“4 Day week is about productivity first” – Andrew Barnes

Call it progress, call it a movement, call it whatever you like, demand for the 4-Day workweek is growing.

Benefits are said to include better work/life/balance, family and community engagement and increased productivity.

Microsoft Japan’s recent trial of the 4-Day workweek reported productivity improvements of a whopping 40% https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776163853/microsoft-japan-says-4-day-workweek-boosted-workers-productivity-by-40

Productivity gains are paramount for the financial model to be sustainable; essentially 5 days of work need to be completed in 4.

It’s likely some of the unimportant tasks will need to be eliminated to realise productivity savings of greater than 20%.

Ways to achieve this include:

✅ Increasing personal and team productivity

✅ Focusing efforts mostly on high impact important work

✅ Reducing time spent on unnecessary communication like meetings and emails (for instance, Microsoft reduced meeting times by 50%)

None of these strategies is anything new, they’re just productivity hacks deployed across an organisation with stakeholders benefiting from a real “what’s in it for me.”

Is there a downside?

Laura Vanderkam has a different perspective to most commentary on the 4-Day workweek. Laura told Business Insider how the downside could be at the expense of your long-term career development https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/biggest-problem-with-4-day-workweek.html

Two questions I’m interested in are:

🙋 Do you think a 4-Day workweek is possible or just a pipedream?

🙋 Do you think a 4-Day workweek could restrict your career development?

I’d love to know your views.