Skip-Level Meetings

Skip-level meetings are a powerful under-used tool. Here's what they're for, and how to run one.

Layoffs were coming, and my boss handed me a list and a question:

“Would you rather have these people or their headcount?”

It was a list of people who were on the chopping block, and I could “save” them or use their headcount to hire new people.

I kept most of them. Not because I’m nice, though I am.

I knew something the re-org gods couldn't see from their spreadsheet: these weren't average performers. They were talented people hidden under a bad manager.

I knew this because I worked alongside them every day. But how do you spot these hidden gems from higher up? And more importantly, how do you spot the bad managers who are burying them?

Skip-level meetings

My mentor Peter Karpas ran them quarterly. He’d meet with his direct reports’ direct reports. The agenda was simple:

1. Biggest concerns…

2. What do you feel good about?

3. What’s getting in the way of you doing your best work?

If people complained about departments, he’d push for specific names. He probed for root causes, shifting the room from tactical complaints to real management failures, then to action.

• One rule: everybody speaks.

• One promise: I won’t get you in trouble.

I never joined those meetings, but I did notice that bad managers started disappearing, and sharp employees started getting promoted.

Pretty good use of an hour!

Simple next step

Start scheduling those skip-levels.

I hope this helps.