Question bank
Skip-Level Meeting Questions
A skip-level meeting is a conversation between a leader and an employee two levels down, skipping that person’s direct manager. Done well, it builds trust, gives you signal you wouldn’t get any other way, and surfaces the things that quietly get lost on the way up the chain.
It’s not a regular 1:1 with someone else’s teammate, and it isn’t a performance review of their manager. The questions below are grouped by what you’re trying to do. You don’t need all of them. Pick a handful, listen more than you talk, and let the conversation go where it wants. If you also run 1:1s, our 1:1 questions to ask bank pairs well with this one.
Building rapport and context
You may not talk often, so spend the first few minutes being a person, not a title.
How long have you been on the team, and what drew you to the work?
What does a good day look like for you right now?
What part of your job would surprise me if I sat next to you for an hour?
Is there anything you wish leadership understood about your day to day?
How work is really going
You are here for the unfiltered signal. Ask about friction, not status.
What is slowing the team down that you do not think we see from up here?
What is something we keep doing that no longer makes sense?
Where do you spend time on work that feels low value?
If you could change one process tomorrow, what would it be?
What is going well that we should protect or do more of?
The team and your manager
Handle this gently. You are listening for how the team works together, not building a performance file on their manager.
How would you describe how the team makes decisions?
When you are stuck, do you feel like you have someone to go to?
What kind of support helps you most, and are you getting enough of it?
What does your manager do that you would want other managers to copy?
Is there anything you have wanted to raise but have not found the right moment for?
Career and growth
A skip-level is a rare chance to hear what someone wants for themselves, directly.
Where do you want to grow over the next year?
What kind of work do you want more of, and less of?
Do you feel like there is a path here for what you want to do next?
What would make you say a year from now that this was a great year?
The org and strategy
Check whether the direction in your head is landing on the ground.
Does the direction we are heading make sense from where you sit?
What do you think our priorities are right now?
What is one thing leadership could explain better?
If you were running this org, what is the first thing you would fix?
Closing questions
Leave room at the end. The most useful thing often shows up after you stop pushing.
Is there anything I should know that I have not asked about?
What is the one thing you want me to take away from this?
Is there something you want me to follow up on, and may I share who it came from?
If you’re the one being invited
A skip-level invite isn’t a test, and it isn’t your chance to go over your manager’s head. Treat it as a rare opening to share context that helps the person making bigger decisions. Think ahead of time about two or three things: what’s going well, what’s slowing the team down, and one thing you’d want leadership to understand.
Be honest and specific, but stay constructive. “Here’s a pattern I keep running into and here’s what would help” lands far better than a list of grievances. If something is sensitive, it’s fine to ask how it’ll be handled before you share it. And if you want to raise a question for your own manager, the place for that is your regular 1:1, not the skip-level.
Questions that flop
- "Is your manager doing a good job?" (Puts the person on the spot and turns the room tense.)
- "Any complaints?" (Frames the meeting as a venting session instead of a real conversation.)
- "What is everyone saying about the reorg?" (Asks them to speak for the whole team and to gossip.)
The throughline: ask about how work and the team function, not about whether someone’s manager is good or bad. You’ll learn far more, and the person across from you will trust you with the next thing too.
Frequently asked questions
What is a skip-level meeting?
A skip-level meeting is a conversation between a leader and an employee who sits two levels below them, skipping the person’s direct manager. The goal is to build trust, hear unfiltered signal, and catch the things that never make their way up the chain.
How often should you hold skip-level meetings?
Most leaders run skip-levels once a quarter, or roughly every other month for smaller teams. Often enough to build a real relationship, rare enough that it stays a meaningful conversation rather than another recurring slot.
What should you not ask in a skip-level meeting?
Avoid anything that asks someone to grade or report on their direct manager, like "is your manager doing a good job?" Ask about how the team works and where the friction is instead. You want patterns and context, not a performance file on the manager.
How is a skip-level different from a 1:1?
A regular 1:1 happens between someone and their direct manager and focuses on day to day work, follow-ups, and coaching. A skip-level happens with a leader two levels up and focuses on broader signal: how the team and the org feel from the ground, and what is not reaching leadership.
The best skip-levels build on what you already heard
A good skip-level question picks up a thread from last time. MeetFika keeps every check-in, carries follow-ups forward, and surfaces what your teammates flagged, so you walk into the next conversation already knowing where you left off.
Free to start.