
Booking Software for Startups: How to Stay Lean While Scaling Fast
BOOKAFY BLOG Booking Software for Startups: How to Stay Lean While Scaling Fast IN THIS POST As a startup founder, you’re likely to balance a million tasks at once. Whether
4/10 work schedules are on the rise.
After countries like Iceland and New Zealand, Belgium also gave workers the right to work with a flexible schedule on Feb. 15, 2022. A Four-day workweek has received frequent praise for its benefits, such as three-day weekends, reduced stress, and less burnout.
But is a four-day workweek a good idea for your company?
You need to consider how it will affect your scheduling, communication, and automation before reaching a decision.
Let’s understand what a 4/10 work schedule is, the pros and cons of this alternative schedule, and whether it’s the right move for you.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
A 4/10 work schedule lets workers put in four 10-hour days instead of the traditional five 8-hour days. In both schedules, staff works 40 hours a week, but the compressed workweeks are gaining popularity due to increased productivity and better work-life balance.
Employees get an extra day — usually Monday or Friday — to relax and unwind. But during their workweek, they need to complete the extra-long shifts. It also complicates scheduling meetings, sales pitches, and other services within a shortened period.
HR Brew shares that 87% of the surveyed workers love the idea of having a three-day weekend and are willing to put in the extra hours the rest of the week.
So you can have a four-day week with full-time (40) hours.
Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand company, adopted a 4/10 work schedule in 2018. During their initial test run, they found employees reported less stress, higher work-life balance, and increased productivity.
Since then, many companies and countries have embraced the shortened work schedule for full-time employees.
While Perpetual Guardian has made the 4/10 work schedule permanent, not all companies in New Zealand are embracing condensed workweeks. Some companies are nervous about changing a staple of the modern workforce, and others have bigger concerns.
A four-day workweek doesn’t fit every position or industry. Some of your workers can benefit from it but not all. This can create tension and lead to communication issues.
Here are some of the advantages of 4/10 work schedules:
4/10 work schedules are linked to less burnout and improved work-life balance.
Companies have found workers more productive than before. Microsoft Japan reported a 40% increase in productivity due to 4-day workweeks.
Offering 4-day workweeks as a perk has made recruiting easier for businesses.
A 2019 Henley Business School report shared that 63% of businesses say a four-day workweek makes it easier to attract talent.
Workers love the shortened workweek. The same Henley study found that 78% of businesses found their workers happy with a 4-day work week, which could improve their retention rates.
4-day workweeks come with the following drawbacks:
You may experience time conflicts within your organization and when interacting with customers.
With deliverables on a stricter schedule than before, you will find less time to fix mistakes. And customers may find it a bit stressful when they can’t reach staff due to different workweek schedules.
Not all positions or workers will be able to adapt to this schedule. For example, a parent might find arranging child care around a compressed workweek difficult.
And different simultaneous schedules might lead to:
A 4/10 work schedule means longer shifts. Workers will be putting in the same number of hours in fewer days.
10-hour days can be a lot for some people, and not everyone may adapt well to this system.
Check if your organization would benefit from a 4/10 work schedule by gauging employees’ interest.
Send out an internal survey. Let the employees know you’re considering changing to a four-day workweek. Ask them questions on how they would feel about the change.
Lead with open-ended questions that allow them to voice their opinions on everything from which day of the week they would like off to how they believe the new schedule could impact their work.
After receiving answers from your staff, you can analyze the results and see what issues your staff is most concerned about.
See what they like or don’t like about switching to a 4/10 work schedule, and listen to their concerns.
Let them ask questions and provide feedback. Any major changes in scheduling employees should be a team effort, not dictated from the top.
If you decide to switch to a 4/10 work schedule, here are steps you can take to keep the transition as smooth as possible.
You may like the idea of increasing flexibility after looking into a 4/10 work schedule. But you still may not find a way to incorporate it into your organization.
You can use scheduling to increase productivity in other ways:
Shift work schedules could be a great fit if your organization needs to be available for extended hours. You can work in compressed scheduling with shift work, scheduling longer hours on fewer days for employees who want the option.
A 5/4/9 schedule is a compromise between traditional and compressed work schedules.
A 5/4/9 schedule goes on for two weeks. Employees work nine hours a day for four days in the first week, followed by three days off. Next week, they have four 9-hour days and one 8-hour day.
This schedule offers every other Friday off and gives a bit of extra time without considerably increasing each day’s workload.
You can also schedule teams to alternate weeks, so your office is always staffed.
A 5/5/4 rotating work schedule is commonly used in emergency services or medical fields that require 24/7 availability.
This schedule uses a 25-day cycle and requires five teams to keep operations running continuously. For example, a team may:
After 25 days, the cycle repeats.
Multiple teams work in different shifts and overlap operations to keep the place staffed at all times.
This schedule can keep things running 24/7. But workers might not like it as they would find it difficult to adjust their lives around a constantly changing schedule.
There is no “one size fits all” solution to scheduling. Some businesses can operate remotely, offering greater flexibility to their workforce, while others need people on site.
You should start by asking your employees for their feedback and gauging their interest. See how many people are interested in changing to a shorter workweek and if it works for your staff.
If people can’t see it working with their current lifestyle, there’s no point trying to force a change.
If there is interest in the 4/10 work schedule, figure out how you would deal with employee issues and scheduling conflicts. Anticipate problems that could happen, and develop strategies to deal with those issues.
This schedule should be beneficial for both employees and your company, so make sure your operations don’t suffer dramatically and that the cost to implement these changes is reasonable.
Changing to a 4/10 work schedule will also affect external organizations you work with, like partners and staffing agencies. Don’t surprise them with a sudden schedule change. Keep them up to date.
As four-day workweeks become more popular throughout the developed world, more companies may consider this scheduling option for their staff.
While a 4/10 work schedule isn’t possible for every organization or position, it does offer many benefits based on preliminary research. Increased productivity and reduced burnout are important factors for both improving your current workforce and attracting future talent.
Communicate with your staff and make scheduling changes they agree with, rather than dictating all changes without considering how it will affect them as individuals.
Besides changing to a four-day workweek, you can also maintain more flexibility on a case-by-case basis with workers. Show your staff that your focus is on developing a productive work environment that provides them with a good work-life balance.
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