Ever wonder what your CEO does all day? Employees at the email collaboration software provider Front can tell you where CEO and co-founder Mathilde Collin is and what’s she’s doing because her calendar is made public.

“It was shared since the beginning and never questioned whether it was a good idea or not,” says Collin. “Everything at Front—within the product and the company—is transparent by default, and everyone’s calendar is public.”

Collin is obsessed with transparency because, earlier in her career, a previous employer was less forthcoming. “They lied to us about how the business was doing,” she recalls. “They wouldn’t share revenue, or they would say we were doing amazing. I was in sales, and I could see we were not adding much money. It was traumatic when I learned the truth, so I did the opposite.”

TRANSPARENCY INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY

While employees can track everything she is doing, Collin says her transparency helps her get more done. Her assistant schedules her calendar from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Every day is different, and weeks are set up in advance.

“I always know what I’m doing, but there’s always flexibility,” she says. “I’ve been able to tell my assistant, ‘Here is how I want to spend time each week. When I do what doesn’t matter to me.'”...