Who can use this feature?
Users
Available on:
All subscriptions.
1-on-1 conversations are designed to enhance your interactions with managers, direct reports, and colleagues. Whether you call them 1:1s, 1-1s, 1-to-1s, or one-on-ones, this tool simplifies preparing for and conducting these important conversations.
Note: Not seeing direct reports in 1-on-1 lists, or department names in reporting? Make sure you have requested your 'performance mapping' before getting started. Reply with “Ask a Person” in a Support Conversation to speak directly with a Product Support Specialist who can help!
Access and Manage Conversations
Open an Existing Conversation
For managers and direct reports, conversations will automatically appear under Your conversations. You do not need to start a new conversation for these interactions-simply click View conversation to open it. These conversations remain active and ongoing.
Start a New Conversation
If you need to set up a conversation with someone not already under Your conversations (such as a colleague), you can initiate a new one.
Go to the 1-on-1s page.
Click on New conversation.
Choose your peer and relationship type (colleague, manager, or direct report).
Click Create conversation. A notification email will be sent to the recipient.
Remember: Once created, you can continue a conversation anytime by selecting View Conversation—there’s no need to restart it.
Add and Track Agenda Items
View and Prepare
On the 1-on-1s page, you can use the Filter and Sort by drop-downs to easily sort and filter conversations by:
Alphabetical order (A-Z or Z-A),
Most recent update
Relationship type (colleague, direct report, manager).
Your filter and sort options will be saved by default saving you the need to reset your preferences every time you log in.
Click View conversation to open an existing conversation or New conversation if you’re starting a new one.
Add Topics
Click Add topic to include discussion points. These topics will carry over to the next meeting if they remain unchecked.
Both parties can update or add agenda items, ensuring a collaborative approach to meeting preparation.
In addition, your organization may assign certain discussion prompts to your 1-on-1 conversations with your manager, called Assigned Topics, based on your role, team, or location. These Assigned Topics appear automatically in your agenda, guiding your conversation toward important company initiatives.
While Assigned Topics cannot be edited or deleted, you can mark them as discussed once covered during your 1-on-1.
Add Action Items
Alongside your discussion topics, you can add Action items to your 1-on-1 conversations helping you and your colleague stay aligned and drive outcomes beyond the meeting.
Action items are visible in the agenda alongside Topics, making it easy to move from talking about something to taking action on it, all without leaving the conversation.
Why use Action items?
Keep your 1-on-1s outcome-focused
Stay in the flow of your conversation (no need to switch tools)
Build trust through transparency and follow-through
To add an Action item:
Open your 1-on-1 conversation
Click the Action + button in the sticky header
Give the item a clear title
Assign it to one of the participants
Click Add action
Note: All action items must be assigned to either you or the other person in the 1-on-1. They don’t support due dates but are designed to align with your regular 1-on-1 cadence.
You can also manage actions using the ⋮ (kebab) menu next to each item:
Delete the action
Edit the text or assignee
View the edit history
Duplicate the action
Once an action item is completed, simply check it off in the agenda. This makes it clear to both participants what’s been accomplished and keeps your ongoing list focused only on what’s left to do.
Tip: The sticky header keeps the Action + and Topic + buttons visible as you scroll so it’s always easy to add new items mid-conversation.
Check-in Sliders and Highlights & Challenges
Check-in sliders and Highlights & challenges appear directly in the agenda, making it easy to update them in preparation for your 1-on-1. Each section includes a Created for tag, indicating which person should complete it.
Complete Check-ins
When opening a conversation with your manager, you’ll see check-in questions directly in the agenda. These questions are designed to spark deeper discussions beyond status updates. To respond:
Adjust the sliders.
Click Save to record your updates.
Once you’ve completed a check-in, a dated comparison view will appear, allowing you to track changes from previous entries over time.
Tip: If needed, you can re-add the Check-in sliders or Highlights & challenges manually by clicking the Add check-in button. If you don't see this button, you'll need to make sure at least 1 topic has been added to the conversation.
Highlights and Challenges
Both managers and individual contributors (ICs) can fill out the Highlights & challenges section, fostering a collaborative preparation process. Only ICs can fill in Check-in sliders, but both parties can contribute to the Highlights & challenges.
Click the arrow next to the 🎉 Highlights question to reveal the text box.
Note your successes or highlights since the last 1-on-1.
Click the arrow next to the 🚧 challenges or roadblocks question.
Note any challenges or roadblocks you’re facing and how you may need support.
Personal Notes
Personal notes are visible only to the author (manager or individual contributor) and provide a space to capture key insights from 1-on-1 conversations. This helps ensure important details aren’t forgotten and that follow-ups remain clear. Both managers and individual contributors (ICs) can add personal notes directly in the shared 1-on-1 conversation, making it easy to track context, feedback, and personal information over time.
Each 1-on-1 conversation has its own Personal Notes tab, so you can create unique notes for each interaction. These notes are fully editable and can be deleted at any time to keep them relevant and up-to-date.
Example use cases:
Feedback: "Margot wants more constructive feedback—align examples for next chat."
Wellbeing: "Margot’s feeling overwhelmed—check in on work-life balance next time."
Development: "Margot’s interested in leading cross-functional projects—suggest one for Q1."
General reminders: "First 1-on-1 with Margot—she has two kids under 5 and loves Tim Tams."
Note: Personal notes can include imported information from the employee profile. If there are any private notes stored in the employee's profile, they will automatically sync with your 1-on-1 personal notes. These appear with the label “Employee Profile Note”, along with an info tag explaining that the content was imported from the employee’s private profile notes.
Similarly, you can save notes in 1-on-1 conversations to be stored in the user's employee profile. Just look for a bookmark icon next to the note. Clicking this will save the note to the employee profile under Saved from 1-on-1's.
Manage Discussed Topics
Once agenda items are checked off, they move to the Discussed section and are grouped by date. Historical conversations from previous 1-on-1s will also be dated and displayed, making it easy to refer back to past discussions.
Marking topics as discussed helps the system learn your preferred 1-on-1 cadence. We recommend doing this on the day of your conversation to keep the schedule and related reminders as accurate as possible.
Automatic Reappearance of Items
Check-in sliders and Highlights & challenges will automatically reappear within 24 hours for your next 1-on-1. A notification will be sent to the person who marked the check-in as complete, with an option to re-add items sooner if needed.
Access and Share Your Agenda
To share your agenda with your calendar:
Copy the static meeting link provided in Culture Amp for your 1-on-1 conversation.
Open your preferred calendar tool (Google, Outlook, or iCal) and click Create event.
Paste the copied link into the event description to provide easy access.
Troubleshooting Calendar Integration Problems
Email mismatch:
Make sure the email address listed in your Culture Amp profile matches your email account. If they don’t match, you won’t be able to auto-link meetings. Instead, create the calendar event manually and paste in the 1-on-1 meeting link.Email address changes:
If your email address is updated in Culture Amp, your existing 1-on-1 calendar links may stop working. To fix this, you’ll need to re-create your calendar events using the new email address in your Culture Amp profile. If you log in using email and password, make sure to reset your password after your email is changed to avoid login issues.
Archive or Reactivate Conversations
Archive a Conversation
To archive a conversation:
Find the conversation under Your conversations.
Click the ellipsis (...) icon
Select Archive. Archived conversations remain accessible in view-only mode.
Reactivate a Conversation
To reactivate an archived conversation:
Find the conversation under Archived conversations.
Click the ellipsis (...) icon.
Select Reactivate.
Notifications
Get notified about updates to your 1-on-1 conversations, whether with a manager, direct report, or colleague.
Reminders for Manager/Direct Report 1-on-1s
Two-day reminders: Receive email reminders two days before scheduled 1-on-1s, keeping both you and your direct report prepared.
Intelligent cadence: Our system learns your 1-on-1 schedule based on the dates you are marking topics as discussed (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) and sends reminders accordingly.
Inactivity nudges: If you miss a few 1-on-1s, we’ll nudge you every 6 weeks to get back on track.
Trigger | Recipient | Slack | Microsoft Teams | |
Two-day reminders | Manager/Direct Report | 
| 
| 
|
Inactivity nudges | Manager/Direct Report | 
| 
| 
|
Note: Reminders are sent on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays during the recipients' workday and only apply to manager/direct report conversations.
Note: No reminder emails are sent for conversations with colleagues using the "meet with anyone" option.
General Notifications for All 1-on-1s
For all conversations whether they be with colleagues, managers or direct reports, both parties receive notifications for new or updated content, ensuring readiness for discussions.
How it Works:
Immediate notification: The first action triggers an immediate notification.
Second action notification: If another action occurs shortly after, a second notification will be sent.
Digest notification: After that, any further updates within a 24-hour period will be combined into a single digest notification summarizing all actions from the day.
Note: If no further actions are taken after the initial two notifications, no digest notification will be sent—only the two individual notifications. Additionally, if there are no updates in your 1-on-1 for the day, you won’t receive any notifications or a digest.
Notification Triggers:
Trigger | Recipient
|
| Slack
| Microsoft Teams
|
New Topic added/assigned | Other Party |  |  |  |
Check-in Slider adjusted | Other Party |  |  |  |
Highlight or Challenge added | Other Party |  |  |  |
Note added to Topic | Other Party |  |  |  |
Exclusions: Notifications do not include edits, marking a topic as discussed, reordering a topic, or deleting a topic.
Note: Notifications are translated based on the preferred language set in your user profile.
FAQs
Can managers and employees both add and see each other’s agenda items?
Can managers and employees both add and see each other’s agenda items?
Yes, both managers and employees can add and view each other’s agenda items and notes.
Can I customize parts of 1-on-1s, like check-in questions or reminder notifications?
Can I customize parts of 1-on-1s, like check-in questions or reminder notifications?
While agenda items and notes can be customized by both participants, check-in questions and reminder notifications cannot be changed.
What happens when there’s a change in reporting lines?
What happens when there’s a change in reporting lines?
When reporting lines change, any new manager or direct reports will automatically appear in your Active conversations. Former direct reports will stay in your Active conversations until you archive them. If a former direct report is no longer an active Culture Amp user, they’ll be marked as 'inactive'.
Why can’t I reset the check-in slider to the default position once it’s moved?
Why can’t I reset the check-in slider to the default position once it’s moved?
The slider starts in the middle (5.5 on a 1-10 scale) by default, but it’s not meant to be a rating. It's designed to help you choose a specific number, not stay neutral. Once moved, it can’t return to 5.5 because we only record whole numbers, which is why it might feel like you can't choose a neutral option.
Can I convert a direct report 1-on-1 conversation to a colleague conversation?
Can I convert a direct report 1-on-1 conversation to a colleague conversation?
Unfortunately, you can’t convert the conversation directly. We recommend archiving the existing conversation and setting up a new one as a "Colleague conversation." While the notes won’t transfer, this approach allows you to use the more appropriate format.
Can I reset a 1-on-1 conversation to make previous items disappear?
Can I reset a 1-on-1 conversation to make previous items disappear?
You can't reset an existing conversation, but you can create a new one to achieve a similar outcome. Just archive the current conversation by clicking the three dots in the conversation view and selecting "archive." Then, you can start a new 1-on-1 conversation using "New Conversation." Please note however, you would need to select a different relationship when prompted.
For example if the initial conversation you've archived was with a direct report, the new conversation ould need to be created under a colleague relationship instead, because if you select direct report it will ask you to reactivate the existing conversation rather than creating a new one with no history.
Can you update 1-on-1 topics via Slack?
Can you update 1-on-1 topics via Slack?
No, you can't update topics via Slack right now. However, it's something we're considering for next year. Currently, you can only receive 1-on-1 notifications through Slack.
Can notifications be disabled?
Can notifications be disabled?
Yes, notifications for the 1-on-1s can be disabled for all users (not individuals). Your Culture Amp Account Administrator can request this by replying "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation. It typically takes 1-2 business days.
If individuals are still receiving notifications from old manager or direct report conversations, make sure the manage has archived the conversation from their view to stop those notifications.
Can I customize the 1-on-1 digest frequency?
Can I customize the 1-on-1 digest frequency?
Not right now. The digest groups all updates from the past 24 hours into one email to reduce clutter and keep things manageable.
Can I opt out of digest notifications?
Can I opt out of digest notifications?
No, the digest is designed to keep you informed and organized, so opting out isn't an option.
Will I receive a digest notification if no action has been taken on my 1-on-1 conversation?
Will I receive a digest notification if no action has been taken on my 1-on-1 conversation?
If no updates are made, you won’t receive any notifications or a digest email.
Is there a calendar integration?
Is there a calendar integration?
Instead of traditional calendar integration, you can set up a meeting in your calendar through a simple link in your 1-on-1s conversation view. Just click Calendar Event, choose your preferred calendar (Google, Outlook, or iCal), and a meeting with the other party will be automatically created, including a link to the 1-on-1 in the meeting details.
Can I export the 1-on-1s data?
Can I export the 1-on-1s data?
Direct export functionality for 1-on-1s isn’t available in Culture Amp. However, you can press Command + P (Mac) or Ctrl + P (PC) to print the content and save it as a PDF.
Is trend reporting on the check-in sliders available?
Is trend reporting on the check-in sliders available?
While full trend reporting isn’t available yet, recent improvements allow for dated comparisons of Check-in responses directly in the agenda. This lets you track progress over time within your 1-on-1 meetings.
Why can't I find the bookmark option next to some notes?
Why can't I find the bookmark option next to some notes?
At this stage, it is not possible to bookmark notes that are made on any custom agenda items. Only notes left under the core Sliders, Challenges/Roadblocks, and Highlights sections of the 1-on-1 conversation have the bookmark feature available.
Can I set a due date for an Action item?
Can I set a due date for an Action item?
No. Action items are designed to align with the regular cadence of your 1-on-1 meetings, so due dates aren’t needed.
Can I reassign an Action item?
Can I reassign an Action item?
Yes. Just open the ⋮ (kebab) menu on the item and select a new assignee.
Can I assign an Action item to someone who’s not part of the 1-on-1?
Can I assign an Action item to someone who’s not part of the 1-on-1?
No. Action items can only be assigned to the two participants in the 1-on-1.
Can I see who changed an Action item and when?
Can I see who changed an Action item and when?
Yes. You can view the edit history from the ⋮ (kebab) menu on each Action item.
💬 Need help? Simply reply with “Ask a Person” in a Support Conversation to speak directly with a Product Support Specialist.