4-day work week Concerns vs Reality
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Business owners
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Staff
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Clients
Business owners concerns
Impact on
profit
Theoretical impact on profit
40 hours * 80% target = 32 hours
5-day work week
40 hours * 80% target = 32 hours
4-day work week
32 hours * 100% target = 32 hours
Actual billable hours: Year-on-Year comparison
4-day work week: target vs reality
Business owners concerns
Impact on
project
timelines
Will we be able to meet agreed timelines?
Well rested team compensated drop in hours with better delivery
Bonus: no tired faces on Monday anymore!
Business owners concerns
Impact on
client
support
Who will support our clients on Fridays?
Stable hosting, proactive monitoring
Test coverage, automated quality control & releases.
Curse of Friday releases
“If you release your sh*t on Friday,
you will work on Saturday. And Sunday.”
Staff concerns
How can I do
40 hours
work in
32 hours?
More efficient work for the same pay and extra holidays
45
extra days off
Staff concerns
Will we meet client expectations?
Changed rhythm of work & rest made us more productive
Staff concerns
Will we go back to a
5-day week?
Do we plan to return to 5-day work week?
Staff feedback
“It feels like now I have time for everything I plan for”
“More time to focus on family and life admin”
“More energy and initiative at work”
“Much better work/life balance compared to many other experiments I made”
“Gives me more personal time in the best sense”
“I think I do approximately the same work for 4 days as I did for 5”
“1 day per week when my son is at school I don’t have to work - PEACE”
“I feel that after 3 days off my mind is fresh again and I’m really ready to work”
“No more burnouts”
Client concerns
Will it impact our project timelines?
Client concerns
Will it impact our budget?
Client concerns
Who will support us on Fridays?
Pitfalls
Moved from 2 week sprints to 3 or 4 week sprints
Cancelled almost all internal events
Moved almost all team building events outside of working hours
Our best advise for decision makers
Run a small
experiment
Don't commit.
Yet.
