Running 1-on-1s That Aren't Status Updates

Most 1-on-1s are status meetings wearing a calendar invite. Both people leave having learned nothing they could not have read in Slack.

The problem is structure, not effort. When the agenda is whatever happened this week, the report performs progress and the manager nods, and the actual blockers, doubts, and growth conversations never surface. The fix starts before the meeting: get status out of the room so the time is free for the things that only happen face to face.

This course gives you a repeatable shape for the conversation. You move updates to an async pre-read, let your report set the agenda first, and run a middle third where the real work gets done. You learn to make growth a normal topic instead of a once-a-year review, reset a relationship that has gone cold without the awkward speech, and keep commitments alive between meetings so nothing quietly dies.

Who it's for

New managers: inherited a recurring 1-on-1 and want a structure that does more than recap the week.

Experienced leads: sense their 1-on-1s have flattened into status check-ins and want to make them matter again.

Founders: are scaling a team and need every direct report meeting to build trust and momentum, not just tracking.