Key Learnings After One Year of Four-DayWorkweek

It was not only a significant risk for Bolt but was also hard to perfect for employees. The 4DWW is still a work in progress.

So much has been written about four-day work weeks (FDWW); it is hard to find whitespace on the proverbial topic for employees. With the coming expectation of a US recession in 2023 or a possible slowdown in employment and hiring, the power dynamic between employees’ wants and wishes and employers’ expectations and desires might widen, making the FDWW a bug and not a feature. Time will tell.

Four or Five Days?

First-Hand Feedback

Here are ten observations from real first-hand experience after working and living with a four-day workweek for all of 2022. I hope it refines expectations and programs for Executives and Managers contemplating a change to their work week.

1. Four days, not three — lots of Federal Holidays make the weeks three days. These need to be avoided, and a fourth day added when there are three work days in a week due to a Holiday.
2. All employees in all countries need to be on the same program. One key of the four-day week is everyone working on the same days. This can be difficult when there are misaligned work weeks due to global holidays.
3. There needs to be 100% adoption before a four-day workweek commences. More importantly, Executives and managers should be early and fervent adopters of this new structure and lead by example.
4. The fifth day is optional work — employees can still work and expect zero response on any communications. We had Fridays “off” in our 4DWW, but we could envision Mondays also as a logical day for an “off” day.
5. Not all functions can be done four days weekly — for example, billing, collections, and month-end accounts during an accounting close. Extra space in the workweek needs to be given to these and other identified teams to work ahead, and potentially other vacation time or perks should be given to them to make up for the often lack of four-day weeks. For example, two days off every month after the books are closed.
6. Default block-out calendars and Vacation turned on with Slack messages. It is tempting to add…