For the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing you to the team behind WorkSimple. Last week, you met me, Morgan Norman.

Today, let’s meet Ben Moore, CTO and Founder of WorkSimple.

What inspired the design of the WorkSimple platform?

There had to be a better way to gauge employee performance. Typical performance reviews are too heavy and too infrequent, and neither the manager nor the employee get much out of them. We decided to start from the employee’s perspective: What’s in it for me? How do I get credit for the work do? How do I remember all the stuff I’ve accomplished over the last year? That’s what inspired the design of WorkSimple.

How do you find motivation when you hit a slump while designing?

We just refocus on what the employee would want out of the experience. Often, we’ll be pulled in a direction that’s too far outside the normal usage pattern of the average employee. When we sense that dissonance in the design, we’ll always bias toward what the employee would need to get their job done and get recognized for it.

What are the most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization?

As a leader, I hope I succeed at communicating where we’re headed. And, yes, WorkSimple helps me do that! If I can keep the team headed in the same direction, then the important decisions are around what we won’t be adding to the product. Creating a simple product, one that’s truly geared toward the employee but used at all levels of an organization, is a great challenge.

How do you encourage creative thinking within your team?

If I can keep the mission of the product consistent and cohesive, the team knows what to focus their creative energies on. You know, I’m not one of those guys that has all the right answers. I actively ask for people’s creative input every day.

What excites you the most about WorkSimple?

I’m definitely most excited about the enormity of the problem we’re trying to solve. The workplace of tomorrow is going to require more autonomy for employees, transparency for faster communication, and a way to measure performance based on results instead of fuzzy criteria in your typical performance review.

Do you have any other questions for Ben?