July 15, 2026
Hi Everyone,
Skip-levels promise a great return. You talk to people below your direct reports and get a clearer view of what’s happening day to day.
But the meeting itself doesn’t do much on its own. A 2023 study of 433 employees found that attending a skip-level had no measurable effect on retention. What mattered was what the conversation covered.
Today, we’re covering how to make skip-levels more useful by giving the conversation a clearer shape.
Why most skip-levels miss the point
That same study shows how most skip-levels actually go.
- About 54% had no formal agenda
- Only 37% of managers knew the meeting was happening.
- And most lasted under 30 minutes and happened once or twice a year.
So it's usually a short, unstructured chat where neither person is sure what to talk about.
Marc Davis documented a related risk. If a senior leader shows casual interest in an idea, the employee may take that as permission to move ahead without checking with their manager.
Without a few guardrails, a well-intentioned conversation can chip away at a manager's authority.
What to actually talk about
How connected employees felt to their company came down to how many topics the conversation covered. The most effective skip-levels got into:
- Roadblocks that are slowing work right now
- Team dynamics and how collaboration actually feels day to day
- Recognition for what is going well and worth calling out
- Career development and where they want to grow next
- Company direction and how decisions at the top connect to their daily work
You don't need to discuss all five every time. But "How's everything going?" by itself isn't doing much.
Always keep your managers in the loop
The fastest way to turn a skip-level into a problem is to run it behind your manager's back.
Three rules help you avoid that:
- Tell the manager beforehand: Let them know it's happening, what it's for, and how you'll handle what you hear. This prevents the "Am I being investigated?" spiral.
- Share themes, never quotes: After a round of meetings, give the manager the pattern you heard. Don’t attach feedback to a specific person. That protects trust and makes the feedback easier to work with. Kim Scott’s Radical Candor approach is useful here. Give the manager one or two clear themes they can act on, not a long list of comments.
- Don’t become the manager: When you hear about an issue, don't rush to fix it yourself. Give the manager the feedback and let them handle the response. If an employee raises something about their manager directly, ask "Have you talked to them about this?" and coach them toward that conversation.
Try this today
Before your next skip-level, send the employee a short note with four questions.
- What is slowing your work down right now?
- Where is the team unclear?
- What is working well that I may not hear about?
- Where would more support help you?
Send the manager a note too.
I’m meeting with [Name] this week for a regular skip-level. I want to hear what’s working, what’s stuck, and what they’re seeing day to day. I’ll share back any useful themes afterward and let you know if there’s anything worth following up on.
After the meeting, write down the main themes in two or three sentences. Then share only what the manager needs to know.
Go deeper
👉 The Management Center: Skip-Level Meeting Toolkit — ready-made structure for the meeting. It covers what to send before, what to ask during, and how to follow up without surprising the manager.
👉 GitLab Handbook: Skip-Levels — this is useful if your company is getting too big for ad hoc 1:1s. GitLab shows how to rotate skip-levels across teams and use group sessions when one leader has too many indirect reports.
👉 Lena Reinhard: Effective Skip-Level Meetings — best for managers of managers who need a repeatable rhythm. The templates are especially helpful if you’re trying to keep the meetings useful without filling your calendar.
👉 Lighthouse: Skip-Level Meetings and 1:1s — good read on the manager side of this. It explains how skip-levels can strengthen your management layer when they’re used to coach managers, not work around them.
Coming up tomorrow
Tomorrow, we’re covering salary bands, how they help managers explain pay reviews, and a simple guide to help you build your first version.
P.S. Do you run skip-levels regularly, or only when something feels off? We’d love to know.