One-on-one Meeting Template

It’s no secret that the average corporate employee dreads 1-on-1 meetings — and that includes both managers and their direct reports. However, when done well, 1-on-1 meetings can transform how your team works. A great place to start improving your employee coaching is to use a 1 on 1 meeting with a manager template that outlines the key steps of an effective and actionable meeting.

One-on-one employee coaching plan templates often fail to engage team members due to a lack of clear structure, goals, and visibility, as well as inconsistent (or non-existent) follow-up. The best way to leverage a 1-on-1 coaching template is to streamline communication in a central workspace. 

What is a 1-on-1 meeting template?

A 1-on-1 meeting template is a central place for managers and their direct reports to keep a record of 1-on-1 conversations and communications about shared objectives. Ideally, the template is housed in a dynamic canvas, not just a document. More than a meeting agenda, this template is an active resource where team members stay organized and aligned around collective goals by sharing, tracking, and collaborating in one space.

These meeting templates strengthen employee-manager relationships and promote the overall success of the organization by:

• Improving team communication and engagement
• Driving accountability and progress tracking
• Streamlining meeting preparation and follow-up
• Aligning team objectives with organizational goals
• Fostering continuous improvement and feedback
• Increasing employee retention and satisfaction

Without a 1-on-1 meeting template, teams often become disorganized, disjointed in their efforts, and even create redundancies in communication that lead to wasted time and resources. For example, without a central place for 1-on-1 meeting resources, the work documented in a team’s project management software will be disconnected from individual professional development objectives documented in a separate HR platform. 

In this case, it doesn’t take long before your employee is frustrated because they cannot see clear progress toward their individual goals despite their strong performance. And, as their manager, you might be frustrated because you don’t see them aligning their work with their goals. 

However, you can avoid this frustration by facilitating 1-on-1 meetings in a central workspace, where you can facilitate better visibility and clearly tie organizational goals and performance to professional development goals.

Topics for your 1-on-1 meeting template

There are a few key elements you should include in your 1-on-1 meeting template to keep your team engaged and aligned in their efforts. Broadly, these items fall into three categories:

• Development resources: Share goals, priorities, and notes
• Objectives and key results (OKRs): Align around what is most important and measure your progress toward success
• Meeting prep reminders: Help everyone come prepared to each meeting with a list of key discussion topics

Each of these 1-on-1 meeting template categories should be tailored to the unique needs of you and your team. However, some key items you should consider including are:

• Meeting agendas and notes, including pending action items
• Professional development plans
• Individual career goals
• Quarterly progress against OKRs
• Meeting reminders, sent with an action item list ahead of each meeting through a workflow automation
• Status reports
• FAQs
• Searchable 1-on-1 messages and file history

Collectively, these elements connect managers and their direct reports, facilitating discussion, promoting visibility, and building trust so teams can work more effectively. Whatever you choose to include in your template, it’s important to gather it in a team canvas where information can easily be found and updated in real time.

The transformative power of a 1-on-1 template is found in balancing flexibility with structure in how you format it. A 1-on-1 format that’s too rigid won’t accommodate the unique needs of each team member, while a less structured format doesn’t allow for a predictable support mechanism. 

However, when you perfectly balance your template, it transforms 1-on-1s from anxiety-inducing calendar commitments into strategic collaboration sessions that both managers and employees look forward to. 

The benefits of a 1-on-1 meeting template

We’ve touched on a few of the benefits of a strong 1-on-1 meeting template, but let’s look a little closer at how it can transform your organization.

Transform employee coaching with simplified 1-on-1s

The 1-on-1 meeting template is designed to streamline the coaching process across your organization. This template offers a simple yet effective approach to fostering growth and development within your team. Standardizing the 1-on-1 meeting process ensures that every team member, regardless of their role or level, receives consistent, focused guidance that drives personal and professional growth, aligning with your company’s objectives and enhancing overall team management and planning.

Foster effective coaching and achieve real results with open conversations

At the core of this one-on-one meeting template is the creation of a space for open, honest conversations. You and your direct reports will have a private channel, encouraging constructive dialogue and making it easier to address challenges, celebrate successes, and discuss career aspirations. Open communication is crucial for effective coaching, and this template facilitates an environment where meaningful discussions can lead to actionable insights, stronger relationships, and better performance.

Shared resources for shared success

The template includes a shared resources feature, which allows for the seamless exchange of goals, priorities, and notes. This centralized repository ensures that both parties are on the same page and can track progress over time. By having all pertinent information in one place, preparation for each one-on-one meeting becomes more focused and productive, allowing for more time to discuss what truly matters, such as next steps and action items.

Structured follow-ups and accountability

Enhancing the functionality of 1-on-1 meetings, the 1 on 1 coaching template incorporates an OKR framework to help measure and manage success. This ensures that each session is goal-oriented and results-focused, with clear accountability and scheduled reminders to help everyone prepare effectively. This structured approach not only optimizes the time spent in each 1-on-1 meeting but also drives momentum and measurable outcomes from one session to the next, helping your team and employees stay aligned and on track for growth.

Third-party integrations to complement your 1-on-1 meeting template

Multiply the impact of this template by seamlessly integrating with apps your team already uses. 

Manage your calendar

Use Slack’s calendar integrations like Google Calendar and Calendly to seamlessly book a meeting, automate meeting reminders, and even join the meeting directly in Slack with Google Meet and Zoom integrations. 

Add and track tasks 

Following up on tasks from your 1-on-1 has never been so easy, with project management tool integrations that allow you to easily add, track, and report on tasks right Slack. For example, you can add a task card to a project board in Asana or update the status of a task in Jira Cloud with a simple key-stroke command in Slack.

Link to key documentation

Gone are the days of hunting through siloed wikis for the documentation you need. Now you can link all of the most important documents for quick reference right in your 1-on-1 meeting canvas. Slack integrations with tools like Notion, Loom, and Google Drive make it easy to embed instructional videos, update notes, and quickly view documentation, all from your Slack command center.

Increase collaboration 

Need a visual aid to illustrate your point but are tired of constant context-switching? No problem. Use Slack integrations to brainstorm with Miro and or share real-time design feedback in Figma, all from the same window.

Track performance

Getting a real-time report is just a click away: Track quarterly sales with Salesforce, get a pulse on marketing campaigns with HubSpot, or quickly gauge employee progress with Lattice. 

Slack’s 1-on-1 meeting template for mentors: A transformational solution

Slack’s 1-on-1 meeting template is more than a guide, it’s a complete solution for transforming professional development in your organization. This template will help teams gain consistent visibility on goals, collaborate efficiently, and establish transparent communication for accountability and productivity.