Elevating Creativity: Our 4-Day Workweek Experiment

A note from Aimee

As a founder and CEO, I talk with other impact entrepreneurs, executive directors, CEOs and company leaders nearly all day every day about their mission, their teams and the progress they're hoping to make. 

One thing has been true about nearly every conversation I've had this year: things have been harder than they were before and we all feel like we need a little more space to think, breathe and anchor ourselves to get the job done well. Whether I'm talking to someone in the nonprofit world, an agency setting or an industry like construction or healthcare, the story is the same—people are having a hard time escaping burnout and they can't quite put their finger on why.

The cultural drive behind the four-day workweek

As an agency that was established to provide a better working environment and positive, caring cultural experience surrounding the creative process (even before we settled into our impact mission in 2012), we’ve decided we can’t let this ride. That's why Black Sheep has embarked on a 4-day workweek experiment to see how it affects the way we feel and the energy we can put into our work. 

As a business owner navigating a decision like this, I’ve definitely felt the pull of traditional thinking: utilization numbers, a whole 5th day to schedule more meetings, eight more hours of productivity! What are we giving up? How will this affect our bottom line? 

But as a conscious leader and someone who likes to change the rules, my gut tells me it’s time for things to be different. After all, just two years ago we were sitting in an office in Houston. Now we’re spread across the U.S. and sometimes other countries, boots on the ground, screens on desks in different time zones, connecting with new audiences and surrounding ourselves with new places and experiences. 

The impact of purpose-driven thinking

As a proud B Corp, this four-day decision reaffirms our dedication to fostering a culture that prioritizes people over profit. As people who dedicate their time and profession to trying to shift culture in positive ways, continuing to explore how we can do good work and feel good is just plain important to us. We’ve seen incredible results with our previous benefits, such as unlimited (and encouraged) paid time off. So here we go…

And as we go, I intend to keep talking, tinkering, experimenting and finding better ways for work to work. If you’re trying to navigate cultural challenges or want to proactively take a moment to connect with your team and consider a reset, I’d love to talk. My favorite thing to do is help others navigate new territory. 

This is the new frontier of work and I’m ready for the adventure. Are you?

Frequently asked questions for a four-day workweek

4 DAYS?

Yep! We’ve been working full-time, regular hours Monday through Thursday. The team can choose to work on Fridays if we want uninterrupted time or if things pile up, but it’s not required or expected. 

Do you work more than 8 hours a day?

Many organizations that do 4DWW will also require 10-hour work days. We chose not to. We work for 32 hours minimum each week, not 40 (but the team is paid the same as before). 

How does this impact your holidays or time off?

We still have the same Time Off policies we did before, including unlimited PTO, mandatory days off, two weeks off during the end of the year, and time off for election day and birthdays.

How has this affected the work so far?

We’re still collecting data, but we’ve noted a few trends already.

• At the start, a few members of the team worked more than 32 hours as week as we shifted deadlines or ensured our projects stayed on their original timelines. This has happened less as we settled into a four-day schedule.
• Scheduling is complicated. There’s no way around that. However, our meetings have more meaning now and we have clearer priorities in our day.
• We‘re more thoughtful with how we spend our time. Due to the shorter weeks, we are more productive and efficient on our work days and we rest well on the weekends.
• The team enjoys being able to schedule regular appointments on Fridays instead of disrupting our work days or lunch breaks. 

Why do this?

Firstly, it was important to us to boost wellness and time for our lives, loved ones and hobbies. This has been a priority for our team culture for years and a four-day workweek was the next evolution of that. 

We also want to encourage healthier boundaries between work and life. This experiment was a way to see if our team works better with fewer, more focused workdays as opposed to a longer workweek that tends to drag.

Another great reason is to cut down on idle time and remove the pressure to “look busy,” something that is incredibly common in full-time jobs. With one less day of work, we are proving that we can get more done and stay focused.

Finally, we felt that the four-day workweek rewarded all of our hard work with rest, instead of more work—something we’ve all experienced at previous jobs. A three-day weekend is a great way to recharge and avoid burning out. 

We hope that by talking about our four-day workweek experiment, we can all lead more conversations about work/life balance and how to care for our teams. As you think about this, what challenges or obstacles do you see? What excites you? How would YOU use an extra weekday to fuel personal growth? Let us know!

Resources for a four-day workweek

We’re certainly not the first to test this concept out. Here are a few helpful resources to help your team think through what this decision might mean for you.

• The B Corp website has an incredible, in-depth look at how a four-day workweek relates to impact goals.
• Workfour is the national campaign for a four-day, 32-hour workweek with incredible supporters from across industries.
• 4-Day Week Global has plenty of research from their long-term pilot program on the outcomes of switching to this new schedule.
• The team at Buffer, a social media tech company, also writes regular blogs about their team’s pivot to a four-day workweek. 
• Sean Konofsky, known as “The Nonprofit Fixer,” has an excellent case study for all the nitty-gritty details of implementing a four-day workweek in his own nonprofit. 
• Gartner has a clear, short and simple guide for how to test out a four-day workweek in any organization.