One on One Meeting Questions

What is in the list

The repository collects questions from many sources and groups them into seven sections:

• Conversation starters, for warming up without small talk that goes nowhere.
• Career development, such as where someone wants to be in two, five or ten years.
• Job satisfaction, for example what motivates someone to come to work each day.
• Team and company, including "If you were CEO, what is the first thing you would change?"
• About the manager, like what your manager should stop, start or continue doing.
• Work life, and a catch-all other section.

The questions are also stored as a JSON file, and community built pages show a random question at a time. A Japanese translation exists as well.

Why a question list helps more than it should

One to ones fail in a predictable way. Neither person prepares, the meeting becomes a status update, and it quietly stops being useful. Arriving with two good questions changes the meeting entirely. The hard part is never asking; it is remembering what to ask when the calendar reminder pops up.

Using it from either side of the table

If you run one to ones, rotate themes: a career question one week, a team health question the next. Avoid firing several at once; one good question and real listening beat a checklist.

If you are the one being managed, this is the underused direction. Pick a question from the "about manager" or "career development" sections and bring it yourself. Asking what your manager would need to see before recommending you for a bigger project gets you information you cannot get any other way.

If you mentor someone, the career and job satisfaction sections work as well outside a reporting line as inside one.

A simple routine

• Before each meeting, choose one question and write it at the top of your shared notes.
• Keep a running document of answers so you notice when something changes.
• Every few months, ask one of the feedback questions and act visibly on the answer.

Where it falls short

It is a list, not a guide. It does not teach how to listen, how to handle a hard answer or how to follow up. Pair it with a book or course on coaching conversations if the meetings themselves feel awkward.

Common questions

Is it still maintained? The repository has about 9.6k GitHub stars as of September 2026, but its last commit was in March 2023. The questions do not go stale, so this matters little.

Can I use the questions in my own tool? Yes. The list is MIT licensed and available as JSON.

How many questions should I bring? One or two. The point is a real conversation, not an interview.

Best for: new managers, mentors, and anyone whose one to ones have gone flat.