Harvard Business Review has stated loud and clear: the four-day work week is not only the future, but companies that do not adapt to this model risk falling behind in the race to attract talent. From our experience, when these discussions start there, they eventually reach us here. A few years ago, there was talk about the freedom to set one’s schedule freely, and we see this more and more every day.
Therefore, just as it happened with hybrid work and workdays of fewer than 40 hours, the transition to a four-day week is on many executive tables in the United States. But here’s a caveat: the key is not to work fewer hours or more, but to work better. To be truly effective. To do what needs to be done (prioritize well and always) and how it needs to be done (without wasting time).
And this is not for free.
This involves learning how to organize ourselves on an individual level. And on a group level, within organizations, to build cultures where leaders and their teams have learned to be effective.
Four-day weeks, or weeks of fewer than 40 hours, or days when no one is in the office at 5 PM? That is not the real reflection or challenge.
The real challenge does not lie in the number of days and hours worked, but in how we organize ourselves during those days. Without a culture of efficiency and effectiveness, we run the risk of reducing hours without improving results. This, in turn, may lead to a pendulum effect where management will want to impose working more hours as a solution.
It is crucial not only to reflect on the future of new work structures and the freedom and flexibility we give to workers but also to transform our way of working and finally learn something as vital as individual and group effectiveness.
In the FASE Method, we strongly believe:
- ✅ Work smarter, not harder: Reflection on new scheduling structures should go hand in hand with an improvement in personal and group organization and effectiveness.
- 🏬 Cultural Transformation: A transformation towards a culture of greater effectiveness is essential, where not only a few know how to organize better, but the entire organization evolves towards more efficient work methods.
Are you ready to lead the change towards new scheduling structures alongside an improvement in effectiveness? If we don’t, we run many risks.
