15Five's 1-on-1s feature is designed to help you get the most out of your meetings. Using our guided structure, it’s easier to focus on priorities, challenges, and progress so everyone’s aligned, motivated, and engaged. Once you've scheduled your meeting and added talking points to guide your discussion, it's time to meet 1-on-1 with your teammate.
In this article, we'll walk through how to use the 1-on-1 agenda to hold a meeting. The agenda allows two people to add and track talking points, action items, and notes, facilitating consistent feedback, accountability, and conversation between participants.
This article contains the following sections:
- How to access your 1-on-1 agenda 🧑💻
- How to interact with talking points 💬
- How to interact with action items ✅
- How to interact with notes 📝
- What happens next? 🐾
- Additional resources 📖
Access and availability
⛔️ Required access to 1-on-1s.
👥 This article is relevant to all roles.
📦 This feature is available in the Perform, Legacy Focus, and Total Platform pricing packages.
How to access your 1-on-1 agenda 🧑💻
- Click 1-on-1s in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
- You'll land on your 'My 1-on-1s' page. From here, click on the name of the person you're meeting with to open your 1-on-1 agenda.
Note
If the person you want to hold a 1-on-1 with doesn't appear on this list, follow these steps to create a new 1-on-1 agenda with them.
How to interact with talking points 💬
Talking points are important conversation items that should be discussed during the 1-on-1 meeting. Before holding a 1-on-1 meeting, we recommend that both participants add talking points to guide the conversation and ensure you make the most of your time together.
You can achieve the following talking point-specific tasks:
Either 1-on-1 participant can add talking points to the 1-on-1 agenda at any point before or during the 1-on-1 meeting.
Tip
You can drag and drop talking points and/or action items to reorder them into an order that meets your needs!
Once you discuss a talking point, you can check it off. Checking off a talking point during a 1-on-1 means that it will not appear on the following 1-on-1 agenda. It will, however, continue to appear on the 1-on-1 agenda on which it was checked off (so your past 1-on-1s can serve as a record of what's been discussed in the past).
Incomplete talking points will carry over to your next 1-on-1 agenda without any intervention. These incomplete items will appear in the 'Talking points' section again and will maintain any comments or attachments on the following 1-on-1.
Any talking point on any 1-on-1 agenda can be marked as "repeating" by hovering over or clicking into the talking point field and then clicking the repeating icon.
If a repeating talking point is checked off, a brand new version of that talking point will be added to the following 1-on-1 agenda. If the repeating talking point had comments and/or attachments associated with it, they will not carry over - the version that appears on the next 1-on-1 will be a fresh copy.
Incomplete repeating talking points will act like any other incomplete talking points and roll over to the next 1-on-1 agenda. All comments and attachments will roll over with the talking point.
Sometimes, talking points are just the beginning of the conversation— oftentimes there is a larger discussion that takes place around the talking point. Though you can add general notes in the private/shared notes fields, adding comments in line with the talking point make remembering what was discussed much easier.
To add a comment to a talking point, hover over the talking point and click on the Chat bubble icon that appears to its right.
Type your comment, then click Post comment. Either 1-on-1 participant can continue to add comments in the thread as needed.
Note
Comments can be added by either person and are visible to both people in the 1-on-1. After a comment is added, the other person in 1-on-1 will be notified via in-app notification feed and email (if enabled). Comments are not included in the '1-on-1 has been ended email'.
If it's no longer important to discuss a specific talking point, the person who created the talking point can delete it by clicking the trashcan icon to its right.
If the talking point was originally created as a discussion from your homepage and added to the 1-on-1 agenda, it will also be removed from your homepage upon deleting it from within the 1-on-1 agenda.
How to interact with action items ✅
Action items are tasks that need to be accomplished by a participant between this 1-on-1 meeting and the next. The Previous action items section contains incomplete action items from previous 1-on-1s, while the New action items section allows you to add new action items up until the 1-on-1 is ended.
You can achieve the following talking point-specific tasks:
Either 1-on-1 participant can add an action item by clicking Add an action item. Action items you add will be assigned to you, but you can reassign them to the other participant if needed.
By default, action items you add will be assign assigned to you. You can assign an action item to the other 1-on-1 participant by clicking on the avatar to the left of the text field and selecting the other person.
Once you assign it to the other person, you will no longer be able to edit the action item. If you need to edit, you can always reassign it back to yourself, edit it, and then assign it to the other person.
Once you complete an action item, you can check it off. Checking off an action item during a 1-on-1 means that it will not appear on the following 1-on-1 agenda. It will, however, continue to appear on the 1-on-1 agenda on which it was checked off (so your past 1-on-1s can serve as a record of past action items).
Incomplete action items from the current agenda will appear under the 'Previous action items' section on the following 1-on-1. All comments and attachments will roll over with the action item.
Action items might not be as simple as, "Did you do the thing or not?". Though you can add general notes in the private/shared notes fields, adding updates and/or comments in line with the action item makes it easier for both people to know the latest status.
To add a comment to a talking point, hover over the talking point and click on the Chat bubble icon that appears to its right.
Type your comment, then click Post comment. Either 1-on-1 participant can continue to add comments in the thread as needed.
Comments can be added by either person and are visible to both people in the 1-on-1. After a comment is added, the other person in 1-on-1 will be notified via in-app notification feed and email (if enabled).
How to interact with notes 📝
The Notes sections allow you to take shared or private notes during the 1-on-1 meeting.
There are two sections in which you can take notes:
Shared notes are visible to both 1-on-1 participants. They will be included in the summary email and can be edited anytime— even after the 1-on-1 has been ended.
What happens next? 🐾
Once you finish your meeting, take the following steps:
When you're done with your meeting, end the 1-on-1 by clicking the End 1-on-1 button at the bottom of the page. A calendar will appear that allows you to select the date on which you held the 1-on-1. Select today's date, then click End.
Ending a 1-on-1 allows you to begin crafting a new agenda. The following rules apply to the new agenda:
- Completed talking points will not carry over. However, incomplete talking points will automatically transfer to the next 1-on-1 agenda, including any comments or attachments from the previous session.
- Completed action items will be removed from the new agenda, while incomplete action items will appear under the 'Previous Action Items' section of the next 1-on-1, along with any comments and attachments.
- Notes from the previous session will not carry over to the new agenda.
Note
If the 1-on-1 meeting was with your manager or a direct report, a new agenda will be automatically generated for you. However, if the meeting was with someone other than your manager or direct report, you will need to manually schedule a new 1-on-1 meeting to create an agenda.
Remember to tackle any action items you were assigned during the meeting and mark them as complete. If needed, you can schedule a new 1-on-1 with the person to foster a continuous working relationship.
Note
If the 1-on-1 meeting was with your manager or a direct report, a new agenda will be automatically generated for you. However, if the meeting was with someone other than your manager or direct report, you will need to manually schedule a new 1-on-1 meeting to create an agenda.
Related Notifications 📧
Participants may receive the following notifications around ending a 1-on-1:
You will receive this notification if the "1-on-1s: the 1-on-1 summary and notes once the 1-on-1 has ended" email notification is enabled in your notification settings.
Approximately one hour after you end the 1-on-1, a summary email will be sent to both 1-on-1 participants that contains all talking points, action items, and shared notes. Private notes and comments are not included in this email. It will look something like this:
Subject: Notes from my 1-on-1 with [Participant]
You will receive this notification if the "1-on-1s: the 1-on-1 summary and notes once the 1-on-1 has ended" Slack notification is enabled in your notification settings.
Approximately one hour after you end the 1-on-1, a summary message will be sent to participants' 15Five App in Slack that contains all talking points, action items, and shared notes. Private notes and comments are not included in this message. It will look something like this:
Help Center article 💡: Use the 15Five app for Slack
You will receive this email if the "1-on-1s: when my 1-on-1 was not ended by the day after it was scheduled" email notification is enabled in your notification settings
If you neglect to end your 1-on-1, you will receive an email reminding you to do so. It will look something like this:
Subject line: Your scheduled 1-on-1 with [Name] was yesterday.