How to do your best work by working less
Reviewed and written by Loren Anderson - Velocite Business Advisors
If you haven’t already, listen to Foundr podcast "How to do your best work by working less" with Jason Fried. I spent an hour listening, nodding furiously (luckily in the privacy of my own home) – the title says it all really - who doesn’t want to work less? Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp (a project management software) is interviewed about his company’s philosophy on work. It pushes back what’s become the norm for many of us – “being crazy at work” It’s easy to get stuck in “busy” so here are my top takeaways from this podcast.
1. Value has nothing to do with the hours you work
Are you measuring success and value the right way? Basecamp only measures profitability and quality – quality of life for their team, and the quality of their product. Their focus is on doing their best work and enjoying what they do - every single day. Their team are masters at prioritising and saying no, they don’t spend time on things that ‘don’t matter’. They gauge success through customer insights, sales, customer retention and of course, profitability.
2. “Busy” is a culture
Consider cutting back your hours. Working outside your 40-hour work week is not rewarded at Basecamp. Time efficiency is celebrated. No key deadlines or meetings are scheduled on Fridays to ensure weekends remain sacred. Hard deadlines help their culture remain productive, calm, focused, and decisive. Most importantly the company’s leadership live the culture – always reinforcing its values.
3. Your business is a product
Think of your business as a product. Products require continuous reviews and iterations to ensure they’re fit for the market. Basecamp work in 6-week cycles with clear outcomes in mind. At the end of each cycle they reflect and ask: how do we feel about our work? Are we proud of it? Do we hate it? Do we love it? Are we exhausted by it? Do we have plenty of energy for it? Are we proud of the way we did it? Are we proud of how we worked together? They apply what they learned from the previous 6 weeks in their planning for the next 6 weeks meaning they’re constantly tweaking and improving how they work.
4. Turning off instant responses can be good for business
Basecamp only uses real-time chat when it helps efficiency. They believe that instant messaging distracts people getting into a ‘deep state of work’. New ideas are typically pitched in writing, facilitating considered responses. Internal team meetings are kept to a minimum and working from home is the norm. Their belief is that work is actually a solitary thing so physical meetings are infrequent but optimised. Basecamp picks one “no talk” day a week - verbally or via email. Teams take this opportunity to work without interruptions and enjoy the time to focus.
This podcast resonated with me, reinforcing my own beliefs around working flexibly. At Velocite, flexibility is one of our core values and it’s something we’re all committed to. Taking the first step as a business isn’t always easy, it takes courage to give things a go. I’m looking forward to working less, are you?