1. Where they are
Use the engineering career framework as the shared map. Where do they see themselves? Where do you see them? Disagreement here is the most important data in the conversation.
2. Where they want to go
- 1 year: What role, scope, or skill do they want to be growing into?
- 3 years: What kind of engineer or leader do they want to be?
- Optional: what would make this job a 9/10 a year from now?
3. Strengths to leverage
Two or three specific things they do better than most engineers at their level. Be concrete — "writes great design docs" beats "good communicator." Growth often comes from leaning further into strength, not just patching weakness.
4. Growth area for the quarter
Pick one. Not three. One area with a visible behaviour change you'll both be able to point to in 90 days.
5. The next concrete step
A specific project, stretch assignment, or piece of scope that will create the reps. "Lead the migration design review by end of month" beats "work on technical leadership."
Common pitfalls
- — Promising promotion without controlling the criteria. Talk about growth; promotion is a side-effect.
- — Picking five growth areas. People change one thing at a time.
- — Treating the doc as a one-off. Re-open it at the next quarterly conversation.