Cyclope-Series Team Blog

If you operate a small business then there’s a good chance that you started that business with a normal schedule. You’re open Monday through Friday from 9-5 or something close to that. You work forty hours per week (or sometimes more) and so do your employees. But does this work schedule really make sense in today’s society? More and more people are realizing that 9-5 just doesn’t work for them.

Reasons the 9-5 Schedule May Not Work

There are a variety of reasons that this schedule may not be working for you anymore. These reasons may include:

• You’re spending too much time on your commute. People who work standard hours are in traffic at the same time as everyone else which makes your work day longer but you don’t get anything done during that time.
• You don’t want to be in the office five days per week. Many people would prefer to work longer hours for 3-4 days per week than to have to work 5 days out of 7.
• You want different days off. The Monday-Friday schedule works for most people but some people would prefer to have weekdays off. And some people just like working weekends. Many people find that working weekends makes them more productive because there are fewer distractions throughout the day.
• You would prefer to take off large chunks of time. Some people would prefer not to have days off throughout the year if it meant they could take two months off at one time. That’s not a reality for all businesses but some schedules can be adjusted to accommodate longer breaks. These breaks can be very invigorating for people; you come back to the job with fresh eyes.
• Your employees are complaining. Employees may be having trouble with the 9-5 routine for the same reasons that you are. Their problems with the schedule may be reducing their productivity and causing low morale in the office. You may want to change your schedule to resolve this problem.

Tips for Changing Your Schedule

If you do think that changing your schedule is a good idea then you have to figure out how to do that in a way that doesn’t compromise your business. Here are some tips for making that change:

• Determine what you want to be different. Do you want weekends off or do you want to work fewer days per week?
• Brainstorm ways to make that happen. Telecommuting, working from vacation, shifting your hours forward or backward and changing the days that you work are all options to consider.
• Identify problems that may occur with the change. When you make a change to your business schedule that change impacts all of your employees as well as your clients, customers and any associates you work with. Determine how these changes impact them and what you’ll need to do to work through that.
• Discuss the change with your employees. It’s best to make this transition slowly and to take their concerns into consideration.
• Let everyone know in advance about the change. Make sure employees know the date of the change. Make an announcement on your website or blog. Contact any customers that may be directly affected. Warn people about a month in advance of the change and remind them again the week before the change takes place.
• Make sure you are available during your old hours at the start of the change. For about one month following the change, you should try to be available by phone or email during your old hours to deal with any issues that arise as a result of the change.
• Re-assess. Take 3-4 months to adjust to the new schedule and then assess what benefits and problems have resulted. Re-adjust accordingly.

The 9-5 schedule isn’t for everyone. You don’t have to stick with it just because it’s the way that things have always been done. However, you do need to make sure to be smart about making a change so that the new schedule benefits your business instead of taking away from it.

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