This guide covers how to test the 1-on-1s feature end-to-end: The shared conversation experience (manager and direct report perspectives) and Assigned Topics (admin). All perspectives are covered in one place. Run everything as a clearly labeled test and remove the test data when you're done (see Clean Up).
Before You Begin
To assign topics you need Account administrator access to 1-on-1s.
Admins cannot access or view the content of individual 1-on-1 conversations. The admin role is limited to managing Assigned Topics and viewing the usage report. To see the conversation experience, you need to log in as a participant (manager or direct report).
1-on-1s must be enabled on the account (it's on by default but if it's missing from the navigation, ask to speak with a specialist during your support conversation).
Choosing your testing approach
With colleagues - pair a manager with one of their direct reports who knows it's a test. This gives you the most realistic experience, including real-time notifications.
Solo, with dummy users - create two clearly named dummy users (e.g., TEST USER 01 - Do Not Use), in a reporting line (one manager, one report) and log in as each to see both sides.
To test each role yourself, set up a reporting line between the dummy users and log in as each one. This controls which perspective each dummy user takes on:
Set one dummy user as the direct report: they'll complete check-in sliders, add highlights and challenges, and add topics to the shared agenda.
Set one as the manager: they'll view check-in responses, contribute to the shared agenda, and add personal notes.
Give your dummy users a distinctive demographic value (e.g., Department = TEST GROUP). This lets you target them with Assigned Topics without affecting real users.
Important Notes
Assigned Topics work only in manager/employee 1-on-1s, not peer or colleague conversations.
Sent topics cannot be edited. Recall and use 'Copy to draft' to resend a corrected version.
Topics are assigned by demographics only, not to individually selected users, and are attributed to the last editor.
Check-in sliders are direct-report only; personal notes are private to each author.
There is no dedicated Assigned Topics usage report; the 1-on-1s usage report shows usage, not content.
Some actions (editing, marking discussed, reordering, and deleting) do not trigger notifications.
Archiving a conversation does not delete the data. Archived conversations remain in view-only mode and can be reactivated.
Testing 1-on-1 Conversations
Test this as both the manager and the direct report. Most of the experience is shared; the role-specific differences are called out below.
Step 1: Open or Start a Conversation
Go to 1-on-1s. If the reporting line is set, the manager/direct report conversation appears automatically under Your conversations.
Allow 15-30 minutes after a data change for the relationship to appear.
To create one manually, click New conversation, choose the person and relationship type, and create it.
Meet with Anyone: you can also start a 1-on-1 with a peer or someone outside your reporting line (check-in sliders and Highlights & Challenges are not available in these conversations).
Set a cadence and schedule the next meeting (e.g., weekly, with a meeting a few days out). The pre-meeting reminder fires about two days before a scheduled 1-on-1, so you need a scheduled date in the near term for notifications to be testable.
Step 2: Build the Shared Agenda
Either participant can add Topics. Unfinished topics carry forward to the next meeting.
Either participant can add Action items, assign each to either person, and mark them complete later.
Step 3: Check-ins and Highlights & Challenges
Check-in sliders: only the direct report fills these in. The manager sees them greyed out until the direct report saves and then can view the responses.
Highlights & Challenges: both the manager and the direct report can contribute.
Step 4: During and After the Meeting
Mark topics as discussed, complete action items, and add a topic mid-conversation.
Personal Notes are private to each author. The manager and the direct report each have their own notes tab in the same conversation.
Try bookmarking a key item and archiving the conversation.
Notifications
Content notifications are the most realistic notifications to test and fire predictably: The other party is notified when a topic, slider response, highlight/challenge, or note is added.
The first action fires immediately, a second fires shortly after, and any further actions within 24 hours roll into a digest.
The pre-meeting reminder is driven by intelligent cadence: The platform learns your 1-on-1 pattern by detecting when topics are consistently marked as discussed over time.
Two-day reminders: Receive email reminders approximately two days before scheduled 1-on-1s, keeping both you and your direct report prepared.
This is not something that can be triggered in a one-off test session, and should be expected to kick in naturally once the feature is in active use over time.
If Slack/MS Teams is enabled, content notifications also come through there.
What to validate
The conversation appears automatically (or can be created), and Meet with Anyone works.
Topics and action items add correctly, actions are assignable and completable, and unfinished topics carry forward.
Check-in sliders are direct-report only and greyed out for the manager until saved.
Personal notes are visible only to their author.
Content notifications fire when a topic, slider response, highlight/challenge, or note is added. The first action triggers an immediate notification, and any further actions within 24 hours roll into a digest.
Edits, marking discussed, reordering, and deleting do not trigger notifications.
The two-day pre-meeting reminder is driven by intelligent cadence. The platform learns your 1-on-1 frequency by detecting patterns in when topics are marked as discussed over time. It cannot be triggered in a one-off test session, and should be expected to kick in naturally once the feature is in active use.
If Slack/MS Teams is enabled, notifications also come through there.
Testing Assigned Topics (Admin)
Assigned Topics let an admin push a topic into matching manager/employee 1-on-1s, targeted by demographic.
Step 1: Assign a Topic
Go to 1-on-1s > Assigned Topics > Assign a topic.
Choose Match all demographics or Match any demographic, add your demographic(s), and use View list to preview the recipients.
Add a Topic Title and Note (and an optional Annotation, e.g., "on behalf of HR").
Send it Now, or Schedule for later and pick a date/time.
Scheduling note: demographic matching happens at the scheduled send time, not at creation. If someone's demographic value changes before the topic sends, they may be added or excluded from the recipient list.
Step 2: Manage, Recall and Reschedule
Recall a sent topic from the Assigned Topics table – it is removed from conversations but stays in the table as 'Recalled'. Use 'Copy to draft' to resend a corrected version.
Cancel a scheduled topic with Revert to Draft.
Filter the admin table by status (Assigned, Scheduled, Draft, Recalled, Action Required) and customise the columns.
Step 3: Check the Participant View and Report
View the topic as both the manager and the employee. It appears in their 1-on-1 agenda. Participants can mark it discussed but cannot edit or delete it.
Check usage under 1-on-1s > Reports. This is the general 1-on-1s usage report (usage by department/manager, not conversation content); there is no separate Assigned Topics report.
What to validate
The topic reaches only the matching recipients, and View list previews them accurately.
Send Now lands in both the manager and employee views; a scheduled topic matches and sends at the scheduled time (matching happens then, not at creation). A failed scheduled send shows as Action Required and emails the admin.
Recall removes the topic from conversations and shows it as Recalled; Copy to draft works.
Participants can only mark a topic discussed; they cannot edit or delete it.
Clean Up
The goal is to remove all test data so it doesn't persist in reporting or remain visible in conversations. 1-on-1’s test data sits in two places: the conversations themselves and the Assigned Topics admin table, so clear both.
Removing Assigned Topics
Recall any sent test topics from the Assigned Topics admin table. This removes them from all conversations immediately.
Cancel any scheduled topics by clicking Revert to Draft, then delete the draft.
Recalled topics stay in the admin table with a 'Recalled' status by design — they cannot be fully deleted from the table. This is expected behavior, not something that can be removed further.
Removing individual topics
Either party can delete specific topics from the History tab within the 1-on-1 conversation. This is a useful lighter-touch option if you only want to remove individual test entries rather than archiving the whole conversation.
Removing conversations and dummy user data
Archive the test conversations. Archived conversations move to a view-only state and no longer appear in the active conversations list for either participant.
Deactivate the dummy users. Culture Amp records cannot be permanently deleted. Deactivate the dummy users from Settings > Users, and rename their name, email, and employee ID to a clear TEST placeholder if you need to free those values up for real use.
Remove dummy users from any targeted demographic group before deactivating, so that they are excluded from future Assigned Topics sends.
Note: Archiving does not delete conversation data. The history remains accessible to both participants in the archived view. Deactivating dummy users also does not remove their 1-on-1 data; it only removes their ability to log in, and historical conversation data persists regardless.
Test Completion Checklist
# | Test point | Expected result |
1 | Conversation appears or can be created; Meet with Anyone | Conversation opens; non-report conversation can be started |
2 | Topics and action items | Add correctly; actions assignable and completable; unfinished topics carry forward |
3 | Check-in sliders | Direct-report only; greyed out for manager until saved |
4 | Highlights & Challenges | Both participants can contribute |
5 | Personal notes | Visible only to their author |
6 | Notifications | Pre-meeting reminder and content notifications arrive; non-triggering actions confirmed |
7 | Assign a topic by demographic | Reaches only matching recipients; View list accurate |
8 | Send now vs schedule | Now lands in both views; scheduled sends at the right time; failed = Action Required + email |
9 | Recall and copy to draft | Topic removed from conversations, shows as Recalled; resend works |
10 | Participant view | Topic appears; can mark discussed but not edit/delete |
11 | Cleanup done | Test topics recalled/cancelled, conversations archived, dummy users removed and deactivated |
💬 Need help? Type "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.