15Five Reviews

Pros

Super easy to use - no 'training' necessary (even though it is available). Get's the team to think every week about what's important, how they can be intentional with their time, what they want to achieve and how to bring ideas to the table. The performance management software takes conversations to where they should be - improving the working life of employees. It's development focussed and doesn't take long to do. The new homepage allows each team member to use the product daily to stay on top of what's important. We use the rating out of 5 each week as a key company metric to get a sense of how our team are feeling about work.

Cons

We recently engaged a points based recognition program which I fear will replace the high5's. I'm wondering if this could be integrated somehow as the high5's were a real motivator for the team. From what I can tell, there is no analysis tool at the end of a review period to analyse the 'manager only' data so see what ratings were provided across the board. It would be great to use a talent rating in the system too which showed where our high performers were.

Pros

I have been using 15Five for years, with multiple companies. Then when I met the CEO and crew at an event and spoke with one of the product leaders for their future performance review feature they wanted to roll out, it seems they ended up using EVERYTHING I described to them in detail of how I thought the NEW version of performance reviews should be like when they launched "Your Best Self"! (Very flattered and stoked) We've already trained the team and coined it as Jelli's YBS. I was using BambooHR's perf review and switched immediately. Also their High Fives have a great tracking source I find very valuable.

Cons

CS is always a tricky subject. Even though they have a great chat feature, the person I was speaking to was helpful and listen to the challenge with my BambooHR and 15Five integration, I believe she resolved the issue, but I never heard a follow up or closing ticket confirmation

Pros

Some of the features were useful, such as the weekly check-in with customizable questions.

Cons

15Five's customer service was very poor. If you so much as add a single additional employee for a single day, they will bill you immediately. If you seek to put a hiatus on using 15Five services, they will NEVER refund or credit or work with you in any way.

Pros

15five is simple and easy to manage. Through time it has helped me realize how a treat my goals, and no surprise turns out I plan a lot and achieve little due to the fact that I get distracted with other goals along the way and forget the base ones. 15five allows me to see that by the end of each week, so now I plan less but stick to the goals that matter.

I love the "High Fives" as I can congratulate team mates that helped me along the week. I also get high fives and get a sense to whom and what department my work is having the best impact, and which are not.

Cons

It does not have a statistical feature for the goals, so I use spread sheets to calculate goals that require a percentage. ANd most goals do if I want to have a sense of how much I have covered (20%, 33,54% etc.). So it still requires external tools to complete a report. A percentage calculator would be an easy thing to implement.

I just found out that there is a vacation feature. But it was really buried in the configuration pannel, I would expect to see it on a more relevant section, like the main navigation top bar.

OKR training for customers. I have seen a couple of blog posts, but not a training section that resembles more a mini course. Success stories using OKR's from customers would be awesome as well.

Pros

15Five has allowed me to be proactive in manging my team through our weekly 1:1's - getting a clear understanding of my employees' needs as well as their focus from week to week. Having the ability to ask strategic questions - and continually updating and revising them - allows me to get a review of my employees true reflection and state of mind. This has been valuable in so many ways - from how I interact with the employee; how they continue to progress on tasks; and where they're focus is on overall objectives. Being able to publically and privately provide kudos and immediate feedback - which help in the review process - ensures there is never a surprise to either myself or the employee.

Cons

Allowing collaboration (multiple owners) of an overall objective. You can have a parent objective, and multiple team members assigned to support the objective, but at time required to have duplicate child tasks - rather than having the ability to focus as a group. I appreciate the individual aspects, but being able to work as a group is equally important.

Pros

I love that you can create goals for the next week AND add to your list of accomplishments other tasks that you got done during the week... and that there's room for comments to give updates on longer projects.

I also like the high fives -- it's a great way to keep the office positive and affirm people for the little things they do each week to make things go well.

Cons

I don't know if I need to know that I'm on time 57% of the weeks that I submit. I think it's good to hold users accountable for submitting and keeping track of streaks is nice for those who like "perfect attendance" type awards, but for those weeks when you're already underwater and barely getting your 15Five in by Monday... two days late, it doesn't feel good to have the software tell you afterwards, "Oh, and by the way, you're late a lot..."

Pros

The ability to alternate the questions from week to week, or create a rotating bank of questions, means you can not only touch base with your team weekly, but you can also measure progress on a monthly basis. This means you can see the day to day, as well as the big picture trends. I also like the "High Five" and tagging integrations which make 15Five feel less like reporting to a boss, and more like a social sharing experience.

Cons

Each submission can only have one reviewer. So if multiple managers need to access and comment on a 15Five, one has to be ranked above the other- it's hierarchal.

Pros

Very easy to use. The fact that it takes so little time to update ensures a high level of compliance. It is most helpful with 1:1 meetings.

Cons

Sometimes the reminders can be intrusive, but that is probably more configurable in my settings that I think.

Pros

This is an excellent tool to engage employees and take the temperature of the team.

Cons

Nothing to complain about. Great tool and will continue to use.

Pros

The integration 15Five has to enhance work performance and coaching is great. It's also very easy to use

Cons

I don't currently dislike anything at 15Five (that's a good thing!)

Pros

15Five helps my colleagues and I collaborate with our line manager in creating goals, reviewing plans, and solving problems, and our 1:1 job helps us do this smoothly. It's great that we can instantly recognize each other's efforts with the all-encompassing display board that all departments can see. 15Five makes it fun to set and track your weekly list of goals, and continuous alerts help you review progress and take timely corrective action. Surveys, which are customized to each team's needs, help make sure everyone understands the new policies and procedures. It is also wonderful that 15Five has enabled management, through reports and distinctive dashboards, to conduct reviews and evaluate performance based on accurate data, which greatly enhances transparency.

Cons

I didn't find any complications in 15Five's functions; I just needed time to understand how to use it correctly, and the support I received helped clarify everything.

Pros

Few things I like most in the software is ...
Its easy to use.
It provides Mobile control, I can use the services by my smartphone also.
One on one meetings.
Foster productivity and communication.
And the most helpful and intresting feature I like is , it provides customisable templates.

Cons

Few things that the software should improve ...
It sends to much emails. Which is actually very distracting and irritating.
The software should include more features at management level

Pros

I love that it's a one-stop-shop for manager-report 1:1s, feedback sessions and weekly status updates, as well as a platform for tracking individual, team and company-wide goals and OKRs. It's user-friendly and makes it easy to onboard quickly.

Cons

I have few problems with this platform! I wish it was easier to embed links to documents and websites from the 1:1 and 15five side - I often find myself wanting to link a document or presentation but am unable to do so.

Pros

There are several things I love about this software. The ability to check my co-workers 15/5's and see what types of tasks/goals they're working on weekly is useful in our remote team because it provides me with a reference which allows me to consider where I am in comparison to the rest of the team, and how I might shift my focus if need be.
The High Five tool is also fantastic because it allows us to show our appreciation for the little things we do for one another, as a remote team we aren't always sure if the things we do actually make much of a difference and this allows us to give "kudos" to things which otherwise might go unrecognized.

Cons

One of the little issues I've had with this software is that it is difficult (Impossible?) to delete a task.
A quick example of this: If I write "Arrange a meeting with ___" and later that day I realize this is not the person I should be meeting with, it is difficult to remove the task, and though I can mark it as complete, it still makes the task list look cluttered and looking back on 15/5, may cause confusion.

Pros

15Five makes it easy to input and track personal, department, and company goals
A great app UX makes it easy to use on the go
The high five feature is great for company culture as it gives employees a forum to support each other and give public recognition
The questions feature lets you easily survey your department or entire organization, which is a great way to discover new ideas that management might not have thought of.

Cons

I don't have a single thing about this software that would keep me from recommending. It is, in my mind, the best I have encountered when it comes to goal tracking.

Pros

Our organization absolutely loves how easy 15Five is to use for feedback. It allows us to change our questions easily and frequently so that we can keep the engagement high with all of our direct reports. The mobile app is also one of the best features as it allows team members to complete their 15Fives quickly and on the job in our fast-paced working environment.

Cons

It is a large financial investment, and a few years ago when we implemented 15Fives and we had different levels of management/leadership needing to collect feedback from some of the same employees, but employees couldn't have more than one 15Five account tied to their email address, we found ourselves paying sometimes double for the same person. So you must be very intentional with your structure for using this feedback tool so that your investment matches who you're developing.

Pros

It's super easy to use and reminds me that I have an upcoming review to fill out. It holds me accountable for my weekly progress and makes it easy for me to outline topics to connect with my manager. I also really like the shout outs feature to give my team credit where credit is due!

Cons

I don't really have any complaints. The only thing for the "streaks" aka how many I've filled out in a row will start over if I'm OOO which is annoying because I would have filled it out if I was there. There might be a way to wave it for a week but I haven't looked.

Pros

This software is excellent for small businesses looking to streamline and professionalize their HR approach. Prior to 15five, my company basically had no formal HR system, which I think is surprisingly common amongst small and medium sized companies. I like the report structure. I like the tracking over time. I like/use nearly all of the features.

Cons

There are a lot of features that are buried. It took me several months of use to find, then understand how to use objectives. The peer review process was also a little weird as it asked me to comment on my co-workers' career goals and trajectory – not information I had access to. I would like to see more structure around professional development for individuals. It seems like there's a lot of overlap/confusion around flagging for followup, adding items to a 1:1, following up, commenting. I wish it was all even just a little bit simpler.

Pros

This SaaS offering is very simple - a way to quickly give "virtual" high fives to other colleagues as well as report back on your current status and mood. The website has a simple and intuitive interface. Our company would use this the tally all the feedback and kudos during the week, then present a small gift to the person with the most kudos. We also had ICs do status reports using 15five which rolled up weekly. This is actually one of the best uses as it beats using google docs.

Cons

Ultimately it was deemed that 15five did not differentiate itself enough from other similar applications to merit the monthly payment. We resorted to tallying kudos using a custom Slack integration which worked out just as well. It did not have enough features to make it indispensable in our normal workflow.

Pros

I like that you can configure it to capture just what you are looking for from your team when you ask them questions, but also that I can add items from their 15/5 right to a 1on-1 agenda. And that I can give high-fives right from that screen - so I don't forget to do it later. I like the reminders about the upcoming week, but somehow my reminders are always from my previous week's priorities? Not sure how to fix that.

But I also like that when I fill my own review out that it keeps me on track with priorities and reminders.

Cons

I don't like how difficult it is to update an objective's progress or due date. I am always hunting around for that. I also don't like that the objectives are all public-facing -- as a manager, I have many things I am working on that are HR sensitive matters. I also don't like that when I add items from one of my team's comments in their 15/5 to a 1.1 agenda - that it generates a comment to them - I find that unnecessary and frankly, a nuisance - these are notes for me, not for them - and when they get emails about those things it prompts them to come talk to me about or send a note about it immediately instead of waiting until I'm ready to discuss it with them. I don't use that feature now for that reason.

Pros

The company I work for just started using 15five about a week ago and I already feel like my individual voice has grown in value. My supervisor now has a record of my thoughts, goals, challenges, and aspirations on a weekly basis rather than taking notes from a 1-on-1 meeting.

While I do work with Trello for task management, 15five also provides easier at-a-glance information for both myself and supervisor to see and understand the work I do each week. Sometimes the work I do does not have immediate value or impact, but that does not make it valueless or impactless. Having it documented for my supervisor to see also helps me feel more relaxed about whether or not I am accomplishing "enough" each week.

Cons

One of the things I've noticed as I used it this week is that its more of a "pick up and use once for the week" type of software; at least on the side of the reviewee. The reviewer, I imagine, would spend more time reviewer their direct's reviews than the reviewee's spend time creating their reviews. This is not problematic per se, but it does decrease the products effective "stickiness." Said another way, I really would only spend about 10-15 minutes a week using the product to receive the highest benefit from it possible. Any time after that reaps zero extra benefit as all value has already been had. In some ways, this could be seen as a PRO as I imagine that managers would rather employees spend more time working than writing reviews.

Pros

I LOVE high - fives. Our company uses them religiously and shares them with everyone each week so it is a great way to say job well done!

I also like the ability to share goals and log progress with my manager and express feedback that may not have been discussed during one on ones.

Cons

The questions asked each week are sometimes really general with nothing to really add value by answering. The review process is also pretty basic, but not sure if this is just how our company uses it.

Pros

Straight to the point, user friendly, lots of options and ways to use it.

Cons

The Objectives section is a little difficult to figure out, and if it was a little more user friendly I would utilize it more.

Pros

Ability to list my tasks and goals for the new week ahead of time ; while also reserving the choice to add tasks as I finish them.This option is very important for effectively tracking task and completing goals .
It has an intuitive user interface and I am allowed to freely customize how I receive my notifications.

Cons

There were weeks where I successfully completed my tasks and had no complaints , yet I was unable to submit my form until I had to report an issue or complaint ,which was non-existent ; just to enable me submit the form.

Pros

I like the ease of use and the ways I am able to describe weekly goals, and struggles. I love that my team is synced with me so that they can see and understand what my team is doing (different than theirs), and I can see theirs. It gives me a simple platform to give myself weekly goals and strategies, and to acknowledge others for their work as well.

Cons

Simple also can be restrictive. As a user not a manager I do not get to much range of editing my week goals and objectives outside of the simple setup. It can get repetitive.