Tim Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Work Week has been a blockbuster for years. Yet it is now more topical than ever, thinks entrepreneur Hidde de Vries. 'Start steering on output instead of facetime.'
When, for the English translation of my book Work Smart Play Smart.co.uk was flipping through Ferriss' bestseller again, his words came to me even more than in the past. Ferriss' overall message is: Be as productive as possible, in as little time as possible. I absolutely share that vision of "doing more in less time.
But what does it benefit you as an entrepreneur? What does it mean for your employees, as long as you still expect them in the office from nine to five? Or want to see their faces in all the Teams meetings? Again, let go. Start steering by output instead of on facetime!
In the words of Tim Ferriss: "Employees have to free themselves from the office environment before they can start working, say, ten hours a week. Because the expectation within the organization is that from nine to five you are constantly on the move. Even if you achieve twice as many results as before, if you work a quarter of the hours that your colleagues work, chances are that you will fly out. Or that you will be asked to deliver more. This is a game without end that you don't want to get caught up in. That's why it's necessary to free yourself first.'
Nothing learned?
So why are we all tempted to return to the office as quickly and often as possible? To force employees to show their faces again "at least" a certain number of days a week? Have we learned nothing from the past year and a half?
Then I'm not so much talking about working from home or the office. I'm mainly talking about letting employees decide for themselves how to be most productive. Not so they get more done, but so they have more time for themselves. Because healthy employees are your company's best calling card. An essential advantage in today's job market.
How would you like your employees to have more time for themselves? I explain it to you using Milan and Jacqueline's average workday.
Making hours or focusing
Milan shows up at the office five days a week to be there from 9 am to 5 pm. Exactly as his manager expects of him. Since he knows he can't go home before five anyway, he takes ample time to read emails, catch up with colleagues and get coffee. During the day, he makes sure to complete the two tasks on his schedule for the day.
Milan is actually done with that by 4 p.m.. Therefore, he decides to just read the newspaper for a while until it's time to go home. On his screen, of course, so that it at least looks as if he is still busy at work. Secretly, Milan is a little disappointed. Because when working from home was still accepted, he just went to play sports when he was done with everything.
Jacqueline also goes to the office five days a week in principle. But her employer finds it particularly important that she works as productively as possible and also takes enough time for herself. That way she can recharge herself to keep performing optimally. Usually Jacqueline is at the office by 8:30 a.m.. Once she has dropped off the children, she travels immediately.
She goes to a meeting only if her presence contributes something
Jacqueline spends the first two hours in full focus on the most important task of the day and only then checks her e-mail. Then she goes to a meeting, but only if her presence contributes something. Then she has lunch and locks herself in a quiet room for another hour and a half. There, full of focus, she accomplishes the second task of the day. At 2 p.m. Jacqueline finishes the tasks that were important for the day. She decides to go home and take a long walk. Then she picks up the children rested.
Happy
Milan and Jacqueline have the same amount of tasks to do on this day. But Milan spreads his work out over the whole day and Jacqueline goes to work full of focus to get her work done as quickly as possible. That way, she has the rest of the day to herself.
Who do you think is happier, has more energy, works better focused and experiences more engagement? And who do you think, through deep focus, produces the best work, Milan or Jacqueline?
As a business owner, manager or executive, you might react the same way as the example in Tim Ferriss' book. If Jacqueline is so good at focused work, why doesn't she just do it until 5 p.m.? Then she might be able to get twice as much work done!
The answer is simple: because Jacqueline would not be happy there. After all, a person can only Work focused 4 to 5 hours a day. In addition, we need sufficient time to recharge, to rechargen. This is also argued by company doctor Willem van Rhenen in the NRC.
If Jacqueline were to try to maintain her focus throughout the day, she would overshoot herself. Moreover, she doesn't leave enough time to recharge. Chances are, if this is asked of Jacqueline anyway, she will fall into the same work patterns as Milan.
Choice
From the employee's perspective, you might wonder what is the point of working eight hours a day at full capacity. What good is getting twice as much done as your colleagues if you don't reap the benefits yourself? Especially if you do experience the (harmful) consequences?
Even as an employer, you have to realize that someone will never work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with full focus. That's just not feasible or healthy. Therefore, ask yourself what you would rather have: Employees who are present in the office all day and do their work at their leisure until they are "allowed" to go home again? Who, despite working quietly, don't really recharge or have time for themselves?
Or do you opt for a situation where employees manage their own time? Where they listen carefully to what they need and organize their workday with focus based on that? Who moreover talk full of praise about their work and employer? Simple choice right?
