Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations)
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Years ago, I was working in the corporate offices of a global tech firm headquartered in South Korea. Consistent with the Korean corporate work culture, the typical employee would show up to work around 7 a.m. and usually stay until late into the evening. During my time at the company, I made several observations about the way we worked and what we accomplished.
First, I noticed that while everyone spent tons of time at work each day, productivity wasn’t particularly high and there was a lot of wasted time. Second, for me specifically, I realized there were some serious diminishing returns in my work quality and quantity the longer I worked in the day. Third, I found that while I was the most productive and creative in the morning hours, there were other co-workers who dragged in the morning but were way more productive in the afternoon or evening hours.
The realization set in that a one-size-fits-all approach to how we structure the workday doesn’t work. Butts in seats doesn’t necessarily mean anything when it comes to actual productivity and the creativity and innovation we need to help us continually add value to the market. We need to rethink how and when we work if we want to maximize our own potential and the potential of our team members.
Flexible Scheduling And Reduced Work Hours
There is no question that the Covid-19 pandemic had dramatic impacts on individuals' lives, including their work lives. Many had to adjust to a virtual work environment on a dime, which brought challenges but also many benefits.
One of the greatest benefits has been increased work and scheduling flexibility and the democratization of the labor force. While there are many ways leaders can approach a more flexible and distributed workforce, a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article notes that many companies are moving toward a four-day work week and/or six-hour workdays.
Four-Day Work Weeks
There is a growing body of research identifying the benefits of moving from a five- to a four-day work week. Recently, NPR interviewed economist and sociology professor Juliet Schor to discuss the four-day work week and revealed that benefits can include overall lower office overhead costs, increases in employee well-being and sometimes staggering increases in productivity.
However, despite the many documented benefits to some organizations, a four-day work week won’t be a fit for everyone. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, the authors identify some of the challenges and potential pitfalls of moving to a four-day week, including a reminder that “reducing working hours does not necessarily reduce work” and the warning that “reducing hours should not increase work’s intensity,” each of which can lead to higher levels of employee burnout and turnover.
The Six-Hour Workday
A growing number of researchers have also been examining the optimal number of hours in a workday. One such study, conducted by researchers in Sweden, found that employees who work just six hours a day get sick less, have lower stress, work harder and are significantly more productive in the reduced time.
Additionally, Alex Pang, a researcher and consultant, has found that “...five hours is about the maximum that most of us can concentrate hard on something. There are periods when you can push past that, but the reality is that most of us have about that good work time in us every day.”
In fact, most people may only be able to perform two to three hours of concentrated, focused work a day. Of course, not everything we do in a workday needs to be so intense and concentrated, but these findings beg the question, why are we spending so much time at work each day, especially when there are obvious diminishing returns in the quantity and quality of our work the longer we are working?
Achieving A Flow State
If employees work fewer days and fewer hours, how are we supposed to get work done? One possible answer is to support conditions that will help our people in achieving their flow state, or getting “in the zone.”
So, what is a "flow state?" While neuroscience hasn't yet been able to provide all of the answers, we do know that it is a distinct mental state. As a recent BetterUp article puts it, flow "arises only when the level of challenge of the task and the level of skill of the person are in balance... our minds are fully engaged in the task at hand in a way that seems to free up other parts of our brain to make connections.”
In order to achieve flow more regularly, we need to have clear, challenging but achievable goals, put ourselves in an environment where we are free of distractions and can focus and practice self-care and develop a pre-flow ritual or routine.
Finding our flow will look a bit different for each employee, so we need to create a culture to encourage and support our people in discovering their personal approaches to achieving flow, which can result in significantly higher productivity, increased satisfaction and improved emotional regulation; it's in the best interest of everyone to foster more flow at work!
Conclusion
My realization that a one-size-fits-all approach to how and when we work is not a groundbreaking observation. In fact, it is an incredibly obvious and intuitively simple recognition that the diverse circumstances and needs of our people matter a lot as we design how and when they are able to do their work—ideally in a way that will give everyone the best chance to consistently achieve their flow state.
Working more hours usually isn’t a sustainable answer to increase creativity and productivity, but as we explore flexible options like four-day work weeks or six-hour work days, we can create a strategic work plan to help us maximize the potential of our team.
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