Change Your Hours And Increase Productivity

Why do we all have to work 9-5? Is this the best time to work? Some people prefer early starts and some people work best in the evening. Why not work with this and offer your team flexibility in their work hours? There are a few things to consider here- will people take advantage? Will people make sure the building is secure if they leave late? Will they get their work completed? Will your customers be affected?

We can start by answering some of the negative thoughts or problems.

Will people take advantage?

Sadly a few people will try to get away with sneaking a few hours here and there! Having worked for businesses where if one person takes advantage of perks they simply withdraw the perk, I can confirm that this is not the right way to deal with the problem! Deal with the individual causing you problems. If they are still achieving their work loads then you may want to take a different view on it! If they are struggling with their workloads and taking advantage then change their hours back to 9-5 so they lose the perk.

Will people make sure the building is secure if they leave late?

When running flexible hours it is important to make sure that you have setup core hours as part of your structure. The core hours maybe 10-2, during these hours you expect all your team to be in the office. This allows you to book in meetings etc. It also dictates the earliest and latest time that your team can start or leave the office.

Will they get their work completed?

Overall most companies that trial flexible working hours will see an increase in productivity. This is due to people able to work at a time that suits them. How many times have you heard your team say they are not morning people etc. However you may get the odd individual that struggles with the change. If this is the case you may need to change these people back to traditional hours. 

Will your customers be affected?

If your team choose to work later as this suits them, this may affect people calling you. A call answering service maybe the answer to ensure your phones calls are professionally dealt with if your team are unable to answer calls in the morning.