Fridays

**pageclot**[$] · #1 05-02-2002, 03:42 PM

Ever try to get something done on a Friday? Hold a meeting? Get input on something critical? Consult with some co-workers?

Better put it off until Monday. In our company, among those who can do it, Friday is the unofficial "work at home" day.

A fictitious study I just made up showed that people are 38% less productive on Fridays.

Personally, I've worked from home on a Friday every week for the last year, but I actually work; I'm connected and set up for it, and there's no way I'm fighting the cottage traffic in the summer.

Obviously, tons of people simply have to be at work every day. Auto workers. Doctors. Call centre supervisors. Accounting clerks. I think this phenomenon is most felt in the executive ranks, and in the ranks of people who normally work on the road.

What's it like at your company?

P

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #2 05-02-2002, 04:13 PM

I've wanted to work from home on Fridays for a long, long time. Usually Fridays end up being a finish-the-work/run-the-errands/ have-a-silly-meeting/leave-early-for-drinks-with-the-coworkers sort of day. I'd get much more done from home.

magenta321 · #3 05-02-2002, 04:14 PM

Huh. I've never seen it work that way.

When I was at the hospital, there were no days off. I actually had two weekdays off (not in a row!) so no day was a friday for me. It was very common for people to work weekends, so Fridays weren't exciting.

Now I work in a private health care facility. The techs and the docs have to work weekends, but they rotate them. The rest of us basically work M-F. Everything runs pretty much the same on Friday as it does on Monday, until around 4. Then people find ways to leave early. I'm scheduled to work until 5:30, and sometimes the silence is deafening. Plus, I get tired of finding work to do (nothing is pressing -- once everyone's left, my job is pretty much done).

But, I find Fridays are productive, until 4, and most people are scheduled to work until 5, so it's not a total loss.

Has anyone else noticed that Fridays are the day where the most work is scheduled? I've noticed my Fridays are always CRAMMED until 4. Maybe it's because it's the medical world, so, presumably, people are taking some time off from work to go have their tests done. Perhaps everyone wants a Friday apt. to get a head start on the weekend?

quasar · #4 05-02-2002, 07:06 PM

I used to find Fridays were my most productive day, precisely because I did work at home.

However, in general it does tend to at least be a shorter day for folks - a day when folks at the very least try not to work overtime. Some of this is because of folks getting ready for Shabbat or long weekends, or whatever.

I actually had one person at my last job who insisted on working folks till the bitter end on Fridays. I had to go in on Fridays for an entire summer for weekly meetings from 4-6PM on Fridays. That was just cruel.

I don't have a problem with working a full day on Fridays. i do have a problem with thinking that being at the office in a meeting from 4-6 fits within the normal work schedule of people. But those who complained (reasonably IMO) were thought of as slackers.

Which brings me to my last point - I think some of the Fridays are unproductive are erroneous perceptions based on the lessening of overtime and that folks may work an earlier day. Some of it is real, but I've always thought it not nearly as bad as folks make it out to be.

Janice

**pluckyduck** · #5 05-03-2002, 08:48 AM

Really strange observation:

Remembering that my business is selling to other businesses, you might be able to track what is going on by our bizarre Friday phone pattern.

Before noon, the phones are dead. We get maybe 10 percent of the normal morning phone calls on a Friday morning.

Around 1, the phones pick up. At 3, they start going crazy with people trying to make rush orders...and since we close at 5:30 on Fridays (as opposed to 7:30 other days of the week)... the phones ring and ring until the very last second.

Every week, month in and month out.

Andrea

murasaki · #6 05-04-2002, 07:35 AM

Next to Thursdays, Fridays are the worst day to get anything done in Army units.

Thursdays are the worst because the soldiers have sergeant's time all morning so they're out playing in the woods or shooting things. (Of course, the officers use this day to answer email and actually get things done because there aren't meetings and no phone calls, but no delegating either.) Thursday afternoons, after lunch, the soldiers have work for two hours before family time begins at 3pm. Just don't expect to get anything critical done in the two hours the soldiers are actually at their jobs.

Fridays, everyone wants to cut out early for the weekend. If there isn't another event, mornings are usually pretty productive with things people want to get done so they can leave without feeling guilty. The Friday afternoon phone call is total anethema. If it's something I can get done in 30 minutes or less, I'll do it or assign it. If not, it will wait until Monday.

Fridays are often complicated by ceremonies and command information events. After ceremonies, people are supposed to come back to work but quite a few of them sneak away.

Command information is a battalion sized meeting with awards, general info, classes as needed. Usually, the soldiers get the rest of the day off when command information lets out. The officers go back to work.

--naomi

kurt_messick · #7 05-09-2002, 11:05 PM

Friday was always my catch-up day -- I'd look at the lists of things that I didn't get done earlier in the week, and do as many as I could on Friday so they wouldn't follow to the next week. Yes, I would do lots of ringing up suppliers, printers, etc. on Friday afternoons to book adverts, place orders, etc. because I simply hadn't been able to get round to it earlier in the week. However, I also realised that those orders would likely sit there over the weekend too, and not get put into any fulfillment routine until Monday. I didn't care about that (and I always let the other ones know that I didn't expect weekend work unless I really, really needed it); I just knew it was off of my desk, and therefore off of my list. From that point, my secretary could generally chase them if we didn't get things in on a reasonable time frame.

vonboob · #8 05-12-2002, 01:41 PM

Fridays are worst in production environment: it's decision time to ask or not to ask people to come work for the weekend... Sometimes there is a lot of pleading, groveling and begging involved

but it always comes down to the old question: how late are we with shipping?
Right now, due to trucker strike our courtyard is near full but then it's over, there will be no weekends for a while. I estimate that we'll have about two thousand ton of equipment to be inspected, loaded and shipped all at once.

Fridays? You better believe I'm enjoying my time right now...