Organisational Design
Workplace
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Written by
Lee Crockford
January 2022
“Eight hours to work,
Eight hours to play,
Eight hours to sleep,
Eight bob a day.
A fair day’s work,
For a fair day’s pay.”
This song of the stonemasons rang through the streets of Melbourne in 1856—heralding in the world’s first five-day, 40-hour work week. It was nothing short of revolutionary for its time, even though the concept wouldn’t formally be expanded to all Australians by the Commonwealth Arbitration Court until new years day, 1948.
“The union put forward three main arguments for a shorter working day: The first was that Australia’s harsh climate demanded reduced hours. The second was that labourers needed time to develop their ‘social and moral condition’ through education. The third was that workers would be better fathers, husbands and citizens if they were allowed adequate leisure time.” - National Museum of Australia.
A lot has changed over the decades, not least the nature of work, but the question remains of how do people and businesses create ideal working conditions that equally benefit the organisation, the individual, and the community at large? After all, the three are intrinsically linked.
spur: has always challenged the way we do business for ourselves, the people we work with, and the communities we aim to serve. We’ve always strongly believed that outcomes are more important than outputs, and so it’s natural for us to have adopted and developed a range of cultural innovations over the years (as explored by Will in our last post).
In December we held our annual “End of Year Smash” where we spend a lot of time reflecting professionally and personally on what’s working, what’s challenging, and opportunities for the future.
Although true of all businesses, small businesses are partially reflective of the people who work there, their mental health, their skills, their passion, and their needs. It’s important for us all to know what each person in the team needs and values, what they want their future to be, their current pain points, etc., as these things need to be factored into the company’s roadmap if we want to be successful.
The topic of a four-day work week began as part of a conversation on making 2022 “The Year of Intent” and using our time more wisely and decisively. The world-changing experience of the pandemic also factored into us wanting to have more “living” time amongst our work.
While the concept of a four day working week is not new, widespread adoption is only beginning.
Most models of the 4-day week typically reduce the number of working hours in a week without a reduction in wage, though this does vary.
Iceland conducted the world's largest trial of a shorter working week from 2015–2019 to overwhelming success:
“Productivity either remained the same or actually increased, and worker wellbeing was considerably improved. Perceived stress and burnout went down, while health and work-life balance went up, as employees were given more time for housekeeping, hobbies, and their families. Both managers and staff considered the trials a major success.”
These findings are consistent with other trials, too:
More countries are trialing the concept including the UK, Spain, Finland, and New Zealand.
The research and literature behind a four-day work week is compelling, but a theoretical decision to trial a four-day work week is worlds apart from logistically implementing it. A range of questions immediately arose, such as:
These questions dovetail with other general questions about spur: that arose during the End of Year Smash such as:
After much discussion, key metrics of how we’d measure success of the trial emerged:
It became apparent that this wasn’t a matter for simply reducing the number of workdays, but that a complete overhaul of how we work during the four days would also be required.
Weeks of discussion and thought helped shape how we’d approach our new four-day work week. The consensus was: everyone’s week should be unique to them. While there are certain parameters, we should all be free to design the detail of our week to best fit our style.
Below is my new calendar template for 2022:
The logic behind it:
It should be noted that this is my personal schedule—each person’s day looks quite different depending on what works best for them. For example:
This shift has also required me to update some of my other processes and logistics to help others understand my new routine which includes:
At the time of writing this post, we’re only a few weeks into the new model, but so far I’m finding it exceptional. To revisit the key metrics of the pilot:
Ability to effectively work on side projects / hobbies / passions
Absolutely achieved. Having a full day to focus on fitness and side projects is a gift.
Overall mental wellbeing
I feel calmer. I’m someone who likes a lot of structure and certainty and the new model provides this. Of particular note is reduction in responding to things immediately and wait until the schedule chunk of time during the day.
Productivity and delivery
For me, the sprints are gold. I’m able to be really focussed in those slots and am able to do high quality work in a shorter amount of time.
Ability to work in a manner that is conducive to the way we want to work
In the past, my penchant for an earlier workday has felt… perhaps, rude? Or there’s been a subconscious pressure to conform to the traditional 9–5 role. This new structure has given us all permission to advocate for what works best for each of us and to help each of us understand how to communicate and interact in a positive way.
Ability to maintain connection with others
With the scheduled check-in with everyone each day, I think I’m actually seeing more of everyone than what I was previously. Additionally, the salons are often structured around group-brainstorming for a project. So, not only do I feel more connected on a personal level, but the quality of work and ideas has increased, too.
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I’m sure our four-day week model will continue to evolve and change over time, but we’d love to hear if you’d trailed a four-day work week or some other variation to the work week and what that’s been like.
I’ll post an updated post to let you know how it goes (during one of the scheduled sprints, of course).
