A Skip-level meeting is a meeting between managers and team members who are one or more levels below them. The purpose of a skip-level meeting is for managers to get to know their team members, build trust with them, and understand their problems. Skip-level meetings can never take the place of direct communications within teams, but it can be a powerful adjunct to these efforts.
Key Concepts:
- Group round-table meetings are more efficient than one-on-one meetings for skip-level meetings.
- Leading organizations plan a skip-level meeting with every team or workgroup at least once per year.
- Don’t wait for your boss or the HR department to arrange skip-level meetings for your direct reports.
- There are five key steps to conducting an effective skip-level meeting:
- Plan the skip level meeting
- Conduct the skip level meeting and record the feedback
- Analyze the information collected
- Create an action plan based on the feedback
- Follow up and report progress
Planning Questions:
- When is the last time a skip-level meeting was conducted with this group?
- Has the feedback from last skip level meeting been acted upon?
- Have skip-level meetings been conducted in parallel business areas?
- Will the skip level meeting be used to ‘build a file’ for disciplinary action on the leader of the group?
- Have I followed the five-point planning process for skip-level meetings?
- Do I need to improve my skills in any of the related areas, for which information is available?
Potential Pitfalls:
- Do not use skip-level meetings to ‘build a file’ on a leader you want to fire.
- Tell all managers what you are doing and why.
- Don’t include the manager in the skip level meeting if your goal is to get back honest feedback.
- Don’t ask about topics about which you are unable or unwilling to do anything.
- Provide some level of feedback to the manager about the feedback received from his/her direct reports during the skip level meeting.
- It is more damaging to do a skip-level meeting poorly than it is to not do it at all.
Another meeting like as round table or coffee talk.
But I think it’s difficult to skip level at the front of your manager. People always keep cautious at the front of higher level guys.
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