Bonusly handles the prep, note-taking, and follow-up for your 1:1s — so you can focus on the conversation. You don't need to change how you meet. Keep using Zoom, Meet, Teams, Slack, or meeting in person. Just open the Bonusly 1:1 alongside your meeting, and Bonusly takes care of the rest.
Here's how it works, from setup through your first meeting and beyond.
Getting started
Connect your calendar
The fastest way to get started is to connect your calendar. Bonusly will find your existing 1:1s and keep them in sync automatically.
Go to 1:1s in the sidebar
Click Create new
In the From Calendar tab, click Link next to Google Calendar or Outlook
Authorize Bonusly to read your calendar
Once connected, Bonusly scans your calendar for upcoming meetings with people at your company and shows you the matches. Select the ones you want to track as 1:1s.
From here, Bonusly syncs with your calendar automatically. The advantages: Bonusly can enhance all your calendared 1:1s at once (rather than creating them one at a time), automatically help you prep before each meeting's start time, and even pull in your videoconference link to the Bonusly 1:1 page for easy access. When a 1:1 is coming up, it'll be ready for you — no extra steps.
Create a 1:1 by person
Don't want to connect your calendar? You can create a 1:1 directly:
Go to 1:1s and click Create new
Search for your colleague by name
Select them to create the 1:1
This works for anyone at your company — your manager, a direct report, a peer, a mentor, anyone you want to have regular conversations with. 1:1s in Bonusly aren't limited to manager-and-report pairs.
Before the meeting
Prep reminders
If you've connected your calendar, Bonusly sends you a reminder before your 1:1 — via email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams (based on your notification preferences). It's a nudge to open your meeting and think about what you want to discuss.
Shared notes
Every 1:1 has a shared notes space that both participants can edit. Use it to build an agenda before the meeting — add topics, questions, or things you want to follow up on. Because both people share the same document, you can prep asynchronously and stay aligned on what the meeting is about.
Notes support rich text formatting and images. Drag and drop or paste an image into the editor and Bonusly will upload it into your notes.
Context from previous meetings
When you open an upcoming meeting, you'll see the summary from your last conversation — what you talked about, what action items came out of it, and how your meeting partner was feeling. You're never starting from scratch.
Bizy, your AI assistant
In the Ask tab, Bonusly's AI assistant Bizy can help you prepare. Ask Bizy to pull together recent recognition, check-in trends, milestones, and past meeting notes for your meeting partner — giving you context at a glance, even if you had no time to prep.
Bizy can also coach you on meeting best practices and answer questions about how 1:1 features work.
During the meeting
Have your conversation as normal — on Zoom, Meet, Teams, or in person. With the Bonusly 1:1 page open, here's what's available:
Check-in
Both participants can share a quick check-in: a score from 1 to 5 and an optional message. It's a lightweight way to signal how you're really doing before diving into the conversation.
Collaborative notes
Jot down key points, decisions, or action items as they come up. Both people can edit in real time. Changes save automatically.
Transcription
Click Start transcribing to capture the full conversation. Bonusly records what's said so you can focus on listening instead of note-taking. This works with any meeting tool — Zoom, Meet, Teams, or anything else. (Note: both participants must be logged in to their Bonusly 1:1 page in order to transcribe both sides of the conversation.)
You can also upload a transcript file if you transcribed the meeting separately.
Transcription is the foundation for Bonusly's AI features — summaries, action items, and topic extraction all come from the transcript.
After the meeting
When your conversation wraps up, click End 1:1 to mark the meeting complete. Bonusly automatically creates a space for your next upcoming meeting so you're ready for next time.
Meeting summary
Bonusly generates a summary from your transcript and notes. You'll find it in the Summary tab of your completed meeting. The summary includes:
Brief summary — a concise overview of what you discussed
Topics — the key themes from your conversation, each with a short summary and the most important discussion points
Quotes — relevant excerpts from the transcript so you can see exactly what was said
Sentiment — an overall read on how the conversation went (positive, neutral, or concerned)
You can regenerate the summary anytime if you want a fresh take after updating your notes.
AI-extracted action items
Bonusly's AI pulls out action items from your conversation — the concrete next steps that came up during your 1:1, captured automatically so nothing falls through the cracks.
Over time
Your 1:1 isn't a one-time event — it's a living, ongoing conversation. Each meeting links to the previous one. Check-in scores build a trend so you can see patterns in how someone's feeling week to week, not just in the moment. Summaries and action items carry forward.
This is what makes Bonusly different from a blank doc: every meeting builds on the last one. Context doesn't reset when the calendar event ends.
You can always revisit past meetings from the date selector at the top of your 1:1.
Calendar integration details
What Bonusly can see (and what it can't)
Calendar integration is designed with privacy in mind. Bonusly reads:
Event titles — to identify meeting names
Times and dates — to find recurring patterns and show upcoming meetings
Attendees — to match events with colleagues in your organization
Videoconference link (if present) — to surface it on your Bonusly 1:1 page for easy access
That's it. Bonusly doesn't read event descriptions, notes, attachments, or any other details from your calendar events. And Bonusly only reads your calendar — we don't create events, modify existing ones, or sync anything back.
FAQs
Can I disconnect my calendar later? Yes. Disconnect anytime from your account settings. Bonusly will stop reading your calendar immediately.
Is calendar integration required? No. It's completely optional. You can create and manage 1:1s manually without connecting your calendar. The integration just makes it easier to get started with people you already meet with.
Does my manager or admin see my calendar? No. Your calendar connection is personal to you. Bonusly uses your calendar data to make suggestions for you — it's not shared with managers, admins, or anyone else.