The pandemic changed the way workers and business owners think about the traditional five-day, 40-hour work week, and there’s no shortage of ideas on how – or if – the week should be shortened.
Companies in Australia and New Zealand are experimenting with the idea of a four-day week and trial programs are running at Amazon, Microsoft, Kickstarter and Buffer. “Additional research finds that of the 61 companies that switched to a four-day workweek as part of a major pilot study in the U.K. last year, 90% chose to make the change permanent,” according to a recent article in Fast Company.
The article contains some advice from business leaders, such as:
Stop Repetition. “Eliminate redundant processes and replace them with company-standard approaches, and employees will have time to tackle more strategic activities,” suggested Ed Jennings, the CEO of Quickbase.
Implement “Slow Down Time.” Client services professionals Alex Daly and Ally Bruschi set up offline time, which includes Monday mornings, Friday afternoons and the last half hour of Monday through Thursday. “This adjustment provides a gentler entry and exit point to the weekend, and gives our full team more time at the end of the day to ease into post-work personal time, while still providing full-week coverage for our clients,” they said.
Several experts suggested additional strategies and Fast Company examined what’s happening in state legislatures where a shortened work week is being considered. Read the article here.
