1-on-1 permissions and visibility — what each role can see and do

By default, only the two participants in a 1-on-1 can see its agenda and content. Role-based permissions determine what each person can create, view, and report on within 1-on-1s.

1-on-1 visibility rules

  • Only participants in a 1-on-1 can see its agenda and content.
  • The Private notes section of a 1-on-1 agenda is visible only to the individual who wrote it — not to the other participant.
  • Managers and account admins cannot see the content of 1-on-1s they are not participants in.
  • Global viewers can see all manager-direct report 1-on-1 agendas. This does not include 1-on-1s between peers.
  • The global viewer role is granted only when a qualifying business reason exists (for example, a legal requirement or a specific HR operational need). Account admins must contact 15Five Support to request this access.

What each role can do in 1-on-1s

Employees

  • Create, schedule, and end a 1-on-1 with anyone in the company
  • Star or unstar any 1-on-1 from their My 1-on-1s list
  • Remove a 1-on-1 from their My 1-on-1s list
  • Delete a 1-on-1 they are a participant in
  • Add talking points and action items to 1-on-1s they are a participant in
  • Add items from their own Check-in to the 1-on-1 agenda with their direct manager
  • Add to shared notes and their own private notes

Managers

Everything employees can do, plus:

  • Automatically generate 1-on-1s with direct reports — direct reports appear in the My 1-on-1s list without either participant having to create them manually each time
  • See the identities of people their direct reports are having 1-on-1s with (not the content)
  • Report on 1-on-1s usage data for their team

Account admins

Everything employees can do, plus:

  • See the identities of all 1-on-1 participants in the company (not the content)
  • Report on 1-on-1s usage data for the company
Note: Account admins can report on 1-on-1s usage data but cannot see the content of 1-on-1s they did not participate in.

Global viewers

Everything employees can do, plus:

  • See all 1-on-1 agendas for manager-direct report pairs across the company
  • See the identities of all 1-on-1 participants in the company
  • Report on 1-on-1s usage data for the company

Key rules

  • No role — including account admins — can read the content of a 1-on-1 they are not a participant in, except global viewers.
  • Private notes are never visible to any other person, including global viewers.
  • Global viewer access applies only to manager-direct report 1-on-1s, not peer 1-on-1s.
  • Global viewer access requires 15Five Support to grant it. Accounts admins cannot grant this role themselves.

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