What apps should a new manager use?

Start with three: the chat tool your company already uses, a task or project tool where every piece of work has an owner and a date, and a place to run one-to-ones and keep feedback. Add a goal tool if your team works to quarterly goals, and use your calendar to block focus time. Keep the number of apps small, so nothing important lives in a tool nobody opens.

What is the best app for one-to-one meetings?

It depends on how your company works. Lattice and 15Five suit companies that want one-to-ones tied to reviews across the whole organisation. Fellow suits teams that want video meetings recorded and summarised. Rople lets you book repeating one-to-ones on every plan, where the next meeting opens with the last one's open actions, and adds feedback and check-ins on its Starter plan.

Are team productivity apps worth paying for?

Often, yes, but not straight away. Most of the apps here have a free plan or a free trial. Start free with one real piece of work, find out what your team actually uses, and pay when you hit a specific limit such as people, storage or a missing feature. The cost that matters most is usually time lost copying updates between tools, not the subscription.

How many productivity apps does a small team need?

Fewer than most people think. Many small teams run well on three or four: chat, a task or project tool, a calendar, and a place for goals and one-to-ones. Each extra app adds another place to check and another set of updates that can go stale. Prefer tools that hold several jobs on one set of records over a separate app for each job.

Which app helps new managers set team goals?

Perdoo is a specialist OKR tool for companies that run OKRs across the organisation. Asana and ClickUp both include goals on certain paid plans, which keeps goals next to the work. Rople includes goals and KPIs on every plan, including Free, and works out each objective's progress from its key results and the tasks under them, so nobody has to type a percentage.

Best Apps for New Managers, Sorted by Job

The best apps for new managers cover five jobs: running one-to-ones and feedback, setting and following team goals, organising tasks and projects, communicating, and protecting your own focus. A sensible starter kit is a chat tool your company already uses (Slack or Microsoft Teams), a task or project tool (Trello, Asana or ClickUp), a place for one-to-ones and feedback (Lattice, 15Five or Rople), a goal tool if your goals change often, and a calendar that blocks focus time. You don't need all of them. Below, each job lists real options, fairly, with where each falls short.

Key takeaways

Choose apps by the job you need done, not by the longest feature list.
New managers usually need fewer apps than they think. Start with chat, tasks and a home for one-to-ones.
Team productivity apps work best when updates come from the work itself rather than from someone typing a status.
Every extra app adds a place where information can go stale. Fewer, better-joined tools beat many separate ones.
Try any new app with a real piece of work for two weeks before you roll it out to the team.

How we chose these team productivity apps

We grouped the apps by the five jobs a new manager actually has to do, and picked tools that are widely used, actively developed and available to small teams. We haven't been paid to include anyone. Rople is our own product, and we've included it only where it does the job, with its limits stated. Features and plans change often, so check each vendor's site before you decide.

A new manager's toolkit, chosen by job: five tools around the manager. Goals the whole team can see; 1:1s and feedback, with a shared agenda for every 1:1; projects, showing who does what by when; communication, with fewer threads and clear decisions; and focus, with time blocked for deep work.

Choose by job, not by brand: five jobs, one tool each.

The best apps for new managers, at a glance

Job	Good options	Pick this if
One-to-ones and feedback	Lattice, 15Five, Fellow, Rople	You want one-to-ones recorded and feedback kept as evidence for reviews
Goals	Perdoo, Asana Goals, ClickUp Goals, Rople	Your team has quarterly goals and you want to see them move
Tasks and projects	Trello, Asana, ClickUp, Rople	Work has owners and dates and you need to see what's late
Communication	Slack, Microsoft Teams, Loom	You need quick questions answered and fewer meetings
Focus	Google Calendar focus time, Reclaim, Freedom, Rople Focus mode	Your day disappears into meetings and messages

1. One-to-ones and feedback

This is the job new managers most often leave to a notebook, and the one that matters most. One-to-ones are where you learn what's getting in the way, and feedback is what people remember about you. The app's job is to make sure what was agreed doesn't vanish between meetings.

Lattice

Lattice is an HR platform covering one-to-ones, feedback, goals and performance reviews. It's a strong choice for companies that want the whole people process in one place and have someone in HR to run it. For a small team it can be more system than you need, and it's usually bought by the company rather than by one manager.

15Five

15Five is built around regular check-ins: short written updates from each person, with one-to-ones and reviews alongside. It suits managers who like a weekly written rhythm. Like Lattice, it's usually a company-wide decision.

Fellow

Fellow focuses on meetings: it records, transcribes and summarises them, with action items. It's useful if your one-to-ones are on video and you want the notes and actions captured. It doesn't try to be your goal or project tool.

Rople

Rople handles one-to-ones in two ways. On every plan, you can book a repeating One-on-one meeting with an agenda, decisions and actions, and the next meeting in the series opens with whatever the last one left open. On Starter, Feedback asks for the situation, the behaviour and the impact before a piece of feedback can be sent, and Manager Cockpit's Prepare a 1-on-1 opens conversation templates. Feedback given is evidence a review can read later. If you're just starting with a new team, our guide to how to build rapport with a new team quickly pairs well with this.

2. Goals

Goals are where many teams start well and finish badly: they're written in January and found again in December. The useful question for any goal app is whether progress comes from the work or from someone remembering to update a number.

Perdoo

Perdoo is dedicated OKR and strategy software. It's a good fit if your company runs OKRs seriously and wants a specialist tool for them, with alignment across teams.

Asana Goals and ClickUp Goals

If your team already lives in Asana or ClickUp, their goal features keep goals next to the work. Check the plan: Asana's Goals sit on its Advanced plan (Asana pricing), and ClickUp includes Goals from its Core plan up, with only a trial on the free plan (ClickUp pricing).

Rople

In Rople, goals and KPIs are on every plan, including Free. An objective's progress is worked out from its key results, and ticking a task under a key result moves it, so nobody types a percentage. A target on a client account can be a key result that moves when money is collected, on Pro. For more on choosing a goal tool, see team goal tracking software.

3. Tasks and projects

Every team needs one place where work has an owner and a date. The right tool depends on the work.

Trello is the easiest to learn: boards, lists, cards. Ideal for small teams with simple flows.
Asana is polished for work that crosses teams, with clear owners and timelines on paid plans.
ClickUp packs in the most features, but takes time to set up well.
Rople ties projects to the clients, payments and goals they serve, with milestones that can ask for evidence before they close.

We compare these and more, with prices, in affordable project management tools for new managers.

The new manager's toolkit: the best apps for each job

How we chose these team productivity apps

The best apps for new managers, at a glance