Many UK businesses are participating in a 6-month pilot programme for their employees to work a four-day week but get the same pay and benefits that they would if they were full-time.
It might sound too good to be true but the expectation is that increasing productivity in those four days means that staff deliver the same work in less time.
Studies have shown huge benefits for this type of working pattern, including:
- Happier and less stressed employees
- A better work/life balance
- It’s easier to attract and retain staff
- Positive environmental impacts
- Easier and cheaper childcare for employees with young children
- Better health outcomes for workers
- Improved company loyalty
- Stronger family and community ties
The big question is : how do I become more productive in a four-days-a-week working pattern? We aim to answer that question here!
How can I get more done in less time?
While some businesses who operate a four-day week simply extend the hours their employees work on those days, most are encouraged to stick with the same hours but change their working practices to achieve more in less time.
Examples of timesaving ideas include arranging fewer meetings and making the ones you have really productive. Limiting interruptions can have a massive positive effect on productivity, as can the Pomodoro method of working in 20-minute bursts before taking a break. Research shows that improved health outcomes means that employees have fewer sick days, which results in more work getting done. You could even invest some time in reading about good productivity habits – check out our 6 favourite productivity books here.
But there are other tricks you can use to be more productive, like analysing and streamlining your business processes. Once they have been reviewed you can introduce automation to allow robots to complete the tasks instead of people. Not only is this saving time, it also reduces human error and the need to rekey data from one system into another.
What are the benefits of business process automation?
Adopting business process automation has many benefits. Firstly, humans can forget steps, or cut corners, but an automated process won’t. When you configure an automation tool such as Zapier to complete a set of tasks then it will always do those tasks, without fail. Humans aren’t so reliable!
Automated processes are much quicker than waiting for a person to do the task. They can be done in the blink of an eye, and robots don’t take lunch breaks, or have sick days. This is where a four-day week becomes possible, because automating everyone’s boring, manual tasks means that staff achieve more in less time.
Another benefit of business process automation is that workers are happier. Not only are they working a shorter week, they have fewer mundane tasks on their To-Do list every day. They can concentrate on the creative aspect of their role, or client management, or improving customer service, the tasks which can’t be replaced by technology.
Why should you empower your employees with automation?
You can get up and running with no-code tools such as Zapier really quickly and easily, and you don’t need to hire an expensive developer to use them either. The best people to automate your manual business tasks are the staff that perform them every day. Another advantage of empowering your team with automation skills is that they are invested in the process.
We have previously written about 5 Reasons To Empower Your Workforce With Automation Skills and they still hold true. Investing in automation training for your staff will not only lead to increased innovation, productivity and employee satisfaction, it can also improve your bottom line and help you stay one step ahead of your competitors.
Adopting an automation mindset means that a four-day week is easily achievable, particularly when coupled with continuous improvement, which we champion at Solvaa.
How can businesses get started with automation?
We have written extensively on our website about how to get started with automation, and our founder and chief automator, Kelly Goss also writes about it in her book, Automate It with Zapier.
The book includes examples of automations for the different departments within your business, including sales, marketing, operations and finance. No-code tools are a game-changer, and you can read about Kelly’s lightbulb moment in her origin story, how she went from being a frazzled business owner working 70-hour weeks to a successful automator who now lets the robots do the hard work.
By simplifying business processes and then integrating them via Zapier you create a streamlined operation which allows you to focus on the big picture and eliminate the daily chaos.
Find out more
If you’re a business owner and would like to empower your workforce with automation, then these other articles might be useful for you:
- How to empower employees with an automation mindset
- Free checklist to help you justify a learning budget
- How to get started with automation
We also have plenty of free stuff you can grab now, or you can buy our founder Kelly Goss’ book for the best way to learn how to use Zapier.
Free e-books
Our free Introduction To Zapier e-book explains the benefits of business process automation, how Zapier fits in and examples of automations for each department within your business.
We have a free cheat sheet with a checklist of Zapier’s inbuilt function which can supercharge your automations.
Kelly Goss’ book, Automate It with Zapier
Kelly’s book, Automate It with Zapier, is available on Amazon. It includes some ready-made templates for various examples so you can get started really quickly.
The book is perfect for new Zapier users as well as seasoned pros. Here are links to Amazon (.co.uk) and Amazon (.com) to get yours now.
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
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