Skip-level 1:1
A skip-level 1:1 is a recurring meeting between an engineering manager and a direct report of one of their reports — bypassing one layer of the org chart. The format gives senior managers direct signal from the engineers building the product, surfaces issues that don't make it up the chain, and gives engineers visibility into senior-level context.
Skip-levels are most useful when they have a clear purpose and don't undermine the engineer's direct manager. Anti-patterns: using skip-levels as a back-channel for grievances (it shifts conflict instead of resolving it); making them mandatory at high frequency (becomes performative); discussing performance feedback in them (belongs in the direct relationship). Healthy patterns: quarterly cadence; engineer-led agenda; senior manager asks 'what should I know that I'm not hearing?' and 'what would you change about how the team works?'; closes with a clear sense of what (if anything) the senior manager will act on. The point isn't surveillance — it's reducing the information loss that one extra org-chart hop introduces.