Item: 15Five
Rating: 7
Author: Erin Holm

Overall Satisfaction with 15Five

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

15Five is used across our entire organization. Each Direct Support/department head is responsible for their departments 15Fives, and managing the questions and responses. This has been a great way for our employees to provide feedback to their direct support on a regular basis. Additionally, it allows for communication across teams, and for our leadership team to provide information/updates to the entire organization in an easy, digestible manner.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Goals/To-do lists: 15Five is a great tool for creating to do lists or establishing goals for the week. Employees can add them easily, and check them off when completed. For me, this has provided a helpful visual of what needs to be accomplished that week.
It's easy to send information out to anyone in the organization - tagging individuals or @all is an easy way to share information within the platform. Our president is a big fan of 15Five, and she has utilized it as a way to disseminate information throughout our organization. Information can be uploaded in an easy-to-read, easy-to-access manner.
Reminders - it's easy to set up reminders within the program, to ensure employees are completing their portion. As an employee, the reminders are helpful in encouraging completion.
Customizable questions - direct supports/supervisors can set up different questions to be asked of employees from week to week. This is helpful if there are questions that are needed to be asked weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Being able to change questions regularly is great.

Cons

Although I mentioned customization as a positive aspect, it could use some improvements. The backend process of updating the questions, and setting them to a certain schedule, can be a bit confusing. This process could be streamlined.
The commenting process can be a bit confusing. If a person is tagged/mentioned in a comment, they are typically sent an email notifying them. However, it can be difficult to locate where you can reply and continue the conversation. Although a simple issue, it seems it could be easily rectified.
I would like to see more integration of the team portion of 15Five. It seems this feature is not as prominent, so you can easily get stuck in just your specific 15Five information.

Return on Investment

15Five has positively impacted the information provided to our leadership team. Our direct supports feel more connected to their department and are able to resolve issues as they arise, or even beforehand.
It has provided a positive impact on the 'kudos' or positive reinforcement our employees can provide to one another.

Alternatives Considered

15Five is the first performance management system I have utilized.

Other Software Used

Slack, Bullhorn Recruitment CRM, Google Drive, Paylocity Web Pay, Legalesign

Likelihood to Recommend

15Five is well suited for businesses/groups that are transparent, and willing to share information. If an organization was not a place where information is freely shared, it would not be helpful. Although, it could improve the level of transparency, as members of the organization could have space where they feel comfortable to share information. There are several different privacy settings within the each 15Five, so users can choose what they want to share.

Also, it's best to make sure you/your organization has the time to use 15Five. It can be time-consuming for users, but also for those reviewing employees 15Five. It can be a lot of information to sift through. However, the layout of the software is easy to engage with and digest, which is helpful!

Additionally, it's important to share with the team how 15Five works, and why it's being utilized. Depending on the questions that are set up within the software, it would seem a bit invasive to some. However, if a clear expectation is set prior to use 15Five, this may not be an issue.

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