Top Five Reasons To Do "Summer Fridays"
If you're not doing some kind of altered workplace schedule, why not start? A TopFive Tuesday for all.
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Maybe New England will even get some sun this summer?
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Some leaders think some reduced hours or Friday off when the academic year is done is a bad idea. That it’s not productive, that it’s modeling that the staff really aren’t necessary, that some departments can manage it but others can’t, etc. Maybe legal or HR doesn’t like it.
I realize that there are departments where it is easier to do a summer Friday than others. Then of course, you need to give any summer programming appropriate support and resoruces. It can be a bit tricky to get what you need to get done and give an afternoon or even a whole extra day off but… consider the following.
ONE
It’s worth it
There is more and more evidence that the four day work week has a lot going for it. At a school workplace, it’s hard if not impossible for schools to implement this year around (although I do remember hearing one school was going to try it, with teachers not teaching every day of the week - ?). But the fact is, faculty do get a lot more time off than staff. And face time has little to recommend it.
TWO
Summer Fridays are weird anyway
A lot of people take off early. Someone is out all the time as people use vacations. In external facing offices, traffic slows down. It’s easy to just hang out on a summer Friday afternoon - not that there aren’t advantages to that! But missing a summer Friday isn’t like missing a Friday in mid-September energy.
THREE
It’s hard to implement the same way across the board but do it anyway
You don’t have to figure it out - create parameters and let departments arrange it the way they want. Maybe they can take turns staying all day Friday to cover the office. Maybe facilities can make it work some Fridays but not others when summer camp is in session. However a department works it out, I have yet to see a situation where the employees didn’t appreciate a little more time off at a more relaxed time of year. (Even when summer programs are happening, it is less hectic than the school year. Summer programs can be stressful and intense but they also move through in a way the school year doesn’t. And you can recognize the summer staff other ways!)
FOUR
Be generous where you can
People work hard. And as I said above, if you let departments work out a compromise that works for their people, people will likely be grateful that you are trying to think of ways to increase their quality of life at the school rather than complaining it’s not uniform. Think of it this way - when so many of their fellow employees get so much more time off than they do, it’s never going to be uniform.
FIVE
Just do it
I’m not really sure what the argument is against this? Give it some thought… and then do it!
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