When you get to the stage where you’re managing managers, a lot of your 1-1 meetings will be diving into details of projects they’re overseeing that you don’t have time to dig into on your own. When you are managing only a handful of individuals, the only time you should be using a 1-1 to do progress reporting is when you have someone who’s off on a side project that you’re not personally overseeing. Getting progress reports from people you’re already working closely with is a waste of time because all you’re hearing about is the delta of work between now and the last standup or project review. If your 1-1s are frequently status updates, try breaking out of the habit by asking your reports to prepare answers to questions that are unrelated to the current project status, or ask them to come prepared with questions for you to answer about the team, the company, or anything else. And for those rare people who just really don’t have much to talk about except for progress, you may want to take that as a sign to meet less frequently.