This free one-on-one meeting checklist is for managers, team leads and the HR teams who support them. One run is one one-to-one between a manager and a direct report, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The employee adds their topics first and both of you prepare. The meeting starts with how they are and their agenda, then covers progress against goals, blockers and the support needed, feedback both ways, development and career, and the actions agreed. Afterwards the notes are shared and confirmed, actions are followed up, anything escalated is checked and open actions carry into the next agenda. The meeting type adds prompts for a first one-to-one, a quarterly goals review or a check-in after a difficult period.
A one-to-one is a manager’s regular, private conversation with one person who reports to them. It belongs to the employee as much as the manager: their topics come first, and most of the time goes on what they need to do good work. It is not a status meeting, and it is not a performance review. Ratings and formal decisions happen elsewhere, but a steady run of one-to-ones means nothing in the annual review comes as a surprise.
This checklist runs one meeting, from the employee adding their topics to the actions being done, and is built to run again on the same rhythm. A new manager’s first round of one-to-ones is part of the New Manager Onboarding Checklist; after that, this is the meeting that keeps going. Two other checklists cover the formal side of managing performance.
Asks: how is the employee, what do they need, and what happens next?
When: weekly, fortnightly or monthly, for as long as you manage them.
Output: shared notes the employee has confirmed, and a short list of actions with owners and dates.
Asks: how did the period go against the goals, and what is the overall assessment?
When: on the review cycle, in the Employee Performance Review Checklist.
Output: a formal review, signed and filed, with goals for the next period.
Asks: can a specific capability gap be closed in a set time, with support?
When: after the gap has been raised in one-to-ones and a review, in the PIP Process Checklist.
Output: a written plan, documented check-ins and an outcome.
Seven phases follow one one-to-one, from setting it up to the follow-up. The meeting type adds the tasks for a first one-to-one, a quarterly goals review or a check-in after a difficult period. A development request or a wellbeing or conduct concern adds its own tasks, and the employee confirms the notes and actions before the follow-up can be completed.
The manager sets up each one-to-one. Answer the meeting type and the meeting date first: the type decides which prompts appear, and every later due date counts from the meeting.
The employee adds their topics before the manager adds theirs. It is their meeting as much as the manager’s, so the agenda starts with what is on their mind.
Prepare once the employee has added their topics. The tasks for a first one-to-one, a quarterly goals review or a check-in after a difficult period appear only for that kind of meeting.
Start with how the employee is, then their topics. If a wellbeing or conduct concern comes up, the next task appears: follow your organisation’s policy and involve HR. This checklist records what you did; it is not legal or medical advice.
Goals, blockers, feedback both ways and development, in that order. A quarterly goals review and a development request each add a task here.
Agree the actions before the meeting ends. The employee confirms the notes and actions, and nothing after that confirmation can be completed until they have.
Actions only count when they happen. Anything escalated is followed up, and open actions go to the top of the next agenda.
The meeting type you choose on the first task changes the prompts and adds the matching tasks. These are practical starting points, not rules: adapt them to the person and the team. The first column matches the choices in the checklist.
| Type of one-to-one | When to use it | Spend most of the time on | Questions that help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Every week, fortnight or month, as agreed | The employee’s topics, then progress, blockers and actions | “What is on your mind?” “What is getting in your way?” “What could I do differently?” |
| First one-to-one with a new report | In the first week or two with a new starter, or when you take over a team | Getting to know each other and agreeing how your one-to-ones will work | “What do you enjoy?” “How do you like to get feedback?” “What did your last manager do that helped?” |
| Quarterly goals review | Once a quarter, in place of a regular one-to-one | Each goal’s results, what to stop or change, and the next quarter’s priorities | “What are you most pleased with?” “What would you drop?” “What does done look like next quarter?” |
| Check-in after a difficult period | After leave, illness, a bereavement, a hard project or a change in the team | How they are and what would help; goals can wait | “How are you, really?” “What would help right now?” “What, if anything, should the team know?” |
In person or remote. In person, book a room where you cannot be overheard. Remote, put the link in the invitation, find somewhere private and ask directly how someone is, because it is harder to tell on a call.
When a concern comes up. Whatever the type, a wellbeing or conduct concern goes to HR under your organisation’s policy the same day. The one-to-one is where it is heard, not where it is investigated.
A weekly, fortnightly or monthly recurring schedule starts each one-to-one from the template, and naming the manager and the employee on the first task assigns every task to the right person. Due dates count from the meeting, so the employee’s preparation is due two days before it and the notes a day after. One-to-ones still open show on the Reports Grid, and overdue alerts go to the people assigned.
One answer on the first task shows the tasks for a first one-to-one, a quarterly goals review or a check-in after a difficult period. A development request adds a task to record it and a follow-up, and a wellbeing or conduct concern adds a task to involve HR the same day and a check a few days later.
The actions sit in a table with an owner and a date for each. The employee confirms the notes, and nothing after that step can be completed until they do. Each meeting is its own checklist, so the history is there when the review comes round.
CheckFlow does not record or transcribe the meeting, and it does not judge how it went. That stays with the two people in the room. It makes sure the meeting happens, that the employee’s topics come first, that every action has an owner and that anything escalated is followed up. HR checklist software shows how one-to-ones, reviews and development plans run from templates across a team.
Hold a first one-to-one with every new direct report in the New Manager Onboarding Checklist, turn a development request into a plan with the Employee Development Plan Checklist, and bring the year together in the Employee Performance Review Checklist or, for a distributed team, the Remote Performance Review Checklist. If a performance gap needs a formal plan, the PIP Process Checklist starts from the evidence your one-to-ones have built up.
Employee Performance Review Checklist
New Manager Onboarding Checklist
Employee Development Plan Checklist
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Process Checklist
Remote Performance Review Checklist
Describe the process in a sentence and the AI checklist generator drafts the phases and tasks for you.
A regular, private meeting between a manager and one person who reports to them, usually called a one-to-one in the UK. The employee brings their topics first; then the two of you cover how they are, progress against goals, what is in the way, feedback both ways and development, and agree a short list of actions. It is not a status update or a performance review, though it feeds both.
Weekly or fortnightly suits most teams, and monthly can work for experienced people who work independently. What matters more is that the meeting happens: move it rather than cancel it. A new report, someone in a new role or someone going through a difficult period often needs more frequent meetings for a while. Agree the rhythm together in the first one-to-one and change it if it stops working for either of you.
Around 30 minutes is a common length for a weekly meeting, and 45 to 60 minutes for a fortnightly or monthly one or a quarterly goals review. Book enough time to get through the employee’s topics without rushing. If you regularly run out of time, meet more often rather than for longer.
The employee goes first. They add their topics to a shared agenda a couple of days before the meeting, and the manager adds theirs afterwards, at the end. The manager still prepares: last meeting’s actions, progress against goals, the workload and any feedback to give. If the employee has nothing to add, open questions about their work, their workload and what they need usually bring the topics out.
Open questions the employee can take where they need to: How are things, really? What is on your mind this week? What is getting in your way? What could I do differently to help? What would you like to learn or try next? Is anything coming up I should know about? Ask one at a time and listen to the whole answer. The table above suggests questions for each type of one-to-one.
Listen, thank the employee for telling you and follow your organisation’s policy, which usually means involving HR the same day. Point them to the support your organisation offers, such as occupational health or an employee assistance programme. Do not investigate a conduct concern yourself, and do not promise to keep it confidential if your policy says you must pass it on. If anyone is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services. This is not legal or medical advice.
Yes. Keep one set of notes you can both see, write them up within a working day and ask the employee to confirm them. A short, factual record of the topics, decisions and actions is enough; personal detail the employee shares does not need to go in unless your policy requires it. Notes both people have confirmed also make the performance review easier, because the evidence is already there.
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