Coaching prompts

Overview

“How’s it going?” is what you ask when you haven’t done the homework. The best 1:1 questions come from noticing patterns in someone’s work over weeks, and noticing takes time most managers don’t have. This preset notices for you, and turns what it finds into questions worth asking.

What this is for

This preset solves the shallow 1:1 problem. Status updates fill the meeting because status is easy: it’s right there, this week, top of mind. The questions that actually help someone grow come from a longer view. Why does this person’s energy dip every time they work on a certain project? What’s behind the blocker they’ve mentioned three times but never escalated? Those patterns live in a month of check-ins nobody has time to reread.

The Coaching prompts preset rereads them. Each week, it reviews a person’s last 30 days of check-ins, intentions, blockers, and goal updates, then suggests five questions designed to open up the conversation rather than rehash the week. You bring the curiosity; it brings the evidence.

Who should use this

Engineering managers whose 1:1s have drifted into status meetings. You’ll have questions that go somewhere deeper than “what are you working on?”

New managers learning the difference between managing the work and coaching the person. You’ll get a weekly model of what pattern-based questions look like.

Experienced managers with many reports who can’t hold a month of context on each person. You’ll walk into every 1:1 with the patterns already surfaced.

The prompt

Based on [ person ]'s check-ins, stated intentions, blockers, and goal updates from the last 30 days, suggest 5 thoughtful questions I can ask in our next 1:1 to support their growth and unblock their work.

How to use

Click here to create a new Echo using this preset. You'll be able to customize the prompt and schedule before it starts generating answers.