From 5 to 4: Transforming Startup and Scaleup Culture with a 7-Step Blueprint to a Shorter Workweek

Breaking away from the chains of old-school work culture, entrepreneurs are all about finding fresh and innovative ways to succeed without compromising their well-being. And guess what? There's a hot new concept in town—the 4-day workweek!

In this journey toward a more productive and creative work environment, examining how the 4-day workweek can enhance productivity and foster creativity is crucial.?Contrary to the prevailing belief that longer working hours lead to increased productivity, numerous studies have demonstrated the remarkable potential of a condensed workweek. For example, results from the largest 4-day workweek experiment run in the UK showed that?productivity increased by 22%, and about 92% of companies said they'll continue with the 4-day week permanently.

Delving deeper into the realms of creativity, research reveals that personal interests and hobbies beyond work can ignite a surge of innovative ideas. The UK's 4-day workweek experiment showed that individuals utilized their newfound free time for engaging in hobbies, pursuing leisure activities, managing housework, and taking care of personal needs. This diversification of experiences acts as a wellspring of inspiration for entrepreneurial ventures.

As the idea of transitioning to a 4-day workweek gains traction, a vital question arises—

Is there a one-size-fits-all approach to implementation?

Exploring diverse approaches and customizing strategies becomes essential in paving the path to a successful transition. Each organization may need to tailor the 4-day workweek to suit its unique operational and workforce requirements, keeping in mind the goals of improving productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall well-being.

Transitioning to a 4-day workweek: A step-by-step process on preparing business infrastructure for implementation

To help facilitate this transition, I'd like to share a 7-step blueprint I built based on my experience in organizational development and external research.?

Thanks to this framework, you'll be able to:?

• Analyze your organization's specific needs,?
• Recognize the needed cultural shift,
• Update organizational structure and infrastructure,
• Update organizational processes,
• Update metrics,?
• Get the unique 4-day workweek venture design model tailor-made for your needs.

Step 1 - Performing Holistic Business Evaluation

It's important that you start by evaluating your business's current demands and requirements. The steps are as follows:?

1. Defining your business's top priorities for the upcoming months, as well as sales and revenue figures.
2. Taking all your projects, processes, and tasks through the impact assessment according to the diagram above – it is highly recommended to do each department separately, together with the department head.?
3. Performing your impact assessment based on the contribution of each project, process, and task toward the previously defined business priorities, sales, and revenue targets. You may use a 1-10 scale rating and determine the scale based on your internal criteria.
4. After completing the thorough analysis, you will get three categories of projects, processes, and tasks:?a)Those rated above 9 are your organization's crown jewels.These have an immense impact on your business's short and long-term success; b) Those rated 5-9 are still significant contributors to your business success, however not the crucial, and here's the highest potential for automatization, digitalization, and outsourcing; c) Those rated below 5 aren't business-critical or valuable – either short or long-term. Assess and question these carefully.?

Step 2 - Creating a culture shift: Recognizing time as your most valuable resource

A significant cultural shift must occur within your organization to seamlessly implement a 4-day workweek.?It is paramount to create an environment where employees feel trusted, empowered, and well-supported in managing their time. This approach enables them to strike an achievable balance between their personal and professional commitments.

Now is the ideal time to promote a culture that values achievements over mere presence.?

Embracing this fresh perspective will serve as the foundation for a successful transition to a 4-day workweek, ensuring the overall success of this initiative.

Step 3 - Enhancing ‘Deep work state’ to maximize employee productivity

Now that you've uncovered the pivotal projects that drive your business forward, those garnering ratings above 9, it's time to immerse yourself in a realm of heightened productivity. Cultivate a culture of 'deep work,' where your employees delve into their tasks with unparalleled focus, ultimately magnifying their commitment to these high-impact endeavors.

1. Implementing quiet hours or quiet days: Carve out designated 'quiet time' zones, liberating employees from the shackles of meetings and asynchronous communications. A profound, uninterrupted daily span of at least 120 minutes is allocated to immerse in profound work on their paramount projects.
2. Creating a distraction-free environment: Craft an environment stripped of distractions, an uncluttered haven where noise recedes and interferences dissolve. The current of productivity flows unimpeded as the hum of conversations fades, ensuring the task at hand reigns supreme. Streamline communication channels and notifications, safeguarding employees' sanctum of peak performance.
3. "If you don't contribute to meetings, you don't stay in" kind of culture: As the echoes of COVID-tinged Zoom gatherings pervade, redefine your meeting perspective. Adorn meetings with value, purpose, and decisiveness. Should a meeting fail to summon your insights, contributions, or decisions, it's an act of courtesy to exit gracefully.?

Step 4 - Adopting automation and digitalization as a no-brainer priority

In today's fast-paced business world, startups and scaleups must prioritize automation and digitalization to gain a competitive edge. These cutting-edge technologies offer a multitude of advantages, revolutionizing how businesses operate. By adopting automation and digitalization, companies can streamline repetitive tasks, boost efficiency, and minimize human error. This becomes crucial when improving key areas like processes, projects, and tasks rated between 5-9 in the holistic evaluation.

Embracing these advancements keeps startups and scaleups in the game and sets a strong foundation for future growth and scalability. With automation taking care of mundane tasks, teams can shift their focus to innovation and strategic initiatives, staying ahead of the ever-evolving market.

• To facilitate this transformation, consider leveraging Peter Drucker's?50x productivity framework. Break down projects and tasks into smaller microtasks, carefully observe their duration, and optimize the process until it reaches its peak efficiency.
• Forming a dedicated automation champions group within each team is another effective approach. These members will lead the charge in streamlining operations and implementing the most advanced tech solutions available to the company.
• Providing automation training to all team members is essential. Familiarizing them with best practices and specific automated systems instills confidence and fosters an "automation culture" throughout the organization.

Step 5 - Turning to outsourcing

Ever since 2020, outsourcing – hiring a third party (an individual or a company) to perform a specific set of tasks for you – has been gaining more popularity worldwide. As more organizations seek to lower costs and improve productivity, the?outsourcing industry?offers better services to meet customers' ever-more demanding needs.?

The two types of outsourcing you can implement to support your transition to 4DWW are:

• BPO outsourcing (BPO)?refers to a practice in which an organization hires an external service provider to perform an essential business task. It's also one of the fastest-growing global industries – in 2019,?Grand View Research?predicted that the BPO market could top US$ 343 billion by 2026.?
• Digital outsourcing?includes delegating digital marketing services to a third-party vendor. For example, you can delegate some tasks to digital outsourcing: SEO, PPC, social media, and web design.?

Outsourcing can play a supportive role in transitioning to a 4-day workweek, but only when done strategically. Carefully select reliable and competent outsourcing partners, ensure clear communication, and develop a well-thought-out strategy that aligns with the company's goals and needs.

Step 6 - Aligning top business priorities and KPIs

Once you are done with holistic business evaluation (step 1) and revamping the business infrastructure (steps 2-5), the final step before the trial launching should be to align your business's top priorities and every team and individual KPIs to fit the new business infrastructure.?

All departments should be aligned on a maximum of 1-3 top priorities with key performance indicators supporting them. This allows you to recognize activities that don't support business strategy and deprioritize them.?

Finally, you will define a successful roadmap and how to measure productivity and performance.?

Remember to encourage open communication and regular check-ins with your team to address challenges or concerns during the transition.?

To help with this step, here's a list of some good KPI measurement software you can use:

• Align Today
• Asana?
• Corporater
• Geckoboard?
• Hive

Step 7 -?Implementing a trial period

Before completely transitioning to a 4-day workweek or a 7-hour workday, it is essential to conduct a trial period to assess its effects on productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall business performance. A trial period allows you to gather valuable data and employee feedback, enabling you to make informed decisions and necessary adjustments before committing to the new schedule long-term.?

• During the trial period, it is crucial to maintain open communication with your employees.?
• Please encourage them to share their experiences, concerns, and suggestions regarding the new work schedule.?
• Conduct regular check-ins or surveys to collect qualitative and quantitative data on how the changes affect their work and personal lives.

Final outcome and conclusion

Embracing change and taking bold steps are the hallmarks of success in the ever-evolving business landscape.?

Could a shorter workweek be the catalyst that redefines success in this competitive arena?

Your insights and experiences matter, and I'm eager to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Let's foster a supportive community that thrives on innovation and empowers entrepreneurs to achieve their professional aspirations and personal well-being.?

Join me in shaping a future-proof business model that not only leads the way but also nurtures the passion and potential of every individual within it.