As you start a new job, two of the important questions you should ask your boss – as you review your written list of job responsibilities – are:
“What criteria will you be using to judge my performance?”
“What are your most important priorities for me for the next three months and why?”
As time goes by, here are some other good questions to ask your boss during your one:one meetings – which are inspired from a much longer list from a recent article from Harvard Business Review:
“What are the organization’s top strategic priorities at this time?”
“How does my work contribute to our strategic priorities?”
“Am I meeting your expectations? Do you have any feedback on how I can improve?”
“What strengths do you see that I have and how can I more effectively deploy them for the organization?”
“What professional development activities do you suggest that I consider participating in during the next six-twelve months?”
“Are there particular people with whom I should be networking – internally and externally – that would support our work and also be good for my career advancement?”
“Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare myself for advancement within our organization?”
“Are there things I can do to better support you with your priorities?
Obviously, you don’t want to ask all of these questions in every meeting. Pick the ones that seem to make sense with everything else that you and your boss have going on.
You can actually support your boss in being a more effective manager with these questions, while you are also becoming more successful and fulfilled in your own role.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Rogelberg, S, Kreamer, L., and Meredith, C. “28 Questions to Ask Your Boss in Your One:Ones,” Harvard Business Review online, June 23, 2023.
