Did you know that 52 percent of Americans didn’t use all of their vacation days in 2017? The same survey from Project:Time Off reports that nearly a quarter of Americans surveyed did not take a single day off in 2017. And the most surprising statistic from the survey? In 2017, the vacation days taken by US workers was the highest it’s been since 2010. So why are we bringing this up? Summer in Minnesota is the reason so many of us live here, and the reason so many employers give perks like shorter Fridays, ½ day Fridays, or four day work weeks from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
43% of U.S. companies offer flexible work schedules to at least some employees, up from 38% in 2008, SHRM found. We’re going to give you four strategies that you can use to make sure you’re using your summer Fridays instead of losing them.
- Stop saying yes to all the meetings
You have probably asked yourself this question at one time or another while you’ve worked at your company; “Do we really need a meeting for this?” There is no time like the present to actually ask the question and come up with an alternate solution that doesn’t take an entire hour or two out of your schedule. Don’t be afraid to ask it and provide an alternate solution. If a meeting really does need to happen, consider making it a standing one. Studies, like this one published on Sciencedaily.com, have shown that not only are the meetings shorter, they’re more spirited and effective than sitting meetings.
- Get your team on the same page/ same goals
Take a few minutes at the beginning of “Summer Friday” season to make sure that your team is aligned with what they want to get accomplished this quarter. Discuss the fact that you all want to leave early on Fridays, or not have to come in at all, and what you’re going to commit to in order to make that happen. If you all understand what is expected of each other on “Summer Fridays,” and what you need from each other even when you’re out of the office, it will eliminate the potential tension of people feeling like they’re pulling too much weight while the rest of the team is off enjoying summer.
- Guard your schedule
This will likely be less of an issue for you if your whole team sits down to discuss goals and expectations for “Summer Fridays.” Your own team members will be less likely to call an “all hands on deck” meeting for Friday afternoon because there will be an inherent understanding that you all have worked hard, and should be able to get out of the office early to enjoy summer. However, there will be people you work with outside of your organization that may have to work Friday afternoons, and you’ll need to exercise your right to determine if this is something that has to be handled on Friday afternoon, or if it can be handled prior to that, or pushed to the following week. You can say no to the little things or items that won’t help you move your team toward its goal, you will just have to change your mindset to evaluate each “ask” instead of simply saying yes.
- Have an exit strategy
Can you set up your week so you aren’t working four twelve hour days in order to take Friday off? If you’re not stacking your calendar with meetings, and you have buy in from your team to handle the critical items first, you’ll probably feel almost great about not being in the office for at least part of Friday. Try it next week, be mindful about how you’re setting up your week with the goal of not having to be in the office on Friday, and see how you’re feeling by Thursday around noon.
Summer Fridays are such a lovely perk, we hope the four strategies we’ve given you will allow you to get out and enjoy, and not even feel guilty about it.