A skip-level meeting is a one-on-one conversation where a senior manager connects with an employee who directly reports to their subordinate manager (often called the "manager’s manager"). This deliberate bypassing of the immediate manager allows senior leaders to gain insights that aren't filtered through layers of hierarchy.
These meetings help organizations uncover hidden opportunities and identify roadblocks, making them instrumental in building rapport and strengthening alignment between teams and leadership.
• Frequency: scheduled quarterly or biannually, depending on organizational needs.
• Participants: a senior leader and one of the team members reporting to a subordinate manager.
• Structure: they remain informal and conversational, avoiding performance reviews. Instead, the focus is on feedback, career growth, team dynamics, and strategic alignment.
Skip-level meetings are a powerful tool for organizations to:
• Encourage open feedback: they bypass the traditional reporting lines and ensure employees feel heard.
• Improve communication across various levels of the organization.
• Spot trends early: leaders gain access to on-the-ground information that they might otherwise miss.
• Boost trust between senior leaders and team members.
• Enable personal connection by fostering rapport and ensuring employees feel valued.
If you’re leading a skip-level meeting, the right questions can help you maximize its potential. Use these categories to guide your conversation:
For employees, a skip-level meeting is a rare and valuable opportunity to connect directly with senior leaders. It's a chance to provide insights, build stronger relationships, and gather feedback that can help you grow in your role. Making the most of this interaction requires preparation, intentionality, and a focus on constructive communication. Here’s how you can maximize the value of your skip-level meeting:
• Focus on insights, not complaints
Instead of using the meeting as a space to vent frustrations, approach it as an opportunity to share constructive feedback. Highlight areas where you see opportunities for improvement, but be sure to suggest potential solutions that could address those challenges. This shows initiative and a collaborative mindset.
• Be honest and prepared
Take time before the meeting to reflect on your own work, goals, and contributions to the company. Consider what you’ve accomplished, where you want to grow, and the challenges you may be facing. Coming to the meeting with specific examples and well-thought-out questions will demonstrate your engagement and commitment.
Preparation is key to having a productive and meaningful conversation. Here are some thoughtful questions to consider asking during your skip-level meeting:
By asking these kinds of questions, you can gain valuable insights into leadership’s perspective, demonstrate your proactive attitude, and reinforce your commitment to both personal growth and the company’s success. Remember, a skip-level meeting is not just about being heard—it’s about listening, learning, and building a stronger connection to the broader vision of the organization.
When conducted effectively, skip-level meetings can provide significant benefits for organizations, fostering better communication and engagement across all levels. Here’s how they make an impact:
• Promote alignment
By giving leadership direct access to employees, skip-level meetings help ensure everyone is aligned on goals, priorities, and expectations. Leaders can gain firsthand insights into day-to-day operations, helping them make more informed decisions that reflect the realities of the team.
• Empower employees
These meetings create a safe space for employees to voice their concerns, share innovative ideas, and offer feedback that may not surface in regular team meetings. It also gives leaders an opportunity to provide tailored guidance and mentorship, fostering professional growth and building trust.
• Reinforce company value
Encouraging open communication through skip-level meetings helps build a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Employees feel heard and valued, which can lead to improved morale, greater engagement, and stronger commitment to the organization's mission.
• Review work: get familiar with the employee’s contributions and recent achievements.
• Be curious: approach these meetings with a mindset of openness and genuine interest.
• Set a clear agenda: prepare topics for discussion but leave room for the employee to steer the conversation toward their own priorities.
• Reflect on achievements: highlight recent successes or significant contributions.
• Discuss goals: use this opportunity to address career aspirations or developmental needs.
• Come with ideas: share suggestions on improving team processes, collaboration, or communication.
Whether you're a senior leader or an employee, these quick tips can help your skip-level meetings achieve their intended outcomes and foster better communication within your organization:
• Keep the atmosphere safe
Building rapport is crucial. Create a judgment-free zone where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, concerns, and ideas without fear of negative consequences. A safe environment encourages transparency and openness.
• Listen more, talk less
Use skip-level meetings as an opportunity to hear directly from employees. Let them do the talking while you focus on listening. Ask open-ended questions to promote authentic communication and uncover insights you might not get otherwise.
• Avoid performance reviews
Skip-level meetings should not feel like evaluations. Instead, treat them as strategic discussions where you can understand broader challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and empower employees to share feedback about the organization as a whole.
• Follow up with actions
Demonstrating that you value employees’ input is key. Document key takeaways from the meeting and make sure action items are clear, with follow-through that employees can see. Tools like MinutesLink, an AI-powered note-taker, can simplify this process by automatically capturing meeting notes, highlighting important points, and outlining next steps for easy implementation.
By focusing on trust, active listening, and actionable outcomes, skip-level meetings can become powerful tools for driving engagement and organizational growth.
Skip-level meetings are a simple yet impactful strategy to enhance transparency, improve communication, and drive engagement across layers of an organization. When both leaders and employees participate with preparation and honesty, these interactions uncover valuable insights that contribute to the company’s success.
Take the next step in enhancing your organizational culture by prioritizing skip-level meetings. And if you want to ensure they’re efficient and effective, consider using tools like MinutesLink to capture meeting notes, action items, and insights with ease. It's the perfect tool for senior leaders looking to save time while staying connected to their teams!
Skip-level meetings are one-on-one meeting between employees and a manager who is above their direct supervisor, essentially skipping a level of management. These meetings serve as a powerful tool to foster open communication, develop stronger relationships across the organization, and gain valuable insights from employees who may not regularly interact with higher-level leadership. By bypassing the immediate manager, skip-level meetings provide leaders with a more direct understanding of dynamics, workplace challenges, and the overall employee experience, helping to align teams with organizational goals.
The key to a productive skip-level meeting is focusing on relationship-building and gaining meaningful insights. Start by establishing trust with the employee—ask them about their role, their projects, and their experience at the company. Dive deeper into understanding dynamics and ask for honest feedback about challenges they face or obstacles that hinder their work. Encourage them to share their opinions on company processes, workplace culture, or areas for improvement. It's also an excellent opportunity to recognize their efforts, show appreciation for their contributions, and discuss their career growth or long-term aspirations. Keeping the communication open and encouraging candid dialogue will help foster strong connections and provide actionable insights for leadership.
The main purpose of skip-level meetings is to improve communication within the organization and bridge the gap between employees and higher-level management. These interactions allow leadership to gain unfiltered feedback from employees who are directly involved in day-to-day operations. Skip-level meetings help leaders understand dynamics, challenges, and successes from a fresh perspective. They also create an opportunity to address concerns, boost employee morale, and show that leadership values their input. Additionally, these meetings help build trust and transparency within the organization, fostering a more engaged, motivated workforce aligned with the company’s vision.
Skip-level meetings aren’t inherently bad, but they require careful handling to avoid potential pitfalls. When conducted thoughtfully, they can be a great way to foster open communication, foster strong connections, and gain insights from employees at all levels. However, if not managed with care, they risk undermining the authority of direct supervisors, creating confusion, or leading to a misinterpretation of feedback. To avoid these issues, leaders should communicate the purpose of the meetings clearly, ensure managers are informed, and use the feedback gathered constructively to support—not bypass—their direct reports. Done right, skip-level meetings are an invaluable tool for building stronger teams and providing leadership with a clearer picture of the organization.
A skip-level meeting is a meeting between a manager and an employee who reports to one of their direct reports, bypassing the employee's immediate supervisor. These meetings are designed to strengthen communication across different levels of the organization, foster strong connections with employees, and gain direct insights into the challenges and successes of day-to-day operations. By skipping a level of management, leaders can understand the team’s perspective directly and identify ways to improve processes, address concerns, or recognize contributions. When done effectively, skip-level meetings help foster a collaborative and open organizational culture.
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