One on one meetings form the foundation of employee performance, happiness, productivity, and even your company culture. They are the passageway to discovering how your employees feel, where they fall short, and what they need to reach their peak.
But how do you choose the right software that not only facilitates these meetings but truly enhances them? Think software that integrates seamlessly with your existing systems, ensuring that your one-on-one interactions are more than just a calendar event—they're a catalyst for growth and development.
This article will break down the top 5 tools for managing 1-on-1 check-ins that you can use to reclaim your time, share focused feedback, say goodbye to confusing paper trails, and foster communication and collaboration across your organization.
This article is more than a list; it's a guide to choosing a one-on-one meeting software that resonates with your team and elevates your management to the next level.
One-on-one meeting solutions are not built the same.
Here are some crucial qualities to watch for when researching your options to ensure you end up with a tool that gives you the most bang for your buck.
One on one meetings are a two-way street, and employees—and not just managers—should be encouraged to show up with talking points they want to discuss.
A tool that allows you to collaboratively plan the agenda for meetings with each direct report can boost engagement. Instead of wasting precious time trying to think of conversation topics during the meeting, you can set a clear purpose for the discussion ahead of time.
So, everyone comes prepared to contribute meaningfully to the conversation and efficiently address the points raised.
Even if your 1:1s only last 30 minutes, there's a lot that you can discuss in that time. Refrain from falling into the trap of thinking you'll remember all the key issues raised on your own so you don't have to write them down.
No matter how great your memory is, something is bound to fall through the cracks. This is why note-taking is one of the most important features a one on one meeting software can have.
The tool you choose needs to provide a means for you to record takeaways and salient points covered for every 1:1. This way, you'll have a centralized location for storing meeting notes and keeping track of specific actions you want to follow up on in future meetings.
Your one-on-one meeting software needs to be compatible with other HR tools, project management solutions, and communication platforms you currently use. Otherwise, you'd have to change your technology stack, leading to disrupted workflows, dips in productivity levels, and lower employee engagement.
Save your organization the trouble by picking a tool with integration capabilities that adjust to your needs, not vice versa.
Some platforms take things further by enabling you to integrate your 1:1 meetings with your talent and performance management processes. So, the notes, action items, goals, and OKRs taken or created during 1:1s will show up when the manager writes the employee's performance review.
If you're not collecting feedback after one on one meetings, you are missing out on opportunities to refine your check-ins and review process.
Some team members may not feel heard or think their efforts and performances aren't accurately represented in these meetings. Maybe a particular team leader's approach to their 1:1 sessions does more to dampen employee engagement than increase it.
You won't be able to gather valuable intel like this without the help of a feedback tool.
Instead of investing in a separate technology for collecting feedback, look for one-on-one meeting software with this function.
The result? A streamlined, efficient, and fairer review process. Instead of struggling to remember an employee's critical successes and struggles when the dreaded annual review season arrives, managers can accurately analyze performance by pulling data from past 1:1s.
➡️ Learn the strategies Adobe uses to create a world-class performance check-in process.
Use a 1:1 check-in software with goal-tracking features baked into the meeting agenda to make monitoring follow-through on assignments and gauge employee progress easier.
So, when you create action items, you can tie them to employees' career development goals, business objectives, and milestones.
When goals and key results are outlined alongside the agenda, managers will be better positioned to quickly assess employees' performance and identify ways to support their growth.
The ideal one on one meetings tool should make it easy and convenient for you and other team members to manage your busy schedules. It should integrate with your shared calendars so that you can align your appointments and pick meeting times that work best for each employee.
With integration support and automated reminders, you won't have to input the same information twice: in the program and your calendar.
You can create meeting events in advance and define their frequency based on how often you want to sync up with your team. Then, the software will automatically add it to each participant's calendar and send reminders when the meeting draws near.
With automated scheduling and notifications, you will no longer forget to show up to a meeting or accidentally double book a time slot, causing unnecessary confusion, delays, and cancellations.
When evaluating one-on-one meeting software, focus on platforms prioritizing data protection and offering robust security measures such as access controls, two-factor authentication, and encryption.
Choosing a service with standard encryption or end-to-end encryption makes it harder for malicious third parties to breach the system and access your employees' or company's confidential and sensitive information.
Review the software's privacy policy to ensure that security and data practices satisfy your needs. Check to see that they're GDPR compliant and adhere to any other relevant regulations so you don't expose your company to legal consequences.
"The one-on-one meeting illustrates the difficult balance needed to promote individual growth and corporate efficiency in the analog-digital world. To maximize these close professional encounters, we must combine individualized feedback and technology. Through synergy, we can connect the human and digital, creating a seamless continuum that propels individuals and teams to unprecedented success." Adam Young, CEO of Events Tickets Center.
Now that you know what features to prioritize when choosing your one-on-one meeting software, let's explore some of the best tools in the market today that embody these characteristics.
4.8/5 user rating (G2)
Zavvy is an AI-powered one on one meeting management tool that allows you to make productive meetings second nature by structuring and streamlining 1:1 check-ins.
Whether you're running a remote, hybrid, or in-person team, Zavvy makes it easy to have honest conversations about employee wellbeing and performance continuously. No more chaos and confusion of scattered notes, skipped meetings, and one-sided discussions. No more leave some workers feeling alienated and unappreciated.
Meeting scheduling
Sync your calendars, create a check-in series, and customize their names, frequencies, durations, and start and end dates to suit your preferences with Zavvy's 1:1 meeting software.
Employees across different levels can use Zavvy to set up and manage:
With Zavvy, managers can elevate one-on-one meetings from status check-ins to career development conversations.
This is possible by automating multiple check-ins with the same person. So, you can have a monthly goals check-in, a quarterly performance check-in, and a bi-monthly development check-in with your team members.
Managers and employees have access to a context panel containing the employee's growth plan, career path level, goals, and feedback from previous review cycles.
Joint agendas
Before every meeting, managers and reports can jointly prepare an agenda highlighting the topics they want to discuss during the check-in with Zavvy. This reduces time wasting and gives employees an active role in the process.
You can use Zavvy's pre-built meeting templates and check-in questions or design your own.
➡️ Check out these examples of employee development conversation questions and skip-level meeting questions prepared by our learning scientists.
Task management
Zavvy allows you to create notes before, during, and after 1:1 meetings to document discussions, feedback, and decisions for easy reference in the future. Use Zavvy's action items to define the next steps, set SMART goals, establish KPIs, and monitor progress to ensure your employees are on track to succeed.
With the hidden notes feature, you can put down thoughts, suggestions, or questions for a team member and save them for your eyes only until you're prepared to make them public.
Zavvy is also a full-service employee enablement platform, so it comes with a host of other features for
Zavvy's prices start at $4/4€/£4 per employee per month with a minimum total package of $300/€300/£300 per month.
Yes. Zavvy offers a free trial. However, you'll need to book a call with our consultants so that they can customize your trial account to suit your needs.
4.6/5 user rating (G2)
Google Meet is worth considering if you're looking for a simple, no-frills, one on one meeting scheduling software to enhance your workflow.
It integrates effortlessly with a wide range of HRIS and productivity tools and Google Workspace apps like Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Sheets, Forms, etc., enabling you to collaborate and share information with your team easily.
Free - For as long as you want with limitations:
Starter - $6 per user per month with a minimum one-year commitment
Standard - $12 per user per month with a minimum one-year commitment
Plus - $18 per user per month with a minimum one-year commitment
Kurumsal - Özel fiyatlandırma
Available.
4.4/5 user rating (G2)
Hypercontext promises to help managers ditch the countless Google Docs and spreadsheets and move towards balanced and engaging conversations with 1:1 meetings.
It gives you a dedicated platform to share ownership of meetings, agendas, feedback, and next steps with your team to boost morale and individual, team, and company success.
Free plan: For up to 1 user with limitations
Small team starter plan - $5/month billed monthly for teams of up to 5 people.
Pro plan - $5.60/ $7 per person per month billed annually or monthly.
Business - $8.80 or $11 per person per month billed annually or monthly.
Available.
4.7/5 user rating (G2)
Nailted gives managers and HR teams the effective tools to conduct productive 1-1 meetings with their team members and discover warning signs before they escalate.
This software is built to automate and optimize essential meeting ingredients like scheduling, frequency, reminders, talking points, note-taking and sharing, and milestones tracking.
Nailted comes with a recognition module to turn employee appreciation into a habit for your team. You can also measure individual competencies from different perspectives and build an agile workforce with the software's performance review feature.
With Nailted's people analytics tool, you gather valuable insights on how your culture policies impact employees via anonymous surveys.
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4.7/5 user rating (G2)
Fellow is a one-on-one meeting app that enables teams to streamline check-ins, create clear agendas, swap feedback, and improve work outcomes.
It allows managers to automate pre-meeting activities like scheduling, sending meeting reminders, and brainstorming talking points. So, they spend less time on admin and more on cultivating strong relationships with their reports.
Fellow provides additional capabilities beyond meeting management, such as:
Free plan - For up to 10 users, with limitations:
Pro plan - $7 per user per month with a minimum of 5 users and a maximum of 35 users.
Business - $10 per user per month with a minimum of 10 users.
Enterprise - Custom pricing.
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The trick to building a culture of continuous improvement and increasing engagement and participation during 1:1 meetings is to make them fun, simple, flexible, and efficient.
Zavvy can help unify and streamline the meeting process from scheduling to task follow-ups. It can facilitate meaningful conversations between your managers and their direct reports, leading to higher employee satisfaction and better business outcomes.
With Zavvy, you're not just getting one more tool to add to your tech stack. You're getting a full-service platform for managing and growing your people, instead of relying on multiple tools and having to learn how each one works.
📅 Ready to enhance your 1-on-1s and talent management workflows with Zavvy? Book your free demo to get started.
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