Employee is alarmed due to coworker arranging a recurrent 1 on 1 meeting with him: ‘I feel uncomfortable like I'm being monitored because I did something wrong. Is this normal or is this weird?’

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Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Aug 16, 2026 6:35 PM EDT

'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you'

Look, I don't know how worried you have to be to post something like this on r/careerguidance, but I assume you have to be pretty paranoid.

Judging by what this employee said, I don't see any reason why he thinks he is being monitored, but I see reasons to think he is overreacting. Frequent or recurring 1-on-1s are totally normal, and might be a part of 'office culture '.

Maybe management is looking to improve overall internal communication and team dialogue to make things flow more smoothly, or trying to make the employees more comfortable by listening to their complaints, wants, and needs through a peer rather than a manager.

I understand that would be the ideal situation, and it might be far from the truth; there is a chance he is being monitored, after all, but if he can't come up with any reason as to why, wouldn't it be healthier to assume that's not what's happening and keep doing his best at his job?

As I always say, most of these kinds of dramas are solved by openly discussing them with the people involved. He could totally use the 1-on-1s to ask whether there's something the company thinks he should do to improve his performance, or even to ask whether he is being monitored and why (so he can make it better).

In my opinion, there is always a positive way to communicate your worries; I mean, the goal is to show you are proactive in fixing your issues and in getting better at your job, right?

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  • Scary meeting

    two men talking and using computers
    via airfocus

    The much feared meeting taking place

    Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events

  • Is my coworker being weird?

    My coworker just scheduled a 1 on 1 check in with me reoccurring every 2 weeks. He said there's no agenda. It's just a time for me to bring any
    via passtherock-
  • questions or if I don't have any questions, we can just catch up. What the f ? He is not my manager. And we
    via passtherock-
  • always message each other on Teams if either of us has questions. Why is he scheduling a reoccurring check in meeting with me? I
    via passtherock-

  • Will the employee survive?

    meeting in progress quiet please sign
    via Jon Tyson

    The misterious meeting taking place

    Still frame for contextual reference only

  • complete all of my work on time, I take on new work to help teammates, I've never had any disciplinary action, and I'm social with others. I feel
    via passtherock-
  • uncomfortable like I'm being monitored because I did something wrong. Is this normal or is this weird?
    via passtherock-

  • Normal office behavior

    bw2082. I sometimes set up weekly meetings with peers to align on things. It just gives us a set time to bring up issues. Most of the time I cancel them but it's good to have a time blocked just in case.
    via bw2082

  • Relax first

    artlabman Relax go to the meeting see what its about. Communicating with your peers is shockingly a good thing. Could be his boss asked him to. Do you have any pain points, this is the time to discuss.
    via artlabman

  • Assuming good intentions

    Herropreah "Assume good intentions." Personally I don't see anything wrong with this unless the person is on some sort of power trip and vying to be a manager and this is their way of showing they are "manager material".
    via Herropreah
  • man taking his hand to his head
    via lala azizli

    The employee being super worried about the recurring meetings

    Image shown for illustrative purposes; person depicted is a model

  • In my opinion, as long as his coworker doesn't start acting like his manager, everything is all right. He might even be trying to improve the overall team functioning. Why are we jumping to negative conclusions so quickly?

    I kinda want to keep up with this story to find out what the mysterious meetings were all about in the end. Is this a common practice at your jobs?

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workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
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