By Beck Bamberger, founding father of BAM Communications, a PR agency for VC-backed tech startups, in addition to OnePitch, a pitch platform for journalists and publicists.

The analysis is simple: Workers love a four-day workweek. World wide, from Belgium to South Africa, companies are implementing four-day workweeks in pursuit of happier staff and productiveness that is still constant, if not higher than it was with a five-day week. I hear a variety of founders, many with client-servicing firms like companies, grumble that the shift to a four-day workweek would “by no means work for ‘our’ business,” or that “purchasers simply wouldn’t get it.” We’ve carried out a four-day workweek right here at BAM, a PR and advertising and marketing company that works with venture-backed startups, typically transferring on the velocity of sunshine. It has been in place for a number of weeks, and the outcomes proceed to be compelling. Right here’s a step-by-step course of we adopted to make the four-day workweek a pillar of our tradition and a spotlight of our productiveness:

Step 1: Guarantee You Have A Excessive-Flexibility, Excessive-Accountability Tradition

Excessive-flexibility, high-responsibility means nobody, together with founders, cares about the place an individual is situated or when an individual is doing their job. So long as people do not drop the ball on deadlines and outcomes, do not give attention to the place or when an individual works. For us, we flexed our muscle tissue on high-flexibility, high-responsibility for years as our workforce grew all throughout the U.S.—and did so much more as soon as the pandemic hit.

Step 2: Implement ‘Flex Fridays’ First

The high-flexibility, high-responsibility tradition allowed us to first debut a “Flex Fridays” providing throughout the board. If you wish to implement an identical providing, be sure no calls or conferences are ever scheduled (nobody desires a gathering on a Friday anyway), and make it clear that folks can select to wrap up their work every time they’re achieved. A number of of our staff took complete Fridays repeatedly off however labored full Fridays as wanted. Due to our high-flexibility, high-responsibility tradition, Flex Fridays had been simple.

Step 3: Set up ‘No Conferences Wednesdays’ For Deep Work

I used Flex Fridays for deep work, an idea coined by Cal Newport, a professor and writer of Deep Work: Guidelines for Centered Success in a Distracted World. Deep work may be an immense work recreation changer, and conscious of its advantages, I established No Conferences Wednesdays at BAM in 2022. This enables staff a full day for deep work. I’m a proponent of full days of deep work as a result of even the distraction of 1 assembly all through the day can set off your mind into fretting about not lacking a gathering, not less than in my expertise. If you happen to’re like me, chances are you’ll find yourself stacking Mondays and Tuesdays with as much as 25 calls every day, however the No Assembly Wednesday will allow you to sink into massive initiatives and furry methods you want to work on whereas additionally permitting you to catch up from the wave of labor from these Mondays and Tuesdays.

Step 4: Tee Up A Beneficiant Timeline

Following the institution of Flex Fridays and No Assembly Wednesdays, you possibly can showcase the advantages of a four-day workweek. Seize the second and pitch your government workforce by explaining why you are able to do this: this ludicrous (to many People) four-day workweek. Considered one of our priorities of the 12 months was to extend workforce happiness, which we measure month-to-month, and I believed that the implementation of a four-day workweek could be one solution to improve happiness along with different initiatives. One vital nuance: You should not decrease the outcomes, hours or obligations you anticipate individuals to attain and put in. For us, our pilot, which ran in quarter two, hinged on the workforce being mockingly extra productive with fewer hours.

Step 5: Up Your Inner And Exterior Communication

In the course of the preliminary implementation, follow your “Chief Repeating Officer” expertise. Talk about your four-day workweek pilot by way of electronic mail, Slack, in-person conferences, social media and extra a number of instances all through the pilot interval. As well as, it’s best to repeat this messaging ceaselessly with purchasers however emphasize that it’s a pilot (a trial interval) and that you’ll preserve outcomes. In our business, only a few purchasers care concerning the variety of hours we work as a result of the precise outcomes are all that matter. Nonetheless, a variety of individuals at our agency had been hesitant about how purchasers would obtain the message. Time rapidly advised us: The overwhelming majority didn’t care or celebrated the transfer.

Step 6: Apply Imposing Boundaries (As a result of You will Have To)

“Boundaries” are sometimes gossamer tips at workplaces. In case your workforce really desires No Assembly Wednesdays and a four-day workweek, each particular person should state and maintain their boundaries so they’re upheld. It’s simple to “squeeze in a single name” or “simply slot in a fast assembly,” however the “only one” typically rolls into “a ton.” After all, PR blow-ups occur and shopper emergencies happen. Exceptions may be made, however they need to be notably uncommon and effectively justified. For instance, we’ll typically get requests for Wednesday or Friday conferences from potential purchasers. As a lot as we wish to get their enterprise, a fast word telling the prospect of our No Assembly Wednesday and four-day workweek simply finds us various instances. Most individuals respect said boundaries.

Step 7: Measure Ruthlessly

One of many nice ironies I’ve heard individuals categorical concerning the four-day workweek is its means to take care of, if not improve, productiveness. We’ve discovered productiveness to be higher at BAM whereas additionally growing our happiness inside and outdoors of labor, each of which we measure. In our case, the outcomes we ship to our purchasers within the type of media placements, content material and shopper servicing is our measure of productiveness. Each group wants to determine its “measuring stick” for productiveness to suss out whether or not the four-day workweek works. Proceed to measure each productiveness and happiness as a result of each can contribute to shopper retention and outcomes general.