4 ms·

That sucks. Any way to work a 4-day week? Or pry a telecommuting day out of their cold hands? [Unless you're the boss, in which case strike that last remark.]

by percept 17y ago

icey 17y ago
I could work from home on some days if I really wanted to, but I've got a team of people that get their direction from me which complicates things.
- electromagnetic 17y ago
  Do you have the clout in your office to switch from a 5-day-8-hour week to a 4-day-10-hour week? The effect on your working day is negligible, especially as it can often take you out of rush hour traffic and you'll likely leave and arrive home around the same time (supposing you don't live in an area where the rush hour is more like three-hours). You then have an extra day, essentially a 3-day-weekend every week. This can actually dramatically decrease costs, not only time wise and fuel wise, but if you have children who have to go into daycare or to a babysitter after school then it means lower childcare expenses. Not only that, but having a friday or monday off means you can get groceries and such done during the day and well out of the supermarket rush hours; you wouldn't believe how empty stores can be even before a major holiday. Swapping, not only yourself but your workers too, to a 4 day week could keep you able to be there directing people, it'll at least take 1/5 of your wasted commute time and it could potentially shorten your commute dramatically if you commute time gets pushed outside of rush hour. It could seriously raise the happiness level in your office, and thus the productivity ('a happy worker is a busy worker'). Hopefully this is a suggestion that could work for you.
  - greyman 17y ago
    Did you try it yourself? I am asking because I was thinking about that for myself, and I could do that, but then, if you work 10 hours + 0.5 hour (lunch) + 2 hours travel, then for those 4 days, you are off for the whole day, basically. For example, when you leave home at 8am, you will return at 8:30pm. In that case I would come home when my kid is already going to sleep. I am not sure if that's better comparing to 5d-8h.
    - icey 17y ago
      There's an added benefit in terms of time for me. Most of my commute time is due to traffic. Without traffic the commute is 25 or 30 minutes each way. If I were to switch over to a longer schedule like this, my commute would probably drop from 2 hours a day to 1.25 or 1 hour a day due to missing rush hour.
      - pasbesoin 17y ago
        In my last position, I worked a somewhat later schedule for precisely this reason. My communte wasn't as long as yours, but it still saved me probably 15 - 30 minutes each day.
        electromagnetic 17y ago
        I remember at one of my jobs, the commute for a 9am start took ~45 minutes. The 9:30am start took 15 minutes. Instead of leaving at 8:15 and arriving home at 5:45, I left home at 9:15 and arrived home at almost 5:45, usually 5:50.
    - electromagnetic 17y ago
      I have worked these before, and my family has tried these. My mum is a nurse, so she frequently worked 13-hour days 3 days a week when I grew up. My dad worked in IT for a long time, by the end he worked exclusively these shifts before he retired to start his own business. I agree it's ultimately harder, especially with younger children, on those days that you'll work harder. It will inevitably be a personal choice whether seeing them a bit every night is more important than seeing them a lot on one night. All I can say is from personal experience as a child with a parent who worked those shifts (I haven't got kids yet, so I can't speak from the parental perspective). My dad regularly worked those shifts, and when I was younger it was certainly tough (its a little different in your teen years when you're up later and more independent), but the fridays he got off were always worth it. I remember getting off school and we actually had the time to go to a theme park on my birthday (I believe he switched his shifts to get a tuesday off) or that we'd get to go to the movies or bowling before they got packed on a friday evening. I can't say not having your dad there wouldn't be hard on a kid (in the last few years, and the reason why he left the job, he had to work away from home so then the 4 day week really helped as he wasn't home for 3 nights instead of 4 nights), but from my own experience the quality time certainly made up for it and in hindsight I think I actually preferred when he had the 4 day weeks. Perhaps it would be more of a win-win when they're in high school rather than junior school as with the amount of homework that gets dumped on the teens, they'll barely notice if you're an hour or two later home. I suppose it all depends on you as the parent, your spouse/partner and your kids. 5 days may be best for you, 4 days may be better for others, but a trial-run for a month might give you a clue as to which you and your family prefer.
  - icey 17y ago
    This may not be a bad idea. I wouldn't say it's a clout thing, but I can work any schedule I'd like as long as I get things done. We're a pretty happy office already, and some people here are already using a 9 day out of 10 work schedule. I'll think some on this. Thank you!
- pasbesoin 17y ago
  Consider getting your people used to your being remote one day a week -- make it consistent. Speaking generally and anecdotally, a lot of "panic" seems to actually be somewhat schedule-able; it adjusts to circumstances. Keep the option open to drive in when it becomes necessary. Whether a "must be present" meeting, crunch time, or the shit hits the fan and being onsite outweighs the drive time. If you can't make the timing regular, you may be screwed. If you're remote on random days, people are less likely to adjust well. I worked with a fellow who, due to his brilliance and historical knowledge, often ended up being THE go to guy in such scenarios. Nonetheless, he made remote days work. (It helped that our team was becoming increasingly virtual, anyways, as we absorbed new members from an acquisition, etc.) People learned that if they needed him face to face, they'd better bring the topic up before his remote day (or wait). He loved how much more he was able to get done without people stopping by his cube multiple times each hour.

That sucks. Any way to work a 4-day week? Or pry a telecommuting day out of their cold hands? [Unless you're the boss, in which case strike that last remark.]

by percept 17y ago

That sucks. Any way to work a 4-day week? Or pry a telecommuting day out of their cold hands? [Unless you're the boss, in which case strike that last remark.]

icey 17y ago

I could work from home on some days if I really wanted to, but I've got a team of people that get their direction from me which complicates things.

electromagnetic 17y ago
Do you have the clout in your office to switch from a 5-day-8-hour week to a 4-day-10-hour week? The effect on your working day is negligible, especially as it can often take you out of rush hour traffic and you'll likely leave and arrive home around the same time (supposing you don't live in an area where the rush hour is more like three-hours). You then have an extra day, essentially a 3-day-weekend every week. This can actually dramatically decrease costs, not only time wise and fuel wise, but if you have children who have to go into daycare or to a babysitter after school then it means lower childcare expenses. Not only that, but having a friday or monday off means you can get groceries and such done during the day and well out of the supermarket rush hours; you wouldn't believe how empty stores can be even before a major holiday. Swapping, not only yourself but your workers too, to a 4 day week could keep you able to be there directing people, it'll at least take 1/5 of your wasted commute time and it could potentially shorten your commute dramatically if you commute time gets pushed outside of rush hour. It could seriously raise the happiness level in your office, and thus the productivity ('a happy worker is a busy worker'). Hopefully this is a suggestion that could work for you.
- greyman 17y ago
  Did you try it yourself? I am asking because I was thinking about that for myself, and I could do that, but then, if you work 10 hours + 0.5 hour (lunch) + 2 hours travel, then for those 4 days, you are off for the whole day, basically. For example, when you leave home at 8am, you will return at 8:30pm. In that case I would come home when my kid is already going to sleep. I am not sure if that's better comparing to 5d-8h.
  - icey 17y ago
    There's an added benefit in terms of time for me. Most of my commute time is due to traffic. Without traffic the commute is 25 or 30 minutes each way. If I were to switch over to a longer schedule like this, my commute would probably drop from 2 hours a day to 1.25 or 1 hour a day due to missing rush hour.
    - pasbesoin 17y ago
      In my last position, I worked a somewhat later schedule for precisely this reason. My communte wasn't as long as yours, but it still saved me probably 15 - 30 minutes each day.
      - electromagnetic 17y ago
        I remember at one of my jobs, the commute for a 9am start took ~45 minutes. The 9:30am start took 15 minutes. Instead of leaving at 8:15 and arriving home at 5:45, I left home at 9:15 and arrived home at almost 5:45, usually 5:50.
  - electromagnetic 17y ago
    I have worked these before, and my family has tried these. My mum is a nurse, so she frequently worked 13-hour days 3 days a week when I grew up. My dad worked in IT for a long time, by the end he worked exclusively these shifts before he retired to start his own business. I agree it's ultimately harder, especially with younger children, on those days that you'll work harder. It will inevitably be a personal choice whether seeing them a bit every night is more important than seeing them a lot on one night. All I can say is from personal experience as a child with a parent who worked those shifts (I haven't got kids yet, so I can't speak from the parental perspective). My dad regularly worked those shifts, and when I was younger it was certainly tough (its a little different in your teen years when you're up later and more independent), but the fridays he got off were always worth it. I remember getting off school and we actually had the time to go to a theme park on my birthday (I believe he switched his shifts to get a tuesday off) or that we'd get to go to the movies or bowling before they got packed on a friday evening. I can't say not having your dad there wouldn't be hard on a kid (in the last few years, and the reason why he left the job, he had to work away from home so then the 4 day week really helped as he wasn't home for 3 nights instead of 4 nights), but from my own experience the quality time certainly made up for it and in hindsight I think I actually preferred when he had the 4 day weeks. Perhaps it would be more of a win-win when they're in high school rather than junior school as with the amount of homework that gets dumped on the teens, they'll barely notice if you're an hour or two later home. I suppose it all depends on you as the parent, your spouse/partner and your kids. 5 days may be best for you, 4 days may be better for others, but a trial-run for a month might give you a clue as to which you and your family prefer.
- icey 17y ago
  This may not be a bad idea. I wouldn't say it's a clout thing, but I can work any schedule I'd like as long as I get things done. We're a pretty happy office already, and some people here are already using a 9 day out of 10 work schedule. I'll think some on this. Thank you!
pasbesoin 17y ago
Consider getting your people used to your being remote one day a week -- make it consistent. Speaking generally and anecdotally, a lot of "panic" seems to actually be somewhat schedule-able; it adjusts to circumstances. Keep the option open to drive in when it becomes necessary. Whether a "must be present" meeting, crunch time, or the shit hits the fan and being onsite outweighs the drive time. If you can't make the timing regular, you may be screwed. If you're remote on random days, people are less likely to adjust well. I worked with a fellow who, due to his brilliance and historical knowledge, often ended up being THE go to guy in such scenarios. Nonetheless, he made remote days work. (It helped that our team was becoming increasingly virtual, anyways, as we absorbed new members from an acquisition, etc.) People learned that if they needed him face to face, they'd better bring the topic up before his remote day (or wait). He loved how much more he was able to get done without people stopping by his cube multiple times each hour.