Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/05/microsoft-japan-claims-4-day-w.html
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Didn’t they see a bump in productivity with an 8hr work day too? I know there are many studies out there about how much “work” is and isnt done in a day, and efficiency goes down the longer one is there.
Hrm - guess I better go back to it…
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The U.S. will be the last major industrialised nation to get this, because…
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Has nobody heard of the Hawthorne Effect? This is classic time-n-motion era rubbish. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
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Blockquote The standard duration for a meeting was slashed from 60 minutes to 30
Wow, standard duration meetings. That would cause you to go into all meetings knowing there was not even a hope they’d only last 5 or 10 minutes.
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A good chunk of Microsoft support works 4x10’s in the US.
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My immediate thought as well. The test was for 5 weeks, which iirc is just on the boundary of when results like this should start to be taken seriously.
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It seems that the biggest contributor to that boost is that they cut way back on meetings which, as a rule, waste a lot of time.
Well, shit. Meetings are the only time one can laser-point at idiotic, ill-conceived PP charts and have the office-cat paw and scratch at them! Shit!
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I dunno. Meetings are when I catch up on emails.
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But what will Management do on the fifth day? I worry about these things…
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I’ve worked both 5x8 hours and 4x10 hours schedules with everything else the same. Shifting to a 4 day work week had modest productivity gains. Mainly in that I am not very productive in the morning. Real work starts around noon and once I am engaged in solving a problem I don’t look up. So a 4 day week has one less morning for me to waste time on, and the extended EOD is when I’m at my best so I more often find a solution in the last couple of extra hours. Win/Win.
A secondary effect is psychological. In both cases I am working 40 hours but with a 4 day work week and 3 day weekends it feels like I am working less and feel more refreshed after the weekend.
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Of course in the US this would be
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Yes, it was just moving my hours around. Same salary. Same meetings. Same expectations and delivery schedules. For me it was a better way to work 40 hours. Where I am now they allow this hour juggling technically. By technically, I mean the extra day off can’t be a Monday or Friday. Which is just disruptive and does no one any good.
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They don’t say how many hours are worked in that 4 day week. Having read about Japan’s work ethic it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s more than 40 hours.
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Of course back in the day, laser pointers were a bit bigger
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If you’re a Bond fan and haven’t read it, I strongly recommend Jennifer Morgue. Without spoiling the plot, it’s basically a hilarious send-up of Fleming’s plots al la Lovecraftian horror.
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And what will they do without the meetings?
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Always love book recommendations!
To the Amazons!
Another E-book to read on my commute/bathroom/out in the field!
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