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Is a Shortened Work Week Possible When Implementing Remote Work?

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Today’s technology-laden professional settings have made a number of formative changes to how business is conducted and how work is performed. In a blindingly short span of perhaps five years, many industry topicalities have moved from office and in-person environments to a mixture of hybrid and fully remote arrangements.

These realities allow employees to perform their duties while locationally separate from team members, management, clients, and stakeholders. Remote working presents both advantages and challenges. However, it is becoming more and more commonplace for professional talent to work remotely.

Alongside this remote-work trend, another workplace conversation has developed concurrently over the past decade that is also creating shifts in how work is structured. The conventional work-week format has been challenged and, in an increasing number of organizations and settings, re-tooled and reimagined. This often looks like a shortened version of the 5-day, 40-hour format that has been the norm for decades.

But are these two trends — a shortened work week and remote working arrangements — compatible with each other? Let’s explore this question further.

How the Work Week Has Evolved Over Time

Work expectations and rhythms have varied dramatically throughout human history and across different cultural, geographic, and societal contexts. Some cultures typically expect a more rigorous work ethic from individuals than others and exemplify different ways of thinking about productivity and contribution.

Many cultures throughout history have included structures of slavery, indentured servitude, or various caste systems. Different calendars and ways of tracking the passing of time have also influenced how people built their lives around their work. And understandably, nomadic cultures have approached work differently than more agricultural or domestic ones. Humanity boasts a rich and varied history when it comes to work.

Today’s conventional work structures have been around for years. According to many sources, Henry Ford (the great industrial pioneer of the early 1900’s) is conventionally credited with incepting the 5-day, 40-hour work week. This format became standard practice during the Great Depression in the United States and has remained highly utilized not only in America but around the world. For nearly a century, the 40-hour work week has held a prominent place in industry.

However, formative changes have taken place that has shifted societal norms and realities since then. These shifts have loosened the 40-hour work week’s hold on the professional landscape. From changing professional gender norms and associated differences in child-rearing and parenting expectations to changing workforce priorities, to the widespread changes that the COVID-19 pandemic made to the workplace — a number of forces have begun to change the workplace status quo.

How a Shortened Work Week Interacts with Remote Working

As mentioned above, other simultaneous paradigm shifts like the advent and popularity of remote work have complicated the conventional work week. Together, these two trends interact like a cocktail and present nuanced realities for organizations and employers trying to make sense of today’s workforce.

The nature of remote working obviously requires variances in approach and expectations as compared to conventional, office-based or in-person work environments. To be successful, most instances of remote work require strong internet connectivity, a proactive work ethic, alternate methods of connecting and collaborating (usually over online project management tools and video or message platforms), and provisions for potential differences in time zone and productivity needs amongst team members.

Across professional sectors, organizations have quickly developed innovative best practices that compensate for a lack of in-person proximity and cultivate the necessary elements of a productive work culture amongst remote teams. From virtual onboarding and training programs to remote event coordination and facilitation, the professional landscape is developing robust protocols for operating partly or fully remotely. However, can this adaptation extend to different workweek structures?

The idea of combining both remote work and shortened work weeks has been received with a fair amount of skepticism by some circles. Some employers worry that remote work structures already allow employees too much leeway and make it possible for workers to avoid their work responsibilities, work less than expected, or lie about how much work they’re performing during the week. If the work week was shortened, they argue, this would further reduce productivity from their workforce.

However, though research on these topics is new and still far from being conclusive, there are definite indications that both remote work formats and shortened work weeks have actually caused increases in productivity in many instances. When employees are given the flexibility to work from home or from outside the office, this actually often increases productivity because it lessens distractions, unproductive interactions, and side activities that occur in office settings and reduce employee productivity.

And interestingly, shortened work weeks have also appeared to boost productivity in most studies so far because it limits the average amount of time that employees waste during the week. Employees across sectors acknowledge that a lot of their “work time” is often spent on non-work activities. These might include engaging with social media, chatting with coworkers, surfing the web, shopping online, and more.

Shortened work weeks encourage employees to complete their responsibilities more efficiently. Though research is still being completed on the interaction of these two trends, the early signs look very positive. It is likely that implementing both remote work and shortened workweek structures could actually create very healthy changes and improvements for many industries and organizations.

The Future of Work and Productivity

It isn’t just the professional workplace that is quickly adopting these trends. From the way education is facilitated to how governments maintain order to the way recreation and events are enjoyed, the growing ubiquity of engaging with activities remotely as well as societal expectations for how much time should be devoted to productivity are creating deep changes in how people interact, behave, and work. New realities are presenting new possibilities. These practices are worth exploring to see what kinds of benefits they could create for you and your workforce.