Template
First 1:1 with a new team member template
Before any work is discussed: how they like to work, what they want from you, and what a good first month looks like.
The agenda, with a time for each part
- How you like to work7 min
- When do you do your best work?
- What do you need to be left alone to do?
- What you want from a manager6 min
- Tell me about the best manager you had. What did they do?
- How you like to hear feedback5 min
- In the moment or later? In writing or out loud?
- What a good first month looks like8 min
- What do you want to have done by the end of it?
- What would make you think you made the wrong choice?
- How we will keep in touch4 min
- What is the fastest way to reach you when it matters?
How the notes read afterwards
A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.
How she works. Best in the morning; prefers written questions she can think about.
Feedback. Straight away, in private, with an example.
First month. Ship one small thing to customers and meet everybody on the team one to one.
Running it well
- Answer the same questions yourself. They are learning how you work too.
- Write down what they say about feedback, and read it again before your first hard conversation.
Ways to change it
When to skip it. Never. It is the one meeting whose absence people remember a year later.
Questions
What should you ask in a first 1:1?
How they like to work, what they want from a manager, how they like feedback, and what would make their first month a good one.
When should the first 1:1 happen?
In the first week — before you give them their first piece of work, if you can.
What happens in the room
Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.
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