OpenAI shows how managers can use ChatGPT for hiring, 1:1s and feedback

On April 10, 2026, OpenAI published ChatGPT for managers in OpenAI Academy, a practical guide for team leads. It shows how to use ChatGPT not for abstract ideas but for everyday management routine, from 1:1 prep to hiring, onboarding and performance reviews.

Where ChatGPT helps

OpenAI starts from a simple premise: a manager's job consists of many high-pressure moments where a poorly worded message or weak preparation is costly. These include one-on-one meetings, feedback, hiring decisions, the performance cycle, team updates and unpleasant conversations.

The main burden often lies not in the meeting itself but in the preparation and follow-up: gathering notes, pulling out the key points, deciding what to do next and communicating it clearly. This is the part where OpenAI suggests using ChatGPT.

The model can turn a raw set of notes into a conversation plan, draft a first version of a message, build a template for recurring tasks and remove the blank-page problem. The company also stresses the limits: this is not about replacing managerial decisions but about speeding up the mechanical, repetitive part of the work.

ChatGPT does not replace managerial judgment or the obligation to

follow HR and legal policies.

Manager tasks

OpenAI lists nearly the whole standard range of managerial work where ChatGPT can be useful. It covers not only writing text but also structuring decisions, preparing documents and building repeatable processes.

• Strategic plans, quarterly roadmaps and executive summaries
• Performance review drafts, employee development plans and coaching prompts
• Job descriptions, interview kits, org charts and headcount models
• Team updates, talking points, decision memos and follow-up messages
• Change plans, KPI reviews, engagement surveys and escalation briefs

OpenAI also gives examples of ready-made scenarios: building an agenda for the next 1:1 from scattered notes, checking a team for overload from a simple task table, preparing a meeting so that it ends in decisions, writing a neutral follow-up after a sensitive conversation, or creating a 30/60/90 plan for a new hire. In other words, the company is selling not just a chatbot but a set of applied management templates.

How to get value

OpenAI's key recommendation is to give the model real context. The more specific the input (1:1 notes, project statuses, engagement survey themes, role expectations, performance cycle facts), the more useful the output. In this mode ChatGPT does not guess; it helps organize thoughts, identify risks, shape a decision and prepare a stronger first draft.

A separate section covers the features OpenAI considers especially useful for managers. Projects suit long multi-step processes such as onboarding or a promotion cycle. Skills fit repeatable tasks, such as a consistent 1:1 structure or generating summaries from notes. Data analysis helps find patterns in surveys, hiring and team workload. Deep research is useful for more complex topics such as org design practices or compensation. Even image generation is pitched pragmatically: visuals for an offsite, a kickoff or internal communications.

OpenAI advises measuring the effect along two axes: efficiency and effectiveness. On one hand, you can track how much time is saved on repetitive tasks such as agendas, summaries, feedback and planning materials. On the other, you can check whether management quality changes: whether coaching sessions are more regular, goals clearer, onboarding faster, reviews better prepared and follow-through on agreements stronger.

What this means

OpenAI is increasingly packaging ChatGPT as a work tool for specific roles rather than a universal chat for every occasion. For managers, this signals that AI is going deeper into a team's operational routine: first as a helper for drafts and structure, then as a layer that standardizes processes, removes administrative load and frees up time for what is still hardest to automate: judgment, coaching and difficult conversations.