A working agenda, a question bank, and the three things worth writing down before you leave. Copy any of it into your own notes, or take the printable version into the meeting and write on it. For the reasoning behind the questions and what to do with the answers, see the full guide to running a skip-level →.
Skip-Level Meeting TemplateSkip-level meeting agenda: the 30 minutes
0–5 min — Open. Say plainly why you are there: not an evaluation, just a chance to hear how things look from where they sit. Set the confidentiality line. No names attached back to their manager, but you will act on anything that needs fixing.
5–20 min — Questions. Pick three or four from the bank below. Do not run the whole list. A meeting that works through a checklist of questions stops being a conversation and starts being an interview.
20–25 min — One open question. “Is there anything worth me knowing that hasn’t reached me yet?” Leave real silence after it. Most people need a few seconds before they answer that one honestly.
25–30 min — Close. Tell them what happens next, even loosely: “I’ll look into the on-call thing.” Give them a rough idea of when you will follow up. If a skip-level produces no visible next step, the next one gets shorter answers.
The question bank, by category
The team
- What’s something the team deals with regularly that never reaches me?
- If you could fix one process tomorrow with no approval needed, what would it be?
- Who’s doing work right now that isn’t getting noticed?
Their manager. Lead positive. You are not asking them to grade their boss.
- What does [manager] do that makes your work easier?
- Is there anything worth [manager] knowing that hasn’t reached them yet?
- What’s something [manager] handled well recently that’s worth them hearing about?
The work
- What’s taking longer than it reasonably should, and why?
- What would you stop doing tomorrow if you were sure nobody would notice?
- What’s a recent decision that would have gone differently if someone had asked you first?
The person
- What are you proud of recently that didn’t get much recognition?
- Where do you want to be in a year, and is anything here in the way of that?
- What would make this job meaningfully better, that isn’t about money?
Skip any question that is really a yes or no in disguise. “Are you happy here” gets “yes” every time, while “what would make you consider leaving” gets you somewhere. Pick three or four questions in total, across categories rather than one from each. Four categories in thirty minutes leaves no time to follow up on the answer that matters.
Opening lines that actually work
- “I want to hear how things look from where you sit — not an evaluation, just a read on things.”
- “Nothing you say gets repeated back to [manager] with your name on it, but if something needs fixing, I’ll fix it.”
- “This isn’t a status meeting — I’ve got your manager’s updates already.”
If you only have fifteen minutes
Some calendars have no thirty-minute slot to spare, especially for a first round with a large group. The agenda compresses without losing its shape:
- 0–2 min — Open. The same line, shorter: why you are there, and what happens with what they say.
- 2–11 min — Two questions, not four. Take one from the work and one from the person. Those two categories are the least visible to you from status reports, so they cover the most ground per minute.
- 11–13 min — The open door. “Anything worth me knowing that hasn’t reached me?” The same question, with less room around it.
- 13–15 min — Close. Even a fifteen-minute skip-level needs a visible next step, or the meeting reads as a box someone ticked.
A fifteen-minute skip-level you hold every quarter is worth more than a thirty-minute one you hold once a year.
What to write down before you leave
Three things, every time:
- Any commitment you made, with an actual date. A notebook works, as long as you reopen it before the next conversation. In Tagup, log the conversation on the person’s profile and turn the promise into a tracked follow-up → with a due date.
- Anything that echoes a prior skip-level. One mention is a data point. A second mention two months later is a pattern worth acting on.
- One thing to raise with their manager. Describe it as a problem rather than attributing it to a person, so the manager can fix it without the fix pointing back to this conversation.
Reusing this next quarter
Adjust the question mix per person rather than running the identical list every time. Someone you have skip-leveled three times does not need “what are you proud of” reopened from scratch. Keep the structure constant: open, a few real questions, one open door, a visible close. For how often to run these and why thirty minutes is enough, see the full guide →.
Skip-level meeting template: quick answers
Do I need to ask every question on this list?
No. Pick three or four that fit the person and the moment. Running the whole bank turns a conversation into an interrogation, and it leaves no time to follow up on the answers worth following up on.
Can I use this agenda for a direct report’s 1:1 instead?
Loosely, but a 1:1 has a different job: tracking one person’s ongoing work and growth. A skip-level is narrower and less frequent. Reusing the open and the close is fine, though the questions are not really 1:1 questions.
Should I tell their manager the meeting is happening?
Yes, before it happens, and briefly. A skip-level your direct report hears about afterwards reads as a check on them. One sentence is enough: you are doing a round of skip-levels, here is who is on the list, and you will bring them anything that needs their attention.
What if they have nothing to raise?
Take the answer at face value and use the time anyway. Ask about the work rather than about problems: what takes longer than it should, what they would stop doing, what they want to be doing in a year. A first skip-level often produces little, because candor tends to follow evidence that the last one led somewhere.
Should I record a skip-level using this agenda?
Usually not. Most of the value is in a conversation that feels off the record, and a recording changes what people are willing to say. If you do record one, ask first and do not record until the person has agreed.