mediumBehaviouralSeniorStaffLead
What do you use one-to-ones for, how do you give feedback that lands, and where does your responsibility for someone's growth end?
5 min readUpdated 2026-08-15
Answer
Short answer
One-to-ones are the engineer's time for the things that do not fit anywhere else, not a status meeting. Feedback lands when it is specific, close to the event, about behaviour and its effect, and carries a request.
Keep one to ones explicit in the answer because that is the concept the interviewer is actually trying to test. A good one to ones explanation names the trade-off, the failure mode, and the evidence you would use before choosing.
Was this answer helpful?
Likely follow-ups
- Someone consistently says everything is fine and brings no topics. What do you change?
- How do you give critical feedback to an engineer more experienced than you in the domain?
- An engineer wants a promotion the calibration data will not support this cycle. What do you say?
- What do you write down after a one-to-one, and what do you deliberately not write down?
Related questions
- Calibration has landed one of your engineers a lower rating than you argued for. How do you deliver it to them?hardAlso on feedback and career-development6 min
- One of your engineers is working most evenings, has become short with people in code review, and the date has not moved. They tell you they are fine. What do you do?hardAlso on one-to-ones and people-management6 min
- One of your strongest engineers tells you they are thinking about leaving. What do you do?hardAlso on one-to-ones and people-management6 min
- One of your engineers is underperforming. How do you handle it?hardAlso on feedback and people-management6 min