The traditional weekly work schedule expects an employee to work for 5 days a week or under many cases, 6 days a week for a specific number of hours that are fixed differently by different organizations though a standard figure for the same generally stands at 8 Hours.

Have you ever thought of reducing the working hours in order to get better output or this seems like a certain joke of sorts?

Have you ever thought of letting the employee decide when to work rather than the manager or the administrator and even then getting tasks completed on time?

Both the above scenarios may not be visibly profitable, but are practised by many organizations currently and with great success too. These are examples of flexible work schedule where an employee gets to decide the days he/she would work on and the approximate time schedule as well and aIl what managers care about is whether the allotted tasks are done or not.

As a progressive organization you can try and pilot such an arrangement for a week first. If successful, a repeat can be made the next month and then this could be made a regular practice based on the success ratio which is bound to be high unless you don’t have the growth vision. Prior to this, make sure that your leave and attendance policy is proper.

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Pros and Cons of a flexible work week for employees:

-The major advantage of a flexible work week for employees is that they can now get time to manage personal and professional responsibilities both side by side. They can give more time to their family, get to play with their children and perhaps go around roaming with friends in addition to the daily work tasks. Long distance travel is somewhat reduced too with this arrangement and results in better time management.

-One disadvantage for employees is the collaboration framework with other team members might get affected. Everyone is working on a flexible schedule, so many a times connecting with co-workers for a discussion meet or a problem resolution can be tricky to manage. A good task management tool can be helpful here.

-Employers have a host of advantages with a flexible schedule. They can now hire more employees to work from the same office or within the same working hour duration. The employee retention factor will also supposedly go up as not many other companies do offer such an easy arrangement. So now your team will stay longer with you. The sense of ownership towards work increases too as what an employee needs to focus on is only the completion of allotted tasks that too without excuses. A flexible schedule tends to make your employees smart workers rather than hard workers which again impacts the overall work efficiency and employee productivity

-The major disadvantage for employers is that it might be a bit difficult to manage flexible schedules due to time and task clashes. Under such cases employee monitoring app, workforce management tools and attendance management tools can come in handy. They automate your work and save your time, after all the HR is also on a flexible work schedule. A bit of training may be needed but once implemented successfully it becomes a normal practice.

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Do flexible work hours improve employee productivity?

Many companies have adopted flexible work hours for their employees, with varied results. Some companies find that their employees are more productive when they have more control over their schedules, while other companies find that their staff has higher rates of absenteeism and lower rates of productivity. The main issue seems to be the lack of a central office space for collaboration and communication.

The idea of flexible work hours is that employees can decide when they want to work, which will make them more productive.

Some studies suggest that it has the opposite effect - people are less productive when they have too much freedom.

Another study found that people who work from home are more productive than those who don't.

So it really depends on the person and their needs to determine if flexible hours would improve productivity or not.

It is not always easy to find a work-life balance. In this scenario, flexible work hours can help employees feel more relaxed and productive.

The concept of flexible work hours has been around since the 1960s, when it was first introduced by Swedish company Semco. This idea allows employees to choose their own schedules based on their needs and the needs of the company.

Flexible work hours can be beneficial in many ways: they allow employees to avoid traffic congestion, they give them time for personal care, and they help them take care of their family members.

In addition, flexible work hours also have positive effects on employee productivity as it gives them more time to focus on tasks that are most important for the company or clients.

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Productivity tools

Productivity tools are tools that help increase productivity. They are designed to make life easier and more manageable for people. The most common types of productivity tools are project management, time management, task management, and goal setting.

Productivity is the ability to use one's skills and knowledge effectively. It is the act of using your time well, getting more done in less time by making good decisions on how to use your time and energy.

There are many tools that can help us improve our productivity. The most common ones are task management apps, project management apps, calendar apps, email apps, note-taking apps, chat/messaging apps and others.

Among these, using a daily planner can provide a structured overview of your day, helping you manage tasks and appointments more effectively.

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We need to make sure that we know how to use these tools in a way that will make us more productive. It is important for us to know what we want out of them so we can choose the right ones for our needs.

There could be few employees who could try and take advantage of the flexible schedule but attaching a time tracking software like We360.ai could assist big time here.

Another small concern, a few more dedicated employees might go on and work for more hours than others and this could motivate or demotivate others as per individual nature. Though, here it’s the duty of the manager to bring everyone on the same page.

In simple terms, a flexible work week is not a bad practice which cannot be tried. If it goes well with your team and your organization, then do try it out and implement it gradually and see the wonderful growth in employee productivity.

We360.ai has worked with several organizations implementing flexible work schedules and remote working schedules and has achieved success too.

Cheers to the future of productive working !

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