Wax Design has successfully maintained a four-day week for the past four years, reducing the working week from 35 hours to 33 hours in 2023. The results have been compelling – reduced stress and improved wellbeing, better efficiency and productivity, and a reduced carbon footprint!
Wax Design began working a four-day week at the end of June 2020. Within the first few months of the Covid pandemic, the way we worked became a focus of our team. Reduced days, flexible hours and working from home became the new normal. Questions were raised – How do we improve and grow not only on a professional level, but also a personal one? How do we achieve the perfect work-life balance?
After discussions with the team, we decided to implement a four-day working week. We adjusted those four days to create a sustainable 35-hour working week.
These changes have enabled us to streamline our processes and workflows and to complete the same number of projects within their timeframes. Ultimately, it has allowed us to work smarter; more efficiently and productively within those days.
Hours in practice
The four-day week applies to all employees – both directors and all staff. It is a culture of our studio. While we would be open to our staff working a five-day week if it was their preference, none of them have been interested in working Fridays!
We started out with a 35-hour working week but last year we further reduced the hours from 35 to 33 and have successfully been able to maintain this.
Logistics and implementation
We undertook a review of some other practices who had implemented a four-day week and used these precedents to develop our working model. It was a work in progress, and we were open to adapting the model to incorporate feedback from the team as to what was working and what could be improved or approached differently.
In the practice, we have continued with consistent, weekly team meetings. We have streamlined various work processes and work flows. We have introduced WAX works monthly workshops, where we focus on different topics and share our skills and knowledge with the team.
The precise planning and scheduling of project tasks ensures successful time management and teamwork, and enables us to continue to prioritise our client relationships and industry partner collaborations.
We also treat Thursday as our project deadline day, ensuring our clients and collaborators have our latest project issues on their desk Friday morning for review.
Flexibility and the four-day week
Having Fridays off helps staff members to book appointments, run errands, travel and allocate time to family on their day off. Sick leave, absenteeism, additional personal leave time and WFH requirements have all been reduced as a result.
While we are a four-day week studio, we still support staff who would like to work part time or reduced full time work loads and provide this flexibility as and when required.
Outcomes and benefits
We are working smarter, more efficiently and productively within the four days. We have managed to complete the same number of projects as we did when working a five-day week.
The additional time away from work gives our team time with their families, to study, travel and do the hobbies they enjoy. This has helped to reduce stress and improve mental health.
Introducing staff wellbeing sessions (e.g. breathwork, stretching classes) and social outings, help us to relax, reduce stress, boost morale and strengthen relationships. The four-day week has also improved staff absenteeism through a reduced need for personal leave and we also have an increased staff retention rate.
Wax Design is a certified carbon neutral organisation. Working a day less helps reduce our carbon footprint due to less commuting and energy use in the studio.
Challenges and risks
We have had no associated challenges or risks yet. Good time management and open communication ensures that meetings and workshops are not scheduled on Fridays, so as not to cause any issues.
We currently have no requirements or expectations for staff to work outside of studio hours (including responding to emails and phone calls). Work is to be done within studio operating hours, unless previously organised with the directors.
Clients
We have openly communicated to all clients and project team members that we are closed on Fridays, so there haven’t been any major difficulties with this.
We have also been able to discuss with our clients that the four-day week model means that our staff are happier and healthier, and more capable of being engaged, proactive and invested in ensuring the quality of work provided and the time in which it is delivered meets their expectations.
We are grateful for our clients’ trust and belief in our capabilities since we moved to four days, and it is fantastic that we have been able to continue to meet their needs and expectations.
Productivity
Productivity has certainly increased. With reduced days and hours, our team is as efficient and able to complete the same number of projects. Our company is just as profitable as when we worked a five-day week.
Wax Design is a seven-person Adelaide-based multi-disciplinary landscape architecture studio working across a range of specialised fields, including landscape architecture, architecture and the built environment, urban planning, place-making, and playspace and outdoor education design. They prioritise collaboration, invention and creativity and see their role as facilitators of user-centred, ecologically sound and culturally significant landscape designs.
