Friday fun: What will be the change?

[Fadoua]

Good day everyone,

Happy Friday!

If we make you the CEO of the company what will be the first change you will impose 😂?

I already have mine ready however would love to read yours.

Best,

Fadoua

[Fadoua]

I will make Fridays off and give a raise to everyone! 🤫

[Jimmy Seddon]

@Fadoua I'm coming to work for you this sounds amazing!

[Larry Brock {Praecipio Consulting}]

Count me in too!!! :-D

[Fadoua]

Don't do it @Jimmy Seddon as I will get fired after the first half hour 🤣

[Alison]

The Prime Minister of Finland has proposed a four-day/6 hr a day workweek 🙃https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/flexible-work-finlands-pm-sanna-marin-wants-citizens-on-a-four-day-workweek.html

[Shawn Kessler]

@Fadoua please ping me when you are hiring ;)

[Larry Brock {Praecipio Consulting}]

.

[Jimmy Seddon]

I like this question, it made me think hard for a couple of minutes.  If I were to make one change, I think it would be to allow pets at work.  When I'm working from home my two puppers sleep on the couch beside me all day.  At work I have a really comfy couch right behind me that I imagine they would just sleep there all day.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

This makes me so happy! I think it is definitely in the top five items I would implement :)

[Fadoua]

@Jodi LeBlanc tu as un grand amour pour les animaux si je me rappelle bien!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Merci @Fadoua  oui j'adore les animaux - mon petit chien Max reste avec moi quand je travaille à la maison 💙

[John Funk]

I think I would open it up for more work from home opportunities (at least part time) or introduce some 4x10 work shifts. 

[Jimmy Seddon]

I have totally done 4x10 at a previous job and I really liked it.  Unfortunately, not everyone likes the concept.

[LarryBrock]

No meetings on Monday mornings or Friday afternoons!

Too many work-related events/issues from the weekend need complete attention on Monday mornings.

Peoples' brains are mushy and 40% has most likely already left for the weekend on Friday afternoon.  Plus, employees deserve to cut loose a little early if they've got their stuff done.

This is one of the principles I've always operated on.  The other is Hawaiian shirts on Friday!! :-D

[Jimmy Seddon]

Technically, we have a company wide meeting Friday afternoon where the executives pour beer for the staff ;)

[Kamal Sondagar]

Nothing. I would change nothing for the first few months.... See how well we operate. I will then consider reducing down to daily hours to 5 hrs per day. Statistics suggest that we are the most efficient from the start of your work day to up 4 hours in. Then you aren't firing off all cylinders. 

[Adrian Stephen]

I would follow the steps of Finland's PM and introduce 4-day work week And 6-hour workdays 

• https://dailytimes.com.pk/542786/finlands-new-pm-proposes-4-day-work-week-and-6-hour-work-days/

[Alison]

woops! beat me to this

[Michael Kimathi _AC Nairobi_ Kenya_]

Adopt agile throughout the company and implement 4Hour week culture and the last day of the week "Friday" party after party. That means you get to work 4hrs per day for 4 days a week. 

[scott_boisvert]

Tough one. I think I would start with implementing  more consistency and fewer tools across the enterprise.

[Fadoua]

Ouch someone is not happy with the way things are being done 🤨. Honestly I will write a book about that if I really had the skills and time. So many things need to be changed. I am with you on this one @scott_boisvert 

[Fadoua]

@Kamal Sondagar and @Adrian Stephen  let me know if you are hiring, I think we can negotiate 🤓

[Kamal Sondagar]

😅🤣💯👍🏽

[Kamal Sondagar]

Happy Friday Friends! SpecialK going dark for 52hours!

[Davin Studer]

I would change my title to Chief Executive Overlord.

[Fadoua]

Come on @Davin Studer  you can do more than that.

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Nothing more to say on this topic. Nailed it. 🕶

[Fadoua]

Thanks @Teodora V _Fun Inc_ ! You made my day 😉

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Always 💙

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Love this!

[Shawn Kessler]

Mic drop...

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

I'm struggling here, but excellent question; it makes you think in more detail about your current process. 

I think I'll try to focus more on persons than the teams, mostly how to get the best of anyone by providing them with the ability to show their real strengths. 

It will be tough if we are talking about a big company, but Friday Fun is for Daydreaming, right? :)

[Fadoua]

You got it right @Teodora V _Fun Inc_ , we are allowed to dream daytime. Everything is possible within Atlassian Community 🤗

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

Shorter work week or shorter work days as needed.  I'd stream line the processes more, consolidate knowledge groups. Make documentation a priority and get better at building that into the processes.

I'd listen to employee ideas more.  Who knows better about what is and isn't working than the folks that are doing it every day?

I'd wish there was a way to not have to worry about making shareholders happier than my employees.  That no one felt pressured or rushed to provide products and services that weren't ready for prime time.

[Fadoua]

We can make miracles you and I if we are on the same team @Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_ 😍

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

I more than like it.  Love it is more like it.  ;) 🤗

[Andy Heinzer]

I would get some business hammocks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IujLD7nSf8Q

[Jodi LeBlanc]

So fun!!

[Kevin Bui]

The hammock district!

[Emily Koch]

I'm liking this idea. Make sure to send one to all the other offices and remote folks, too!

[Matt Doar]

Delegate everything, bank the sign-on bonus, run for President of some country. The usual.

[edwin vasquez]

I would schedule random lunches or meeting with employees to find ways to improve processes and overall work environments. Also, good way to learn about the people that work for with

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

I would offer a new type of vacation benefit. If you plan a vacation that is:

At least 2 weeks long (10 consecutive PTO days)
&
Scheduled/approved at least 4 months in advance (so that the company can plan appropriately)

...you'll get a $5000 bonus. Or some other exciting amount.

I like this because employees could easily use both the vacation and the bonus in the way that fits them best. It gives people more of an opportunity to travel if they'd like. Or, they could take that time off to pursue a creative project or home improvement project. You could use it during the holidays to be home with family, and spend that money as your budget for Christmas gifts.

It forces people to actually unplug and gives them the resources to invest in themselves. But it's flexible enough to be of value to everyone. :)

[Fadoua]

Since we are dreaming, make sure everyone's job is safe and get free insurance to the employees 😊

[Poorvi Jhawar]

@Fadoua excellent question! 
I'd get a counselor so that people can talk about their work and personal issues to them. A few companies check EQ levels before hiring and I think it's so important 😊

One more thing I’d implement is, once a month team outing volunteering for a social cause. Eg. A day out planting trees, giving food to the homeless each month something different. 

[DPKJ]

I don't think I ever want to become CEO (CTO maybe).

If I am a CEO, I will create a Jira Service Desk project where everyone can log issues directly against me (I hope it is a small company).

Also, I will fire some people, who are not working towards organization goal and are just pursuing personal goals.

[Ste Wright]

I would take a leaf out of Trello's book and make remote and flexible working allowed across the company. 

I think people can find the best work-life balance when they can balance the two - rather than work limiting them. It's the completion of the work that is important, not the hours or location.

I would also like to encourage learning and using tooling. I think we're in a digitised world where tools - such as Zoom, the Atlassian Suite, CRM and BI Tools - are the future for remote working and big data reporting.

Ste

[Peter Jessen]

The way you phrase the question, the assumption is we already are in the company and know its current culture, operations, etc. at some level.

Either way, I agree with @Kamal Sondagar, I would do nothing at first because the CEO view provides a very different perspective. What I would do is along the lines of what @Poorvi Jhawar suggested - measure EQ, and also mindset, but not of new hires; I'd start with the entire leadership team down and focus on shifting to true servant leadership. I've seen too much low-trust command-and-control management (not leadership) in the companies I've worked with.

For the managers who aren't able to shift, and there are always some, I would counsel then out of the company. Those changes also will start shifting the culture.

At the same time I'd be looking at all the teams and individuals in all departments for values fit. When people can see how their role in a company is aligned with their values and purpose, they are naturally more inspired, productive, healthy, and things like work days/hours/remote vs on-site drop in importance. I agree with you, @Ste Wright, Trello has the right idea, let inspired people chose what works for them.

Finally, I've encountered more than a few firefighter-arsonists in the development world. These are the "heroes" who seem to always find a way to come to the rescue through heroic efforts after a development death march, but if you look for why the teams had to go on the development death march, it was because of something the "heroes" caused in the first place. They are often considered indispensable and irreplaceable, but they need to change or go for that very reason. Properly functioning, empowered teams don't need "heroes," they need members who share knowledge freely and willingly, as well as looking for ways to avoid crises, not cause them.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Peter

[Kamal Sondagar]

@Peter Jessen sorry I didn't read this till now. love the approach! and I agree about the "firefighter-arsonists". Do you have rights to that term, I want to use it! :) be well and stay healthy (physical and mental!!)

[Shawn Kessler]

Every Friday would be Bring Your Rabbit to Work Day!

[Fadoua]

It is so cute 🐰

[Emily Koch]

If you don't have a rabbit, can you borrow one?

[Shawn Kessler]

You can borrow Silver once a month ;)

[Tim Keyes]

Whenever I played with rabbits growing up they used to always bite my fingers :(

Does Silver bite?

[Shawn Kessler]

@Tim Keyes Silver is the sweetest, gentlest creature on this planet. 

[Tanya C]

The office layout and carpeting.  (gross) ... unfortunately I'd have to become president to make that change as my work location is a government building.  :( 

CEO of my company = get rid of the existing performance appraisal process.

[Dominic Lagger]

There are some really good ones! 

For me, I would have an innovation day at least once a week, where people can do what they want. And get paid for it :)

And as a scrum master, I would get rid of these waterfall projects, with fix budgets and no chance to deliver, what the customer asked for.

[Max Foerster - K15t]

It is interesting to read that many people here think along the same lines. And there are lots of good suggestions for sure. A shorter workweek? Hell yeah! Better documentation? HELL YEAH! 😁

Of all the great ideas I would like to introduce one day a week reserved for personal development of any kind. Maybe not "of any kind", but perhaps, why not? So ANY KIND.

It would be nice if, at least in the broadest sense, it has a connection to work or the team/company but who would complain about a developer on his team who bakes the best banana bread? Or another person being able to fold an Origami swan? Even better if people would decide to learn something new together.

And it would also be obligatory to regularly have a show&tell session to tell the team about what you have been learning/practicing. So everyone gets a chance to work in his presentation skills as well. ;) 

As said, there are so many good ideas in this thread. :) 

[Peter Jessen]

@Max Foerster - K15t- Years ago, when I was with Deloitte Consulting, we used to have Fridays in the office for just this idea. At least half the day was supposed to be focused on CoPs, personal interests, etc. I'll say the vision was stronger than the implementation.

[Max Foerster - K15t]

So I have to try to make it better for my team. ;) Any lessons learned, tips or thoughts from your side, to where the vision was stronger than the implementation?

[Peter Jessen]

Clients always came first, so in the end most people felt pressured to skip the CoPs etc. Also, since Deloitte had us traveling Monday - Thursday, people tried to work from home Friday as much as possible so they didn't need to fight traffic to drive into the office. There was no real commitment on the part of the partners to make Friday a learning day.