FWIW, as someone who’s had direct reports for decades, 1:1s are mostly about building a relationship (two more things below). I want to have a relationship with

FWIW, as someone who’s had direct reports for decades, 1:1s are mostly about building a relationship (two more things below). I want to have a relationship with trust and honesty (within the bounds of work, of course) while things are going well, so that when things go sideways we have a good grounding and can still work together. “Sideways,” by definition, is not predictable. E.g., one of my people, many years ago, was harassed by another employee. If we hadn’t had a good relationship they may not have said anything to me. The part that isn’t relationship-building is either (a) fire detection, or (b) career growth. Fire detection: I want to find signs of fires as early as possible; often they smolder for a long time before bursting into flames. Career growth: I want my people to be able to learn, grow, and progress without having to find a new job first. Other commenters have said — and I agree — that tracking work is often done better in other contexts.