Before The Meeting

In this lesson, we dig into how to prepare for 1:1s so they’re consistently high-value and how thoughtful prep not only improves the conversation but also prevents cancellations and protects our time.

• We advise seeding the 1:1 agenda at least 24 hours in advance so our EM can “pre-compute”—arriving prepared instead of reacting on the spot to complex issues.
• We recommend prioritizing agenda items, putting critical topics first in case time runs short, and leaving lower-priority items for follow-up on Slack if needed.
• We highlight that surprising a manager with heavy topics during the meeting leads to wasted time and weaker guidance, whereas advance notice empowers them to think deeply and respond effectively.
• We explain that sending a thoughtful agenda also makes it harder for the manager to cancel or move the meeting, since it clearly shows we’ve invested effort and have meaningful topics ready.
• We reinforce that consistent preparation creates smoother, more productive discussions and helps us extract maximum value from the limited 30 minutes we have each week.