This year marks 15 years of Flipp Advertising. At our 2024 New Year kick-off, we shared with the team that we were going to explore the potential of moving to the international phenomenon of the four-day work week. It was met with both excitement and hesitation. We approached this as a trial because we had no idea if it was going to work. We did a lot of research, played out different scenarios, and had some honest internal conversations on the pros and cons.

Why? Well, it’s not just a whim – there is a method to our madness, backed by solid research. It all began with a TED Talk video, and from there, we started connecting the dots. The landscape has changed over the past few years, and what used to cut it isn’t cutting it anymore. In this post-pandemic, work-from-home, half-virtual, half in-person, chaotic work style we were thrown into – we were exhausted. If we’re serious about holding onto our values and building a collaborative team culture, we’ve got to acknowledge and reflect back that work is just one slice of the life pie.

We knew that it was going to take a serious mindset adjustment. Salaries would not be adjusted, deadlines would not be pushed, and our commitment to delivering industry-leading work could not be compromised. It would require a paradigm shift from thinking in hours worked to productivity delivered. We needed to find a way to be 20% more productive over the course of the week, and we needed to hold each other accountable because unless everyone was committed, it would fail.

Fast forward to today, and our trial run has been surprisingly successful for our team. We have found a new rhythm to our week and uncovered hidden pockets of time that were right in front of us all along. Searching for that time has resulted in some concrete and practical benefits: shorter meetings, a more energized vibe, less personal screen time, more face-to-face conversations, more power walks around the block, and a noticeable reduction in interruptions. This journey has demanded more than just talk; it has necessitated time-off policy changes, the embrace of new habits, the establishment of new defaults, and a long list of FAQs.

The last 15 years have gone by in a flash and we have a few things in the works to celebrate over the next few months. Thank you to everyone we’ve had the opportunity to work with over the years and who has supported us along the way. We know none of this would have been possible without you.

Onward.

Em & Craig