Free template
A skip-level meeting template with questions that get real answers.
What a skip-level is, how often to hold one and how to run it without stepping on the direct manager. Then pick from 49 questions by goal, or 14 to ask if you're the engineer, and copy the agenda.
What is a skip-level meeting? A conversation that skips a level.
A skip-level meeting is a conversation between a manager's manager and someone on one of their teams, without the direct manager in the room. On an engineering team, that's usually a director or head of engineering meeting with the individual engineers who report to their engineering managers.
It isn't a status update or a performance review. It's how the skip-level hears what's actually happening, before it reaches them as an attrition number or a missed launch. And it's how engineers get a direct line to someone who sees more of the org than their manager does.
30 min
is enough for one person. 45 for a small group.
Quarterly
with each person, up to about 20 people under you
5 or 6
questions for 30 minutes. You won't get through more.
If you're running it
You're listening for patterns: the same blocker from three people, a team that's quietly overloaded, someone ready for more scope. Your job is to hear it, act on what's yours to fix, and pass themes to the managers in between, not to manage their teams for them.
If you're the engineer
It's not a test. Bring one thing that's going well, one thing that slows the team down and two or three questions about where the org is heading. It's also a chance to be known by someone who has a say in promotions and projects.
Pick the questions, copy the agenda.
Filter by what you want to learn, tap questions to add them, put them in order and copy the agenda as Markdown. Switch to the engineer side for questions to ask your skip-level.
49 questions for the manager's manager, by what you want to learn. Pick five or six for a 30-minute meeting.
Your questions, in order
- 1What's something about your work that I probably don't see from where I sit?
- 2How would you describe the mood on the team right now?
- 3Is the on-call load fair? Does anyone carry more than their share?
- 4What slows you down most in a normal week?
- 5Do you know what the next level looks like for you, and does it feel reachable?
- 6What's one thing I could do differently that would help the team?
Skip-level: Priya and Sam
Sat, Oct 17, 2026 · 30 minutes
Before: tell Alex this is on the calendar and what it's for.
Opening (5 min)
- Why we're meeting: to hear how things look from where you sit. It's not a performance review.
- What I'll do with it: share themes across the team, not quotes. Nothing goes to Alex with your name on it unless you say so.
- Anything you want to talk about first?
Questions (20 min)
- What's something about your work that I probably don't see from where I sit?
- How would you describe the mood on the team right now?
- Is the on-call load fair? Does anyone carry more than their share?
- What slows you down most in a normal week?
- Do you know what the next level looks like for you, and does it feel reachable?
- What's one thing I could do differently that would help the team?
Close (5 min)
- What's one thing you'd like me to do with this conversation?
- When you'll hear back, and how:
Follow-ups
- Who, what, by when
- Close the loop with Sam, even if the answer is no
- Share themes (not quotes) with Alex
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Paste it into Notion, Confluence, Google Docs or a calendar invite. Share the questions ahead of time so nobody feels ambushed.
How often to hold skip-level meetings.
Up to about 20 people
A 1:1 skip-level with each person once a quarter. With fewer than ten, every month or two works too.
20 to 50 people
Each person twice a year, or group skip-levels of three to five people from the same team every quarter.
More than 50
Group skip-levels and open office hours, plus 1:1s with a rotating handful of people each month.
After a big change
An extra round within two to four weeks of a reorg, a layoff or a new manager joining. That's when people most need to be heard.
Group skip-levels are cheaper but quieter: people say less in front of peers. Use them for team health and direction, and keep career questions for 1:1s.
A skip-level meeting format that works in 30 minutes.
- 1BeforeTell the direct manager first, and why. Then send the invite with a one-line purpose, like “I'd like to hear how things look from where you sit.” Share a few of the questions so nobody walks in guessing.
- 2Opening, 5 minutesSay why you're meeting, that it isn't a performance review, and what you'll do with what you hear: themes across people, not quotes. Ask if they have anything they want to start with.
- 3Questions, 20 minutesFive or six open questions. Follow the interesting answer instead of moving to the next question. “Say more about that” is the most useful thing you can ask.
- 4Close, 5 minutesAsk what they'd like you to do with the conversation, and say when they'll hear back. Write down what you promised.
- 5After, within a weekShare themes with the direct manager. Do the things you said you'd do, and close the loop on the ones you won't, with the reason. A skip-level with no follow-up is worse than none.
What not to do in a skip-level.
Don't undermine the direct manager
Don't make decisions about their team in the room, and don't go around them afterwards. When someone raises a problem, ask “Have you talked to Alex about this?” and help them do it. Fixes go through the manager.
Don't ask them to rate their manager
“How's Alex doing?” puts people in an awkward spot and gets polite answers. Ask about the team and about leadership. Problems with a manager show up as patterns anyway.
Don't make it a performance review
No feedback on their work unless they ask for it. If people think they're being assessed, they'll tell you everything is fine.
Don't quote people
Share themes across several conversations, never “Sam said…”. One broken confidence ends honest skip-levels for the whole org.
Don't promise what you can't deliver
“I'll look into it” is fine. “I'll fix the on-call rotation” is a promise the team will hold you to. Say what you'll do and by when.
Don't skip the follow-up
Come back with what you did, even when the answer is no. People stop telling you things when nothing happens.
If someone raises something serious, like harassment, discrimination or a safety issue, that isn't a theme to pass on later. Check with HR on what you need to do.
Questions to ask your skip-level manager.
If you're the engineer, these get you what your manager can't always give you: the bigger picture, and what growth looks like across the org. Pick two or three.
Direction
Your skip-level sees the plan a level up. Ask what's coming and why.
- What are the org's top priorities this year, and where does our team fit?
- What's the biggest risk to our plans that you're watching?
- What would success look like for our team in six months, from your view?
- What are you hearing from customers or the business that we don't see?
The org
How decisions get made above your team, and what's changing.
- What changes are coming to the org that would help us to know about early?
- How do decisions about headcount and team priorities get made?
- What could our team do to work better with the teams around us?
Your growth
What growth looks like across the org, not only on your team.
- What do the engineers who grow fastest here have in common?
- What does staff-level impact look like in this org?
- Are there projects coming up where someone like me could take on more scope?
- How did you get to your role, and what would you do differently?
Feedback
How your team and your work look from further away.
- How is our team seen from outside?
- Is there anything about my work you'd want me to know?
- What's one thing you'd like our team to start doing?
Bring something too: one thing going well, one thing slowing the team down, and a piece of your work they may not have seen. Raise problems as problems with the team or the system, not complaints about your manager, and tell your manager afterwards what you talked about. Use the builder above on the engineer side to turn your picks into prep notes.
Skip-levels find the problems. 1:1s are where they get worked on.
Most of what a skip-level turns up belongs in the direct manager's 1:1s: the career conversation nobody has had, the person who hasn't had a break since spring. For those, the 1:1 questions by situation cover burnout, career growth, reorgs and someone thinking of leaving, and the 1:1 meeting template gives you an agenda for the weekly meeting.
A skip-level round across three teams also runs into vacations, on-call weeks and conferences. Forgot puts everyone's time off on one calendar, so you can see who's around before you book a round.
Questions
What is a skip-level meeting?
A meeting between a manager's manager and someone two levels below them, without the direct manager in the room. The skip-level hears how the team is doing first hand, and the engineer gets a direct line to someone who sees more of the org.
How often should skip-level meetings happen?
Once a quarter with each person is the usual rhythm when you have up to about 20 people under you. With more, hold them twice a year or run small group skip-levels. Add an extra round after a reorg, a layoff or a new manager joining.
What is a good skip-level meeting format?
30 minutes: five minutes to say why you're meeting and what you'll do with what you hear, about 20 minutes of questions, and five minutes to agree follow-ups. Afterwards, share themes (not quotes) with the direct manager and close the loop on anything you promised.
What questions should I ask in a skip-level meeting?
Pick five or six for 30 minutes, matched to what you want to learn: team health, blockers, career or feedback on leadership. Open questions work best, like “What slows you down most in a normal week?” Avoid asking people to rate their manager.
What should I ask my skip-level manager?
Ask what they can see and your manager can't: the org's priorities and where your team fits, risks they're watching, what growth looks like across the org, and how your team is seen from outside. Bring one thing you want them to know too.
Is a skip-level meeting confidential?
It should be by default: the skip-level shares themes across several people, not who said what. Say this at the start. The exception is anything serious like harassment, discrimination or safety, which has to go to HR. Check with HR on how your company handles that.