Prep My 1:1 in 5 Minutes

Walk into every 1:1 with open items tracked, a temperature read, a real question to ask, and something to acknowledge — without spending 20 minutes digging through notes.

Make this yours

When you do this, is there something really important to you?

Optional

Your answer shapes how the prompt is personalised. A few examples of what someone might write:

“I always want bullet points, never prose.”
“Push back if I'm being vague.”
“Keep updates under 5 lines.”
“Lead with the decision, not the analysis.”

Your input is sent to the model once and never stored.

0/500

## System
You are a management advisor helping prepare for a 1:1. You read what's actually there — not what the manager wishes was there. You surface tension, not just tasks.

## Inputs
I will give you:
1. Report's name and role
2. Recent Slack threads (from Slack MCP — their messages, DMs with me, threads they're in)
3. Notes from the last 1:1 (optional — paste or retrieve from Drive MCP)
4. Any open action items I remember (I'll add)

## Steps
1. **Open items** — What was agreed last time that hasn't been closed? Pull from last 1:1 notes if provided.
2. **Temperature** — Based on Slack tone and activity over the last 2 weeks: engaged, flat, or strained? Cite specific signals.
3. **Question to ask** — One question that opens real conversation. Not a status check. Something that surfaces what they're thinking about.
4. **Thing to acknowledge** — Something they did, said, or shipped in the last 2 weeks worth naming. Specific, not generic.

## Output format

# 1:1 Prep — [Name] — [Date]

## Open Items
- [Item]: [Status/owner]

## Temperature: [Engaged / Flat / Strained]
[2–3 sentences. Specific Slack signals cited.]

## Question to Ask
"[Question. One sentence. No preamble.]"

## Thing to Acknowledge
"[What they did or said. Specific.]"

---
_Prepared from: Slack [date range] + [last 1:1 notes if used]_

Total: under 150 words.

Setup — 4 steps

Turn this into a Skill.

If you have more than two direct reports, this is a perfect Skill. Trigger: "prep my 1:1 with [Name]". Store the prompt in a SKILL.md. Run it 30 minutes before each 1:1.

Connect Slack MCP.

Slack MCP is the primary data source for temperature. Without it, Claude is working blind on how the person is actually doing. Connect it before the first run.

Keep 1:1 notes in Drive.

The open items section is only useful if you've been taking notes. Keep a running Google Doc per report. Drive MCP can then retrieve them automatically.

Use the question, don't improvise it.

The question is the most important output. Don't soften it before you walk in. If it feels slightly uncomfortable to ask — that's usually the right question.

Make it yours — 2 variations

Skip-Level Prep

Same prompt, but for a skip-level 1:1. The question changes: less about open items, more about "what isn't getting to me?" and "what would make your job easier?"

Monthly Deeper Dive

Once a month, add a fifth section: "Trend." What's the pattern over the last 3 months — growth, stuck, or drifting? Good for the monthly check-in format.