Should We Change The 40-Hour Workweek?
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- Опубликовано: 20 июн 2023
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In work culture, we strongly value time - time worked, time in the office, and face time. But what if time is actually a poor, outdated measurement of productivity?
For years, scholars have been arguing for full flexibility and freedom for certain employees. In their vision, we work wherever, whenever we want, in whatever time frame is required to complete the results. The model is especially relevant today as companies try to manage attrition in the Great Resignation and remote work following the COVID-19 pandemic.
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There are some industries that are inherently hour-dependent, but I agree something has to change. The current system is anti-human and not working
Perhaps the inherent hour-dependent belief has room to evolve. Rather than looking at it from how long or at what times do employees need to work to what is the actual work and what is needed to deliver success moment?
When people have more control over their time, engagement, motivation, and mastery improve.
Not as general as Island but Portugal has 35-hour work week in the public sector for quite a while. More than the 35-hour, we need to implement the 4-day week instead
Imagine not beginning with hours or days? Just looking at what the actual work is and what is needed to deliver measurable results. 40 over 5 days? 60 over 7? 20 over 2? 6 over 1? Begin with the work not the clock or calendar.
The 12hrs shifts
Need to disappear!
Some people like them and some don’t…begin with the work and what needs to get done (scope and success) and when it needs to get done (for the client/customer) and support and trust the employees to figure out the how.
For at least the last 20 years this has been my wish that we would start the concept of how we get work done in this age and not try to apply a time clock approach that was applicable to industrial age productivity! Bravo for putting this short vid sharing that concept!
Now try that with trucking 😂
Is there room for change? Sure there is. Delivery must be delivered to this place at this time. The driver gets the autonomy to make that happen securely and safely.
Create an "ownership" in the product and/service...you won't have to tell people how much to work... Farming doesn't have a clock...There are many others... When I was a mechanic for a living, I had a key to the shop and would grab a bite at closing and return to my stall to continue to work...usually up until 10:00... I had a parts store and would build engines in the back until 11:00... That was back before crate engines and expense of engine replacements... Incentives are the ownerships that need to be put in place... The more work and the better the quality rewards everyone in the process... There are so many positives about incentives...
Love this perspective! Autonomy + Accountability!
The advantage of time is that it has clear limits: e.g. 8h / day. Try to get as much done as possible within that time frame. Tasks however don't have such a limit. How do I know if I should tackle 10 or 15 tasks per week? If I have accomplished 10 tasks and have only worked 28h per week, wouldn't it be more productive for the company if I finish another bunch of tasks in the next 2 oder 7 hours instead of just calling it a day?🤔
Perhaps, instead of tasks, use KPIs? As long as someone's hitting their KPIs then hours worked is irrelevant. The advantage here is that it also pushes people towards tasks that are going to impact their KPIs the most, and they should be tied to what's best for the organization overall.
What are the deadlines of all those tasks? Are all those tasks objectively necessary? What are the metrics informing you/the org of the impact and value of the tasks? Activities are not outcomes. Sometimes we are working on the wrong activities or are inefficient with activities and thus miss delivering outcomes.
Great video! Perhaps using location and time as resources to achieve tasks RATHER THAN metrics to determine value. Billable hours becomes billable outputs - what is the value of the output to the client/customer and the org? Of course, that includes the costs to provide service/product. Driving hours becomes value of delivery. Organizations DO NOT own your time, they own your results.
The problem with specifically saying 40 hours is that they actually expect even more than 40.
A lot of those office jobs are quickly becoming obsolete.
And yet the 40hr work week remains…change can be disruptive.
Yes change
When you are billable to a client by the hour - then every hour absolutely does count.
Are clients paying for your time or your output?
I often think conditioning but lack of change makes these work attributes seems set in stone. They are not. The people enforcing them are. We all know people can deliver success in different ways and at a different pace. The question is, what is the value of the output to a client and the organization? This includes costs, resources, timelines of the work, etc.
There is no one size fits all answer to this and academics, industry "experts", and everyone else needs to stop thinking there ever will be one.
Honestly this video is a waste of time because it doesn't present the manner in any new way, offer new insight, nor does it even explore the issue in any depth.
Disagree that a genuinely committed person won’t produce more in more hours. Often though only founders meet that bar.