New manager guide
Start with what matters to your new direct report. Use this 30-minute agenda, borrow an opening sentence, and leave with one commitment you can keep.
In your first one-on-one as a new manager, explain what the meeting is for, ask about the person's work and priorities, learn what support is useful, and agree on one next step. Give them most of the airtime. You do not need to establish a complete management philosophy in half an hour.
The useful outcome is modest: you understand one thing better, they know what to expect from you, and you both know what happens next. The agenda and scripts below are our suggested starting point for a first meeting with a direct report. Adapt them to the person and the situation; they are not a tested formula for earning trust.
A 30-minute agenda
Send a short agenda ahead of time and invite additions. Make preparation optional. If something urgent matters more to them, change the order and use the last few minutes to agree on follow-through.
Try: ‘I want this to be useful time for you: what is going well, what gets in the way, and how I can help. I have a few prompts, but is there something you want to start with?’ Then let them answer. A brief introduction is enough; save the story of your whole career for another setting.
Ask ‘What is working well that I should protect?’ and ‘What is making your work harder than it needs to be?’ Follow one answer with ‘Can you walk me through a recent example?’ Avoid turning every obstacle into a solution before you understand who owns the decision and what has already been tried.
Ask ‘When you are stuck, what help from a manager is useful?’ Then discuss how they prefer to receive feedback and raise concerns. If there is room, ask what they would like more opportunity to learn. They can think about that last question and return to it later.
Choose a recurring time, a place for shared agenda items, and what belongs in an async status update. Ask whether the proposed timing works for them. Treat this as an arrangement to try and revisit, not a preference test they have to pass.
Summarize one priority and one obstacle, then check: ‘Have I understood that correctly?’ Name the next action, who owns it, and when you will give an update. If a fix depends on someone else, commit to an update rather than promising a result you cannot control.
What it sounds like
An inherited team member has seen managers ask for feedback and disappear. This fictional example shows a bounded response you can adapt.
What is making the work harder than it needs to be?
We have told three managers already. Nothing changes.
I understand why another conversation might feel pointless. I cannot promise to fix everything. Is there one example you would be willing to walk me through?
Two teams keep giving us different priorities. We find out which matters when someone gets annoyed.
I will ask who owns the priority decision and bring you an update by Thursday. If it is still unresolved, I will say that. Would that be a useful first step?
The next part happens on Thursday. Keep the update even if you have no resolution; the opening sentence cannot substitute for follow-through.
Free meeting template
Copy this into your usual notes or download the plain-text version. No account or email is needed. Choose a few prompts; you do not have to ask every question.
Download agenda (.txt)FIRST ONE-ON-ONE WITH YOUR NEW MANAGER: 30 MINUTES Names: Date: Next meeting: Before we meet Add a topic below if you want to. Preparing answers is optional. This is a conversation about your work and the support you need. 0 to 5 minutes | Set the purpose What would make this time useful to you? Anything important we should start with instead of this agenda? 5 to 15 minutes | Hear their priorities What is going well that I should protect? What is making your work harder than it needs to be? Follow-up: Can you walk me through a recent example? 15 to 23 minutes | Learn how to support them When you are stuck, what help from a manager is useful? How do you prefer to receive feedback or raise a concern? Is there something you would like more opportunity to learn? 23 to 27 minutes | Agree how to work together What should we keep for this meeting versus an async update? What meeting frequency and shared-note format should we try? 27 to 30 minutes | Close with one next step What I heard (check this together): Action: Owner: Update due: Topic to return to: Follow-up note Thanks for today. I heard [priority] and [obstacle]. I will [action] and update you by [date], even if it is unresolved. We will return to [topic] on [date]. Please correct what I missed. Keep notes in an approved place with access limited appropriately. Record useful work agreements, not a transcript or personal disclosures. Adapt the timing to the person. These are prompts, not a checklist. Original Cadence agenda: https://learningcadence.app/blog/first-one-on-one-as-a-new-manager/
Before the meeting
Try: ‘I would like to set up our first one-on-one to learn about your work, what is going well, and where support would help. I will share a few prompts; feel free to add your own topics, and there is no need to prepare answers.’ Choose a setting where you can talk without interruptions.
Read the work context you already have permission to see, such as current responsibilities and agreed priorities. Enter with questions about gaps in your understanding. Avoid arriving with a private verdict based on somebody else's account of the person.
When the conversation is awkward
These replies give the conversation somewhere to go without demanding immediate openness.
The follow-up
Here is an example: ‘Thanks for today. I heard that conflicting priorities are causing rework. I will ask who owns the decision and update you by Thursday, even if it is unresolved. Next week we will return to how requests reach your team. Please correct anything I missed.’
Keep the record short: the agreed work priority, action, owner, and update date. Use your organization's approved notes location and access rules. Do not record a transcript or unnecessary personal disclosures. Start the next meeting by returning to the commitment you made.
Why this shape
GitLab's public one-on-one handbook recommends a recurring meeting, a shared agenda led mainly by the team member, open-ended questions, and follow-up on agreed actions. Those principles inform this guide. The exact timing, invitation, sample conversation, and downloadable agenda are our editorial suggestions, not a GitLab template or a measured outcome study.
This guide covers an ordinary first meeting. A known performance issue, urgent safety concern, or formal complaint may need a separate conversation and your organization's established process. Do not use a friendly introductory agenda to disguise a different purpose.
Where we fit
Cadence is our app. The free agenda above is complete on its own. If you want a structured way to keep learning, our One-on-Ones That Work and first-time manager courses offer short daily lessons; their public syllabuses let you inspect the topics before starting.
Use the course alongside a real commitment: before your next meeting, write the question you want to ask and the action you owe from last time. An app can help you prepare. Your colleague experiences the conversation and what you do afterward.
Questions
Explain that the meeting is time to understand their work, obstacles, and support needs. Ask what would make it useful for them. Keep your introduction brief, follow a specific example, and close by checking what you heard and agreeing on a next step.
Thirty minutes is a workable starting point for this agenda. Book more time or a follow-up if the person's context needs it. The minute ranges are suggestions, not a rule; leave room at the end to confirm commitments and the next meeting.
For the first meeting, the manager can provide a few optional prompts and invite the direct report to add or replace topics. Agree on a shared agenda for later meetings, with space for the team member's priorities. Do not turn the first invitation into required homework.
Ask one concrete question about recent work, such as what took more effort than expected. Give them time to answer and accept that they may not want to raise a concern yet. Keep the recurring meeting and follow through on small commitments instead of pressing for disclosure.
Yes. The plain-text agenda on this page is free to download without an account or email. Copy it into the notes tool approved by your organization and adapt the prompts to your meeting.
See it in concrete terms
Review these course syllabuses if you want to build the habits behind useful one-on-ones, management, and feedback.
Use one-on-ones to surface friction, coach decisions, and keep expectations current instead of filling the slot.
Shift from doing the work yourself to setting context, inspecting quality, and helping other people succeed.
Make feedback specific, useful, and easier for a teammate to act on without burying the point.
Sources
Continue in Cadence
Use the article now. If you want to go further, Cadence can turn the problem or curiosity behind it into a structured course. Cadence is our app.