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
⛔️ Required access to My Profile.
👥 This article is relevant to managers and direct reports.
📦 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 🧑💻
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 🐾
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 what’s 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 📖
- Help Center article 💡: Best-Self Kickoff: Tool Overview
- Template 🗒️: Role-clarity conversation template
- Blog post ✍️: Unlock Psychological Safety At Scale With The Best-Self Kickoff
- Blog post ✍️: Take Employee Onboarding To The Next Level With The Best-Self Kickoff
- Video 🎥: Introducing the Best-Self Kickoff