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Goal-Setting Meetings With Employees: How to Run Them

Updated October 27, 2026KAKEAI, Inc.

Short answer

The key to a goal-setting meeting with a direct report is not to stop at approving goals or passing down numbers, but to discuss and decide together how high the goals should be and how to reach them. To do that, we recommend sending the department's goals before your team member fills in their goal-setting form, and in the meeting, sharing your own view on those goals in concrete terms. In 300,000 1-on-1 sessions extracted from the records of Kakeai, KAKEAI's 1-on-1 service, for the topic "company or department direction," team members chose "I want to hear your opinion" as what they wanted from their manager 27.1% of the time. It was the most common choice for this topic, which suggests that when a 1-on-1 covers company or department direction, people want to hear the manager's own opinion. At the end of the meeting, decide together what to work on in the first 2 weeks.

By the numbers

In records from Kakeai, KAKEAI's 1-on-1 service, when company or department direction was the topic, the most common thing team members wanted from their manager was "I want to hear your opinion." In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, people whose meetings lead to action, even when they meet infrequently, are more likely than respondents overall to feel their meetings lead to results. In goal-setting meetings, we recommend not just passing along numbers, but sharing your own view too, and ending by deciding what to work on in the first 2 weeks.

27.1%: Kakeai AI 1on1 usage data; For the topic "company or department direction," the share where team members chose "I want to hear your opinion" before a 1-on-1 as what they wanted from their manager; This was the most common choice for this topic, while "I want you to listen" was 4.9%. When a 1-on-1 covers company or department direction, people want to hear the manager's own opinion. The percentage is out of all sessions with this topic, including those where nothing was chosen.
41.9%: 10,000-person survey; Among people who meet their manager twice a year, the share whose main reason for having the meetings is that the company or their manager tells them to; Across all respondents, it was 20.5%. Among people who meet twice a year, a higher share hold meetings because the company or their manager tells them to.
52.8%: 10,000-person survey; Among people who meet their manager less than once every two months and whose meetings lead to action, the share who feel their meetings lead to results; Across all respondents, it was 31.9%. Even with infrequent meetings, people whose meetings lead to action afterward are more likely to feel their meetings lead to results.

The 27.1% figure from usage data is a tally of what was chosen before regular 1-on-1s. It is not limited to goal-setting meetings. "Most common" refers to the ranking among the 5 options, excluding "Other." The survey figures also come from questions about regular meetings with a manager in general, not only goal-setting meetings.

Source: KAKEAI, Inc. “1-on-1 Survey” (N=10,000, May 2026, online survey of employees in Japan)

The survey asked 10,000 employees in Japan who meet their manager regularly how those meetings feel from their side.

Source: KAKEAI, Inc. “Kakeai AI 1on1 usage data” (records of 300,000 1-on-1 sessions extracted from sessions held between October 12, 2025 and October 3, 2026, aggregated so that no company or individual can be identified)

What actually happens in goal-setting meetings with direct reports

A goal-setting meeting is where a manager and a direct report discuss and agree on goals for the term, at the start of the term. It's also called a goal meeting, goal-setting conversation, or start-of-term review. Because it usually happens with the deadline for the goal-setting form close at hand, the meeting tends to end up as one of these 3 things.

It ends with editing the form: Time runs out while you're polishing the wording ("be more specific," "add a number"), and you never get to discuss how the goals will be achieved.
It ends with passing down the number from above: The manager passes on a number with "It's company policy," and the team member says "Understood." The team member has no idea what the manager actually thinks about that number.
Modest goals collide with high expectations: If the evaluation depends only on whether the goal was hit, writing a goal you're sure to reach is the safe choice for your team member. Modest goals aren't necessarily a motivation problem. They tend to come from how the evaluation system works.

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, 41.9% of people who meet their manager twice a year said their main reason for having the meetings is that the company or their manager tells them to. That's higher than the 20.5% across all respondents. Also, among everyone who gave this as their main reason, regardless of how often they meet, 12.5% feel their meetings lead to results, below the 31.9% across all respondents.

So that your goal-setting meeting doesn't become a meeting you hold just because it's required, tell your team member ahead of time what the meeting is for and what you'll decide.

The key: change how you engage across the 3 topics

The key to a goal-setting meeting is changing how you engage depending on which of 3 topics you're on: the department's direction and goals, the person's work goals, and the person's development goals.

Records of 300,000 1-on-1 sessions extracted from Kakeai, KAKEAI's 1-on-1 service, include what team members chose, topic by topic, as what they wanted from their manager before their 1-on-1s. The data isn't limited to goal-setting meetings, but for the topics closest to these 3, the results are shown in the table below. Percentages are out of all sessions for each topic, including those where nothing was chosen. Rankings compare the 5 options, excluding "Other."

What you discuss in a goal-setting meeting	What team members wanted from their manager on a similar topic (usage data)	How the manager engages
The department's direction and goals	For "company or department direction," "I want to hear your opinion" was the most common at 27.1%. "I want you to listen" was 4.9%	Ask what your team member thinks first, then share your own view in concrete terms
The person's work goals	For "work progress and how to proceed," "I want us to think it through together" was the most common at 17.0%. "I want you to listen" was 7.5%	Understand what they find hard and what they want to do, then work it out together
The person's development goals	For "skill and capability growth," "I want specific advice" was the most common at 19.2%. "I want you to listen" was 6.9%	Make a concrete suggestion, down to what to work on and where to start

For all 3 topics, the most common choice wasn't "I want you to listen" but something that asks for the manager's thinking or involvement.

In a goal-setting meeting, it often helps to share your own view rather than just passing along numbers or only drawing out your team member's ideas with questions. If you worry that your team member will simply go along with whatever you say, ask for their view after you share yours.

What I just said is only my own view. If anything looks different from where you sit, please tell me.

A goal-setting meeting isn't just a place to hear your team member's ideas. It's also a place for you to share your own.

How to run a goal-setting meeting: prep, the 30 minutes, and how to close

We recommend running a goal-setting meeting this way. Send the department's goals before your team member fills in their form, and on the day, divide 30 minutes into 5 parts. Feel free to change the order or timing to fit the person and situation.

One week before: send the department's goals before they fill in the form

Send the department's goals before your team member writes their form. If they don't know the goals or what you expect of them, they have nothing to write from. If they first hear the numbers in the meeting itself, they have no time to think, and they often have little choice but to say "Understood."

Ahead of next week's goal-setting meeting, I'm sending you our department's goals for this term. Of these, I'd like you to take on X.
Could you fill in your form after looking at this? A rough draft is fine.
In the meeting, I'd like to hear what you think will be hard and where you'd like to start.

If the department's goals aren't final yet, say so and share what you know so far.

I'm still working out the department's numbers with our department head. What I know right now is X. I'll let you know right away if anything changes.

How to divide the 30 minutes

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees, 30 minutes was the most common length for a meeting with a manager, chosen by 41.7%. In Kakeai's records too, the median length of a session was 29.6 minutes. If you divide it like this, a goal-setting meeting fits in 30 minutes.

First 5 minutes: Share the department's goals and your own view on them.
Next 10 minutes: Decide the level of the work goals and how to reach them.
Next 5 minutes: Decide on one development goal.
Next 5 minutes: Decide what work to put off and what you'll take on yourself.
Last 5 minutes: Decide what to work on in the first 2 weeks and when you'll next check progress.

First 5 minutes: share the department's goals and your view

Keep the preamble short, and start with the department goals you sent ahead of time. If your department doesn't have numeric targets, share the one issue you most want to solve this term.

The department goals I sent last week are higher than last term. How did they strike you?
Personally, I don't think it's a number we'll hit easily. But if X gets on track, I think we can make it.
I can't change the number itself. What the two of us can decide is who takes on what, and how we go about it.

Next 10 minutes: decide the level of the work goals and how to reach them

Read your team member's draft before the meeting. In the meeting, start by asking what they find hard, and work it out together.

I read your draft. Thank you. Which of these goals do you think will be hardest?
Shall we decide together what has to be done by the end of the term to call it achieved? I'm thinking somewhere around X.
Where would be a good place to start? I think Y might be a good first step. What do you think?

In the survey of 10,000 employees, among people who chose "I want us to think it through together" as what they most want from their manager, 46.2% feel their meetings lead to results. That's higher than for people who chose any other expectation.

Next 5 minutes: decide on one development goal

For development goals, don't stop at asking "What would you like to get better at?" It often helps to offer a concrete suggestion of your own too.

Separately from your work goals, shall we pick one skill you'd like to build over the next six months?
My suggestion is being able to put together quotes on your own. What do you think?

Next 5 minutes: decide what to put off and what you'll take on

If you add new goals without reducing current work, working on the goals tends to become something people do only when they have spare time.

In the survey of 10,000 employees, people who said their meetings lead to action about half the time or less were asked why (up to 5 answers). 15.9% chose "I don't have the information I need to act," and 15.4% chose "I can't act because of time or cost constraints."

In the same conversation where you set the goals, decide together how to secure the time and information.

To make time for this goal, shall we decide together which work can be put off?
This term, I'll take over the regular X report.
Is there anyone I should talk to first to help with this goal?

Last 5 minutes: decide what to do in the first 2 weeks and when to check in next

With a goal due at the end of the term, it's hard to find a reason to start this week. So set the first deadline in the meeting itself.

What should we start with in the first 2 weeks?
I'd also like to set a date to check progress together. How about the first 5 minutes of our 1-on-1 the week after next?

If your workplace doesn't hold regular 1-on-1s, it often helps to put a 15-minute check-in on the calendar 2 weeks out.

In the survey of 10,000 employees, among people who meet their manager at least once a week, 49.8% said their meetings lead to action every time or almost every time. Among people who meet once every six months to a year, it was 29.3%. The less often people meet, the lower this share.

In a goal-setting meeting, protect those last 5 minutes for deciding on action before anything else.

Opening lines you can use as is in goal-setting meetings

Here are example opening lines for 4 situations in goal-setting meetings where it's easy to get stuck on how to start.

When your team member's goals seem low

Before you ask for "higher," tell them what you'll take into account at evaluation time. If they believe they'll be judged only on whether they hit the target, writing a lower goal is the safe choice.

I think you can definitely achieve this goal.
At evaluation time, I plan to note not only whether you hit it, but also how challenging a goal you took on.
With that in mind, if you raised the goal one notch, where do you think it would land?

Your company may already have rules for how goal difficulty is reflected in evaluations. Check with HR before the meeting.

When your team member says "This number is too high"

Avoid both lowering the number without asking anything and pushing it through with "It's already been decided." Ask specifically what feels too high, and take on whatever you're able to act on.

What part feels too high? Of volume, deadline, and staffing, which looks toughest?
I can't change the number on my own. But I can tell our department head what's missing. What would you need to make it achievable?
I'll talk to our department head and let you know what I find out by Friday.

When setting goals for work that's hard to measure in numbers

For work that's hard to measure in counts or sales, what matters is that at the end of the term, the two of you can judge in the same way whether the goal was achieved.

At the end of the term, who should no longer be struggling with what, for us to call this achieved?
How would you express that as a count, a deadline, or a yes/no?

Goal your team member wrote (example)	Success criteria you agree on in the meeting (example)
Reduce mistakes	Have 3 months with no returned work at month-end close
Make work more efficient	Eliminate 2 spreadsheets that are copied by hand from the monthly work
Develop a junior colleague	By the end of September, the junior colleague can put together quotes on their own
Strengthen collaboration with other departments	In the weekly meeting with sales, keep items that have to be taken back for follow-up to 2 or fewer per month

When setting new goals after missing last term's goals

If you set new goals without mentioning last term's miss, you risk repeating the same goal with the reasons it fell short still in place. Raise it yourself, in a way that doesn't assign blame.

I'd like to look back briefly at X from last term. It's not to blame anyone. I want to use it for this term's goals.
Of the reasons it fell short, are any likely to continue this term? If there's anything about how I support you that I should change, please tell me that too.
This term, would it be better to change the level of the goal, or how we go about it?

What not to do in a goal-setting meeting

We recommend avoiding these 4 things in goal-setting meetings with direct reports.

Spending the meeting editing the wording on the form: Wording can be fixed over chat after the meeting. Use the meeting to decide the level of the goals, how to reach them, and what work to put off.
Deciding in advance that you'll only ask questions: Some advice says "goals are for the employee to set, and the manager should only draw them out with questions," but KAKEAI doesn't recommend deciding your role that way in advance. In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees, when asked to pick the one thing they most want from their manager, 7.9% chose "I want you to listen." 45.6% chose "I want specific advice," "I want to hear your opinion," or "I want us to think it through together," so more people want their manager's thinking or involvement. On the other hand, also avoid just handing down goals you've decided yourself.
Saying "It won't affect your evaluation, so aim high": Whether it affects the evaluation isn't something you can promise on your own. What you can promise is what you yourself will take into account and note at evaluation time.
Ending the meeting as soon as the goals are set: If you haven't decided what to work on in the first 2 weeks and when you'll check in next, the next time goals come up will likely be the mid-year check-in or the end of the term.

How to tell whether your goal-setting meeting went well

You don't have to wait until the end of the term to tell whether a goal-setting meeting went well. Look back on the 2 weeks after the meeting using these 3 questions.

At the end of the meeting, was what to work on in the first 2 weeks put in your team member's own words?
Was what you decided in the meeting reflected in the form by your team member, rather than rewritten by you?
2 weeks later, could you start the conversation from how your team member's work and what you took on were progressing?

In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees, among people whose meetings lead to action even though they meet less than once every two months, 52.8% feel their meetings lead to results, above the 31.9% across all respondents.

Look back on your goal-setting meeting not by how polished the form is, but by whether the two of you got moving in the 2 weeks after it.

What Kakeai AI 1on1 can do in this situation

When goal-setting meetings end up as just approving a form, or the goals you set never come up again in later 1-on-1s, here is what Kakeai AI 1on1 can do.

Before the 1-on-1

Sharing notes in advance
Before a 1-on-1, you can write what you want to talk about in the "Notes for This 1-on-1" section. What you write also appears on the other person's screen.
Choosing a topic and the response you'd like
Before a 1-on-1, the team member can choose the topic they want to discuss and how they would like their manager to respond (the expected response). Depending on your settings, managers can choose topics too. The selections appear on both of your screens.

Day to day

MOVE (list of next steps and goals)
On the "MOVE" screen, you can manage the next steps and goals decided in your 1-on-1s, in a separate list for each person you meet with. If you mark a goal as an "Ongoing Topic," it appears as a suggested topic when you prepare for a 1-on-1.

Before the 1-on-1

Advice on how to bring up what you want to say, and key points
If you enter something you want to bring up with your team member in the "Things to Tell Your Team Member" field and save it, the "Pre-1-on-1 AI Advice" is rewritten to reflect it. What you enter is not shown on your team member's screen.

Kakeai AI 1on1 is currently available in Japanese. If you would like to use it in English, let us know.

Used by 600+ companies / 3,000,000+ 1-on-1s supported

Frequently asked questions

Should a manager set their direct report's goals, or should the employee set their own?

We recommend that goals not be set by either the manager or the team member alone, but decided together through discussion. Share the department's goals and what you'd like them to own first. Then ask what they find hard and how they'd like to go about it, and decide together on the level of the goals and how to reach them. Goals that the manager simply decides and hands down, or that the manager simply approves, are less likely to be goals people commit to.

What should a manager prepare before a goal-setting meeting?

There are 3 things to prepare before a goal-setting meeting: the department's goals for the term and your own view on them, the scope you'd like this person to own and why, and an idea for a development goal. Send the department's goals and the scope you'd like them to own before your team member fills in their goal-setting form. If you also say, "In the meeting, I'd like to hear what you think will be hard and where you'd like to start," you can spend the meeting time actually discussing things.

How long should a goal-setting meeting be per person?

If you send the department's goals and the scope you'd like the person to own ahead of time, a goal-setting meeting can work in 30 minutes per person. In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, among people whose meetings with their manager last 30 minutes, 31.3% feel their meetings lead to results. For people whose meetings last 60 minutes, it's 37.3%, slightly higher. Even so, rather than making the meeting longer, prioritize keeping the last 5 minutes for deciding what to work on in the first 2 weeks.

In a goal-setting meeting, how should I answer when my direct report asks, "How will this goal affect my evaluation?"

When your team member asks how goals relate to their evaluation, don't dodge the topic. Answer within the range of what you can decide yourself. For example: "I can't decide the evaluation outcome on my own. What I'll do is give my input based on the results of this goal and how you went about it." In KAKEAI's survey of 10,000 employees in Japan, among people who meet once every six months to a year, 20.9% of those who discuss their performance evaluation feel their meetings lead to results, slightly higher than the 17.8% of those who don't.

What should I do when my direct report can't think of any goals and comes to the meeting with a blank form?

When your team member arrives at the goal-setting meeting without having filled in their form, it often helps to offer about 2 goal ideas yourself and choose together. Ask something like, "I came up with two ideas, X and Y. Which is closer to your current work?" A blank form doesn't necessarily mean a lack of motivation. They may have had nothing to write from because they didn't know the department's goals or what you expect of them. From next term, share the department's goals and your expectations before asking them to fill in the form.

Sources and how to cite these figures