SAN FRANCISCO — Aug. 5, 2020 — WorkPatterns, the platform purpose-built to support the employee-manager relationship, today announced its launch out of beta. Using the one on one meeting as an anchor point, WorkPatterns creates a private space where managers and their direct reports or small teams can collaborate on a running agenda and align on deliverables, owners, and due dates, enabling deep, asynchronous work.
In addition to features that improve alignment, WorkPatterns also helps managers implement proven systems for improving team morale and connection including regular prompts for quick feedback via text or video, teammate recognition via “kudos”, and providing consistent management structure across teammates, which is especially critical for distributed teams. Data from WorkPatterns’ beta customer base shows that both managers and their direct reports use the platform equally, turning what was once considered to be an employee-driven meeting into an intentional, collaborative work session.
“Being a great manager is hard. There are competing demands on your time, things come up unexpectedly, and most people aren’t trained on the basics of good management to begin with. I struggled with this myself as the President and CMO at AdRoll. I had to evolve from being an individual contributor at the earliest stages, to then become a manager and then an executive that managed other managers,” said co-founder and CEO Adam Berke. “We designed WorkPatterns to address this need, giving managers the tools and direction to easily and effectively implement proven techniques to bring out the best in their team – and giving ambitious employees a platform to ‘manage up’ and ensure they’re enabled to do their best work.”
For the past two years, WorkPatterns has built out the product to work seamlessly with other common tools like Office365, Google Calendar, Slack, Salesforce, and a Google Chrome extension so users never have to hunt around to find the right tab. The product has been used in beta by a variety of companies across industries spanning from tech to healthcare, including Adobe, BuildOps, Cordial, DialPad and RepairSmith. While the team experienced steady growth and widespread adoption while in beta, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated interest in recent months as companies find themselves grappling with managing a suddenly remote and distributed workforce.
“With the operational challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, WorkPatterns went from being a helpful tool to a critical piece of infrastructure. It helps our managers both execute day-to-day tasks, and also keep their fingers on the pulse of how our employees are feeling about their new normal,” said Dan O’Connell, CSO/CRO at Dialpad. “Many of our employees, especially those that are parents, needed to shift from being ‘always on,’ to instead working asynchronously at times that fit their personal situations. We’ve found WorkPatterns to be ideal for helping managers and their direct reports clearly define success and work towards shared goals so they can focus on doing their best work at times that work best for them.”
The company also announced $2.8M in seed funding, led most recently by Javelin Venture Partners, as well as an initial round led by Pathfinder (Founders Fund’s early stage vehicle) which included Merus Capital, and notable angel investors including Frank Blake (former CEO of Home Depot), Auren Hoffman (founder of LiveRamp), Michael Stoppelman (former SVP of Engineering at Yelp), Josh Jones (HMC INQ) and PLG Ventures.
“When we first met WorkPatterns, they sold us on their vision for a new category of software focused on managers and business execution. Two years later it’s remarkable how the world has caught up with that vision. Tools like WorkPatterns are needed now more than ever and we are excited to support their growth.” said Scott Nolan, Partner at Founders Fund.
The company plans to use the funds to make additional hires, growing its team to further build out the WorkPatterns product and infrastructure to establish a new category of tools designed to help companies embed management best practices into their cultural fabric, which is all the more critical to the employee experience in today’s world of asynchronous work. The team has quickly responded to support the increased level of interest from companies of all sizes and industries that find themselves suddenly managing dispersed workforces in the COVID-19 era. Data from the WorkPatterns team shows that after many companies shifted to remote work after the spread of COVID-19, activity on the platform spread beyond typical daytime “work hours” to all hours of the day, indicating that users were turning to nontraditional times of day to get their work done.
“Now more than ever, managers must have systems in place that ensure clear communication and alignment across their team,” said Mary Sheehan, Sr. Manager of PMM at Adobe Advertising Cloud. “WorkPatterns simplifies the 1:1 process with a user-friendly experience that helps me and my team stay in sync and align on priorities no matter where we are.”
“As the leader of a company that’s adapting a essential service – car repair – to the new normal, I appreciate how WorkPatterns understands the needs of a company like ours and helps us stay nimble and operate effectively through these dynamic times,” added Joel Milne, CEO of RepairSmith.
WorkPatterns is making its platform available for free for the first 30 days, and is offering special launch pricing of $7/user for teams of 5 and more. For more information on plans and pricing, visit https://www.workpatterns.com.
About WorkPatterns
WorkPatterns makes management best practices automatic, no matter where your team is located. Using the 1:1 as an anchor point, WorkPatterns creates a private space where managers and their direct reports can collaborate on a running agenda, assign action items, and provide direct and actionable, bi-directional feedback. WorkPatterns gives managers the tools and guidance to more easily and effectively manage their teams, keeping employees engaged and helping retain valuable talent. WorkPatterns was founded in 2018 by Adam Berke, CEO (part of founding team and former President/CMO of AdRoll), Noah Duncan and Dmitri Skjorshammer and has employees in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
