[Shatnerz]

> The employee / manager relationship should be one in which either party can feel free to just raise any concern the moment that it comes up.

This is true in an ideal world, but not everyone is comfortable being direct with superiors. Regular 1-1s establish a baseline and a foundation that can be built on. Plenty of people will delay raising concern until damage has already been done. Regular, private communication lets the manager get ahead of these issues and handle morale problems before they surface.

[BlargMcLarg]

Here's a better idea: stop fostering cultures where saving face is more important than trying to get things done. These 1:1s supposedly help working to it, but there are limits to what a manager can do, on top of who a manager is themselves.

These 1:1s are becoming what every process inevitably becomes. A strict panacea which turns out to not be a panacea at all.

[Shatnerz]

Agreed regarding culture. This should always be the goal. Unfortunately it is rarely the end result as humans aren't perfect, so some pieces still need tending to.

It's not that 1-1s are a panacea. They are more a mitigation strategy to catch human issues early and address them before they surface and roll into a bigger problem.