Manager Products: Kona, Coaching, & Content

Increasing Manager Effectiveness with 15Five

Managers are the critical link between HR initiatives and real business outcomes. When they lead effectively, organizations see higher engagement, stronger performance, and better retention. When they struggle, the ripple effects are felt company-wide.

But great managers don’t just happen—they’re built through intentional support. 15Five’s ready-to-launch Manager Effectiveness Stack gives your leaders world-class enablement in under a week, all within the flow of your existing tools.

We bring this approach to life through a powerful suite of development tools, each designed to help managers lead with confidence and impact:

• 🐾 Kona: Personalized AI-powered coaching delivered in real-time, with meeting insights and leadership nudges sent directly into Slack and 15Five.
• 🤝 Group & 1:1 Coaching: Add a human element and accountability to your manager programs with group and 1:1 coaching, facilitated by our certified experts.
• 🎓 On-Demand Content:  Create a strong foundation with our library of curated manager development tracks and microlearnings, designed for every experience level.

Together, these offerings form 15Five’s Manager Effectiveness Stack—an integrated system built to help managers thrive and drive measurable improvements in engagement, performance, and retention.

Get a closer look at how 15Five’s manager effectiveness tools—especially our new real-time coaching solution, Kona—are transforming the way managers grow and lead:

Now, let’s dive deeper into how 15Five’s manager effectiveness offerings—Content, Coaching, and Kona—work together to equip managers with the skills, support, and real-time enablement they need to drive lasting results.

Kona: AI-Powered Coaching 🐾

Kona by 15Five is an AI assistant and coach that helps managers grow and improve without adding to their workload. Integrated seamlessly into meetings, Slack, and the 15Five platform, Kona listens in on 1-on-1 meetings, takes notes, and delivers personalized coaching tips based on each manager’s actual behaviors and 15Five data. Put simply, it's AI-powered coaching for managers—in the flow of work.

Here’s how it works:

• 👂 Joins 1-on-1s as a silent participant: Listens in on recurring meetings between managers and their direct reports after a simple calendar sync.
• 📝 Captures notes and action items: Summarizes meetings with structured notes and next steps for both participants—so you can stay fully present.
• 📊 Analyzes manager behaviors: Uses your existing 15Five data to contextualize what it hears in meetings. It looks for behavioral patterns tied to 18+ critical manager skills.
• 💬 Delivers real-time coaching tips: Sends personalized coaching feedback and tips directly to managers via Slack, email, and 15Five.
• 📈 Tracks progress over time: Continuously measures manager growth across critical behaviors and highlights areas for improvement so HR can take targeted action that drives measurable change.

Use the resources below to learn more:

• Help Center article 💡: Kona: Feature Overview
• Help Center article 💡: Kona by 15Five: Setup and Support Guide

Coaching: Live 1:1 and Group Coaching 🤝

15Five offers live coaching sessions led by our certified in-house coaches, available in either 1:1 or group formats. Each coaching engagement is outcome-driven: individuals or groups commit to a specific goal or learning objective, then work with their coach to process experiences, uncover insights, identify opportunities, and create accountability for growth.

Here’s how it works:

• 🎟️ Token-based system: Coaching is delivered through a token-based system. 1:1 coaching requires 1 token per session. Group coaching (up to 10 participants) requires 5 tokens per session.
• 🛠️ Assigned through Action Plans: Admins assign coaching sessions as part of targeted Action Plans aligned to specific outcomes.
• 📆 Managers schedule their sessions: Once assigned, participants are notified and schedule their sessions directly from their Actions List in 15Five.
• 📝 Coaching profiles and session details guide the conversation: Managers complete a coaching profile and add focus areas, goals, and talking points to tailor each session for maximum relevance and impact.
• 🤝 Managers attend live coaching: Sessions are led by experienced coaches who drive reflection, accountability, and action.
• 📊 Admins track participation: HR teams can monitor session attendance and completion directly within 15Five to ensure engagement.

Use the resources below to learn more:

• Help Center article 💡: Admin's Guide to Live Coaching (COMING SOON!)
• Help Center article 💡: What to Expect: I'm Receiving Live Coaching (COMING SOON!)

Content: On-Demand Manager Training Courses 🎓

15Five offers on-demand training for the modern manager: designed to build effective managers, highly-engaged teams, and top-performing organizations. Each course and concept is backed by evidence to help your leaders and teams both perform and thrive.

Our curated on-demand course library contains courses created by 15Five's in-house coaching experts and Luminary content: courses created by thought leaders who defined their categories.

Use the resources below to learn more:

• Help Center article 💡: Assign Content Access to Managers
• Help Center article 💡: On-Demand Course Library
• Help Center article 💡: Access On-Demand Training Courses

Measuring Impact Across Kona, Coaching, and Content 📈

At 15Five, we believe in tying manager enablement directly to measurable business outcomes—not just checking boxes. Impact is tracked consistently across all of our Manager Effectiveness tools through a combination of:

• Action Plan success metrics: Admins select outcome-focused metrics when building Action Plans. Learn more →
• Manager Effectiveness Assessment data: Quarterly manager effectiveness surveys and reviews measure growth across key leadership behaviors and skills. Learn more →
• Participation and engagement tracking: 15Five tracks attendance, completion, and usage across all enablement tools to surface adoption trends. Learn more →
• Manager reporting in the HR Outcomes Dashboard: Real-time dashboards visualize progress across enablement tools, surfacing key insights like manager focus areas, behavior trends, and coaching impact at the individual and organizational level. Learn more →

This integrated measurement approach allows HR teams to connect the dots between enablement efforts and real outcomes. By tracking usage across coaching, content, and Kona—and tying that activity to shifts in engagement, performance, and retention—HR leaders can continuously refine their strategies based on real-time data. It also equips you to clearly demonstrate the impact of manager enablement to executive stakeholders.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ❓