Anthony Geanoules’ Post

Not to get into the 4- or 5-day workweek debate, but the insights on making people more productive while they are working are noteworthy! "Department heads cut meetings by roughly 20% after reviewing which were really necessary and which served mostly as progress reports...trade updates or ideas as they happen, via Slack, email or other tools." "Managers and workers were trained on running more efficient huddles..." "Tuesdays were deemed “maker days,” devoted mostly to uninterrupted focus work." "Many four-day-week employers don’t appear to be operating more efficiently...because management hasn’t revamped the way teams work." "research suggesting four hours is the maximum most people can spend in a deep-work, flow state. Focus tapers off fast after that." https://lnkd.in/eSRVHMdG #productivity #agility #leadership

Some great insights in this The Wall Street Journal article about how to make the four-day work week work. Chief among them is leadership involvement in looking holistically at all the way employees spend time (or waste time.) A few other tips that some companies and leaders already are employing: 1. Eliminate unnecessary meetings and make meetings truly optional for those not needed. 2. Pick up the phone if you can't quickly resolve an issue in 3 emails or less. (Had a former boss who lived by this rule and have tried to employ myself.) 3. Regularly assess and tweak what you're doing to ensure it's working for the business and its people. 4. Set aside dedicated time for people to be creative and think. One thing I didn't see in here and wonder about is whether a company could have two four-day work shifts, so there's still coverage every day. Perhaps half of employees work Mon-Thursday and the others work Tues-Friday? And maybe that rotates week to week but would enable there to be coverage five days a week for companies that need it. Thoughts?

The four-day work week is making traction and workers (and their families) are loving it! Companies like ThredUp are making it work by: 🔍 Relentlessly examining work and organization behavior 💀 Killing needless meetings 🧘♀️ Staying flexible to meet the needs of customers and the business Similar to return to office policies, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to bringing this to life. Are you ready to take the plunge into the four-day work week? #disruptwork #transformation #futureofwork #keystothefuture

How a Four-Day Workweek Actually Works, From the Companies Pulling It Off Fewer meetings, busier days, and other ways to fit a week’s work into 32 hours At ThredUp, an Oakland, Calif.-based online clothing reseller, moving its nearly 300 salaried employees to a Monday-to-Thursday week meant culling meetings, focusing on the most important work, and curtailing lengthy email exchanges. The shorter week can get hectic, and work sometimes spills into Fridays, but employees say having more time to recharge is worth it.  #hrm #Workhours #4dayworkweek #workforcedevelopment READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE LINK BELOW

Whether a 4 day work week is for you or not, affording a flexible work schedule for team members brings out the best in them, reducing stress & allowing time to complete projects. We should evaluate work based on Accountability, Active Communication, Integrity & Trust. HR & Managers should evolve to work closely to determine requirements...is it project based or are set hours required? Flexibility may not be for everyone, not always/forever, it may just be for the "season" of life one is in. Let’s talk! #flexwork #empathy #trust #care #Accountability #4dayworkweek

Leadership and the Disruption of Generative AI. That's where I'm leaning in. I think both are critical for this moment. I assert that location is not causally related to performance. Whether remote, hybrid, in-office, or 4 day work weeks, leaders produce results. "Working less takes a lot of work. Just ask the companies trying four-day schedules. At  ThredUp, an Oakland, Calif.-based online clothing reseller, moving its nearly 300 salaried employees to a Monday-to-Thursday week meant culling meetings, focusing on the most important work and curtailing lengthy email exchanges. The shorter week can get hectic, and work sometimes spills into Fridays, but employees say having more time to recharge is worth it. “It’s not for everybody,” said ThredUp’s chief people officer, Natalie Breece, who helped lead the transition. “It requires a constant evaluation of your own behaviors and your organization’s behaviors to move faster.” Once a workers’ pipe dream, the four-day, 32-hour workweek is gaining ground as hundreds of employers try the schedules and businesses rethink the conventional ways of work. The United Auto Workers made the shorter week a demand in its contract talks with Detroit automakers. Lawmakers in California, Massachusetts and other states have introduced bills aimed at pushing more businesses to adopt a four-day schedule. Most proposals are long shots but signify the appeal in policy circles. Organizations that have dipped a toe into shortened workweeks say it has resulted in happier, healthier staff, less turnover and a wave of interest from job applicants—usually with little to no loss in productivity. Yet working smarter, not harder, isn’t as easy as it sounds." #leadership #thinkingdifferently #remotework #hybridwork https://lnkd.in/gU8kViRF

The four day work week concept just begs the question what if people worked smarter in the way article highlights (less email, less meetings) but still worked five days a week. If you’re working for the a mission based company, how much more could be accomplished and how much would US productivity go up (which translates to living standards)?

Kudos to the forward-thinking team at thredUP for prioritizing work-life balance and employee happiness through their four-day work week! 🙌 Their all-time high employee retention rate speaks volumes and it's evident that their commitment to pioneering this new world of work is paying off. This success story serves as a powerful reminder of the positive impact a shorter work week can have on both individuals and the company. The future of work is evolving, and initiatives like this pave the way for a healthier, more balanced work culture. #Goals #WorkLifeBalance

The term 'self fulfilling prophecy' is a saying for a reason. Often when it comes to the 4-Day Work Week, or Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA), it's the skeptical people at the top, stuck in their ways, that either cause progress to not move forward, or hamper its effects when it does. This transition to the future for work takes time, focus and purposeful intent to make it work, and when implemented the right way for each individual businesses, the majority of companies and employees would never go back. #FutureOfWork #4DayWorkWeek #FWA

It's exciting to see the conversation around workweek flexibility gaining momentum, and I'm curious to see how more companies will adapt to these new ways of working in the future. #WorkLifeBalance #FourDayWorkWeek