Buffer is a social media company that is made up of 84 employees. The company was founded by Joel Gascoigne, who saw that employees were stressed when the pandemic hit and decided to give them three-day weekends during the month of May 2020.
CNBC Make It revealed that what began as a month-long experiment became a permanent policy and, at the end of 2021 , according to an employee survey, found that 91% of workers were happier and more productive with a four-day work week.
The company acknowledges that to reach these results it had to overcome some points of friction so that things would really work properly.
The first thing was to figure out how everyone would get their work done on time, said Hailley Griffis, director of public relations for Buffer.
To achieve a work week of 32 hours and four days, they had to change the format ma where they worked: teams cut back on meetings (changed weekly marketing check-ins to monthly); they moved to asynchronous communication tools like Threads; and adjusted expectations for how long it would take to meet project deadlines.
Another challenge was figuring out what day to start the benefit. At first, Buffer gave each team their own pick. Some started on Wednesdays, but it turned out to be too disorganized because people needed to work with other teams, so it was decided to standardize on Fridays off.
All Buffer employees have Fridays, except for the customer service department which offers service seven days a week, which means these team members still work shorter weeks but on a rotation staggered to cover weekends.
After adjustments, according to Buffer’s survey of 2021, on 84 % of employees were able to complete the work required of them in the new four-day week.
Company productivity remained stable, but leaders found that employee engagement was affected, as with the reduction in their meetings, formal and informal social time was also shortened.
To solve is In this situation, virtual social events were planned, so that employees can connect beyond work meetings.
“Achieving it required a big change in mindset,” Griffis noted, “Going into projects knowing that we have four days instead of five, you get used to it.”
The main reasons Buffer has been successful in adopting the shortened workweek is because the CEO and senior leaders get used to it. committed to making it work, and because their smaller teams are more agile.
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