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Since we first kicked off a 4-day work week in May 2020, people have had a lot of questions about it.
Below we're sharing a few of the questions we got, along with replies from @joelgascoigne, @westcoasthubb, and @nystroms.
Below we're sharing a few of the questions we got, along with replies from @joelgascoigne, @westcoasthubb, and @nystroms.
Q: Why a 4-day work week?
A: "I wanted to build trust with my team through the pandemic. This was one of the best ways that I thought to do it."
A: "I wanted to build trust with my team through the pandemic. This was one of the best ways that I thought to do it."
Q: Does everyone take the same day off?
A: "In the beginning, we experimented with teams deciding the day, but knowing which day and having adequate time for cross-team collaboration was a challenge. Now, we do Fridays other than Customer Advocacy which rotate the day."
A: "In the beginning, we experimented with teams deciding the day, but knowing which day and having adequate time for cross-team collaboration was a challenge. Now, we do Fridays other than Customer Advocacy which rotate the day."
Q: What would your reasons be for going back to 5 days?
A: "The reasons would likely be not achieving our goals, which would be sad because I fundamentally don't believe it's putting in hours that will get us there."
A: "The reasons would likely be not achieving our goals, which would be sad because I fundamentally don't believe it's putting in hours that will get us there."
Q: Did the salaries stay the same?
A: "No change to salaries at Buffer with our 4-day workweeks. It's fewer hours for the same pay. For me, 4-day workweeks are really about a more fundamental belief that hours worked are not correlated with results."
A: "No change to salaries at Buffer with our 4-day workweeks. It's fewer hours for the same pay. For me, 4-day workweeks are really about a more fundamental belief that hours worked are not correlated with results."
Q: Does customer support participate in the 4-day week? If so, how do you stagger hours / meet customer expectations?
A: "Our customer support team is the one team that switches up the day off in order to make sure we maintain coverage for customers."
A: "Our customer support team is the one team that switches up the day off in order to make sure we maintain coverage for customers."
Q: Do the more senior team members stick to four days?
A: "In general, yes. Often the more senior team members are the ones who feel the most accountability and energy for goals, and so we sometimes work the extra day to get make sure we're on track. It's not the norm, though."
A: "In general, yes. Often the more senior team members are the ones who feel the most accountability and energy for goals, and so we sometimes work the extra day to get make sure we're on track. It's not the norm, though."
Q: What’s better than you expected?
A: "The extra day builds in reflection time that we often don't make room for, where many of us solve problems. So in many ways, we do more meaningful work."
A: "The extra day builds in reflection time that we often don't make room for, where many of us solve problems. So in many ways, we do more meaningful work."
Q: What’s worse than you expected?
A: "Purpose becomes even more important. We need to feel driven to do great work in the precious 4 days we have."
A: "Purpose becomes even more important. We need to feel driven to do great work in the precious 4 days we have."
If you or your team are trying a 4-day workweek, reply to this tweet to share how it’s going for you, we’d love to hear about it!
Read through more Q&As about our 4-day workweek: https://buffer.com/resources/ama-4-day-workweek/
Read through more Q&As about our 4-day workweek: https://buffer.com/resources/ama-4-day-workweek/
