Home · Jobs & career · Make your one-to-ones with your manager actually useful
Make your one-to-ones with your manager actually useful
Your one-to-ones are just status updates, or they keep getting cancelled. Get an agenda that covers what you need: help, feedback and your career.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Help me plan a useful one-to-one with my manager. What's going on: [work, wins, problems] What I need from them: [e.g. a decision, help, feedback] Something longer-term: [e.g. a promotion, training] How long: [e.g. 30 minutes] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A 30-minute agenda: quick update (5 minutes), what I need, feedback both ways, career. 2. Three questions to ask for real feedback. 3. A note to send after with what we agreed. 4. A reusable template for every one-to-one. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English. Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. work, wins, problems: a short note you already have. e.g. a decision, help, feedback: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
The prompt · Copilot
Help me plan a useful one-to-one with my manager. What's going on: [work, wins, problems] What I need from them: [e.g. a decision, help, feedback] Something longer-term: [e.g. a promotion, training] How long: [e.g. 30 minutes] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. A 30-minute agenda: quick update (5 minutes), what I need, feedback both ways, career. 2. Three questions to ask for real feedback. 3. A note to send after with what we agreed. 4. A reusable template for every one-to-one. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English. Stay in this Copilot chat. Leave plugins off, and do not open a file from OneDrive.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. work, wins, problems: a short note you already have. e.g. a decision, help, feedback: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You type what's going on and what you'd like from your manager.
The assistant asks about blockers, feedback and longer-term goals.
You get a 30-minute agenda, questions to ask and a note to send afterwards.
What happens
Use Copilot to make your one-to-ones with your manager actually useful
Your one-to-ones are just status updates, or they keep getting cancelled. Get an agenda that covers what you need: help, feedback and your career.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Microsoft Copilot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
The prompt is on this page. A free account saves it.
Create a free account