This company shifted to a four-day workweek–and it’s going great

>the company shifted to a four-day week, with Fridays off. At first, Nagele says, it went smoothly, since summers are slower. By the fall, they realized they needed to make some adjustments; some members of the support team now work on Fridays but have Mondays off, and vice versa, so that there’s consistent coverage throughout the week

(Treating flex-hours & 3-day weekend models as a dichotomy) We posit that flex-hours and working week caps are more feasible and beneficial than fixed or rotating 3 day weekends.

- If the company takes Friday off, it is essentially asking a favor from its partners and customers. Those parties are now obligated to wait an extra 24 hrs for service. Flex-time offers better coverage for external parties, and it is easier to operate Incident Management / Customer Support functions.

- (Rotating or fixed) 3 day weekends make individual staff unavailable for >72 hrs. Especially for those staff members that have 'workaholic' traits, this can make it difficult to truly relax/unwind on the weekend. 'Flex-time' workers anecdotally are perceived as more 'available' than 4-day-weekers.

- Fixed/rotating 3 day weekends appear to require similar levels of forecasting/rostering as flex-time models do. Flex-time offers more value to staff.

- A single flex-time model is perceived as fairer, and results in fewer caveats (for parents, carers and those with other obligations).

- A flex-time model + a working week cap has a neater roadmap than 4 day weeks. A graceful reduction in hours over time allows staff and operations to adjust. Further, the gradual reduction arguably allows the same productivity-output to be 'fit into the same hours' more easily than jarring steps toward a 4 day week do.

- A flex-time model is arguably more compatible with weekend & overnight coverage initiatives.

- 3 day weekends don't aid (relative to flex-models): Commuter time, city traffic, life>work priority, improved customer support, life emergencies, inter-time-zone communications.