Effective one-on-one meets

What do you call an employee who can smile through any Monday?

Engaged – or heavily caffeinated.

How do you know if an employee is engaged at work?

They refer to the coffee machine as their “most dependable team member.”

Every corporate client of mine wants high employee engagement scores because they know this leads to better employee retention and productivity.

This is why one-on-one meetings are necessary.

But the question we have to pose is this:

Are one-on-one meetings effective?

The answer is: not always.

But are they necessary?

The answer is an emphatic, “Of course!”

And how do we make them effective and engaging?

Asking these five questions in your one-on-one meetings can significantly raise employee engagement.

The key is to ask how your team member is doing before you ask what your team member is doing.

This approach is not just a strategy; it’s a way to build a personal connection with your team.

Most managers only ask what their team is doing.

However, showing your employees that you care about them as people deepens employee engagement.

Here are five questions every good manager asks.

Naturally, these may not be the only questions you ask, but they form the core questions you may want to ask to get a good and productive conversation going.

1. How are you doing? This question aims to see how the employee or team member is doing personally.

As you ask this question, tone and body language are essential.

It might take a while for someone to be honest, but if you ask the question regularly and sincerely, and show that you care about the answer, it’s amazing how grateful people will be and how much it will help them to articulate the issues.

Don’t be alarmed if someone becomes emotional or vents to you.

When people realize you genuinely care about them, they’ll reciprocate that care toward you and your shared goals.

2. Is there anything else I can do to help?

No, you’re not their therapist, and that’s not your role.

Instead, your role is to listen, empathize, show you care and support them.

You will realize that your level of connection and engagement has deepened when your people openly ask for your assistance with certain things they find difficult.

They are not afraid that you would view their request and judge it as a weakness against them.

3. What are you working on right now?

Managers sometimes need help keeping track of who handles which tasks, so this approach allows you and your team member to clarify their priorities.

It facilitates a productive work-related discussion that reveals the assignments and projects they are involved in. Moreover, if an important project is overlooked during the conversation, it provides an opportunity to mention it and inquire about its progress.

4. What obstacles are you facing?

Sometimes team members simply need to persevere with their tasks, but often they encounter obstacles.

You might discover they need help with unresponsive contacts, budget constraints or frequent computer crashes.

Asking the question in a manner that distinguishes the individual from the problem helps team members pinpoint challenges without feeling at fault, setting them up to navigate these obstacles successfully.

Recognizing systemic issues like poor company culture, insufficient equipment or management bottlenecks enables you to tackle them head-on.

This part of the conversation is vital for coaching, encouraging and working with your team to devise solutions.

5. Is there anything I can do to help you accomplish the goals we set?

A primary responsibility of a leader is to facilitate your team’s success, and this approach equips both you and them to achieve that.

Often, the response is no.

But if they’re dealing with issues like a malfunctioning computer or an unresponsive client, you can assist them in resolving these problems.

Certainly, more questions will arise as the occasion demands, but these core questions can lead to a productive conversation that connects and engages your people.

These five questions can get you and the team moving in a positive direction to accomplish your mission.

Ask how they’re doing before you ask what they’re doing.

Clear away the obstacles to progress in their goals, and you can raise their level of engagement in a meaningful way.

Create a safe space and foster an environment where people can express their thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment.

This openness encourages more honest and productive discussions.

Listen actively.

This means being fully present, acknowledging what’s being said and responding thoughtfully.

This demonstrates respect for the people’s input and helps managers better understand their team members’ perspectives.

Practice asking these questions at home.

Maintain a positive countenance throughout the meeting.

And one more thing:

Don’t forget the coffee.

Join Francis Kong for another run of his one-day Level Up Leadership: Agile. Able. Adaptive seminar-workshop. Join us on Aug. 26, 2026, for a practical and inspiring learning experience designed for leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals who want to lead with greater clarity, confidence, courage and competence in a disrupted world. Seats are limited. For inquiries and registration, contact April at +63 928 559 1798 or Sylene at +63 976 638 8974.Visit www.levelupleadership.ph