A framework for skip level 1:1s
During some of recent conversations with my team and some of my mentees — one common theme has been that skip level 1:1s can be intimidating. On probing further, I found that people either avoid these, don’t know what to talk about or find it hard to structure these discussions and end up being disappointed with the experience. One of the commons situations is the classic — “I don’t have anything talk about this time” and try to cancel the 1:1. Here is an attempt to formalize and provide a framework for structuring your skip level 1:1 meeting.
In case you are hearing ‘skip level 1:1’ for the first time — it’s a meeting with your manager’s manager, usually with regular frequency. From the manager’s perspective they keep these meetings for them to to show up as a team member, coaching opportunity, ensure engagement, connect at a personal level, and maintain trust. I think this is a good tool for all managers to stay connected with people in their team.
If you are a skip level manager and not having these meetings — I would highly recommend start having these right now with a regular frequency. If you are already doing these — you know you are awesome!!!
Here are some pointers for your in case I made you think about having these -
What’s the right frequency? Ideal frequency should factor in time for Individual Contributors in your team and your time commitment for building trust with each other and need for these checkpoints. I think once in a month for an organization of 20people so that the skip level manager is talking to one IC a day for 30mins. As your team grows you can think about having a slower frequency or multiple daily
What’s in it for me? As stated above — if nothing rings a bell think again if having a personal connect with ICs is something you value. High probability you are saying ‘yes’!
Now back to the situation with people finding it hard to conduct and organize their thoughts for skip level 1:1s. Couple of things I found myself doing; while the next skip level 1:1 approached. Search web with ‘what to talk in skip level 1:1s’ or reach out to a mentor and ask, “what do you talk about in these meetings”. Now web — in all its glory offers some good pointers however they are very generic and mostly written from manager’s perspective on what to poke, gather information and ask as some generic questions. Mentors have been the most useful, hearing the personal stories from mentors helps a lot in forming yours well. This framework is highly influenced from the mentoring session.
One format that emerged in this — to have a structure and talking points ready to respect the manager’s time. Awkward silences are great and have value, still having an outline of what you want to talk about would help you guide through the conversation.
Why a framework for skip level 1:1 and not for immediate manager? — 1:1s with immediate manager are more personal and mostly about keep building, reinforcing the trust and seeking clarity on business priorities and expectations. On the last one skip level 1:1s can be useful since you can gather a wider and may be different perspective. I don’t necessarily use any fixed framework for immediate manager 1:1 since the relationship is very close and there are multiple touch points anyways. Skip level 1:1s need more thinking and structure due to limited touch points and time availability for both. Although I think having an agenda and a structure for immediate manager 1:1s is useful too — may be another post for immediate manager 1:1s.
So here is the framework for skip level 1:1s — assuming this is a 30mins conversation. The time limits are for guiding purpose only so that you get to talk about multiple aspects. This would facilitate having follow up items and some discussion to be continued next time, which I think are good outcomes.
Pre-work. Needs work and some dedicated time in showing up as a committed and informed team player (that I assume you already are) throughout your discussion.
How to do this?
a. Keep reading recent status mails across team and form your opinion on the next steps and possible next investments for team or company.
b. Keep learning about team wide initiatives. These are usually communicated as team wide memos, vision documents or broad communications internal and external.
c. All memos published across my team, wider organization & company — keep an eye on these, make sure you understand things that interest you. If nothing interests you — think why you are in this team, organization, and company. Use your immediate manager for this as a resource and keep asking for clarity.
5mins — Start with your personal connection with the manager. Depending on where you are in your career level and time spent with the skip level manager — make sure you establish and keep reinforcing this connection.
Examples -
a. Check how he/she is doing? I would recommend getting genuinely interested, start with listening with curiosity.
b. What is keeping him/her busy these days?
10minutes — Focus on your growth and alignment with broad team objectives.
a. Talk about your work and impact you are making.
Examples -
a. “Hey here is a cool new project I am working on right now — want to show you the overview of the design I just proposed.” Most of the time the skip level is aware unless its your personal project — although showcasing your contribution with enthusiasm shows your commitment to team success.
b. “Hey — here is a new initiative I am doing with some more team members. Let’s look at this document/slide deck I have built for this.”
c. “Hey — I am repurposing team X’s work in project Y. Here are some details. What do you think about this strategy?”
d. “Hey — I have been learning about this new tech. I think we can solve problem X in more extensible way if we make use of this concept from what I learnt.”
e. “We did this event in our team or we follow this great engineering practice in our team. What are your thoughts?”
b. Talk about your career aspirations and seek guidance on your career growth.
a. “Hey — my manger and I have talking about my career growth. I would like to know your thoughts on this.”
b. “Hey — I think for during project X I demonstrated my ability lead the team and showcases the new experiences and skills. I think am ready for the next level in my career.”
10minutes — ask and share any concerns/feedback he has, or you have for the team or projects.
This is your time to have an open conversation and seek your skip level manager’s perspective. Ideally your immediate manager should be sharing these regularly with you. Expect him to put the question back on you and share your perspective on him and team or say that he doesn’t have much visibility yet. This is your clue to make sure he is aware of the projects you are involved and is noticing you going forward.
Examples -
a. Hey — last sprint we released an important update to our service, the customer feedback to great so far. Do you have anything specific that I could have done better?
b. Hey — I want to make sure there are no blind spots for me. Please do let me know in case there is any feedback you have for me or my team.
c. Hey — my team shared a status update on project X. What are your thoughts on that?
d. Hey — here is a perspective I have on project Y and the customers feedback we have been getting. Can I share it with you and make sure I am aligned with the team’s approach going forward.
5minutes — next steps/takeaways
a. “Let me follow up over email on this topic a bit more.” Keep noting down these points while the 1:1 is going on and make sure you follow up if commit here.
b. I loved talking to you about project Y — this seems interesting and challenging. Can you connect me with team members who can help me get more understanding?
c. Here are couple of notes I have taken. I would like us to follow up more on this subset in our next 1:1.
Although I have time slots allocated, personally I have found difficult to follow. One solution — I switch in alternate 1:1s b/w growth, alignment and seeking feedback.
Let me know what you think — looking forward to your comments and learning from a wider community.
