Buffer prides itself>Finding time
The first order of business was figuring out how everyone would get their work done in time, says Hailley Griffis, Buffer's head of public relations.
During the first month, most teams operated with the mindset that they were doing the same amount of work in a shorter period of time, but they realized it wouldn't be sustainable.
"The short-term instinct is to do things the way they were in four days and power through," Griffis says. "But in the long-term you have to question: How should we do things differently?"
To get everyone closer to a 32-hour four-day workweek, they had to change how they worked. Buffer teams cut down>Structure vs. flexibility
Another big challenge was figuring out which day to take off. At first, Buffer gave each team their own choice. Griffis's team took off Wednesday: "You're never working more than two days at a time. It's really phenomenal."
But when that proved to be too disorganized — people still needed to work with other teams — Buffer standardized to Fridays off.
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Buffer employees all get Fridays off with>Employee engagement
According to Buffer's 2021 survey, 84% of employees were able to get the work required of them completed in the new four-day week.
Company productivity has remained steady, but leaders found employee engagement took a hit. As it turns out, when Buffer reduced its meetings, it also cut down on formal and informal social time.
Now, they have to be more intentional and create space for team engagement, Griffis says, like by planning virtual social events so employees can connect beyond work meetings.
Griffis recognizes the biggest reasons Buffer has been successful in adopting a four-day workweek are because the CEO and senior leaders were committed to making it work, and because their smaller team can be more nimble.
The conversation has been less about "should we continue?" but rather "how do we make this work for us?" Griffis says. Now it's permanent: "This is what we're doing indefinitely."
