1) Treat it as Your time and really talk to your manager; one on one meetings are built for this
Bring things you want to discuss to your one-on-one. If you're having a hard time with a person, project, or personally, tell them. It's the only way we can work it out together. No status update here, you can do that any other time.
2) Make rapport a two way street
Truly caring about someone as a person could unlock an infinite amount of trust and authenticity. Ask something interesting apart from work and activities at work
3) Trust them first
Open up, it can be scary but that will give your manager more to go on. It all starts with you taking that first step though.
4) Bring your half-baked ideas
If you have an idea to improve yourself, the team, or the company, this is a great place to float them and see if they're worth further investigation. Use one-on-ones to talk about whether an idea really makes sense or to simply ask, "why not?"
5) Tell them!
Something that looks important to you or obvious may be hard or impossible for your manager to see. If you don't tell them they can't help you fix it. No problem that matters to you is too small to bring up.
6) Be prepared
If there are things that you want to talk about, jot a few notes down in a document or a notebook and bring them with you
7) Canceling 1 on 1s is not ok
Ask to reschedule at a later time but do not cancel the meeting. Do your part to give them a reason to keep your one to ones at work. You should always have something to talk about.If there's nothing pressing, that should be an opportunity to talk about your career development and growth, or high level ideas to improve the team
8) Have your tough conversations here - work one to one meetings into a routine of solving problems
One-on-ones are private, safe conversations. If there's something you want to be critical or outspoken on, this can be a better forum than a full team or full company meeting
9) Ask for feedback - one to ones at work should produce detailed feedback for you
Regular Feedback would help you and me. Something you can improve upon or need attention are important, do it here.
10) Make them actionable - every one to one at work has to have a next action for you and your manager
It's great to have open, candid discussions with your manager in one-on-ones. However, if you never take any action on what you discuss, then you aren't really accomplishing much. Tell the action items where both are accountable and have to complete. Progress is the single most relevant aspect to make you happy at work. Don’t underestimate small steps.