One-on-one meeting template: what to cover, with an example

What to cover in a one-on-one

The one-on-one is the employee's time more than the manager's: a place to bring up what matters to them. Status updates fit better in the team meeting or in a message.

1. Action items from last time: what each of you said you'd do, done or not.
2. Wins: what went well since the last one, big or small.
3. Priorities: the two or three things that matter most until the next one-on-one.
4. Blockers: what's slowing them down and what the manager can do about it.
5. Feedback both ways: one specific thing from the manager, and a real question back, like "what should I do differently?"
6. Growth: skills to build, projects they'd like, where they want to be in a year. It doesn't have to come up every time; put it on the agenda at least once a month.
7. Action items for both: what the employee will do and what the manager will do, each with a date.

Template to copy

ONE-ON-ONE

Employee:                                    Manager: 
Date:                  Time:                 Place or link: 

1. ACTION ITEMS FROM LAST TIME
- Item:                          Who:                  Done? 
- Item:                          Who:                  Done? 

2. WINS SINCE LAST TIME
- 
- 

3. PRIORITIES UNTIL THE NEXT ONE-ON-ONE
1. 
2. 
3. 

4. BLOCKERS
- What's in the way: 
  Who can help: 

5. FEEDBACK
From the manager: 
For the manager: 

6. GROWTH (at least once a month)
- 

7. ACTION ITEMS
Employee
- What:                                      By: 
Manager
- What:                                      By: 

NEXT ONE-ON-ONE: 

A full example

ONE-ON-ONE

Employee: Diego Fernández (content writer)    Manager: Rachel Moore
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026     Time: 10:00 am     Place or link: Google Meet

1. ACTION ITEMS FROM LAST TIME
- Item: send the October content calendar    Who: Diego     Done? Yes
- Item: ask design for two more days         Who: Rachel    Done? Yes, approved

2. WINS SINCE LAST TIME
- The pricing guide went live on Monday.
- Diego ran a customer interview on his own for the first time.

3. PRIORITIES UNTIL THE NEXT ONE-ON-ONE
1. Finish the Andina Supply case study.
2. Write the November newsletter.

4. BLOCKERS
- What's in the way: the case study needs numbers from sales, and they
  haven't answered in a week.
  Who can help: Rachel talks to the head of sales today.

5. FEEDBACK
From the manager: the interview questions were sharp. Next time, send the
draft a day earlier so there's time to review it.
For the manager: Diego would like feedback on drafts within two days,
not at the end of the week.

6. GROWTH
- Diego wants to learn SEO. In November he'll do the keyword research for
  one guide, with help from Ana.

7. ACTION ITEMS
Diego
- What: send the case study draft            By: Wednesday, October 21
- What: pick the guide for keyword research  By: Friday, October 16
Rachel
- What: get the numbers from sales           By: Thursday, October 15
- What: review drafts within two workdays    By: from now on

NEXT ONE-ON-ONE: Wednesday, October 21, 10:00 am

If you're the manager

• Let them go first. Start with their topics; yours go at the end.
• Move it, don't cancel it. If you cancel often, the person learns that their topics can wait.
• Ask what you could do better, and write down the answer. If the answer is always "nothing", ask something more specific: "what slowed you down this week that I could have fixed?"
• Do your action items before the next one. The employee will notice whether yours get done.

If you're the employee

• Bring your own list. Add topics to the shared document during the week, as they come up.
• Lead with what you need: a decision, help with a blocker, or feedback on something specific.
• Say what you'd like to grow into. Your manager can't help with a goal they don't know about.
• Write down your action items before the call ends, and read them back so you both agree on the dates.

How often to have them

A common rhythm is weekly or every two weeks, on the same day and at the same time, for about 30 minutes. Weekly helps with someone new or during a busy stretch. If you have to skip one, move it to another day instead of dropping it.

Private notes and shared notes

Keep two kinds of notes:

• The shared document, which both of you can see and edit: the agenda, the action items and anything you agreed on.
• The manager's private notes, for reminders like a topic to bring up next time. Write them as if the employee could read them: facts and specifics, no labels, and nothing about their private life. If you'd be uncomfortable showing them a line, rewrite it.

Anything about performance problems or HR matters follows your company's process.

In Word, Google Docs or OneNote

• Word or Google Docs: keep one document per person, with the newest one-on-one at the top. The whole history stays in one place.
• OneNote: one section per person and one page per one-on-one. Paste the template into a new page each time.

If you dictate with Loro while you're online, it writes in paragraphs in the Word and OneNote apps and in Google Docs, and when you list three or more things, it makes a list with dashes.

How Loro helps if the one-on-one is a video call

A one-on-one is a private conversation, so ask before you take notes with any app: "Mind if Loro takes notes? It doesn't join the call and the audio isn't stored." If they'd rather not, don't. Asking is the right thing to do and, in many places, what the law asks.

1. Download Loro for free for Windows or Mac.
2. When the call starts (Meet, Zoom, Teams, Slack or WhatsApp), click Take notes when Loro asks. It doesn't add a bot.
3. When you hang up, Loro writes the note: the topics and each person's next steps. You add yours to your To-do with one click.
4. To get it in this format, type in the note's question bar "fill in the one-on-one template with wins, priorities, blockers, feedback, growth and action items for each of us". Read it before you paste it into the shared document, and leave out anything that was said in confidence.

If the one-on-one was in person, dictate the action items right after: open the document, hold Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac) and say them. For example, you say: "um, Rachel gets the numbers from sales by Thursday, uh, and I send the draft by Wednesday". Loro types: "Rachel gets the numbers from sales by Thursday, and I send the draft by Wednesday."

More on how the notes work: AI meeting notes without a bot.