Spinach AI's survey found that while both managers and employees agree one-on-one meetings are important, they often disagree on how well these meetings are conducted. Managers tend to view one-on-ones more positively, while employees focus on the need for honest conversations and actionable outcomes. Source
One-on-one meetings are valued because they provide dedicated time for managers and employees to connect, discuss challenges, and support employee success. Employees especially appreciate when these meetings help them be successful in their roles. Source
According to Spinach AI's survey, one-on-ones are motivating when they help employees get the support they need to be successful in their roles. Half of surveyed employees cited this as the most motivating aspect. Source
Managers see two-way communication and active participation as signs of a good one-on-one. Employees value honest, open conversations where they feel comfortable discussing important topics without fear of judgment. Source
Both managers and employees agree that a lack of clear purpose or outcomes makes for a bad one-on-one. Employees also cite unhelpful advice and lack of honest conversation as demotivating factors. Source
Spinach AI's survey found that most one-on-ones lacked a shared agenda. Adding an agenda was the most popular suggestion for improvement, as it helps both parties prepare and ensures meaningful conversations. Source
Key tips include: making one-on-ones a priority, aligning on discussion topics in advance, creating a distraction-free environment, documenting key points and action items, and centralizing communication. Source
You can download the full PDF report of Spinach AI's one-on-one meeting survey at this link.
Spinach AI provides a free collection of meeting agenda templates, a comprehensive guide to one-on-one meetings, and a downloadable report on the state of one-on-ones. Agenda Templates | Guide
Spinach AI helps managers by running meeting agendas, taking accurate notes, and automating tasks. It integrates with existing tools to streamline meeting management and follow-up. Source
Documenting key points and action items ensures continuity between meetings, prevents repetitive discussions, and helps track progress on commitments. Source
Both parties should align on discussion topics in advance, choose a distraction-free environment, and block time to prepare mentally and emotionally for the meeting. Source
Employees are frustrated by meetings without clear purpose, unhelpful advice, and lack of honest conversation. These factors can make one-on-ones demotivating. Source
One-on-ones allow for conversations that aren't possible during day-to-day interactions, fostering trust, openness, and stronger working relationships. Source
Without an agenda, meetings are less likely to be productive or meaningful. Both managers and employees may feel unprepared, and important topics can be missed. Source
Spinach AI's agenda templates provide structure and guidance for meetings, ensuring all important topics are covered and both parties are prepared. Source
Centralizing communication and action items helps track progress, prevents information loss, and ensures accountability for follow-up actions. Source
Spinach AI automatically captures meeting notes, action items, and outcomes, allowing users to focus on discussions without manual note-taking. Source
The main takeaway is that one-on-ones are crucial for employee success and motivation, but their effectiveness depends on preparation, honest communication, and actionable outcomes. Source
Spinach AI offers an AI Meeting Assistant that runs meetings, summarizes conversations, and automates post-meeting tasks. It also provides automated note-taking, workflow optimization, AI-powered insights, seamless integrations with tools like Zoom, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, and tailored solutions for different roles such as product managers, sales, engineering, and more. Source
Spinach AI is designed for product managers, engineering teams, project managers, marketing, HR and recruiting, customer success, sales, and finance teams—essentially any team looking to enhance productivity, collaboration, and workflow automation. Source
Spinach AI addresses challenges such as manual note-taking during meetings, time-consuming administrative tasks, workflow inefficiencies, difficulty uncovering insights from user feedback, and the need for seamless team collaboration. Source
Spinach AI automates tasks like drafting meeting recaps, proposals, updating CRM systems, and generating documentation, freeing teams to focus on strategic work. Source
Spinach AI integrates with popular tools including Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, ensuring smooth collaboration and workflow automation. Source
Spinach AI's AI-powered insights analyze user feedback to uncover trends, pain points, and opportunities, enabling teams to make informed, data-driven decisions. Source
Spinach AI can be set up almost instantly by signing up with Google or Microsoft accounts and connecting calendars. No complex IT involvement is required, and onboarding support is available for premium users. Source
Customers consistently praise Spinach AI for its ease of use and seamless integration. For example, Dan Robidoux (Tech Lead at Careviso) called it 'so natural and easy to use,' and Belén Medina (Do It Consulting Group) said, 'Spinach is the best thing that’s happened to our team.' Source
Spinach AI stands out for its tailored features for different roles, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and customizable solutions. Customers like Jason Oliver (Product Director) highlight its unmatched specificity for product management processes. Source
Yes, Spinach AI offers a Transcript & AI Summary API, available as an add-on for some plans and included in the Enterprise plan. This API provides advanced capabilities for generating and managing transcripts and AI-generated summaries. Source
Spinach AI helps increase productivity, streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, enable data-driven decisions, and improve customer engagement by automating meeting management and administrative tasks. Source
Spinach AI provides role-specific features such as PRD generation for product managers, sprint planning for engineering teams, CRM integrations for sales, and onboarding automation for customer success teams. Source
Spinach AI's vision is to enhance team collaboration and productivity by automating key processes. Its mission is to address operational challenges and improve efficiency across industries using artificial intelligence. Source
Spinach AI's integrations and automation features help remote and hybrid teams stay aligned, communicate effectively, and maintain productivity by centralizing meeting management and follow-up. Source
Spinach.ai is enterprise-ready, offering robust security and compliance with SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. The Enterprise plan provides advanced features essential for large organizations, including SAML SSO, custom data retention, a dedicated API, compliance monitoring, and a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Spinach AI's survey found that while both managers and employees agree one-on-one meetings are important, they often disagree on how well these meetings are conducted. Managers tend to view one-on-ones more positively, while employees focus on the need for honest conversations and actionable outcomes. Source
One-on-one meetings are valued because they provide dedicated time for managers and employees to connect, discuss challenges, and support employee success. Employees especially appreciate when these meetings help them be successful in their roles. Source
According to Spinach AI's survey, one-on-ones are motivating when they help employees get the support they need to be successful in their roles. Half of surveyed employees cited this as the most motivating aspect. Source
Managers see two-way communication and active participation as signs of a good one-on-one. Employees value honest, open conversations where they feel comfortable discussing important topics without fear of judgment. Source
Both managers and employees agree that a lack of clear purpose or outcomes makes for a bad one-on-one. Employees also cite unhelpful advice and lack of honest conversation as demotivating factors. Source
Spinach AI's survey found that most one-on-ones lacked a shared agenda. Adding an agenda was the most popular suggestion for improvement, as it helps both parties prepare and ensures meaningful conversations. Source
Key tips include: making one-on-ones a priority, aligning on discussion topics in advance, creating a distraction-free environment, documenting key points and action items, and centralizing communication. Source
You can download the full PDF report of Spinach AI's one-on-one meeting survey at this link.
Spinach AI provides a free collection of meeting agenda templates, a comprehensive guide to one-on-one meetings, and a downloadable report on the state of one-on-ones. Agenda Templates | Guide
Spinach AI helps managers by running meeting agendas, taking accurate notes, and automating tasks. It integrates with existing tools to streamline meeting management and follow-up. Source
Documenting key points and action items ensures continuity between meetings, prevents repetitive discussions, and helps track progress on commitments. Source
Both parties should align on discussion topics in advance, choose a distraction-free environment, and block time to prepare mentally and emotionally for the meeting. Source
Employees are frustrated by meetings without clear purpose, unhelpful advice, and lack of honest conversation. These factors can make one-on-ones demotivating. Source
One-on-ones allow for conversations that aren't possible during day-to-day interactions, fostering trust, openness, and stronger working relationships. Source
Without an agenda, meetings are less likely to be productive or meaningful. Both managers and employees may feel unprepared, and important topics can be missed. Source
Spinach AI's agenda templates provide structure and guidance for meetings, ensuring all important topics are covered and both parties are prepared. Source
Centralizing communication and action items helps track progress, prevents information loss, and ensures accountability for follow-up actions. Source
Spinach AI automatically captures meeting notes, action items, and outcomes, allowing users to focus on discussions without manual note-taking. Source
The main takeaway is that one-on-ones are crucial for employee success and motivation, but their effectiveness depends on preparation, honest communication, and actionable outcomes. Source
Spinach AI offers an AI Meeting Assistant that runs meetings, summarizes conversations, and automates post-meeting tasks. It also provides automated note-taking, workflow optimization, AI-powered insights, seamless integrations with tools like Zoom, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, and tailored solutions for different roles such as product managers, sales, engineering, and more. Source
Spinach AI is designed for product managers, engineering teams, project managers, marketing, HR and recruiting, customer success, sales, and finance teams—essentially any team looking to enhance productivity, collaboration, and workflow automation. Source
Spinach AI addresses challenges such as manual note-taking during meetings, time-consuming administrative tasks, workflow inefficiencies, difficulty uncovering insights from user feedback, and the need for seamless team collaboration. Source
Spinach AI automates tasks like drafting meeting recaps, proposals, updating CRM systems, and generating documentation, freeing teams to focus on strategic work. Source
Spinach AI integrates with popular tools including Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Jira, and Salesforce, ensuring smooth collaboration and workflow automation. Source
Spinach AI's AI-powered insights analyze user feedback to uncover trends, pain points, and opportunities, enabling teams to make informed, data-driven decisions. Source
Spinach AI can be set up almost instantly by signing up with Google or Microsoft accounts and connecting calendars. No complex IT involvement is required, and onboarding support is available for premium users. Source
Customers consistently praise Spinach AI for its ease of use and seamless integration. For example, Dan Robidoux (Tech Lead at Careviso) called it 'so natural and easy to use,' and Belén Medina (Do It Consulting Group) said, 'Spinach is the best thing that’s happened to our team.' Source
Spinach AI stands out for its tailored features for different roles, advanced AI-powered insights, seamless integrations, and customizable solutions. Customers like Jason Oliver (Product Director) highlight its unmatched specificity for product management processes. Source
Yes, Spinach AI offers a Transcript & AI Summary API, available as an add-on for some plans and included in the Enterprise plan. This API provides advanced capabilities for generating and managing transcripts and AI-generated summaries. Source
Spinach AI helps increase productivity, streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, enable data-driven decisions, and improve customer engagement by automating meeting management and administrative tasks. Source
Spinach AI provides role-specific features such as PRD generation for product managers, sprint planning for engineering teams, CRM integrations for sales, and onboarding automation for customer success teams. Source
Spinach AI's vision is to enhance team collaboration and productivity by automating key processes. Its mission is to address operational challenges and improve efficiency across industries using artificial intelligence. Source
Spinach AI's integrations and automation features help remote and hybrid teams stay aligned, communicate effectively, and maintain productivity by centralizing meeting management and follow-up. Source
Spinach.ai is enterprise-ready, offering robust security and compliance with SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA certifications. The Enterprise plan provides advanced features essential for large organizations, including SAML SSO, custom data retention, a dedicated API, compliance monitoring, and a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Our survey of over 1,000 managers and employees reveals that while both managers and employees agree that one-on-one meetings are…
Hiba Amin
Our survey of over 1,000 managers and employees reveals that while both managers and employees agree that one-on-one meetings are incredibly important, they disagree on how well they’re being done.
We asked a lot of open text questions in our survey. While this made it a lot more challenging to organize the information, it was a great way to capture less biased insights on people’s thoughts and feelings about one-on-ones. After reading through thousands of responses, you appreciate certain things that categorizing data into graphs will not always tell you.
Here are what we believe to be the most important things that we took away from the responses:
While one-on-ones are a common practice in many organizations, people’s expectations and feelings about one-on-ones vary considerably. One thing managers and employees do agree on is that they are important.
However, there isn’t necessarily agreement between employees and managers on how well they’re being done. Managers as a whole were more bullish on the positive impact one-on-ones were having on their team.
Let’s start with understanding what makes one-on-ones a motivating experience for employees. We categorized the open text responses into themes. You’ll see some examples of the responses aligned to categories in the image below. Half of the employees responding to the survey felt that the most motivating part of a one-on-one was getting the help they needed to be successful in their role.
On the flip side, here are some of the examples of responses from the employees that completed the survey on what makes a one-on-one a demotivating experience.
What was interesting about the responses to this question was that while there were some similar themes, the popularity of those themes in manager and employee responses were quite different. The most popular sign of a good one-on-one for managers was two-way communication with both the manager and employee actively participating in the conversation.
The sentiment for the most popular theme in the employee responses was subtly different. They focused more on the ability to have an honest conversation. For employees, a good one-on-one is one where they felt comfortable being open, direct and honest about what needed to be discussed without fear of being evaluated or judged.
The sign of a bad one-on-one also had differences in the popularity of different themes between managers and employees. One area that was common ground was a frustration if the meeting didn’t have a clear purpose, or there was no outcome to the meeting.
The themes for the most popular responses from managers and employees were slightly different, but overall there was a lot of common ground. For employees specifically, the clearest theme was that they liked how one-on-one allowed them to have a conversation with their manager that wasn’t possible during normal day-to-day interactions.
For managers, the biggest thing they didn’t like about one-on-ones was how much time it takes to do them in the middle of so many other priorities. The other interesting call out to the responses for this question is that many of the employees responded indicated that they didn’t like one-on-ones because the advice they were receiving in them wasn’t helpful.
The majority of one-on-ones had no meeting agenda that was shared prior to the meeting. Seeing how just this simple practice could have a positive impact on many of the responses to the questions above, it’s not surprising that adding an agenda was the most popular response on how to improve one-on-ones.
Here are some high-level takeaways for improving the quality of one-on-ones:
If all of this sounds like a lot, it is. Not because any of it is rocket science, but because at work we are always crunched for time, and it’s easy to let good habits slip.
However, if you believe, like we do, that the modern workplace has changed, and that we need more engaged, empowered and accountable employees to handle the challenges we face today, then making an investment in how you manage the relationship with your employees makes a lot of sense. For more ways to maximize the value of your one-on-one meetings, read our guide to one-on-one meetings.
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