Yes, 15Five integrates with Slack through a third-party connection that brings performance management notifications, check-in reminders, and feedback updates directly into your Slack workspace.
Overview
15Five is a continuous performance management platform designed to help teams stay aligned through regular check-ins, feedback cycles, and engagement tracking. Slack is the messaging hub where most teams already spend their workday. Connecting these two tools means your team gets timely reminders about 15Five check-ins and receives notifications about feedback and engagement updates without leaving Slack—reducing friction and improving participation rates.
The integration is managed through third-party automation platforms, making it straightforward to set up without requiring custom development. Whether you’re running weekly pulse checks or quarterly feedback rounds, the integration ensures your team stays informed and engaged.
How the Integration Works
- Check-in Reminders: Automated notifications are sent to Slack channels or direct messages reminding team members when 15Five check-ins are due, reducing the need for manual follow-ups.
- Feedback Notifications: When feedback is submitted or received in 15Five, Slack notifications alert relevant users, keeping everyone in the loop on peer and manager feedback cycles.
- Engagement Updates: Summary notifications about team engagement metrics and check-in completion rates can be posted to designated Slack channels for visibility across leadership.
- Workflow Automation: Third-party platforms like Zapier or Make allow you to create custom workflows—for example, creating a Slack reminder when a check-in is overdue, or posting a summary when all team members have completed their check-ins.
- No Data Sync Required: The integration works via notifications and reminders rather than syncing data between platforms, keeping your 15Five records as the source of truth while Slack serves as the notification layer.
Key Features & Capabilities
- Automated Check-in Reminders: Slack messages remind team members when 15Five check-ins are due, increasing completion rates and reducing manual email reminders.
- Feedback Alerts: Receive Slack notifications when feedback is submitted, ensuring managers and team members are aware of new insights without logging into 15Five separately.
- Engagement Dashboards in Slack: Post weekly or monthly engagement summaries to a dedicated Slack channel so leadership can track team participation and sentiment trends at a glance.
- Customizable Notifications: Use automation platforms to tailor which events trigger Slack messages—for example, only notify when check-in completion drops below a certain threshold.
- Channel-Based Organization: Route different types of notifications to different channels (e.g., #performance for feedback updates, #team-check-ins for reminders) to keep information organized.
- Reduced Context Switching: Team members receive timely prompts in their primary communication tool, reducing the need to log into multiple platforms and improving engagement.
Setup Difficulty
Medium (15–30 minutes, some configuration required)
Setting up the 15Five–Slack integration requires connecting both platforms through a third-party automation tool like Zapier or Make. Here’s what to expect:
- Create or log into your account on Zapier, Make, or a similar automation platform.
- Authorize both 15Five and Slack to connect to the automation tool (you’ll need admin access to both accounts).
- Create a “Zap” or “Automation” that specifies the trigger (e.g., “check-in due date approaching”) and the action (e.g., “send Slack message to #team-check-ins”).
- Customize the message content, recipient channels, and timing preferences.
- Test the automation with a sample check-in to ensure messages arrive as expected.
- Activate the automation and monitor for the first few cycles to confirm it’s working properly.
No code or API work is required. If you’re familiar with Zapier or Make, this typically takes 15–20 minutes. If you’re new to automation platforms, budget 30 minutes for learning the interface.
Alternatives to Native Integration
If the third-party automation approach doesn’t meet your needs, consider these alternatives:
- Zapier or Make (Recommended): Both platforms offer pre-built connectors for 15Five and Slack, allowing you to create multi-step workflows without coding. This is the most common approach and offers the most flexibility.
- Slack Workflow Builder: If you only need simple reminders or notifications, Slack’s native Workflow Builder (available on paid Slack plans) may handle basic automation without a third-party tool.
- Custom API Integration: For organizations with developer resources, building a custom integration using 15Five’s API and Slack’s incoming webhooks allows for highly tailored workflows, though this requires ongoing maintenance.
- Alternative Performance Tools: If 15Five’s Slack integration doesn’t fit your workflow, consider performance management platforms with deeper native Slack integration, such as 15Five’s competitors that offer tighter out-of-the-box Slack support.
Considerations & Best Practices
Notification Fatigue: Be thoughtful about which events trigger Slack messages. Too many notifications can overwhelm your team. Start with check-in reminders and completion alerts, then add feedback notifications if your team finds them valuable.
Timing Matters: Schedule reminders to go out at times when your team is most likely to act on them—typically mid-morning or early afternoon, depending on your team’s timezone and work patterns.
Channel Strategy: Create dedicated Slack channels for different types of 15Five notifications (e.g., #performance-feedback, #engagement-updates) to keep your main channels focused and allow team members to mute channels they don’t need.
Admin Access: Ensure the person setting up the integration has admin rights in both 15Five and Slack, as well as access to the automation platform you choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the integration sync data between 15Five and Slack?
No. The integration sends notifications and reminders from 15Five to Slack, but it doesn’t sync check-in data or feedback into Slack. 15Five remains your source of truth for all performance management data. Slack is used as a notification and reminder layer to keep your team engaged.
Can I customize which Slack channels receive 15Five notifications?
Yes. Using automation platforms like Zapier or Make, you can route different types of 15Five events to different channels. For example, you might send check-in reminders to #team-check-ins and feedback alerts to #performance-feedback. You can also send direct messages to individual team members if preferred.
What if my team is in multiple timezones?
Most automation platforms allow you to schedule notifications based on the recipient’s local time or send them at a fixed UTC time. You can also create separate automations for different timezone groups. When setting up reminders, consider your team’s working hours and timezone distribution to avoid sending notifications outside business hours.
Do I need a paid Slack plan for this integration?
The integration itself works on any Slack plan, but some features—like Slack Workflow Builder—require a paid plan (Pro or higher). If you’re using a third-party automation platform like Zapier, you may need a paid tier on that platform depending on the number of automations and tasks you run monthly.
Disclaimer
Integration features and capabilities may change as 15Five and Slack release updates. This guide reflects the current state of the integration as of publication. Always verify current integration capabilities and setup requirements on the official 15Five and Slack documentation pages before implementing.