Peer One-on-One Meeting Template

What is a peer one-on-one meeting?

More often, one-on-one meetings take place between managers and direct reports. However, this isn’t the case for peer one-on-ones that are held amongst two coworkers at the same level. The meeting attendees may work together in the same team or different teams across the organization.

Recent research by Zippia indicates that organizations that promote communication and collaboration have 50% less employee turnover. 

And peer meetings are an excellent opportunity to build rapport with your teammates and give an insight into how other people operate. Overall, it helps in improving communication and aligning teams across the organization. When conducted routinely, they boost an employee’s productivity and engagement. 

What’s the meeting frequency, and how long?

Peer one-on-one can occur monthly to avoid blocking people’s calendars with excessive meetings. The frequency can also be increased to 2, 3, or 6 months depending on how often the employees work together. 

The duration of the discussion should be 60 minutes at the start. However, if you have an agenda for the meeting and are well-prepared, it may take less time.

How to run a great peer-to-peer meeting?

Here are a few practical ways to collaborate and support your co-workers during a one-on-one meeting:

• Rather than having a formal meeting, you can also have a casual conversation and meet together for lunch or coffee. The idea is to block a specific time for interaction. 
  

• Although it is good to have a candid conversation, it is always recommended to make preparation for the meeting. Set the agenda collaboratively so that you know the topics of discussion.
  

• As this is a two-way conversation, there should be room for some flexibility. Setting aside some time for impromptu topics you both may want to discuss is good practice.

• Don’t forget to jot down the crucial points in the discussion and something off-topic that comes up during the conversation if you want to discuss it later. 
  

• End the meeting by summarizing the main points and the plan of action so that you and your co-worker are on the same page. 
  

What to talk about in peer one-on-ones? 

It is good to take these meetings as an opportunity to know your co-worker and get insights into their work. Always start the conversation with an ice-breaker and then gradually move to the topics set up in the agenda. 

The discussion needs to not always center around pain points, but you can also brainstorm how you can perform a task differently or improve your approach to work.

Here are a few questions that you can ask in one-on-one peer meetings.

• How’s life, and what are some personal highlights in the last month?

• What do you like to do on weekends?

• What are the projects that you are currently working on?

• What are some professional skills you are using for this project?

• Are there any challenges you are facing with the tasks?

• Can you share something that helps you boost productivity?

• What is your learning from the last project you worked on?

• Is there anything I can help you to make your work more productive?

• What can we do to improve communication across our departments?

• How do you cheer yourself up when having a bad day at work?

• Have you undertaken any valuable training recently?

• How do you see yourself professionally five years from now?