4 day work week- thoughts?

Ceylan Ersoy
8 replies
A lot of countries continue experimenting with the 4 day work week. Do you think it is effective or counterproductive?

Replies

Jordan Ellis
I would never get enough done with that amount time. Would be great though!
Tedel
I do not like the idea. When I start hiring staff, they will work 6x6 (six hours a day, six days a week). Benefits? - 36 hours instead of 40, more free time for their families - If the company grows I can get easily create two shifts and keep the company working 12 hours a day instead of 8.
Ivan Ralic
Collabwriting
Collabwriting
Businesses shouldn't obsess with work hours (days), but motivation and results. I've had an unlimited-day-offs policy in previous startup for 7 years, we have it now in Collabwriting I don't have time to track time. When you work with robots you can put them in any kind of template, but people have their own feelings, personal lives, emotions and stuff that makes their life more dynamic than strict work hours any way around. What ever number you put there won't make sense because time spent on doing stuff that motivates you, and stuff that you are made to do will never be the same. So effort should go in a direction of understanding the motivation and what actually drives people 😄
I can definitely see how it can be counterproductive, especially for people who work on project-based jobs. Taking a three-day break might break the flow of what you are doing.
Rick Armstrong
Here's a few tips that's worked for us, coming from our co-founder. If you experiment with 4-day work weeks or reduced weekly hours, be intentional about hours of operations and set those expectations with the team. One of the strengths of remote work is giving control of an individual’s work day back to them, but it’s important to be clear about expectations and boundaries to make sure that we dismantle old philosophies about more hours = more committed employee. Here's a full writeup in case you want to take a read. https://tangle.app/resources/blo...
4 day work week is not suitable for every organisation but it is a productive and positive change for the ones that are willing to try it.
Felix
The Simple Finance Tracker
The Simple Finance Tracker
I really do think it could be very effective once implemented. The simple reason is, that I always experience the last hour at work as total torture :D On most of the days, I'm already done with my work after 6-7 hours. This last hour is just me waiting and checking if there is still something happening. What do you think about it Ceylan?
Ivan Ralic
Collabwriting
Collabwriting
@felix_digistash do you think if you worked in a cave, without any clocks, you would still have the problem with the last hour every single day? (Mondays, Fridays, Hangover Days, No-sleep Days etc.)