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Skip-Level Meeting Template

Meeting the people who report to your managers? Pick the format and length, tick the ground rules, adjust the opening script, choose 8 to 12 questions and take notes against each one. Afterwards, write down the themes and follow-ups and copy the close-the-loop message. Print it as a sheet or copy it as text. No sign-up.

The skip-level meeting format: one-on-one or group

Both formats have the same goal: hear how the work looks from two levels down, without going around the manager in between.

  • One-on-one skip-level

    You and one person from your manager's team, usually 30 minutes. People say more in private, so this suits a new leader getting to know the team, or a team going through change. It takes time: plan a rotation rather than everyone in one week.

  • Group skip-level (roundtable)

    You and four to eight people from one team, 45 to 60 minutes. Faster to cover a larger team, and people build on each other's points. Some will hold back in a group, so keep questions about process and the work, and offer a one-on-one to anyone who wants one.

How to run a skip-level meeting

The sheet above follows these steps.

  1. Tell the manager first: what the meetings are for, that they are not a review of them, and that you will share themes with them.
  2. Invite with a plain reason ("I want to hear how things look from where you sit") and share the ground rules in the invite.
  3. Open with the script: what this is, what happens to what is said, and that any question can be skipped.
  4. Ask a few questions well rather than many quickly. Pick 8 to 12, follow up on the answers and write down their words.
  5. Close by asking what they want from you and when they would like to hear back.
  6. Within a few days, send the close-the-loop message with themes, not names, and what happens next.

Ground rules that make people talk

People speak openly when they know what happens to what they say. Say it plainly at the start: what stays private, what you pass on as themes without names, and that this is not a review of them or of their manager. Then keep those promises, because the next round depends on it.

Promise less rather than more. "I'll come back to you by the 25th with what I'm doing about this" is a promise you can keep. "I'll fix it" usually isn't.

After the meeting: close the loop

The follow-up is the part people remember. Write down themes the same day, while you can still separate what you heard from what you assumed. Send a short message: thanks, the themes, what happens next with an owner and a date, and when you will talk again. Share the same themes with the manager in between, without names.

Skip-levels in a sales team

In a sales team the skip-level is where a sales director hears what the reps hear from customers: why deals stall, which competitor keeps coming up, which process slows quotes down. Ride-alongs and pipeline reviews show the numbers; a skip-level shows the reasons. Keep pipeline status out of it: that belongs in the deal review with the rep's own manager.

Related reading: skip-level meeting questions, field sales management, one-on-one meeting template, meeting cadence.

Listen instead of writing.

Taking notes while someone is telling you something hard puts a screen between you. With the participant's consent, record the meeting in ParrotNotes, keep your eyes on them, then get the summary and action items to fill in the follow-ups and the close-the-loop message. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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Related tools

Skip-level meeting FAQ