hop off

1. What i did last week
2. What i will do this week
3. Any larger roadmap/strategy related doubts
4. Any issue which i need his help to unblock