How to sell it to your boss

Four arguments in favour of the four-day week, from a boss who’s all for it: Lee Waltham, managing partner at Brandish, a Winnipeg strategy consultancy.

It means fewer meetings—for everyone, including the boss.

“We got smart with our meetings. Weeklies became monthlies. Hour-long sitdowns became 15-minute stand-ups. Can it be a Slack? There’s been a Ƨ0 to 40 percent reduction in the time spent in meetings, and that goes for me, too.”

The shop doesn’t have to close on Fridays.

“Not all businesses do the type of work that is conducive to everyone only working the same four days per week. The big idea is flexibility, and what works best for the business.”

It’ll get people talking.

“A lot of people reached out over LinkedIn. I’m having two or three conversations per week about the fourday week. There is so much curiosity from our peers.”

And—yes—your people will be happier and more productive.

“We surveyed the staff for happiness and job satisfaction and the scores are higher than they’ve ever been. As for productivity, we’ve actually increased our volume of work substantially with no decrease in our ability to complete projects on time.”