Surface the blocker
- What is the single biggest thing slowing this down right now?
- Where are you waiting on a decision, and whose decision is it?
- What would you need from me to make real progress this week?
1:1 questions
1:1 questions that surface blockers before they become surprises
Blocked work rarely announces itself; it hides behind "going fine." These questions make blockers safe to raise early, then you carry the agreed next step into the following 1:1 so it actually moves.
Copyable template
Use this manually, or let EvalSuite capture it automatically from real meetings.
Agree the next step
- Who owns the very next action, and by when?
- Is unblocking this mine to do, yours, or someone else’s?
- What should we check on together in our next 1:1?
Separate "slow" from "stuck"
Not every delay is a blocker. Ask questions that distinguish work that is progressing slowly from work that cannot move without a decision or a dependency, so you spend your help where it changes the outcome.
- What is the single thing keeping this from moving today?
- Is this slow, or is it genuinely stuck waiting on something?
- What have you already tried before bringing it here?
Name the owner of the next step
A blocker conversation that ends without an owner just reschedules itself. Make every unblocking question land on who does what next — and whether removing it is your job as the manager.
Carry the next step into the next 1:1
The hardest part of unblocking is remembering to follow up. When the agreed next step and its owner are captured with the meeting, the next 1:1 starts from "did this move?" instead of re-litigating the same stall.
Workflow example
Instead of "any blockers?", a manager asks "what is the one thing keeping the migration from shipping, and who owns clearing it by Friday?" — then the answer and owner show up at the top of next week’s 1:1.
Example output
The visible output should be concrete enough to inspect.
- A clearly named blocker, not a vague "it’s slow"
- An explicit owner for the next step
- A date the manager can follow up on
- Context that carries into the next 1:1
Related and canonical pages
This page links to related acquisition pages and canonical docs instead of duplicating support content.
- /solutions/one-on-one-meeting-tracker
- /solutions/manager-action-item-tracker
- /resources/templates/one-on-one-meeting-template
- /resources/one-on-one-questions/low-engagement
- /demo
- /solutions/one-on-one-meeting-tracker
- /help/faq
Use this manually, or keep the loop in EvalSuite
EvalSuite adds the durable layer: capture, follow-through, history, and review-ready context.