How long should a skip-level meeting be?

Thirty minutes is enough for a one-to-one. Allow 45 to 60 minutes for a small group. Leave five minutes at the end to say what you will do with what you heard.

How often should you hold skip-level meetings?

Two to four times a year with each person is a common rhythm. In a large department, rotate so that everyone gets one within six months. A regular schedule matters, because a one-off meeting reads as a sign that something is wrong.

Should the manager know about a skip-level meeting?

Yes, always, and in advance. Tell the manager why you hold them, what you will ask and what you will share afterwards. The meeting works only if the manager sees it as support and not as a check on them.

What questions should you avoid in a skip-level meeting?

Avoid asking the employee to rate or criticize their manager directly, and avoid anything that sounds like a performance review of the employee. Ask about the work, the team and what gets in the way. Problems with a manager surface through those answers.

Retention conversations

Skip-level meeting agenda template

A 30-minute skip-level meeting agenda in five timed parts, with an opening script, nine questions and a close, to fill in, copy or print.

TemplateWhat you type stays in your browser.

Leader

Team member

Their manager

Date

Set the purpose

3 minutes. Read this out.

I meet everyone in the team a few times a year. This is not a review of you or of your manager. I want to hear how work is going and what I can make easier. I will tell you at the end what I plan to do with what I hear.

Their work

7 minutes

What are you working on that you are proud of?

What is slowing you or the team down?

The team and the company

10 minutes

What does the team do well that I should protect?

If you ran this department, what would you change first?

Is anything about where we are heading unclear?

Support and growth

5 minutes

What support would help you do your best work?

Where would you like to be in a year?

Close

5 minutes

Is there anything you expected me to ask that I did not?

What is one thing I should know that I probably do not?

Said what I will do with what I heard, and what stays between us

Last updated October 14, 2026

A skip-level agenda gives the meeting a clear and safe shape.

A skip-level meeting is a conversation between an employee and their manager's manager, without the direct manager present. It surfaces the problems people will not raise with the person who causes them. It also makes people nervous, because an unexplained meeting with the boss's boss looks like trouble.

The agenda solves that. It states the purpose in the first three minutes, moves from the person's own work to the team and the company, and closes by saying what will happen with what was said. Share it beforehand with the employee and with their manager.

Here is how to use the skip-level meeting agenda template in five steps.

How to use it

1Tell the manager first
2Send the agenda ahead
3Open with the purpose
4Ask and listen
5Close the loop

Tell the manager first. Explain to the manager in the middle why you hold these meetings and what you will share afterwards. A surprise skip-level damages that relationship.
Send the agenda ahead. Give the employee the questions two days before, so they come with examples and not with worry.
Open with the purpose. Read the opening words. Say that it is not a review of them or of their manager.
Ask and listen. Keep your own talking to the questions. Do not solve problems in the room or commit to changes on the spot.
Close the loop. Say what you will do, share themes with the manager without naming who said what, and follow up on each action.

Here is a worked example with invented names.

Take an invented company, Pellamoor Insurance, with a claims department of 45 people. Aiko Tanabe, the head of claims, holds a skip-level meeting with Sam Whitlock, a claims handler who reports to one of her team leads.

Sam is proud of clearing the storm backlog. What slows the team down is that most payments need two sign-offs and one of the two approvers works part-time. If he ran the department, he would put one approver on every shift.

Worked example

Pellamoor Insurance, an invented company: one skip-level meeting

LeaderAiko Tanabe, head of claims
Team memberSam Whitlock, claims handler
Proud ofClearing the storm backlog
What slows the team downTwo sign-offs on most payments, and one approver works part-time
What he would change firstOne approver on every shift

What Aiko did

Reviewed the sign-off rule with finance by the 15th and shared the theme with the team lead, without naming Sam

Aiko does not change the rule in the room. She writes one action, to review the sign-off rule with finance by the 15th, and tells the team lead the theme, that approvals slow the team, without naming Sam.

These mistakes spoil a skip-level meeting.

Holding one without telling the manager in the middle, who then hears about it second-hand.
Using it to check up on the manager or to collect complaints about one person.
Fixing things on the spot, over the manager's head.
Repeating what someone said in a way that identifies them.
Meeting once and never again, which makes the single meeting look like an investigation.

People ask these questions about skip-level meetings.

A skip-level meeting is a one-to-one or small-group conversation between a leader and the people who report to that leader's direct reports. The manager in between is not in the room. It gives the leader a direct view of how the team works, and gives employees a line to someone with more reach.

These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.

Skip-level meeting
A skip-level meeting is a conversation between an employee and their manager's manager, without the direct manager present.
One-on-one
A one-on-one is a recurring private conversation between a manager and a direct report about the work, the obstacles and the person's growth.
Toxic work environment
A toxic work environment is a workplace where the day-to-day norms, usually set by managers, reliably damage the people in it.
Span of control
Span of control is the number of direct reports a manager has.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement is how committed and involved people are in their work and their company, beyond simply doing the tasks assigned to them.

These pages on this site go deeper.

These templates pair well with this one.

One-on-one meeting agenda template
Six timed parts for a 30-minute one-on-one, with their topics first.
Stay interview template
Ten questions in four themes, and the actions you agree before the meeting ends.
Manager feedback survey template
Nine rated statements about a manager, and two open questions.

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