[bumby]

Where I worked, everyone had the same Fridays off. Unfortunately, that meant Thursdays became the new Friday with people taking long lunches, leaving early etc.

As I left, they were integrating into the larger corporate structure to make sure everyone has the same Friday off beyond just our campus. It will be interesting to see if this helps productivity or if there aren’t enough projects that cross those org lines to make enough impact.

9/80 can be great if there’s a cultural fit with a mission centric focus. Ironically as the c-suite was considering going back to a 5 day schedule, people lower were pushing to go to a 8/80 schedule. I always got the impression people weren’t terribly mission focused, rationalizing why that would make them more productive when the data from the 9/80 switch ran counter to their claim. Honestly, they were one of the least productive orgs I’ve worked with

[gingerlime]

Do you think any schedule would make a difference?

[bumby]

I think in that particular case, a normal 5 day work week would have been more productive but less popular. The biggest glaring weakness was that there was a lack of accountability. I (and others) knew we could let projects slide, show up late for work regularly and never be confronted. (I tried my hardest not to take advantage of that fact). If one is only externally motivated, that’s a difficult culture to be productive.

Long term, I think it can benefit. Former coworkers will never leave because they don’t want to lose their long weekends. However, that can be a double edged sword. I’m reminded about the quote of executives discussing whether or not to pay for staff training. One says, “But what if we train them and they leave!?” To which another says, “What if we don’t train them and they stay!?” If you’re hiring the wrong people and incentivizing them to stay, it may not be good long term. That’s why I think clear expectations and accountability are key.

I think in the right organization, with the right leadership, a shorter work week can be more productive and more popular. While defining amorphous concepts like leadership and culture can be hard, I think they are integral to the issue. Low trust, low accountability organizations would struggle, I assume