The development discussion is in the calendar. The form is the same as last year, and both people already know what will be asked. The hour passes, the form gets filled in, and a month later nobody remembers what was agreed.
That is how development discussions go in many organisations. They do not have to.
This page brings together what a development discussion is, what to expect from it and how to hold one so that both the employee and the manager get something out of it. It covers the discussion step by step, questions for different situations, the most common mistakes and answers to the questions people ask most often.
What is a development discussion?
A development discussion is a scheduled, confidential conversation between a manager and an employee that looks back and forward at the same time. How has the work gone, where is it heading and what does the employee need in order to succeed and grow.
The conversation has two owners. The employee gets space to talk about their own work without the rush of everyday tasks. The manager finds out what the team member really thinks, what frustrates them and where they want to go. A good development discussion serves both, and through it the organisation's goals are translated into one person's work.
It is just as important to say what a development discussion is not:
- Not a salary discussion. When pay is on the table, nobody talks honestly about development. Handle pay separately.
- Not a performance appraisal. An appraisal looks back and gives a grade. A development discussion looks forward and agrees what happens next.
- Not a project meeting. Ongoing work and urgent problems easily consume the hour. There are other meetings for those.
- Not a form. A form can help with preparation, but it is a tool. If the goal of the hour is to fill in the form, the conversation never happens.
In Finland the term is kehityskeskustelu. In English the same conversation goes by several names: development discussion, performance review and one-on-one. They do not mean exactly the same thing, and the difference to a one-on-one is explained at the end of this page.
No law requires development discussions. They are the organisation's own choice, and in most workplaces they are written into leadership practices. In some organisations documented discussions are also part of certification requirements. At Quanscient, for example, SOC 2 and the upcoming ISO 27001 require that development discussions are documented.
Why development discussions matter
When things get busy, the development discussion is the first thing to be postponed. That is a mistake for three reasons.
The manager leads on assumptions. In everyday work the manager sees the part of a team member that shows in meetings and messages. What this person wants, what weighs on them and what they are capable of stays guesswork. The development discussion is often the only moment in the year when this is asked out loud and there is time for the answer.
Agreed things do not happen without agreeing them. Skill development, a change of role or a new responsibility do not come out of hallway conversations. They come when two people sit down, decide one thing and write it down.
Strategy stays on the slides. An organisation can communicate its strategy as well as it likes, but it only becomes real when every employee can say what it means in their own work. The development discussion is where that translation is made.
The benefits are covered in more detail in common mistakes and benefits of development discussions. In short: motivation, commitment and trust between manager and employee grow when a person feels heard. And turnover drops when growth is possible in the current workplace.
How a development discussion goes: before, during and after
A good development discussion is three phases, not one hour. The hour in the middle is the most important, but without preparation it starts from nothing, and without follow-up it ends in nothing.
Before the discussion
Book the time early and say what it is about. At least a week ahead, preferably two. The employee needs to know that this is about their work and development, not the status of projects.
Ask both people to think about three things. What has gone well, what has been difficult and what would I like to talk about. Three is enough. A long form often produces the opposite result: some fill it in briefly and some not at all, because putting your own thoughts into finished sentences is hard.
The manager reads the previous agreements. What was agreed last time, and what has happened since. If this step is skipped, the employee notices in the first minute.
During the discussion
One hour is enough when the structure is clear. Below is a structure that works in most situations. Three different templates, from traditional to dialogue-based, can be found in three development discussion templates for managers.
- Check-in, 5 minutes. How are things, really. The purpose is to move both people from everyday work into the conversation. The answer can set the emphasis for the whole hour.
- Looking back, 15 minutes. What has succeeded during the past period, and what has not. The employee speaks first, the manager adds. Feedback in both directions.
- Looking forward, 20 minutes. Where is the work heading. What skills are needed a year from now. What do the organisation's goals mean in this particular role. What is getting in the way of succeeding.
- The one most important thing, 10 minutes. A conversation always raises more topics than can be handled. Choose together the one thing that something will be done about next. Tomi Urama from Entteri puts it this way: "A person can't influence everything at once; the most important thing is to find the one most essential issue."
- Agreements and follow-up, 10 minutes. Who does what and by when. When the matter is revisited. Written down so that both see the same text.
The times are indicative. If the check-in reveals that a person is heading for burnout, the rest of the hour is spent on that.
After the discussion
Document the same day. Notes written a week later are the manager's interpretation. Notes written the same day are a shared memory. Best of all, the record is created during the conversation and the employee sees it.
Put the agreed thing in the calendar. The one most important thing and its checkpoint, four or eight weeks ahead. Without this, the conversation was a good moment that changed nothing.
Return to it in the next one-on-one. The development discussion is not an island. It sets a direction that is followed in lighter conversations throughout the year.
Development discussion questions
A good question is open, concerns this particular person and cannot be answered with yes or no. Below are questions on four themes. They are not meant to be covered in full. Pick the ones that matter right now.
How the work is going
- What is best about your work at the moment, and what drains the most energy?
- What have you been proudest of in the past six months?
- What keeps recurring as a problem even though it has been discussed?
Skills and development
- What would you like to be able to do a year from now that you cannot do today?
- In which situations do you feel your skills are not enough?
- What can you do that this role does not currently use?
Direction and meaning
- Which direction would you like your role to develop in over the next couple of years?
- What do the organisation's goals mean in your work in practice?
- If you could change one thing about your work, what would it be?
Leadership and collaboration
- What would you like more of from me as a manager, and what less?
- When did you last feel you were not listened to? What happened then?
- What works in our team's collaboration, and what does not?
The questions in the last theme are the hardest for a manager to ask and the hardest for an employee to answer. They are also the ones where the conversation most often turns into an interrogation or is never held. That is why they are worth asking.
The most common mistakes in development discussions
Four mistakes recur in almost every failed development discussion.
Talking about fires, not the person. The hour goes to the problems of the current project. They are important, but there are other meetings for them. In a development discussion the topic is the person and their work over a longer period.
The manager talks. If the manager talks for more than half the time, it is not a development discussion but a briefing. A good rule of thumb: the employee talks two thirds of the time.
Not a single decision. The conversation was good, but nothing came out of it that anyone will do. One agreed thing is better than ten good ideas.
No follow-up. The agreed thing was written down but never revisited. The following year the same thing is written down again.
The six most common mistakes and the reasoning behind them are covered in common mistakes and benefits of development discussions.
How often should you hold a development discussion?
Once a year is the most common practice, and it has been argued against a lot in recent years. The contrast between an annual development discussion and continuous one-on-one meetings is unnecessary, though. They do different things.
Development discussion
- Once or twice a year, 45 to 90 minutes
- Time horizon: the current and the coming year
- Topics: direction, skills and development
- Outcome: a written development plan
One-on-one meeting
- Every 2 to 4 weeks, 20 to 30 minutes
- Time horizon: the coming weeks
- Topics: how everyday work is going, obstacles and feedback
- Outcome: one or two agreed actions
A working model is a more thorough development discussion once or twice a year, with lighter one-on-ones alongside it in which the agreements from the development discussion are followed up. What matters is that the conversations form a continuum rather than isolated events. Why many development discussions feel outdated, and what to build instead, is covered separately: a modern development discussion is not form-filling.
Development discussions in a group
A one-to-one development discussion does not reach everything. Team collaboration, division of work and shared ways of working are things of which each person sees only their own piece. Those are worth discussing together.
A group development discussion is the team's shared conversation on the same topic: how are we doing, where are we heading and what will we change. It does not replace the individual conversation, it complements it. The individual's direction is agreed one to one, the team's direction together.
If the organisation already runs an employee survey, the group discussion is the natural place to handle its results so that they turn into actions rather than a report. How to get from survey results to a conversation is covered on the employee conversations page.
Development discussions with cards: when the form is replaced by dialogue
Everything above can be done with pen and paper. Still, many managers know that structure is easier to describe than to keep. When the team member is quiet, the manager fills the space. When there are many topics, the hour runs out before a decision. And the notes get written in the evening.
Topaasia One-to-One is a development discussion in which the form is replaced by a card game. The team member picks from the cards the topics that feel important right now and explains their choices. The manager acts as the game master: listens, asks and writes down. The game steers the conversation towards choosing the one most important thing and a concrete action, and the documentation is created during the conversation. No advance preparation is needed.
The difference shows in who talks. With a form, the employee reacts to ready-made statements. With cards, they pick up what matters themselves. At the same time it is easier for the manager to stay a listener: Mia Santala from Saranen Consulting says that with the cards it was easier for her to hold back from advising and let the team member reach their own insights. Elisa Laatikainen from Entteri describes the difference in the conversation like this:
"The Topaasia session felt more like a coaching conversation. The team member chose the cards themselves and talked about them. The team lead's role was to listen, ask, spark thoughts and help sharpen what matters."
More than 1,310 development discussions have been played with Topaasia, and participants have rated them 4.59 out of 5. Three organisations have described their experience in more detail:
- Entteri replaced a form that some team members left blank. The conversations flowed naturally even with the quieter team members, and the time spent on preparation disappeared.
- Saranen Consulting holds one-on-ones with the cards every other week. According to team manager Mia Santala, 45 minutes was enough for the conversation, the insights and agreeing on actions.
- Quanscient got topics into the conversations that would not have surfaced without the framework of the game. At the same time, the documentation produced by the game met the SOC 2 requirements without a separate form process.
Gamified development discussions, their content and pricing are described in more detail on the development discussions page.
Frequently asked questions about development discussions
What is a development discussion?
A development discussion is a scheduled conversation between a manager and an employee in which the past period is reviewed, the direction for the coming period is agreed and it is decided what will be done for the employee's development. It is a leadership tool, not an HR form.
Is a development discussion mandatory?
No law requires development discussions. They are the organisation's own choice. In many workplaces they are written into leadership practices, and in some they are part of the documentation required by certifications.
How often should a development discussion be held?
A more thorough development discussion once or twice a year, with lighter one-on-one meetings every two to four weeks alongside it. What matters is not the frequency but that the conversations form a continuum and agreed things are revisited.
How do you prepare for a development discussion?
Both people think about three things in advance: what has gone well, what has been difficult and what they want to talk about. The manager also reads the agreements from the previous discussion. A long form is not needed, and it can even get in the way if filling it in feels like a burden.
What should not be handled in a development discussion?
Pay, the problems of ongoing projects and acute conflicts. They take the space away from development and are better handled separately. If the employee raises one of them anyway, it is not ignored: agree when it will be returned to.
How is a development discussion documented?
The record is made during the conversation or the same day, and both people see the same text. Write down the agreed things, responsibilities and the checkpoint, not the whole conversation. The document is the starting point for the next discussion.
What is the difference between a development discussion and a one-on-one?
A development discussion looks at direction, skills and development on a one-year horizon. A one-on-one is a shorter and more frequent conversation about how everyday work is going and what is getting in the way. In a good model, the one-on-ones follow up on what was agreed in the development discussion.
The development discussion is a manager's most important hour
The development discussion is a manager's best opportunity to find out what a team member thinks, and an employee's best opportunity to influence their own work. It does not require a new form. It requires preparation, a structure, one decision and returning to that decision.
If you want to try what it feels like without a form, your next development discussion is a good place to start.