This interview is with Manasvini Krishna, Founder at Boss as a Service.

Manasvini Krishna, Founder, Boss as a Service

Can you introduce yourself and share your expertise in the field of daily accountability?

I’m Manasvini Krishna, a lawyer by education and tech-entrepreneur by passion. I’ve built a number of platforms and tools that help people stay accountable and productive. My current focus is on Boss as a Service, an accountability-partner platform that connects people with a “boss” to help them meet their daily goals and stay productive.

How did you become passionate about daily accountability, and what led you to your current role in this area?

I’ve struggled with akrasia—procrastination—almost my whole life. I tried a lot of different strategies to overcome it, and what worked most was being held accountable to someone or something. In the pursuit of the ideal accountability system, I tried a lot of different accountability tools, but they always seemed to be missing either the power of technology or the human touch. So I decided to build a platform that connects both.

Based on your experience, how has implementing daily accountability practices transformed workplace productivity and employee satisfaction?

In today’s world, where lots of people work remotely, there is a need to maintain consistency. This doesn’t mean putting in 100 percent every day, but at least making a little progress so that we’re closer to our goals with each passing day. Accountability helps bring in this consistency by providing a nudge, especially on days when success seems too far. As business and HR leaders, we are in the position of providing people this push through daily accountability systems and also of rewarding them for their consistency, which only boosts their overall productivity.

Can you share a specific example of how you’ve helped a company integrate daily accountability into their HR practices, and what were the outcomes?

A part of HR is making sure people look at the office atmosphere as productive and fun. I added daily accountability into the mix by introducing 21-day “challenges,” where people take up a goal related to their job, their fitness, or any other aspect of development they like. They then keep each other accountable by taking some time to share their progress with their teams. Not only does this help them bond, it also poses them to do better due to the friendly competition they’ve got going on.

What are some common challenges HR professionals face when trying to implement daily accountability measures, and how do you recommend overcoming them?

I think HR is stuck in the place of balancing employee satisfaction with the company’s goals and values, and often the solutions they come up with may be cookie-cutter or generic, which may not appeal to everyone. I say in such cases, HR should focus more on individual needs—take the time to understand how each person feels about daily accountability, and how HR can work with them to implement a system that will be effective for the individual.

How does daily accountability intersect with work-life balance, and what strategies have you found effective in maintaining this balance?

Among other things, daily accountability helps people be efficient with their time so that they are able to finish their work during the workday and build their life outside of the office. One way HR can help them is to develop a time-based daily accountability system—maybe encourage time boxing, or dividing the workday into specific blocks of time interspersed with breaks, so people are forced to get more productive during office hours.

What role does technology play in modern daily accountability practices, and can you share an innovative tool or approach you’ve encountered?

Technology can greatly boost daily accountability because it gives you tools that a human accountability system cannot, like time tracking down to the second. One new tool I’ve found in this context is MakerTime AI, a machine-learning model that tracks people’s screen time activity and also measures how much of their workday is spent being productive.