Name: From trial to reality: Meet the company working four days a week
Uploaded: 2023-07-04T13:59:42.728Z
Duration: 507

4dayworkweek case v8.mp4

4dayworkweek case v8.vtt

English

{{00:00:01}}
My name's Paul David.

{{00:00:06}}
I am the co-founder and
CEO of Literal Humans.

{{00:00:11}}
My name is William Gadsby Peet.

{{00:00:12}}
I am the co-founder and chief
strategy officer of Literal Humans.

{{00:00:16}}
We're a content and digital
marketing agency that focuses on,

{{00:00:19}}
nonprofits and tech for good space.

{{00:00:34}}
We jumped into the four day
work week trial in the uk.

{{00:00:39}}
Just kind, kind of by happenstance.

{{00:00:40}}
We, we heard about it and,  we were a
young enough agency that we could sort

{{00:00:45}}
of bake it into the DNA of the agency.

{{00:00:47}}
And so,  this was, I guess in, I
guess June or July of last year.

{{00:00:53}}
And at that point we were just starting
to hire new staff, so we were able

{{00:00:58}}
to,  use it as a recruitment tool.

{{00:01:00}}
And we found some really great,  really
great folks, including two writers.

{{00:01:04}}
A designer and a content strategist to
kind of build our,  full-time team around

{{00:01:08}}
this notion of the four day work week.

{{00:01:10}}
We'd already got to a point where, as
an agency, Fridays were no meetings.

{{00:01:14}}
It was basically a half day.

{{00:01:16}}
And myself and my co-founder Paul, we'd,
already started discussing, do we think

{{00:01:21}}
we could do the four day work week trial.

{{00:01:23}}
Saw all the press covering the trial
and thought, yeah, let's jump in.

{{00:01:25}}
Let's go for it.

{{00:01:26}}
And  yeah, we were very happy.

{{00:01:27}}
We did.

{{00:01:33}}
The trial was six months and,  there was
just like loose reporting requirements.

{{00:01:38}}
Every once in a while they'd
send a survey, we'd fill it out.

{{00:01:41}}
There weren't sort of strict rules.

{{00:01:43}}
We're able to kind of flex how we
perform the four day work week.

{{00:01:46}}
We decided to just take Friday off.

{{00:01:48}}
We as the day for everyone sort
of university across the board.

{{00:01:52}}
It made it the simplest in terms of
kind of keeping our workflows all in

{{00:01:56}}
sync,  keeping our clients up to date.

{{00:01:59}}
We did also sort of, have a bit of
a collaboration with, with our team

{{00:02:03}}
to ask when, obviously, you know,
Friday's the most obvious choice because

{{00:02:06}}
it gives 'em a three day weekend.

{{00:02:08}}
Really gives them as much time as possible
to recharge and really just get the

{{00:02:12}}
benefits of, of the sort of four day week.

{{00:02:14}}
So yeah, that's how we
came to the decision.

{{00:02:16}}
In terms of like what the metrics
were,  we tracked revenue,

{{00:02:21}}
we tracked client retention.

{{00:02:23}}
All of that sort of grew and or
stayed stable during that time.

{{00:02:27}}
You know, we're actually surprised that
we didn't hear from a lot of clients.

{{00:02:30}}
Any, any complaints.

{{00:02:32}}
You know, a lot of 'em were
like, how do we do that?

{{00:02:34}}
So that was kind of surprising.

{{00:02:37}}
It's kind of unique to our field as well.

{{00:02:38}}
There aren't many emergencies
in content marketing.

{{00:02:41}}
You just fix the blog if there's
a problem with it, or correct

{{00:02:43}}
some typos here and there.

{{00:02:45}}
So that I think, helps the
industry that we're in,

{{00:02:52}}
I think we were able to kind bake
it into,  the DNA of the agency and,

{{00:02:57}}
remain,  you know, stable in terms of
productivity, but, and in some cases I

{{00:03:02}}
think grow our productivity,  again, by
like focusing, you know, limiting the

{{00:03:07}}
number of meetings that we're having,
really giving people large swaths of

{{00:03:10}}
time to, to work Monday through Thursday.

{{00:03:12}}
And even other stuff like, You know,
just focusing on people doing fun,

{{00:03:17}}
chill things with their weekends,
talking about it, which actually I

{{00:03:20}}
think feeds into productivity because
you see people taking fewer sick days,

{{00:03:24}}
which leads to more productivity.

{{00:03:25}}
You see them being a bit more thoughtful
about taking paid annual leave.

{{00:03:29}}
You see them really putting a lot
more into the Monday through Thursday

{{00:03:33}}
because they care about their Fridays,
they care about their weekends, you

{{00:03:36}}
know, I think to a higher degree.

{{00:03:37}}
So,  it's about like, I think the four
day work week is about pushing people to

{{00:03:42}}
take their pleasure seriously, and then
correspondingly take their work really

{{00:03:45}}
seriously during a shorter work week.

{{00:03:52}}
The first was around equity.

{{00:03:53}}
I think, you know, we, we definitely
saw how the four day work week landed,

{{00:03:57}}
among different groups of people,
folks who, you know, maybe have more

{{00:04:00}}
caring responsibilities at home.

{{00:04:02}}
Sometimes they would use that time to,
support a family member, for example.

{{00:04:06}}
I think the other surprising
thing too is just how the role

{{00:04:09}}
lands different across different
roles, which I already mentioned.

{{00:04:12}}
Our project manager, content strategist,
like we really had to help that

{{00:04:16}}
role adjusts more than other roles.

{{00:04:18}}
We've certainly found that the,
creativity of, well obviously we're,

{{00:04:21}}
we're a content digital marketing agency.

{{00:04:23}}
Creativity is a huge part of what we do.

{{00:04:25}}
Mondays and Tuesdays, like we,
we've really focused on brainstorms

{{00:04:28}}
and really leveraging the most
of that sort of extra energy.

{{00:04:31}}
And we've, we've definitely seen
an increase in the quality of

{{00:04:34}}
ideas and work that we've produced.

{{00:04:35}}
We've also seen a huge,  increase
in the quality of candidates

{{00:04:38}}
we've been able to hire.

{{00:04:39}}
So that's been awesome.

{{00:04:40}}
You know, we, in the time the sort of.

{{00:04:43}}
Nearly a year now that we've been doing
this, we've hired three or four people.

{{00:04:47}}
It's hugely increased the quality of
folk that we've had come in the door

{{00:04:56}}
In terms of drawbacks.

{{00:04:57}}
Yeah, there's, there's a bit of
a sort of,  education process.

{{00:05:01}}
You know, we had to educate our clients
to not ask us for things on a Friday.

{{00:05:06}}
You know, inform them
that we are Friday off.

{{00:05:09}}
We had to work,  A little bit on sort
of systems,  how to make sure that

{{00:05:15}}
everyone could sync up and get sort
of four days, five days worth of work

{{00:05:20}}
done within a four day work week.

{{00:05:22}}
You know, one of the things we
were very clear with our team

{{00:05:24}}
was productivity is not changing.

{{00:05:26}}
We are just making the bet that
we can all do  the full workload

{{00:05:30}}
within a four day timeframe.

{{00:05:31}}
So that did mean we had to get
very militant with meetings.

{{00:05:34}}
Like, if it is not essential, it is
not on, it's not going into a meeting.

{{00:05:38}}
You know, we just have
to get more efficient.

{{00:05:46}}
Being a smaller team, I think it.

{{00:05:48}}
Helped us in terms of executing
the four day work week.

{{00:05:51}}
We could very clearly see, you know,
alright, we have 10 team members.

{{00:05:54}}
What is, what is the roles
of every team member?

{{00:05:57}}
Do we think they can
achieve this amount of work?

{{00:05:59}}
I do think that a lot of people in
this space who are pro four day work

{{00:06:04}}
week can be be a little too militant
about it and to two sort of absolutist.

{{00:06:09}}
I think for us it was a
very obvious decision.

{{00:06:11}}
And it was very easy to implement.

{{00:06:13}}
I think if you're a 4,000 person
company, It's, it becomes a far

{{00:06:16}}
more complicated proposition

{{00:06:23}}
As we scale up the four day work week.

{{00:06:25}}
I definitely think we'll have
to make some adjustments and,

{{00:06:27}}
and frankly be more flexible.

{{00:06:29}}
I think what the future will look
like as we sort of grow as an

{{00:06:32}}
agency, that's where things might
become a little more complicated.

{{00:06:36}}
You know, when we hire more people,
and move into different markets.

{{00:06:41}}
We might have to,  move to a
Tuesday to Friday for some folk.

{{00:06:45}}
I think as well, what we are seeing
with the four day work week is

{{00:06:49}}
really, it's, it's part of a wider
trend where people are re-imagining

{{00:06:53}}
their relationship with work.

{{00:06:55}}
I think ultimately the long-term
vision for us is far more being there

{{00:06:59}}
for our team in a way that
is genuinely meaningful.

{{00:07:03}}
And I think what we'll probably do once
we've got a sort of bigger team and a,

{{00:07:07}}
and a sort of more robust HR  service for,
for that team is almost create customized

{{00:07:13}}
work plans for every single team member.

{{00:07:15}}
Where, yeah, probably the bulk of folk
are looking for some form of a four

{{00:07:19}}
day work week, but from other people
who have complications, whether that

{{00:07:22}}
be a disability, having a, you know, a
parent to look after, having a kid to

{{00:07:26}}
look after,  they, we can work with them
to build a work, work hours and working

{{00:07:32}}
days that make most sense for them.

{{00:07:39}}
Give it a try, run a pilot, you
know,  jump in a trial like we did.

{{00:07:43}}
You know, think about how the four
day work week is gonna land for

{{00:07:47}}
specific roles in your company.

{{00:07:49}}
I think spend a bit more time than
we did just kind of planning for it.

{{00:07:53}}
I think we just jumped into it
because we were small and nimble and

{{00:07:56}}
we could,  but in retrospect I think
I would've spent a little bit more

{{00:07:59}}
time,  just investigating and, and
exploring what the impact might be.

{{00:08:04}}
Planning for it, building structures
for it within the company.

{{00:08:07}}
So, I think communicating
in a bit better to clients.

{{00:08:11}}
But I also think it's getting a bit easier
now because it's just, it's in the news.

{{00:08:14}}
There's, there are tools and resources
for companies to jump in,  feet first,

{{00:08:19}}
and I think that's a good thing.

I am the co-founder and
CEO of Literal Humans.

I am the co-founder and chief
strategy officer of Literal Humans.

We're a content and digital
marketing agency that focuses on,

We jumped into the four day
work week trial in the uk.

We, we heard about it and,  we were a
young enough agency that we could sort

And so,  this was, I guess in, I
guess June or July of last year.

And at that point we were just starting
to hire new staff, so we were able

And we found some really great,  really
great folks, including two writers.

A designer and a content strategist to
kind of build our,  full-time team around

We'd already got to a point where, as
an agency, Fridays were no meetings.

And myself and my co-founder Paul, we'd,
already started discussing, do we think

we could do the four day work week trial.

Saw all the press covering the trial
and thought, yeah, let's jump in.

The trial was six months and,  there was
just like loose reporting requirements.

Every once in a while they'd
send a survey, we'd fill it out.

We're able to kind of flex how we
perform the four day work week.

We as the day for everyone sort
of university across the board.

It made it the simplest in terms of
kind of keeping our workflows all in

We did also sort of, have a bit of
a collaboration with, with our team

to ask when, obviously, you know,
Friday's the most obvious choice because

Really gives them as much time as possible
to recharge and really just get the

benefits of, of the sort of four day week.

So yeah, that's how we
came to the decision.

In terms of like what the metrics
were,  we tracked revenue,

All of that sort of grew and or
stayed stable during that time.

You know, we're actually surprised that
we didn't hear from a lot of clients.

You know, a lot of 'em were
like, how do we do that?

It's kind of unique to our field as well.

There aren't many emergencies
in content marketing.

You just fix the blog if there's
a problem with it, or correct

So that I think, helps the
industry that we're in,

I think we were able to kind bake
it into,  the DNA of the agency and,

remain,  you know, stable in terms of
productivity, but, and in some cases I

think grow our productivity,  again, by
like focusing, you know, limiting the

number of meetings that we're having,
really giving people large swaths of

time to, to work Monday through Thursday.

And even other stuff like, You know,
just focusing on people doing fun,

chill things with their weekends,
talking about it, which actually I

think feeds into productivity because
you see people taking fewer sick days,

You see them being a bit more thoughtful
about taking paid annual leave.

You see them really putting a lot
more into the Monday through Thursday

because they care about their Fridays,
they care about their weekends, you

So,  it's about like, I think the four
day work week is about pushing people to

take their pleasure seriously, and then
correspondingly take their work really

I think, you know, we, we definitely
saw how the four day work week landed,

among different groups of people,
folks who, you know, maybe have more

Sometimes they would use that time to,
support a family member, for example.

I think the other surprising
thing too is just how the role

lands different across different
roles, which I already mentioned.

Our project manager, content strategist,
like we really had to help that

We've certainly found that the,
creativity of, well obviously we're,

we're a content digital marketing agency.

Mondays and Tuesdays, like we,
we've really focused on brainstorms

and really leveraging the most
of that sort of extra energy.

And we've, we've definitely seen
an increase in the quality of

We've also seen a huge,  increase
in the quality of candidates

Nearly a year now that we've been doing
this, we've hired three or four people.

It's hugely increased the quality of
folk that we've had come in the door

Yeah, there's, there's a bit of
a sort of,  education process.

You know, we had to educate our clients
to not ask us for things on a Friday.

You know, inform them
that we are Friday off.

We had to work,  A little bit on sort
of systems,  how to make sure that

everyone could sync up and get sort
of four days, five days worth of work

You know, one of the things we
were very clear with our team

We are just making the bet that
we can all do  the full workload

So that did mean we had to get
very militant with meetings.

Case Study

Expert Insight

Best Practice

Trend

Champions of the four day work week say it leads to increased productivity and employee satisfaction, and addresses issues like persistent absenteeism. In fact, the organisers of the largest ever trial of the four day week - which took place in the UK in 2022 - say 91% of companies who pilot the work model stick with it.
One such company is marketing agency Literal Humans. Co-founders Paul David and  William Gadsby Peet joined us in the Streamly Studio to share their experience of the trial and give their insights into how they'll keep working four days into the future.

Resilience

Workplace

Future of Work

Remote Work

HR tech, future of work

Future of work, business optimisation 

work-life balance

Flexible Working

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medium_Paul David.jpg

small_Paul David.jpg

thumbnail_Paul David.jpg

xlarge_Paul David.jpg

xsmall_Paul David.jpg

Paul David.jpg

Paul David

Co-Founder & CEO  

medium_Willliam Peet.jpeg

small_Willliam Peet.jpeg

thumbnail_Willliam Peet.jpeg

xsmall_Willliam Peet.jpeg

Willliam Peet.jpeg

William Gadsby Peet

Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer

David and Gadsby Peet explain how they came to learn about the project and delve into the motivations behind their involvement. They share insights into their company and why the new model felt like a good fit. 

Why they got involved 

David and Gadsby Peet outline the implementation  the project in their agency and emphasise how they made decisions based on the company's work processes.

Implementation of the new work model

David discusses the tracking process, benefits, and emergency management strategies employed during the project implementation.

How the project was tracked

David highlights the areas of increased productivity and the employees' effective organisation for a better work-life balance.

How the project lead to a higher productivity

David and Gadsby Peet share surprising impacts such as enhanced creativity and equity that were not initially anticipated.

The benefits 

Gadsby Peet discusses the challenges faced during the implementation of the new work model and how they successfully educated clients about the strategic shift to a four-day workload, resulting in increased efficiency.

Drawbacks

Gadsby Peet asserts that the project's successful execution can be attributed to the advantage of being a small team.

Is it easier for small companies?

Gadsby Peet believes that as the company grows and expands into new markets, the future becomes more complex. However, this model represents a current trend and provides insights into the future of work.