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Management & Leadership vocabulary · Motivation and Feedback

One-on-one

Meaning in management & leadership, with examples

/ˌwʌn ɑːn ˈwʌn/nounCore term

In management & leadership, one-on-one means: A regular private meeting between a manager and one member of their team to discuss progress, problems, feedback and development.

In Turkish: birebir görüşme, baş başa görüşme

How it is used

Often written 1:1 or 1-on-1, and British English also says one-to-one. Usually held weekly or every two weeks for about half an hour, and many managers let the employee set the agenda.

Example sentences

  1. Let's discuss your career plans in our one-on-one on Thursday.

  2. I never cancel one-on-ones, even in busy weeks.

Common collocations

  • weekly one-on-one
  • have a one-on-one
  • one-on-one meeting
  • skip-level one-on-one
  • feedbackComments on how well someone has done a piece of work or behaved, given so that they can keep doing what works and improve what does not.
  • direct reportAn employee whose immediate manager is a particular person, with no other manager in between; the people a manager is directly responsible for.
  • coachingA way of helping someone improve their skills and performance mainly by asking questions and guiding them to find their own answers, rather than telling them what to do.
  • constructive feedbackSpecific, helpful comments that point out what could be done better and how, given respectfully so that the person can learn from them.
  • line managerThe person directly above you who manages your daily work, approves your leave and reviews your performance.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Motivation and Feedback

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