Re-imagining how (and when) we work

Last week our team gathered in-person for our mid-year meeting.

We connected.

We shared.

We laughed.

We learned.

We cried.

We celebrated.

We reflected.

And, most importantly, we acknowledged how hard the last 15 months have been, and how hard it still is.

It has been so hard, in fact, that Anthony Klotz, associate professor of management at Texas A&M University, recently coined the term “The Great Resignation” in reference to what he predicts will be a dramatic wave of people who will elect to leave their current jobs and/or careers in pursuit of more balance and fulfillment in their lives. In considering, we embraced the opportunity to reimagine our work environment and create space for people to find new momentum by introducing a 4-day work week. We have coined the phrase “4DayA” to refer to this shift because it’s the new 4-day version of ADVISA this summer.

Fight Burnout while maintaining (or improving) productivity

Before rolling out 4DayA, we dug into the research on how to combat burnout. This led us to anchor our 4-day work week in kindness and servant leadership, both of which have been shown to have clinical efficacy in treating anxiety and depression.

It was also important to get aligned around our goals in making this change:

1. Self-care. We will take personal accountability to be kind to ourselves, spending time doing things that renew our hearts, minds, and spirits.
2. Service. We will spend time being kind to others, serving together as a team.
3. Creativity. We will push ourselves to work differently and better Monday – Thursday.
4. Learning. We are mindful of how 4DayA is impacting our wellbeing and our results. We will capture and share our learnings.

In the words of Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic, the 4-day work week is,

“Reigniting an essential but long-forgotten moral project: making American life less about work.”

So, if you get an “Out of Office” message from a member of the A-Team on a Friday this summer, I hope you’ll extend us some grace as we refresh and refocus so we can be the best version of ourselves in serving you.

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For more from Heather Haas, read her previous article, “How to build work-life balance into your company culture”.

To dig into returning to the workplace and the emotional intelligence leaders need to find success, read this recent article by Leadership Consultant Kye Hawkins.