Summer is a season for vacations, long weekends, and unwinding in the warm sun. The days are endless, kids are free from school, and the promise of adventure looms large.
It’s also a time when work feels distinctly different. More specifically, it feels worse.
One employee survey found that 36% of workers say they are less productive during the summer. As a result, many companies report a summer “productivity slump,” where overall workplace productivity falls by 20%, attendance decreases by nearly 20%, and employees say they are 45% more distracted.
Estimates suggest that nearly 60% of workers enjoy some form of “summer Fridays” and 85% of this group say summer Fridays make them happier. Summer Fridays have been known to improve employee morale because they break up workers’ routine and give people a chance to recharge and maintain a healthier work-life balance.
However, if a summer Friday initiative isn’t enacted correctly, it can actually diminish productivity without increasing worker happiness. Fortunately, you can establish a summer Friday program that keeps things fresh and positions everyone to do their best work without missing out on everything that makes summer special.
Here are five tips for creating the ideal summer Friday program.
Establish clear policies
If summer Fridays are going to positively impact your people and company, you need a plan. This is why leaders should define what summer Fridays mean for their organization.
For instance, your summer Friday initiative could include any of the following features:
- Half-day schedules: Half-day schedules empower employees to head home early on Fridays. This can be an incredible way to give workers extra time to recharge and relax—without compromising critical work periods. After all, few would argue that the second half of the day on Fridays is the most productive time of the week, regardless of the season.
- Flexible hours: Coming to work a little late or leaving a little early might not meaningfully impact your organization’s bottom-line results, but it could have an outsized impact on employee happiness and productivity. Rather than requiring people to linger at the office longer than needed, consider offering more flexible hours on Fridays.
- Full days off: Some companies are already experimenting with a four-day workweek, and the results are promising. In one experiment, 61 companies moved their employees to a four-day workweek with no reduction in pay for six months. At the end of the experiment, 54 made the policy permanent, noticing that their employees were happier, stuck around longer, and worked more efficiently. Giving employees a full day off could constitute your own four-day workweek experiment, which could be temporary or unlock future office arrangements.
Ultimately, leaders should collaborate with their teams to determine which model would be most helpful.
Rotate responsibilities
Summer Fridays are an opportunity to remember that work is a team sport. When we all work together, we can all be as productive as possible while reaping the benefits of increased flexibility.
To maximize employee freedom and flexibility over the summer, you can establish alternating schedules for employees working on the same team. This ensures someone from each team is always in the office to assist with work-related needs while their teammates enjoy their summer Fridays.
Rotating responsibilities on summer Fridays can also create opportunities for workers to build new relationships and new skills.
Plan ahead
Have employees plan their workloads accordingly when summer Fridays are in effect. Properly prioritizing tasks during the week is important to keeping up productivity levels while team members are out of the office.
For instance, one organization found that shorter shifts resulted in increased focus and an ability to get more work done in a short amount of time. As one employee noted, “Knowing that I had less time in the week helped me to really prioritize the important stuff and reach out to others even sooner than I normally would.”
These results are predicated on planning ahead so that big projects and small details don’t fall through the cracks. So in order to enact the perfect summer Friday program, be sure to empower employees to plan ahead.
Maintain communication
Summer Fridays are not an excuse to let important projects or urgent communications flounder.
Instead, teams need to collaborate and maintain communication so that projects and productivity remain aligned without undermining Summer Fridays.
Some of these summer friday communication techniques might include using shared calendars to indicate availability and time off, agreeing on specific communication channels, and documenting ongoing tasks and next steps.
The long-term effects of establishing clear communication practices can positively impact a team long after the summer season. This is because it encourages employees to trust one another and to work together to support each other’s well-being and a common goal.
Encourage work-life balance
Parkinson’s Law, which posits that work expands to fill available time, is a compelling case for restoring work-life balance. However, so many people feel like their work-life balance is so imbalanced that more than half of employees say they would take a 20% pay cut for a better quality of life.
Summer Fridays are a chance to address this issue and it starts at the top. Leaders need to encourage work-life balance by having a work-life balance. Those in charge set norms with their words, but their actions always speak louder.
At the same time, they can encourage their teams and their employees to use their summer Fridays as an opportunity to spend time with their loved ones, relax, and pursue personal interests, increasing employee morale, job satisfaction, and appreciation.
Summer is a special season. It’s a once-a-year opportunity to support people without compromising productivity or company objectives. Summer Fridays are a powerful (and effective) way to combat the summer productivity slump while boosting employee morale and work-life balance. Soon, the summer will give way to shorter days and fall colors, but it’s not too late to let summer Fridays have an impact that lasts all year.