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Remember all of that talk about the four-day workweek? Well, it hasn’t lost momentum.
Just yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the "Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act" to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours per week to 32.
And in Europe, after individual countries like Spain piloted their own four-day workweek, the organization 4 Day Week Global launched a six-month study across 33 U.S. and Irish businesses in February 2022.
Just over 900 employees received 100% of their pay for working 80% of the time at 100% of their productivity. Similar trials followed in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australasia.
The results have been consistent across trials based on surveys from both the companies and their employees. They are a powerful argument in favor of the four-day workweek: it reduces employee burnout and fatigue, enhances performance, increases revenue, and improves talent acquisition and retention. Many companies chose to continue the four-day policy.
The four-day workweek is not a pipe dream. But it’s also not easy to implement. Part of the difficulty is that the four-day workweek varies from organization to organization. What works for one company won’t necessarily work for the next.
That raises the question: What would a four-day workweek look like at your organization?
Companies and employees can use the methodology described in my book, "Indistractable," to figure out how to adopt a four-day workweek that suits them.
Cutting a Day of Work Takes Work
Moving to a 100-80-100 model is more complex than telling everyone to stay home on Friday.
Acclimating to the new structure took several months for some companies and employees in the U.S./Ireland trial (pdf). In 2023, Maryland’s bill to run a four-day workweek for five years was derailed partly because it was too big of a break from the traditional 40-hour workweek.
Without planning, companies invite disorganization and confusion, hurting their business and wreaking havoc on workplace culture.
Companies and employees must discuss how the four-day workweek will affect the day-to-day and strategize accordingly.
This is a key feature of 4 Day Week Global’s program: The organization helped participating organizations redesign their workday, improve technology use, create a communication strategy, and define success, among other preparations.
Here’s a list of just some questions companies and employees should consider:
- How will our approach to the four-day workweek change our approach to meetings? (e.g., fewer meetings or no meetings allowed during certain times)
- Will the organization adopt an asynchronous work model that allows employees to choose any day off, or will there be a universal day off?
- How might a four-day workweek affect work-from-home policies or flexibility in availability on remaining work days, if at all?
- How might expectations change around answering emails and messages?
- What will the company do to ensure customer service doesn’t deteriorate?
- How will the company communicate and enforce the four-day workweek to customers?
- How might deadlines, expectations and support change to help employees handle their workload in fewer days?
Related Article: The 4-Day Workweek: Is It Worth It?
Design a Four-Day Week
Implementing a four-day workweek takes trial and error. Organizations should establish a culture founded on psychological safety that encourages open discussion. Consider creating a forum where employees, leadership, and even customers can voice questions and concerns and continuously strategize an optimal structure.
Take these steps to ensure a seamless transition.
Master Internal Triggers
In the U.S./Ireland trial, stress decreased for 32% of employees, but 16% reported feeling more stressed. Perhaps achieving 100% productivity in less time or not knowing the “rules” of the new work environment was daunting.
If your employees are feeling stress, worry, doubt or other negative feelings related to the four-day workweek, those internal triggers will drive them to distraction and decrease their productivity. They need to know what’s expected of them to work successfully.
Managers can resolve these issues by offering support and resources to help employees handle their workload in fewer days. They can determine realistic deadlines and set availability expectations.
Related Article: Employee Apathy at All-Time High
Make Time for Traction
Most time management concerns related to the four-day workweek can be assuaged with timeboxing and schedule-syncing.
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Timeboxing is when employees schedule blocks of time for every task they have each week; it’s the first step of schedule-syncing, which is when stakeholders share their timeboxed calendar with each other to achieve transparency into how they intend to spend their time.
For example, if timeboxing shows that an employee is struggling to fit their workload into four days, that person can schedule-sync with teams and managers to prioritize the most critical tasks. Work prioritization was integral to a successful four-day workweek for many of the U.K. companies in the trial.
With schedule-syncing, companies know each employee’s availability and workload—whether they adopt a universal day off or operate asynchronously. They can schedule-sync to ensure that some staff is always available to customers and that required minimum staffing levels are met.
Schedule-syncing also allows staff to collectively agree on meeting times and implement “quiet hours” for focused work, free of meetings and chat messages, to boost productivity.
Whatever approach to the four-day workweek suits your organization, timeboxing and schedule-syncing facilitates and enforces it.
Related Article: Cure Micromanaging With Schedule Syncing
Hack Back External Triggers
To protect time-boxed calendars and thwart distraction, companies can hack back the length and/or number of meetings, emails, group chats, and work interruptions.
Many organizations in the U.K. trial cut unnecessary meetings to streamline the workday.
Some organizations have reduced external triggers by using AI tools for simple tasks like data input and confirmation emails that employees previously completed.
Setting etiquette guidelines for use — such as not sending emails or Slack messages after hours or during specific periods of a work day — enables staff to relax off the clock and concentrate on focused work.
The four-day workweek is possible if your organization becomes Indistractable. And, hey — the four-day workweek may not be a good fit for your organization, but trying it is still beneficial: 13% of the U.K. companies said the four-day policy led to “smarter ways of working” that increased organizational efficiency.