Template 1: if you are being skipped to
Thirty minutes, five blocks. Bring no deck.
- 0 to 2 min, open. One line on how you are. No filler, no apology for the calendar.
- 2 to 7 min, one judgment call. Not a status update. "We chose X over Y last month; here is the trade-off I took and what it cost."
- 7 to 18 min, two prepared questions. Two, not four. Let them talk. Take visible notes.
- 18 to 26 min, the scope question. Name the specific scope you want next, then ask what they would need to see to trust you with it. Write the answer down verbatim.
- 26 to 30 min, the residue question. "Is there anything you have heard about me or the team I should know?" Then thank them and stop.
Fill this in before you walk in
- One judgment call I can narrate in 90 seconds: ______
- One thing we shipped they probably have not heard about: ______
- The specific next scope I want, named: ______
- My two questions: ______ / ______
- One risk I am willing to name out loud: ______
The follow-up note, same day
Four lines, sent within four hours. This is the part almost nobody does, and it is the part that survives to calibration season.
Thanks for the time. Three things I took away: [1], [2], [3]. You said you would want to see [their words on scope] before [the scope you named]. I am going to [one specific, dated action]. I will bring the result to the next one.
Template 2: if you are running the skip-level
- Before the invite: tell the direct manager. Every time. One sentence is enough.
- 0 to 3 min: state the purpose plainly. "This is not a review, nothing goes in a file, I want your read on the work."
- 3 to 12 min: the work. "What is the slowest part of shipping here?" and "what would you change if it were yours?"
- 12 to 22 min: the person. "Where do you want your scope in a year?" and "what is getting in the way of that?"
- 22 to 28 min: the ask. "What do you need from me that you are not getting?"
- 28 to 30 min: commit to one thing you will follow up on, and nothing more.
Rules that keep it clean
- Never ask for feedback about the direct manager. If it arrives unprompted, take it to the manager, not to HR first.
- Close the loop visibly once per cycle. Without that, people stop saying anything true.
- Keep your own notes on scope claims. They are the raw material of a defensible promotion argument later.
What to cut
Slides. Roadmap walkthroughs. Anything that could have been an email. Any question you could have answered by reading the last all-hands. Any complaint you would not repeat with your manager in the room.