Tech Leadership Workshop: Running 1:1s That Improve Performance & Trust

Do your 1:1s feel like:

• Status updates that could’ve been a Slack message. No real conversation happening.

• Unstructured, rambling chats without purpose. Nothing meaningful gets discussed.

• A lot of discussion but there’s no next steps or actions.

• You do all the talking instead of listening.

This 2-hour online workshop gives you a framework for running 1:1s that are structured conversations to build trust, allowing you to collaboratively work together to plan concerns and how to overcome them, and help your team grow.

The Problem

Tech leaders either skip 1:1s entirely or run them without much thought defaulting to the usual: “How’s everything going?” And then the conversation happens and it’s “fine” but nothing came out of it.

Without structure and intention, 1:1s become a chore instead of the most powerful tool you have for building trust, catching problems early, and helping your team grow.

When they’re done well, 1:1s are where your best leadership happens. When they’re not, there’s silence, awkwardness and disengagement.

Who This Is For

• Engineering Managers running 1:1s that feel flat or repetitive

• Tech Leads who want to build stronger relationships with their direct reports

• New managers figuring out what a good 1:1 actually looks like

• Senior software engineers stepping into leadership and needing a structured plan

What You’ll Walk Away With

• The 1:1 Preparation Worksheet: the four core objectives (trust, concerns, growth, collaboration) and how to balance them across your conversations

• A preparation model for setting clear objectives, building a shared agenda, and making the meeting worth showing up to

• How to phrase open-ended questions, reading non-verbal cues, and creating space for honest conversation

• Common mistakes mapped out (lack of prep, ignoring signals, neglecting follow-up) and how to avoid each one

• Group activity practice with Andrew and the group

How It Works

• 2-hour live online session (Zoom)

• Short teaching blocks on models and frameworks, then real practice. You’ll run through 1:1 scenarios in small groups using realistic situations and the preparation worksheet

• You’ll leave with the 1:1 Preparation Worksheet

• Q&A with Andrew

About Andrew Murphy

Andrew is a tech geek and tech leadership educator. With 20+ years in the tech industry, starting out as a developer, he’s passionate about bridging the gap between tech and people leadership. Previously he has led and grown engineering teams in start-ups and enterprises.

Details

• July 27, 2026

• Time

  • 🇺🇸 1pm - 3pm PDT

  • 🇺🇸 2pm - 4pm MDT

  • 🇺🇸 4pm - 6pm EDT

• Where: Online (Zoom link will be sent separately)

• Investment: $250 USD (could you use your learning and development budget?)

More tech leadership workshops by Andrew can be found here: https://andrewmurphy.io/