Conducting a 1:1 Meeting: Agendas, Best Practices, & Tools

You’re in a 1:1 meeting, and things are not going smoothly. Whether stumbling through career goals or racing against the clock to cover essential updates, the outcome is the same: a lack of clarity and missed opportunities. We’ve all been in those meetings—awkward, unproductive conversations that leave everyone uncertain about the next steps. Confusion only escalates.

The good news? With the proper preparation and tools, like a clear agenda and a focus on outcomes, you can transform every 1:1 meeting into a productive, meaningful interaction. Discover how to prepare for, conduct, and review 1:1 meetings at your company. 

Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and Radical Respect, calls 1:1 meetings “the most important thing you do as a manager” in her post about the value of 1:1 meetings in becoming a better manager.

Regular one-on-one meetings are a fantastic tool to build your team’s culture, whether it’s onsite, remote, or distributed. They’re valuable for checking in on workloads, upcoming projects, and employee engagement.  Additionally, frequent communication with employees builds trust by giving employees opportunities to feel heard and valued. This increased trust strengthens work relationships, improving employee performance. 

To experience these benefits, you need to prepare thoroughly. Putting in extra work before the meeting will ensure it goes smoothly and you achieve your goals. 

Set goals and expectations

Before suggesting a meeting, clearly explain why you want to meet. What type of 1:1 meeting is this? Why is it necessary? What is the desired outcome? Knowing this will help you decide the format of your 1:1 meeting and what materials you need to prepare. 

Once you have answered these questions, request a meeting. Set expectations upfront to ensure you’re both on the same page. By preparing for the meeting and communicating clearly, you signal that it will be valuable for everyone, which builds trust.

An effective way to communicate your 1:1 meeting goals and expectations is to record and share a Loom video. Use Loom’s screen recorder to share data ahead of time and add annotations to call out critical information. Get advance feedback and comments so you can prepare your talking points. Here’s a quick example from the Loom support team.

Loom lets you quickly and clearly outline everything so there's no confusion about the meeting's purpose and goals. 

Get it on the calendar

It may seem obvious, but once a coworker has agreed to your 1:1 meeting, ensure you both have dedicated time for it. Work together to find a time that suits you both. Avoid scheduling your one-on-one meeting directly before or after another event, if you can. This prevents people from being late if their previous meeting runs long or from having to leave early for their next appointment.

Once you’ve aligned on the date and time, send a calendar invite to hold that space for both of you. You can use a calendar scheduling app like Calendly to combine these steps. Loom's Calendly integration lets someone schedule a meeting straight from your pre-meeting video, minimizing the risk of rescheduling or canceling.

Create an agenda

Use a comprehensive agenda to lay out your goals for the 1:1 meeting and ensure it stays on track. Start by stating your objectives. Then, lay out the items you plan to discuss. You can use a traditional outline for your agenda template or group similar topics by timeline, subject, or area of responsibility. 

You can also use an Awareness, Advice, and Action agenda framework. Divide talking points into information you’re sharing for awareness, roadblocks for which you need advice, and action items for both of you.

As you create your agenda, note how long each topic or section should take. That will help you keep the one-on-one meeting on track and within the allotted time frame. If an item has supporting documentation, note that on the agenda, too. 

To make your agenda stand out, try creating a video agenda with Loom like the one below. It’s faster, allows you to go into more detail, and presents the information memorably. As a bonus, you can use Loom’s Engagement Insights to confirm the other person watched your video. 

Send the agenda to the other party well before the meeting. You want to give them enough time to review the agenda and share suggestions or questions. They can do this directly on your Loom video, eliminating back-and-forth messages and keeping key information in one place. It also allows you to answer questions in advance or adjust your agenda to include them. Getting on the same page about the agenda ahead of time will make your one-on-one meeting even more productive.  

Once you’ve done your legwork, it’s time to focus on the meeting itself. Going in with an open, collaborative mindset will ensure both participants get the most out of it.

Create a positive environment

Pick a quiet location for in-person meetings with good lighting and plenty of table space for laptops, notebooks, and drinks. Test your setup in advance for virtual meetings so you won’t have to fumble with technology during one-on-one meetings. 

The best 1:1 meetings foster open communication. Start the meeting with a few minutes of personal conversation to break the ice and build rapport. As you progress, keep the conversation flowing. Refer to the agenda if the meeting stalls and invite input frequently so the other person feels valued. Doing this will also improve employee engagement and help build a high-performing team.

Promote active listening

Your 1:1 meeting is much more likely to achieve its objectives if you actively listen. Active listening ensures both parties hear and understand what the other is saying, removing any doubt when the meeting ends.

Both participants should have time to discuss the material. Ask open-ended questions, encourage insights often, and pause to check if you’ve been speaking alone. Clarify information as necessary and address any concerns the other person shares. 

Taking accurate meeting notes is essential, but don’t let it prevent active listening. You don’t need to write down everything—only the most critical points and action items. If you spend too much time writing, you won’t be able to participate in the meeting, and the conversation will stall. 

One trick is to use Loom to organize your meeting notes so you can stay focused on the conversation. Loom generates a full transcript so both of you have the information you discussed whenever you need it. 

Solidify next steps and action items

As you wrap up your 1:1 meeting, ensure that both parties are clear on what needs to happen next. Align on tasks, timelines, and areas of responsibility. Doing this will set you up for a successful final phase of your one-on-one meeting.

Even though the meeting itself is over, your work isn’t. Proactive follow-up holds everyone accountable and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. After the one-on-one meeting ends, send a recap outlining major takeaways and reiterating the next steps and due dates. You can send a Loom recording for quick and easy follow-up, like in this clip below.

If your next 1:1 meeting isn’t for several weeks, or you or your coworker are working on something important or complex, status updates can be super helpful. Loom is a perfect tool for essential updates. 

Recording a video is much faster than creating a document with the same information, and it frees up time to finish your assignments.

If you follow these steps before, during, and after your 1:1 meeting, you’ll be off to a solid start. You might be looking for a little more if you were a gold-star student, though. Avoiding the following mistakes can help your meetings go from just OK to an A+ experience.

Unnecessary meetings

“This meeting could’ve been an email” is such a common meme that you can find it on mugs, blue ribbons, and even candles. Sarcastic tchotchkes aside, no one wants to waste their time in unnecessary meetings. Before scheduling your 1:1 meeting, ask yourself if a face-to-face meeting is necessary to meet your goals. Here’s a quick overview from Loom on deciding whether to hop on Zoom, send a Loom video, or send a chat message.

Dominating the conversation

A 1:1 meeting shouldn’t be one-sided. Involve the other person as a partner at every step, regardless of your respective positions within the company. Have them contribute to the meeting agenda and encourage participation throughout the meeting. Keep each other updated afterward. Asana and other project management tools are handy ways to get real-time updates on each other’s projects.

Negative criticism will kill collaboration, especially during sensitive meetings like performance reviews. Share constructive feedback and offer clear, actionable advice for improvement. If the other person has done well, celebrate them. A fun way to do it is with Loom messaging. One celebratory Loom video is worth a thousand emails.

Not respecting the other person’s time

Your colleague is busy, so keep that top of mind as you plan for your one-to-one meeting. Prep thoroughly, but don’t create an agenda so dense it feels like homework. A Loom video is a great way to package the same information in a five-minute bundle. Stick to your agenda during the meeting so you don’t run over time, and use Loom for asynchronous status updates afterward to avoid unnecessary check-in meetings.

Under or over-scheduling meetings

One-on-one conversations benefit anyone you work with regularly, even if they’re not your direct supervisor or report. You might meet biweekly with a team member who’s two steps up or down. You may even meet quarterly with the head of a department you collaborate with frequently. 

Still, just because you and your manager or direct report have time blocked off every week doesn’t mean you need weekly meetings. If you start building your one-on-one meeting agenda and see it’s pretty thin, offer to send a quick Loom recording with necessary updates. This lets you push less time-sensitive things to your next meeting.

With these steps, you’ll achieve your 1:1 meeting objectives and improve your work environment. Use tools like Loom that save time and improve communication. Prepare thoroughly before, keep communication open during, and execute diligent follow-up after. If you approach your 1:1 meetings as a true collaboration between partners, you’re sure to find success. 

Record, share, and track your meetings more effectively. Enhance your 1:1 meetings with Loom.