Paul Zauch’s Post

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

Even if 4-day work weeks are out of reach for most of us, we can learn things from those experimenting with them. For instance, at ThredUp, a company that implemented a 4-day week, "Managers and workers were trained on running more efficient huddles and volleying fewer emails. (One tip: Pick up the phone after three rounds of replies without a resolution.) Tuesdays were deemed 'maker days,' devoted mostly to uninterrupted focus work." Operating more efficiently can benefit us all, whether we use the saved time to get more done or avoid late nights and weekend interruptions. https://lnkd.in/eJGRUaR5

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)?

Summary : Her Comes the Four Day Workweek? 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. Meeting bloat was one of ThredUp’s biggest targets as it gave the four-day week a test run before making it official early last year. Department heads cut meetings by roughly 20% after reviewing which were really necessary and which served mostly as progress reports. Managers and workers were trained on running more efficient huddles and volleying fewer emails. (One tip: Pick up the phone after three rounds of replies without a resolution.) Tuesdays were deemed “maker days,” devoted mostly to uninterrupted focus work. Still, voluntary turnover among corporate employees fell to 4% last year, less than half of what it was in 2020. More than half of new hires who were surveyed said the shorter workweek tipped the scale in their decision to join. And over 90% of employees, who the company says are meeting the same goals as before, said the four-day workweek has boosted their productivity. After the trial run, “at least two engineers said to me, ‘I’ll take a pay reduction to keep Fridays off,’” said Anton Naumenko, senior director of software engineering. To keep Monday through Thursday from feeling too intense, Qwick bosses break for lunch or organize occasional happy hours. After a decadelong career in technology, during which she would work from a coffee shop some Saturdays, Kekic said she occasionally has to remind herself not to message a colleague or her team on Fridays. 

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

A smart piece on the 4-day workweek with solid tips for making it work! Want to pull it off? 1. Reduce the number and length of meetings. You're down to four days, those meetings better be productive. 2. Shorten those email exchanges. Go lower tech and pick up the phone when there are more than three emails in the strand. 3. Focus on the most important. Prioritize the most impactful work, but hey, you'll have three days at the end of the week to recharge. #work #fourdayworkweek #employeeengagment #retention #morale #productivity

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

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

Disappointed about the omission of 4-day work week in Labour's Working Future whitewater. Many of the under-employed groups identified also want flexible conditions so that they don't have to choose between caring for their loved ones (or caring for themselves in the case of people with disabilities) and full employment. Implementing a 4-day work week is hard but it can encourage full-time employment and can lead to increased productivity. Is there a role for government to lead the way and encourage the private sector?

It's clear that we're on the cusp of big changes in how we work. Changes that will be true for everyone at some point. 40-hur work weeks didn't magically happen overnight, but now we can't imagine anything else. And that's the problem. Everything that's being done or discussed at this moment in time is related. 4-day work week with a full week's pay. 10 hour shifts 4 days a week. Any variation of hybrid schedules and remote work. It's all about worker dissatisfaction with the status quo. Companies can jump on board and help shape the future, or they can kick the can down the road. Either way, big change is coming.