The best Template for Quarterly One-on-One Meetings
Every successful team needs regular pit stops – not for changing tires, but for feedback, personal development and goal adjustments. One-on-one meetings between managers and employees are exactly that: the short but extremely relevant stops that ensure no one is left behind.
In the best case scenario, it’s even about more than just “not falling by the wayside”: good one-on-one meetings can give your team a boost.
Which brings us to the topic: A template for quarterly 1-to-1 meetings between managers and employees.
By the way, it can make a big difference whether they take place exactly quarterly or have a different frequency - we’ll get to that in a moment.
Whether in a digital or virtual one-on-one meeting, 1-to-1 meetings offer space for feedback and thus for personal development, which is essential in today’s working world.
First of all: If you’re still unsure about what good one-on-one meetings look like, take a look at our guide: The guide with 6 tips for successful one-on-one meetings.
Also, if you prefer videos, you can find the template for the quarterly 1:1 also explained in my video. It even contains 7 bonus tips 🙂
Quarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
Is a quarterly one-on-one meeting frequent enough?
Good question… The frequency of 1-on-1 meetings depends on the size of the team and the individual requirements. For example, if you have a team with ten direct reports, a monthly one-on-one meeting is a good rhythm. Smaller teams or more intensive projects may also require weekly or bi-weekly meetings.
At the same time, I have also spoken to some managers who have 20 to 30, sometimes even more, direct reports. In this case, it is quite common to only speak to employees in person once a quarter.
It also obviously depends on how well you already know your team. During the familiarization phase, weekly one-on-one meetings are appropriate.
In Agile or Scrum teams, in which regular communication plays a central role anyway, the meetings should be adapted to the existing exchange. Some reflections at an individual level may not be necessary if you discuss how certain bugs arose during the retrospective.
Regular, for example quarterly, one-on-one meetings are only necessary for the individual development of employees. Of course, this can also be useful digitally or virtually if the team is working remotely.
Incidentally, the picture below underlines an important point: more frequent reflection on the status quo also tends to mean a faster rate of change and improvement. 🙂
Quarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
Good template for quarterly one-on-one meetings (Doc)
The fact that you clicked on this article tells me that you are looking for a doc template for quarterly one-on-one meetings. Corresponding templates can of course have different focuses.
That’s why I’ve saved a doc template for you here, which should be a good accompaniment to the classic quarterly performance review. Further down, I’ll give you some ideas on how you can enrich the meeting routine with other questions.
Let’s start with the template for quarterly 1-on-1 meetings. By the way, you can save it as a Doc under the actual template, but alternatively also as a PDF, Google Sheets or Word document. Simply click on the “Plus” toggle.
Warm-Up
- How was your last quarter from your point of view, on a scale of 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good)?
🏆 Topics of the manager: Successes & progress
- Looking at your goals: Where are you now?
- What were your biggest successes in the last quarter?
- What did you learn in the last quarter and what skills did you develop?
- How satisfied are you with your personal development in the last 3 months?
- What didn't go as planned, and why?
🗣️ Topics of the direct employee (name)
- …
⚠️ Topics of the manager: Challenges & support
- What obstacles did you have to overcome?
- Are there any resources or support you need?
📈 Topics of the manager: Development & goals
- Are there any new skills you would like to develop?
- How do your priorities align with the team's tasks?
- What are your core goals for the next quarter?
- How can I help you get closer to your career goals?
Closing
- Let's summarize the tasks we noted in this meeting.
- Feedback: What can I do better to lead you and/or the team?
- Is there anything else we should discuss?
⁉️ Mood check (survey)
As you can see, the main aim of a quarterly one-on-one meeting is to zoom out. This is often very difficult in everyday life, which is why a dedicated block of time is necessary.
By the way, don’t be fooled by the agenda: Basically, your goal should be for your intrinsically motivated employees to bring the majority of the topics to the table themselves.
Now let’s move on to a template that takes a slightly more creative approach to the quarterly one-to-one meeting.
“I like the employee, but they aren't performing as desired. How can I address this in 1:1s?”
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"Sometimes I’m not sure if I was too harsh - or too soft - in my 1:1s to be effective."
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"I can’t identify patterns or trends across my 1:1s. Everything feels isolated."
Solve this challengeQuarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
2 more helpful templates for one-on-one meetings (Doc)
Having spoken to around 100 managers over the last few months, I have noticed a pattern.
Many supervisors incorporate small surveys into their one-on-one meetings from time to time. This means that they simply go through a few questions in a relaxed manner and ask the employee a) whether he or she agrees with a statement (for example from 1 to 7) and then b) why he or she answered in this way.
They expect the following from these micro-surveys in 1:1s:
- More variety and engagement in 1-to-1 conversations
- Taking on new perspectives
- Measurability of (soft) KPIs such as satisfaction over time
And of course you can also use this idea for your quarterly one-to-one meeting. I have put together five statements for you here that focus on reflecting on important preconditions for a successful employee.
You can also download this template as a Doc, but what’s even better is this: In our one-on-one meeting software, we have an integrated tool that makes the results visible as a metric over time and gives you tips with an AI assistant - feel free to take a look without logging in using the button below.
⁉️ Mood check (approval from 1-7): Personal development
- "My work tasks usually make very rapid progress, even if external feedback is necessary."
- "When I observe suboptimal behavior, I know how to constructively draw colleagues' attention to it."
- "I receive constructive feedback on both my work and my personal development."
- "I see an attractive career path ahead of me in the company." #Growth
- "In the last few weeks I have very often been able to use my strengths at work."
This is what this survey looks like in Echometer:
As you can see, the statements address key preconditions of staff that feels happy.
Another prerequisite for healthy, productive employees is, of course, a good manager. Yes, I’m talking about you here.
And of course there are also statements that you can take with you into your one-to-one meeting. Specifically, here are 4 behavioral anchors that you can reflect on in a quarterly one-on-one meeting with your employee.
⁉️ Mood check (approval from 1-7): Leadership quality
- "I am really happy with my team leader." #JobSatisfaction
- "My team leader regularly zooms out to explain the overarching team goals, strategy and vision."
- "My team leader questions things in a constructive way." #Feedback #Leadership
- "My team leader sets an example of what he expects from us as a team." #Leadership
This is what this survey looks like in Echometer:
Quarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
17 Clever questions for your quarterly one-on-one performance review
Now you should have a good foundation for your quarterly one-on-one meeting.
And yet I have even more tips for you. Because one thing is your agenda - the other thing is creative questions that you ask in the middle of the verbal sparring. Especially in quarterly one-on-one discussions, it is worth taking a bird’s eye view - and the following list of questions will help you.
🧘♀️ One-on-one questions with a focus on the positive
- If you could add one responsibility or decision-making power to your role, what would it be?
- Which skill would have the most impact on your personal performance if you mastered it?
- What new things have you learned recently (privately or professionally)?
- When was the last time you helped another team member develop?
- What are the 3 best things you want for yourself professionally in the next 1-2 years?
- When was the last time you experienced a state of flow at work? How easy is it for you to get into the flow?
- What would you call the informal role you take on in the team and why? (e.g. "Head of Happiness")
- What inspires you right now? What gives you energy right now?
And, can you hardly wait to ask these questions in your one-on-one meeting? Very good, I’m glad.
If you would like more creative input, I can recommend our corresponding article: 129 Good One-on-One Meeting Questions (by a Psychologist) .
Quarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
15 more Templates for One-on-One Meetings (as Doc, PDF etc.)
You’ve probably already guessed it. Of course, there are many more templates for one-on-one meetings that you will need sooner or later.
For example, I talk about templates for your one-on-one meeting about salary, your conversation with a difficult employee or with a completely new employee.
We have additional templates for all of these use cases, which you can find in this article: 15 Free Proven One-on-one Meeting Templates to Edit & Print
Quarterly Employee One-on-One Performance Review Template (Doc) for Managers
Conclusion: Doc template for quarterly 1-to-1 meetings
First of all, congratulations: if you conscientiously conduct quarterly one-on-one meetings with your employees, you are taking your leadership role more seriously than average.
However, the text here should not let you forget one piece of wisdom: There are countless questions you can ask - but the most important thing is that you tailor the conversation individually to your employee.
Our AI meeting assistant for one-on-one meetings can also help you in your conversation. If you’d like to find out more, take a look at our website: The best 1-on-1 meeting software .
"Many team members are afraid to speak up!"
Solve this challenge "We discover too many unexpected issues & bugs at a late stage!"
Solve this challenge "Why does it sometimes take me hours to prepare a simple retrospective?"
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