5 Questions Every Manager Should Ask
THINK · PRIORITIZE · EXECUTE · IMPACT
A good one-to-one conversation shouldn’t become a routine status update.
One-to-one conversations can become an opportunity to understand performance, identify obstacles, support development and turn conversations into meaningful action.
Instead of allowing the conversation to become another simple progress report, managers can use better questions to encourage reflection and development.
01 — WHAT ARE YOU DOING PARTICULARLY WELL RIGHT NOW?
This question encourages employees to recognize their own strengths and successful behaviours.
It creates an opportunity to identify what is working well rather than focusing the entire conversation only on problems or unfinished tasks.
Recognizing successful behaviours can help make strengths more visible within the conversation.
02 — WHAT IS GETTING IN THE WAY OF YOUR PERFORMANCE?
Performance challenges are not always caused by a lack of effort.
Sometimes employees face obstacles that managers may be able to identify and remove.
This question helps surface those obstacles and creates space for the manager to understand what may be preventing better performance.
It moves the conversation beyond simply asking whether work has been completed.
03 — WHAT SHOULD YOU BE SPENDING MORE TIME ON?
Employees may be busy with many activities without always knowing which activities deserve the greatest attention.
This question encourages prioritization.
It creates an opportunity to discuss where time and attention should be directed and whether current activities are aligned with what matters most.
04 — WHAT CAPABILITY WOULD MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE TO YOU?
A one-to-one conversation can also become a development conversation.
This question turns the discussion towards development and learning.
It encourages employees and managers to think about the capability that could make the biggest difference to the employee’s effectiveness.
Rather than focusing only on current performance, the conversation begins to consider what could help the employee grow.
05 — WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY OVER THE NEXT 30 DAYS?
A good conversation should not end with discussion alone.
This question converts the conversation into action.
It encourages the employee to identify something they will approach differently over the next 30 days.
The discussion therefore moves from reflection to a clear next step.
THE KEY MESSAGE
A simple conversation can become a development intervention when the right questions are asked.
For managers, the quality of a one-to-one conversation can depend not only on what is discussed, but also on the questions used to guide that discussion.