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We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

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Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#151

Post by ochrist »

belter wrote: post #75
simonswords82 wrote: post #33

This is part of a wider scheme in the UK whereby 60 firms and 3000 employees are piloting 4 day weeks. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/04/thousands-o... From the article: Employees from a wide range of businesses and charities are expected to take part in the scheme, which will run initially from June to December, including the Royal Society of Biology, the London-based brewing company Pressure Drop, a…

"Which country and city governments have a four-day work week?": https://buildremote.co/four-day-week/4-day-work-week-countri... I am surprised the lack of mention of Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands. Most business persons I contact, normally only work 4 days a week.

I live in Denmark. The normal is still five days a week, although I do know people who work four days a week.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#152

Post by fleddr »

sktrdie wrote: post #141
fleddr wrote: post #130

I've been working 4 day workweeks for well over a decade now, took the pay cut myself. As for the goal to maintain 100% productivity whilst cutting back on hours, I'm confident that they will succeed. In fact, they'll succeed in this without requiring some kind of brilliant plan, as this recalibration happens automatically. When you start working one day less, nobody will reduce your workload by 20%. You'll have the…

This makes sense and understand what you're saying. But the idea of having a full extra day where I don't have to open the laptop and can instead concentrate totally on myself is much more important than a decompression day at work.

Exactly, that's also why I made the change.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#153

Post by formvoltron »

suction wrote: post #150
formvoltron wrote: post #146

The 4 day workweek. This is life just laughing at me for having the gall to try & start my own company. 30 years on I'm still trying. Everybody else who just went & got a job are now millionaires & retired. I wrote a news publishing system 2 years before Elon sold them. I wrote the first Taxi app on iPhone. On my todo list for 2 years before Instagram was "twitter with photos".

Seems like you're always two years too early for the market?

You definitely need a biz partner you can count on. Unless you have a family situation that encourages & helps this sort of endeavor.

When someone burns you, don't go back to him / her for the second go around! Even if that person is a good friend. That's what I've learned. Alternative version of this is don't start a company with someone who is a newly minted millionaire & is single, not sure of what to do next in life, and not all that interested in money.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#154

Post by lkxijlewlf »

rootusrootus wrote: post #144
fleddr wrote: post #130

I've been working 4 day workweeks for well over a decade now, took the pay cut myself. As for the goal to maintain 100% productivity whilst cutting back on hours, I'm confident that they will succeed. In fact, they'll succeed in this without requiring some kind of brilliant plan, as this recalibration happens automatically. When you start working one day less, nobody will reduce your workload by 20%. You'll have the…

I'm starting to get more militant about zoom calls. Trying to avoid angering people explicitly, but still pushing back as best I can to protect to the team from incessant zoom calls to have conversations that would be faster on slack, and better documented in email. Zoom calls just invite conversation that has to repeated again because 80% of everyone on the call forgot some amount of detail.

> ... and better documented in email.

This, so much. Let's just jump on a quick Teams meeting almost always can be taken care of in an email. And then it's documented and can be referenced and sent to all parties who may need to know that were not included in the "quick" Teams meeting.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#155

Post by 5350-uiop-1130 »

gms wrote: post #57
5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5 day week, no-flex also has costs, it's a matter of value and perspective. So what if productivity decreases by a few % if it means we all get better work life balance. Change is not easy but over time equilibrium can be found which is not dependent on this paradigm of infinite growth.

Because then prices go up and the poor especially are hurt. Governments also get less revenue so are less able to assist the poor.

if prices go up then some of that money should go to the poor

i would be happy to pay a premium for goods and services after 6pm or 7pm (or on the weekend) if it means those "essential" workers get paid more.

but of course many would not, and so people can re-evaluate their priorities. hence equilibriums can form which are more healthy than present.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#156

Post by MontyCarloHall »

I feel many people in tech and other office jobs have implicitly worked 4 day workweeks for years. During an average workday, how much time do you spend doing personal things at your desk (texting friends, reading non work-related online articles, etc.)? I bet that time aggregated across Monday to Friday adds up to at least a full 8 hour day.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#157

Post by BigJ1211 »

kqr wrote: post #87
belter wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Which country and city governments have a four-day work week?": https://buildremote.co/four-day-week/4-day-work-week-countri... I am surprised the lack of mention of Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands. Most business persons I contact, normally only work 4 days a week.

I live in Sweden and have never hard of any company doing a four day week. The closest I get is one of my first jobs which had a 37.5 hour week (rather than the customary 40 hours) but again, spread out over five days. That said, some of the last few weeks at the time of writing have in practise turned out to be four day weeks due to public holidays. Could this be what causes the confusion?

I live in the Netherlands, here it depends completely on the "cao" that is used within the 'branche' (type of industry). There are industries that use 32, 36, or 40 hours as full-time work weeks. Most goverment jobs for example are either 36 or 32 hours.

I work in SWE, which is almost always 40 hours in my experience YMMV.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#158

Post by dangets »

MontyCarloHall wrote: post #156

I feel many people in tech and other office jobs have implicitly worked 4 day workweeks for years. During an average workday, how much time do you spend doing personal things at your desk (texting friends, reading non work-related online articles, etc.)? I bet that time aggregated across Monday to Friday adds up to at least a full 8 hour day.

The larger question is whether one would stop doing those personal things during a 4 day work week.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#159

Post by rhino369 »

lkxijlewlf wrote: post #154
rootusrootus wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm starting to get more militant about zoom calls. Trying to avoid angering people explicitly, but still pushing back as best I can to protect to the team from incessant zoom calls to have conversations that would be faster on slack, and better documented in email. Zoom calls just invite conversation that has to repeated again because 80% of everyone on the call forgot some amount of detail.

> ... and better documented in email. This, so much. Let's just jump on a quick Teams meeting almost always can be taken care of in an email. And then it's documented and can be referenced and sent to all parties who may need to know that were not included in the "quick" Teams meeting.

Quick phone calls are often more efficient than emails. For status updates, downloads of information, sure email works. But if you want a back and forth exchange of ideas, talking is often much faster.

Re: We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

#160

Post by michaelcampbell »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #50

I wish them luck. I understand their need to have folks in the office, and this is one way to make that more attractive. But it is only one factor. Good management, strong teams, and a whole lot of "soft" stuff is even more important than beanbag chairs and foozball tables. The "good management" part is where most companies go pear-shaped. I wouldn't want to go to Buckingham Palace every day, if I hated the people I…

> I understand their need to have folks in the office,

I don't. Can you explain what it is about every single job there requires 8 hours of 100% availability?

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