Could a web agency work a 4 day week?

At the Future of Web Apps conference this year, Will and I were chatting to Ryan Carson about company culture and working practices. Ryan couldn't believe that we have open book accounting (everyone knows what everyone else earns and has full access to the company's books) and I was equally in awe of the 4-day working week that Ryan's managed to implement at Carsonified.

So this got me thinking... Just about everyone would agree that the idea of a 4-day working week is very cool. And if companies like Carsonified can pull it off then I wonder if we could too? Here's where my thinking has got to:

Pros

• It should be amazing for recruiting and retaining top talent. Why would anyone want to work elsewhere?
• Parkinson's law states that a job expands to fill the time available. We wouldn't necessarily be 20% more productive if we worked a 6 day week, so would we actually be much less productive if we only worked 4 days per week?
• More downtime should make us all more productive and happy on the days when they are working.
• It sets a great example to other organisations. If we could motivate other companies to do the same, a huge chunk of the working population could benefit.
• It's a bit whacky and different, which always appeals to me :)

Cons

• If we ever had a project that was running behind schedule (let's face it, in web development, that does happen sometimes) a client might be pretty miffed if they knew we only worked 4 days per week.
• Production work in any busy agency typically involves quite long hours. Even by working smarter, is it really feasible for our type of work? If the policy was introduced and some people just couldn't take the extra day off without their projects going pear-shaped it could be a real de-motivator.

Conclusion

I reckon it's possible, but it wouldn't be an easy ride. Being a professional services firm where your product is your expertise and time presents a problem and an opportunity. You have fewer hours to sell, but you also have smart people on the team who can use their ingenuity and creativity to generate more revenue from less time.

It would take a big commitment from everyone in the company to make it their responsibility (not their project manager or their boss) to ensure that they work sensible hours. This is very hard in a digital agency - especially for people in project delivery roles. I know because I spent months working 7-day weeks a few years ago and I see our own people working late far too often. There is the constant pressure of clients and deadlines that isn't going to go away.

Working long hours is disempowering. But you can empower yourself by doing something about it, or better still taking responsibility for not allowing yourself to get too busy in the first place: Delegate. Help to hire more people. Get involved in the decisions about how work is allocated. Sack problematic clients, and only take on new customers and contracts that can be delivered efficiently.

If the company culture supports individual freedom and organic self-management then anything is possible. It's not easy, and it's quite scary for many people in a society that teaches kids from a young age to get used to a command and control environment.

But the thing that clinches it for me is that there is already proof out there in agency land that companies can generate an extraordinary amount of income per employee, thus proving that we are so much more than a product of the number of hours we spend at our desks. I'm sure these guys could afford to take off a day per week. There's nothing stopping the rest of us from building companies like this.

Comments

[Greg Brooks]

In a small shop, the only disadvantage to the four-day regimen is that all employees typically work the same hours -- and that means you have a "regular" work day (let's call it Friday) when the phones ring with no coverage.

If you can stagger folks so there are bodies in the shop on a five-day basis (some folks get Mondays off, some get Fridays, etc.) then I can tell you from experience that it's a great way to go.

[Tom Nixon]

You're right, Greg. I should have added to the list of cons that people won't always be around when customers call. Hopefully this would be more than made up for by having attracted the best people and higher retention.

We already have a very flexible hours policy where people come and go on their own schedule. I think we'd just need to add a guideline 'usually four days per week'. We'd leave it up to the team to make sure customers knew when they'd be around and ensuring that we have adequate cover for customer support.

The hard part is getting into the mindset of making it everyone's responsibility to shape the company so that we can all work less.

[Adam Khan]

How about a fifth day wherein people do come in to the office but can only work on personal, non-client projects? This is what I am trying to institute myself alone as a freelancer.

[jenni]

Great post Tom - as one of the worst offenders of 'work too late' syndrome, I'd love to be able to limit my days in the office. I used to work shifts at the Argus, working 3 12 hour days which meant I had 4 days to myself a week. Perfect! Obviously, now I've got kids and a role with very different demands, but there's a lot to be said for having so much time to do other things. I built a whole new career for myself that way.
(Interesting to note that this post was written on a Saturday though - time to practice what you preach?!)

[Tom Nixon]

haha, I know it's sad but blogging doesn't feel like work to me. I'm passionate about this stuff! :)

Admittedly my missus wasn't too happy about the amount of time I spent on the computer at the weekend so you may have a point!