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Business English vocabulary · Meetings

One-on-one

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌwʌn ɑːn ˈwʌn/nounCore term

In business english, one-on-one means: A regular private meeting between two people, usually a manager and a team member, to discuss work, progress, problems and development.

In Turkish: birebir görüşme, birebir toplantı

How it is used

Often written 1:1 or 1-on-1. Many managers hold weekly or biweekly one-on-ones with each direct report. British English also says one-to-one. It works as an adjective too: a one-on-one meeting.

Example sentences

  1. I have my weekly one-on-one with my manager on Tuesdays.

  2. Let's discuss your promotion in our next one-on-one.

Common collocations

  • weekly one-on-one
  • have a one-on-one
  • one-on-one meeting
  • skip-level one-on-one
  • line managerThe person directly above you in a company who assigns your work, approves your leave and reviews your performance.
  • report toTo have someone as your direct manager, the person who gives you work, approves your decisions and reviews your performance.
  • syncA short, informal meeting or call to share updates and make sure people working on the same thing are coordinated. Also used as a verb.
  • agendaA list of the topics that will be discussed in a meeting, usually in the order they will be covered and shared with attendees beforehand.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Meetings

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