We’ve been a four-day workweek agency for a few years, and it’s awesome.
Written by 5ivecanons Staff
In October 2023 we’ll celebrate our third anniversary of being a four-day workweek agency. And although we initially thought there would have to be sacrifices, potentially reduced wages or more hours during the workdays, there was none of that. Oddly enough, it was the most successful year we have ever had in 13 years in business – and that’s through a pandemic and a recession, whether you want to call it that or not is up to you.
To make it happen we had to follow process, set boundaries, and get all the work done in less time. That’s ultimately what the four-day workweek is about, but let’s break it down.
What’s the biggest downside of going to a 4-day workweek model?
Less production work. Our office hours are 8-5, Monday through Thursday. There’s only so much we can actually do in those four days, without hiring more people. And we did hire more people. But even then, when we stick to the process, there’s only so much time we can give to client work – so you have to be an efficient, accountable part of the machine.
Lost billable time. A full day of billable work, each week, equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue – even for a small team. Add in that we close on federal holidays, some Jewish holidays, and two weeks for winter break, and we could be losing over a million each year in order to give our team time away. And the reality is, it’s worth every dollar lost.
How do you start?
Take baby steps or go for gold, it’s your choice. We have been iterating our schedule since 2018. We switched to half-day Friday’s after seeing a drop-off of client requests on Fridays mornings. And after seeing business remain stable and grow, it only made sense to take the leap to close Fridays indefinitely.
Unfortunately, this is still a new concept to most businesses – despite it being 2021. Which means we need to spell it out to our clients, and remind them all the time – we’re closed. We’ve even got a boilerplate out-of-office autoreply that goes up every Friday, just so it’s absolutely clear.
Happy Friday! Our Jacksonville and Charlotte offices are closed on Fridays, indefinitely. We’ll be back bright and early on Monday morning at 8am EST, ready to tackle whatever you need. Have a great weekend!
Is there data showing the four-day workweek is successful?
We’ve retained our clients and staff, we’ve grown our portfolio of work, we’ve managed stability and growth through a pandemic, and came out the other side on top of the world. We even spent money marketing that we’re a four-day workweek company to help influence other companies – not related or retained with our agency – in order to improve their work and life balances.
If that’s not enough – Google, Amazon, Deloitte, and countries like Denmark and Norway have already been running the four-day workweek game. And congress is even talking about how this should be a national trend. We’re not the first by any means, there’s nothing new under the sun. We’re just the greatest agency of all time, advertising a better culture, in hopes that it sticks and the people we work with take note and close their doors on Fridays as well. It will only benefit the economy, and contribute to better mental health – of which we desperately need.
The conclusion.
F is for Friday.
