
This company shifted to a four-day workweek–and it’s going great - garrettdimon
https://www.fastcompany.com/90277702/this-company-shifted-to-a-four-day-workweek-and-its-going-great
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ethiclub
>the company shifted to a four-day week, with Fridays off. At first, Nagele
says, it went smoothly, since summers are slower. By the fall, they realized
they needed to make some adjustments; some members of the support team now
work on Fridays but have Mondays off, and vice versa, so that there’s
consistent coverage throughout the week

(Treating flex-hours & 3-day weekend models as a dichotomy) We posit that
flex-hours and working week caps are more feasible and beneficial than fixed
or rotating 3 day weekends.

\- If the company takes Friday off, it is essentially asking a favor from its
partners and customers. Those parties are now obligated to wait an extra 24
hrs for service. Flex-time offers better coverage for external parties, and it
is easier to operate Incident Management / Customer Support functions.

\- (Rotating or fixed) 3 day weekends make individual staff unavailable for
>72 hrs. Especially for those staff members that have 'workaholic' traits,
this can make it difficult to truly relax/unwind on the weekend. 'Flex-time'
workers anecdotally are perceived as more 'available' than 4-day-weekers.

\- Fixed/rotating 3 day weekends appear to require similar levels of
forecasting/rostering as flex-time models do. Flex-time offers more value to
staff.

\- A single flex-time model is perceived as fairer, and results in fewer
caveats (for parents, carers and those with other obligations).

\- A flex-time model + a working week cap has a neater roadmap than 4 day
weeks. A graceful reduction in hours over time allows staff and operations to
adjust. Further, the gradual reduction arguably allows the same productivity-
output to be 'fit into the same hours' more easily than jarring steps toward a
4 day week do.

\- A flex-time model is arguably more compatible with weekend & overnight
coverage initiatives.

\- 3 day weekends don't aid (relative to flex-models): Commuter time, city
traffic, life>work priority, improved customer support, life emergencies,
inter-time-zone communications.

