Our internal pulse survey came back with something I didn't love sitting with and it's that my SEs felt like ticket jockeys. They were processing tickets and not being the curious problem solvers sales engineers love to be.
This can, and most likely will, cause a lot of issues. One of which is that its an empathy killer. If your SE feels like an undervalued, ticket processor, they'll behave like one and your customers (internal and externa) will experience them exactly that way. So I restructured how the team operated in various ways from the queue model, how we engaged with sales, career maping and more. But the 1:1 was one of the more important levers. Because when I looked at what our sessions actually were, they were predominately vent sessions, or at best small deal updates. We weren't coaching, we weren't building anything, and my ICs' career growth was rarely the topic of conversation.
So I changed the format into 45 minute, bi-weekly sessions (from the every week 30 minutes). The SE comes in with their priorities and one or two real challenges they want to actively work through. My job is to ask better questions, remove what's in the way, and connect what they're doing this week to where they're actually trying to go in their career. Both long and near term. And each session ends with specific actions and dates on both my and their end because accountability goes both ways.
Figured I'd share a framework that's worked well for me and some of my SEs. If it shifts your 1:1s from vent sessions and status updates into actual working sessions, glad I could help another person in pre-sales.
Session Architecture
01 · open
Personal Check-in
Energy and vibe and a simple 1–5 is fine. You're calibrating, and connecting, not surveying.
→ Read the room before you run the session and reference how they're doing in relation to the last time you spoke.
02 · reinforce
Wins First
What went well because what you celebrate, you reinforce. It's also important to celebrate shit when sometimes wins feel few and far between.
→ Don't skip this.
03 · orient
Top Priorities
What's actually on their plate and then distill down to the top 3. Anything beyond that isn't a priority — it can be noted, it doesn't need to be solved today.
→ IC comes prepared and this isn't a surprise question.
04 · core
Working Session
Deep work on one or two real challenges. Not surface-level on five things. The IC brings the challenge and you as a leader can bring one too. You work through it together with 'how' and 'what if' questions, not 'what happened.'
→ This is the meat of the session. Everything else is solid scaffolding around this.
05 · clear
Blockers & Support
Where are they stuck and what do they need from you specifically. Our job is not to just be informed, but to remove what's in the way.
→ If you can't clear it in the session, it leaves with a date/action item and you're accountable to it.
06 · connect
Skill & Career Connection
The section most 1:1 formats skip entirely (I know I was). How does what they worked connect to where they're trying to go? Make it explicit.
→ The deal/project/task is practice. Name what it is they're practicing and developing.
07 · close
Action Items
Specific next steps with Specific dates and usually on both sides.
→ No date = not an action item.
//Key Principles
01
IC comes prepared. Their priorities and challenges should be ready ahead of time. This isn't a surprise format.
02
Your job is three things: ask better questions, remove obstacles, connect dots to career growth. Not receive updates.
03
Go deep on one or two things, not shallow on five.
04
Every session ends with actions and dates. Both sides.