8 One on One Questions to Improve Your Management Style in 2026

One on one meetings are a critical part of your management toolkit. The quality of these conversations depends on the questions you ask. Generic check-ins produce generic answers. Strategic questions build trust, uncover challenges, and drive performance. The difference between a routine status update and a productive coaching session is the quality of the manager's question.

This list provides specific, actionable one on one questions, each with a clear purpose. You will learn how to ask them, what to listen for, and how to turn the answers into meaningful action. These questions will help you move from managing tasks to leading and developing your people. Each question is based on proven frameworks from leadership experts and research, designed to open dialogue.

The goal is to provide a practical guide. For managers looking to improve their conversations, understanding the principles behind framing questions is helpful. For a deeper understanding of creating impactful questions that guide productive dialogues, consider insights from articles on how to develop strong research questions. This resource offers foundational techniques for creating questions that yield clear, useful information.

Use this collection to prepare for your next conversation. By intentionally choosing your questions, you create a space for honest feedback, professional growth, and stronger working relationships. The right question at the right time identifies a blocker, sparks an idea, or solidifies a team member's commitment. This article will show you which questions to use and when to use them.

1. The 'What's On Your Mind?' Opening Question

The most effective one on one questions create space. This open-ended question, popularized by executive coach Michael Bungay Stanier in his book The Coaching Habit, shifts the dynamic of your meeting. It hands control of the agenda to your direct report. This signals what is important to them is important to you.

Instead of starting with your own topics, you invite the employee to surface their most pressing concerns, ideas, or challenges. This approach builds psychological safety. Google's Project Aristotle research found it was the most critical factor in high-performing teams. By consistently asking this question, you create an environment where employees feel safe to be vulnerable, share problems early, and discuss their ambitions.

Why This Question Works

This question moves your role from a directive manager to a supportive coach. It allows you to uncover hidden issues before they escalate. A team lead might find an employee is overwhelmed by conflicting priorities. A department manager might learn a top performer is feeling stagnant and considering other opportunities. This creates a chance to intervene. You get to the core of what matters without guesswork.

How to Implement It Effectively

Using this question requires more than saying the words. Your execution determines its success.

• Pause and Listen: After you ask, be comfortable with silence. Your employee needs a moment to gather their thoughts. Avoid the temptation to fill the void with your own suggestions or follow-up questions.
• Respond with Curiosity: When they share, your first response should be one of curiosity, not judgment. Use follow-up prompts like, “Tell me more about that,” or, “What’s the real challenge here for you?”
• Use it at the Beginning: This question sets the tone. Asking it at the end of a one-on-one feels like an afterthought. Make it your standard opening to build a predictable, safe routine.
• Document Their Priorities: Take note of the topics each employee consistently raises. This data reveals their motivations, anxieties, and career goals over time. This helps you become a more effective manager.

2. The SBI-Framed Observation Question

Effective feedback needs clarity and objectivity. The Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model, developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, provides a simple framework for structuring feedback. It moves conversations from subjective accusations to objective observations. Instead of telling an employee they are "disruptive," you frame the conversation around a specific event, their observable actions, and the concrete outcome.

This approach transforms confrontational feedback into a collaborative problem-solving session. By breaking down an event into these three parts, you depersonalize the issue and focus on the behavior, not the person. This structure is one of the most reliable one on one questions frameworks. It minimizes defensiveness and encourages the employee to reflect on their actions. This makes them a partner in finding a solution.

Why This Question Works

The SBI framework provides a neutral, fact-based starting point for any performance discussion. For example, a manager addresses missed deadlines clearly: "For the Q3 project (Situation), the final report was submitted three days late (Behavior). This delayed the client presentation and required the team to work overtime to catch up (Impact)." It also works for positive reinforcement: "During the client call last Tuesday (S), you remained calm and asked clarifying questions when the customer got upset (B). They renewed their contract, strengthening our partnership (I)." This specificity makes feedback actionable and easy to understand.

How to Implement It Effectively

Using the SBI model correctly builds trust and improves performance. Your goal is to create a dialogue, not deliver a monologue.

• Be Specific and Factual: Ground your feedback in observable reality. Use specific dates, project names, and direct quotes when possible. Stick to what you saw or heard, not what you inferred.
• Focus on a Single Behavior: Do not overwhelm your employee with a long list of issues. Address one distinct behavior per SBI conversation to keep the discussion focused and productive.
• Invite Their Perspective: After presenting the SBI, ask a follow-up question like, “What was your perspective on that situation?” or “How did you see it?” This opens the door for their side of the story.
• Use It for Positive Feedback Too: Consistently using SBI for positive and developmental feedback prevents your team from associating the structure solely with criticism. This builds credibility and makes tough conversations easier.

3. The Development-Focused 'What Would Help You Succeed?' Question

This forward-looking question shifts the conversation from past performance to future growth. Instead of a one-way evaluation, you signal a genuine investment in your direct report's development. By asking what support or resources they need, you position yourself as a partner in their success, not a judge of their output.

This approach aligns with research showing employees value development conversations as much as they value feedback. Insights from Gallup and Google’s Project Oxygen research confirm effective managers are those who actively coach and support their team's growth. This question directly facilitates that coaching relationship, building trust and engagement.

Why This Question Works

This question moves the focus from problems to solutions. It empowers the employee to identify their own roadblocks and ask for specific help. A new team member might reveal they need mentorship on a technical skill, leading you to arrange a pairing program. A remote employee might express feelings of isolation, prompting a plan for more connection points.

The core benefit is you uncover an employee’s needs directly from the source. A high-performer might use this opportunity to ask for greater visibility with senior leadership. This allows you to create a sponsorship plan. This proactive approach to development is a key differentiator in retaining top talent and fostering a high-performance culture.

How to Implement It Effectively

Asking the question is the first step. Creating a meaningful development plan requires skillful follow-through and a structured approach.

• Dig Deeper with Follow-Ups: Do not accept a generic answer. Ask clarifying questions like, "What specific skills would make the biggest impact?" or, "What resources are you missing right now?"
• Match Support to the Role: Distinguish between wants and needs. A request for a specific training course should align with the employee’s current role or a clear future career path within the company.
• Document and Commit: Record the agreed-upon actions and set a clear timeline. Use a framework like SMART goals to make development commitments specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• Review Progress Regularly: Do not wait for an annual review. Check in on development goals quarterly to maintain momentum and adjust the plan as needed. This demonstrates your ongoing commitment.

4. The Clarifying & Listening Questions: 'Tell Me More' and 'How Are You Really Doing?'

Good one on one questions are tools for deeper listening, not information gathering. This dual approach combines clarifying prompts with genuine inquiries about wellbeing. Asking "Tell me more" stops you from jumping to solutions. It helps you uncover the root cause of an issue. Asking "How are you really doing?" acknowledges the whole person. It creates a space to discuss life context that impacts work.

These questions are critical for remote and distributed teams where you cannot observe non-verbal cues. They build trust by showing you care about understanding the employee's full perspective. This shift from directing to understanding is central to modern leadership and is a cornerstone of effective coaching skills for managers. Mastering these questions helps you respond to the actual problem, not the surface-level symptom.

Why These Questions Work

These questions prevent common management missteps. An employee says, "I've been struggling with the new project." A manager’s instinct might be to offer solutions. By responding with, "Tell me more about that," you might learn the employee is uncertain about project requirements, not lacking the skills to do the work. This changes your response from training to providing clarity.

"How are you really doing?" uncovers significant challenges outside of work. You might learn a top performer is caring for a sick parent. This explains a recent drop in focus. This allows you to offer flexibility and support instead of assuming a performance issue. A key aspect of these questions is mastering the art of listening. This is essential for understanding and responding effectively.

How to Implement Them Effectively

Your delivery and follow-through make these questions impactful. Use these strategies to integrate them into your one on ones.

• Resist offering immediate solutions: Your primary goal is to understand. Listen completely before you suggest any next steps. This simple habit builds trust and empowers your team members to solve their own problems.
• Use variations to sound natural: Instead of repeating the same phrase, try alternatives. For "Tell me more," you can use, "Help me understand your perspective," or, "Walk me through what happened."
• Create space for silence: After you ask, especially a question like "How are you really doing?", pause. Give the employee time to decide how much they want to share. Rushing to fill the silence signals impatience.
• Know your boundaries and resources: Be prepared for personal disclosures. Understand your company's EAP, mental health benefits, and HR policies. Your role is to be a supportive manager, not a therapist. Guide employees to the correct professional resources when needed.

5. The Accountability-Focused 'What Will You Do?' Commitment Question

A one on one meeting is only as effective as the action it inspires. This question turns discussion into commitment. It ensures your conversations translate into tangible outcomes. It shifts the focus from understanding an issue to creating a concrete plan for what happens next. The goal is to get your employee to articulate their specific next steps. This increases follow-through.

This approach is grounded in principles of behavioral change. Researchers like Robert Cialdini found public commitments foster consistency. When an employee states what they will do and by when, they create personal accountability. This transforms vague intentions, which have a low completion rate, into a clear action plan with a much higher chance of success. It makes accountability a shared responsibility, not a top-down mandate.

Why This Question Works

This question bridges the gap between conversation and action. It prevents misunderstandings and ensures both you and your direct report leave the meeting with the same expectations. After a feedback conversation, ask, “So what specifically will you do differently in our team meetings?” This leads to a clear commitment. The employee might respond, “I will ask clarifying questions before critiquing, starting in tomorrow’s standup.” This creates a specific, observable behavior you support and follow up on.

How to Implement It Effectively

Proper execution makes this question a tool for accountability and growth.

• Be Specific: Push for clarity. If an employee says, “I’ll work on my communication skills,” ask a follow-up like, “What is one specific action you will take this week to do that?” The goal is to get to a measurable action.
• Define the Timeline: A commitment needs a deadline. Always ask, “By when will you have that done?” This anchors the action in time and creates a natural point for a future check-in.
• Document and Confirm: After the conversation, send a brief summary of the commitments in writing. This is done in an email or a shared document. It creates a record and reinforces the plan.
• Schedule Check-ins: Do not wait for the next formal one on one. Build in smaller checkpoints to discuss progress. A simple message like, “How is that new approach to project updates going?” shows you are engaged and supportive.

6. The Strengths-Recognition 'What Are You Proud Of?' Question

Effective one on one questions balance developmental feedback with positive reinforcement. Asking "What are you most proud of?" shifts the conversation's focus from solving problems to recognizing and celebrating successes. This approach is grounded in positive psychology and strengths-based development research from Gallup. It invites employees to articulate their accomplishments in their own words. This builds confidence and engagement.

This question creates a space for reflection and self-acknowledgment. This is critical in remote environments where day-to-day wins often go unnoticed. By prompting your direct report to voice their achievements, you validate their contributions and gain insight into what motivates them. This practice helps build a more resilient and psychologically safe team culture, where individuals feel their unique talents are seen and valued.

Why This Question Works

This question turns your focus from a manager who only identifies weaknesses to a coach who builds on strengths. It encourages employees to develop self-awareness about their core competencies and impact. A manager might learn an employee is proud of mentoring a new hire. This reveals a hidden passion for leadership. In a performance review, ask, "Where do you see your strongest contribution?" This uncovers underutilized skills you can apply to future projects.

How to Implement It Effectively

The value of this question lies in its consistent and thoughtful application. Your execution will determine its impact on employee morale and performance.

• Ask It Early: Introduce this question before discussing challenges or feedback. This timing sets a positive, constructive tone for the rest of the meeting.
• Acknowledge and Amplify: When they share an accomplishment, acknowledge its impact. Connect their strength to team goals with a comment like, "Your work on that project directly helped us achieve our quarterly objective."
• Prompt for Specifics: If an employee is hesitant or gives a vague answer, gently follow up. You might say, "I noticed how you handled the client issue last week. Tell me more about your thought process there."
• Document Their Strengths: Keep a record of the accomplishments and skills each employee highlights. This information is invaluable for career pathing, delegating new projects, and writing impactful performance reviews.

7. The Feedback-Readiness 'Are You Open to Feedback?' Permission Question

Effective feedback needs the recipient's readiness to hear it. This consent-based question asks for permission before sharing observations. This shifts the dynamic from a directive to a collaboration. This approach is grounded in neuroscience research, such as work from the NeuroLeadership Institute. This research shows giving people a sense of choice and control reduces their defensive threat response.

Instead of assuming it is a good time to deliver feedback, you first check in. By asking for permission, you give your direct report agency in the conversation. This simple act respects their emotional state and workload. It makes them significantly more receptive to what you have to say. It transforms feedback from something that happens to them into a process they participate in. This builds trust and psychological safety.

Why This Question Works

This question primes the employee's brain for a constructive, not critical, conversation. When someone feels cornered, their amygdala activates a "fight or flight" response. This makes it almost impossible to process nuanced information. Asking for consent signals respect and partnership. This keeps them in a more open, receptive state. It allows you to deliver difficult feedback in a way that is more likely to lead to positive behavioral change, not defensiveness or resentment.

How to Implement It Effectively

The success of this technique depends on your genuine willingness to honor the employee's response. Your delivery and follow-through are critical.

• Ask Genuinely: Your tone must convey that "no" or "not right now" are acceptable answers. If you ask permission but your body language says the feedback is coming anyway, you will erode trust.
• Respect Their Answer: If they say they are not ready, your immediate response should be, "I understand. When would be a better time for us to talk about this?" Then, make sure to schedule that time and follow up. This action proves you respect their agency.
• Use it for Positive Feedback Too: Asking, “Do you have a minute? I noticed something great in that client meeting,” makes positive reinforcement feel more intentional, not a casual afterthought.
• Pair with a Clear Structure: This opening question works well when followed by a structured feedback model like SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact). For more on this, you can learn how to give constructive feedback.

8. The Forward-Looking 'What's Your Vision?' Career Question

Effective one on one questions look beyond the current week’s tasks. This strategic question shifts the focus from immediate performance to an employee's long-term career trajectory. It helps your team members clarify their growth aspirations. It enables you to sponsor and support that growth effectively.

By regularly asking about their career vision, you keep development conversations active and demonstrate a genuine investment in the whole person. This practice is critical for retaining high performers and diverse talent who thrive with explicit sponsorship. It transforms the one on one from a status update into a career-building session. This shows you care about their future, not their present output.

Why This Question Works

This question helps you align an employee’s personal ambitions with the organization's needs. An engineer who wants to become a technical leader is mentored toward a staff engineer role. An employee in a technical role expressing interest in sales is guided toward cross-functional projects that build relevant skills. You uncover motivations that daily check-ins might miss. This allows you to create personalized opportunities that increase engagement and loyalty. This proactive approach, supported by research from Gallup on career development's link to retention, helps you keep your best people.

How to Implement It Effectively

Asking about career vision requires commitment and follow-through. Your actions after the conversation give the question its power.

• Ask Regularly: Aspirations change. Ask this question at least annually, or ideally twice a year, to stay current with their goals.
• Dig Deeper with Follow-Ups: Go beyond the initial answer. Use prompts like, “What does success look like for you in 3-5 years?” or, “What kind of work gives you the most energy?” This helps distinguish between a title aspiration and the skills they want to build.
• Be Honest About Pathways: Clearly communicate realistic timelines and opportunities within your organization. Honesty builds trust, even if the path forward is challenging.
• Document and Revisit: Keep notes on their aspirations and review them before each one on one. This ensures you track progress and connect current work to future goals. You can learn more about how to write a development plan to formalize this process.
• Create Opportunities: The worst outcome is asking without acting. Connect employees with mentors, assign stretch projects, or sponsor their visibility to senior leadership. Your follow-through proves you are a genuine advocate for their career.

One-on-One Questions — 8-Point Comparison

Turn Questions into Actionable Leadership

This list of one on one questions provides a toolkit for transforming routine meetings into meaningful conversations. You have seen how a simple shift from asking "How's it going?" to a structured question like "What's one thing that, if removed, would make your week better?" produces entirely different results. The goal is to move beyond superficial status updates and build a foundation of psychological safety, clear expectations, and mutual accountability.

Effective leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about asking the right questions to guide your team toward their own solutions and insights. Each category of question in this article serves a distinct purpose. This empowers you to adapt your approach to the specific needs of each direct report and situation.

From Inquiry to Impact: Your Next Steps

The difference between a good manager and a great manager is the quality of their conversations. To put these principles into practice, you must be intentional. Your primary goal is to make these questioning techniques a natural part of your leadership rhythm.

Here are specific, actionable steps to start today:

• Select Your Starting Point: Do not try to implement all these questions at once. Choose one or two questions that address a current team need. If your team is struggling with motivation, start with the 'What Are You Proud Of?' question. If you need to improve accountability, focus on the 'What Will You Do?' commitment question.
• Prepare and Practice: Write your chosen questions down before your next one on one meeting. Rehearse saying them out loud. This small step builds confidence and helps the question land more naturally. It prevents it from feeling like an interrogation.
• Listen Actively, Not Passively: The question is only the beginning. The real work happens when you listen to the answer. Pay attention to what is said and what is not said. Use clarifying follow-ups like "Tell me more about that" to show you are engaged and to encourage deeper reflection.
• Document and Follow Through: Make a note of key discussion points, commitments, and action items. Following up on these points in your next meeting demonstrates you listen, you care, and you hold both yourself and your team accountable. This builds trust and reinforces the value of your one on one time.

The Lasting Value of Intentional Conversations

Mastering the art of asking effective one on one questions creates a ripple effect across your team and organization. It builds a culture where feedback is a normal, healthy part of the workflow. It fosters an environment where employees feel seen, heard, and invested in their own professional development.

These conversations are your most valuable tool for driving performance, increasing engagement, and retaining top talent. By shifting your one on one meetings from a simple reporting exercise to a strategic leadership opportunity, you build a more resilient, motivated, and successful team. The questions are your key.

Transform your one on one meetings from a management task into a leadership advantage. PeakPerf provides guided workflows and structured templates based on these proven question frameworks. This helps you prepare for every conversation with confidence. Get started for free and see how better questions build better teams at PeakPerf.