15Five's Best-Self Kickoff is a strategic meeting between managers and their direct reports that aims to help build a stronger working relationship. The questions discussed in the Best-Self Kickoff are science-backed and help create psychological safety in employees, as well as increase manager effectiveness: the biggest driver of employee performance, engagement, and retention.
In this article, you will learn...
Access and availability
โ๏ธ Required access to My Profile.
๐ฅ This article is relevant to managers and direct reports.
๐ฆ This feature is available in all pricing packages.
Tip
Leaders can assign managers the task of holding Best-Self Kickoffs with their direct reports using bulk actions or as part of an Action Plan.
How to hold a Best-Self Kickoff ๐งโ๐ป
Note
Before holding a Best-Self Kickoff, managers and direct reports should first fill out their profiles, as those questions will guide the Best-Self Kickoff. Once both roles have answered these questions, the Best-Self Kickoff can happen.
Anytime a new work relationship is established, a promotion happens, or when managers and their direct reports need to level-set, we recommend completing a Best-Self Kickoff using the steps below.
- Schedule a Best-Self Kickoff with your direct report. Keep in mind that this process usually takes around an hour. To ensure 100% clarity and documentation on all expectations, we recommend recording notes from your meeting using your 1-on-1 agenda.
- When it comes time to meet, go to your direct report's profile, click into the 'About' tab, and then click the orange View Best-Self Kickoff button on the right-hand side of the page.
- After clicking View Best-Self Kickoff, you will be redirected to the Best-Self Kickoff. Click Get started.
- Go through all questions and answers included in the Best-Self Kickoff, discussing your answers in-depth and gaining insights that will help you strengthen your working relationship. When you finish discussing a question, click Continue to move on to the next one.
- Once all questions and answers have been discussed, click Finish at the bottom of the page.
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A popup will appear confirming that you've completed your Best-Self Kickoff.
Next steps ๐พ
After completing your Best-Self Kickoff, we recommend holding a role-clarity conversation with your direct report. This meeting will help set your direct reports up for long-term success by walking them through whatโs expected of them as both an employee and teammate and discussing opportunities for growth. Access a template to guide a role-clarity conversation.
Additional resources ๐
- Help Center article ๐ก: Best-Self Kickoff: Tool Overview
- Template ๐๏ธ: Role-clarity conversation template
- Blog post โ๏ธ: Unlock Psychological Safety At Scale With The Best-Self Kickoff
- Blog post โ๏ธ: Take Employee Onboarding To The Next Level With The Best-Self Kickoff
- Video ๐ฅ: Introducing the Best-Self Kickoff