A year ago, while many companies were launching 4-day weeks, we decided to try the 4.5-day week. Perhaps less flashy, but oh so adapted to our reality. 365 days later, here is our reflection on this pilot project that has become a way of life at TREIZE.
After a year of working from Monday morning to Friday noon, we can now confirm that the 4.5-day week is a success for the team.
Now, it’s true that it might sound perfect on paper, but we did have to adapt.
How did we evaluate the effectiveness of our pilot project?
Employee productivity and well-being were the most important variables for evaluating the feasibility of this pilot project. In just a few months, we saw significant growth in these two variables, which gave us a good idea of the positive impact the 4.5-day week was having for TREIZE.
“I have always placed great importance on work-life balance. This schedule therefore seemed ideal for me to be able to respect my values and my work capacity, while giving my 100%.”
– Valérie Smith, Project Manager, Client Services
Over the past year, we took the time to hold several check-in meetings with the team to better understand how everyone was adapting to this new schedule. We kept ourselves well-informed about our appreciation and our questions regarding the long-term integration of shortened weeks. This continuous communication allowed us to realign along the way and adjust our work processes so that everyone wins (both us and the clients).
New schedule, new organizational methods
More concretely, to facilitate the integration of this new work schedule, here is how we adjusted our work methods to gain efficiency:
1) Reduce meeting times
The “quick 15 minutes” are a staple in our calendars. It’s probably because Google Calendar automatically suggests scheduling 30-minute meetings that we had gotten into the habit of extending discussions. However, the more time we have, the more we take. Having 15 minutes scheduled to address an important topic or answer questions forces us to be efficient and arrive prepared for meetings.
2) Estimate the maximum duration of a task
We have been doing web development and everything it entails for 13 years this year. The experience built up allows us to have a good idea of the time each stage of a project requires. Each team member’s tasks are therefore estimated and planned over time, which makes it easy to manage the team members’ workload and adapt it to 4.5 days instead of 5.
3) Templates
We created templates for just about everything. From task management to website development, including design and strategy, the majority of our project stages are accompanied by easily adaptable templates to facilitate work and allow us to focus our energy on project tasks that require deeper reflection.
4) Unavailable time slots
At TREIZE, everyone is unavailable by default in our calendars on Friday afternoons. It may seem trivial, but in talking to several people over the last year, we realized that the famous “summer Fridays” weren’t possible because clients or team members were still free to book meetings on Friday afternoons. It was as if the time off was conditional. On our end, calendars are blocked and it is impossible to book time in our schedules, for both colleagues and clients.
These four examples, among many others, ensure that the entire team can enjoy their Friday afternoons however they want.
A schedule that wins unanimous approval
The official announcement of the integration of the 4.5-day week took place shortly before the end of 2022, much to everyone’s delight.
“The 4.5-day week allows us to truly be in weekend mode starting at 5 PM. My Friday afternoons are rarely very glamorous, but they are very practical: chores, appointments, renovations, errands, etc. I now feel like I can fully enjoy my weekends and return to work more rested on Monday morning. It’s life-changing!”
– Noémie Garcia, UX Strategist
As of June 1, 2023, we can state that the 4.5-day week is a success at TREIZE. We must nevertheless remain attentive to the team and our clients to ensure that this schedule can continue to evolve with us.
We adapt and grow together, which leads us to ask you this question: have you ever considered implementing shortened weeks in your company? If so, what were your learnings regarding this new method of work organization?
We would love to discuss it with you. If you feel like it, write to us at info@treize.pro.
If you, too, want to enjoy Friday afternoons off, write to us at jobs@treize.pro. In fact, we are currently looking for a project manager, client services.
