It's DO-BE Time

This week, Tony and Brian raise a series of key questions that business owners and leaders should be asking themselves as they consider how to successfully move their organizations into a post-lockdown world. While providing some examples of what some businesses are doing, this podcast asks you to reflect on what you are seeing and hearing from your customers/clients, your employees, your family and friends, and your gut. Is there a version of the 4-day work week (less hours worked + more employee satisfaction + more client satisfaction + more profit = 4-day work week) that is right for you?

If you are pushing to get your business “back to normal,” beware! It’s possible your employees are ready to return to the commuting, the chats around the coffee pot, and the endless hours in face-to-face meetings. It’s possible that they are content missing the time with their partners or spouses and their children that the pandemic offered. It’s possible that they would rather eat take-out at their workstations than take the time to sit down and eat with their families. It’s possible. But the evidence is getting more and more clear that it is unlikely. As a business owner or leader, it’s time to re-examine the relationships you are fostering between your employees and their jobs because that is exactly what they are doing!

The 4-day work week has the potential for significantly impacting not only the financial success of your organization. It has also demonstrated beneficial impacts on health and happiness. In this episode, Tony and Brian discuss some of the research in this area and talk about how some of our clients are applying lessons from the pandemic to preparing for a 4-day work week.

The 4-day work week can certainly bring more balance into your life and the lives or your employees. But it can also bring more profit to your bottom line. Companies around the world that have successfully transitioned to the 4-day work week have seen their profits increase along with employee satisfaction. In this episode, Tony and Brian present some of the data supporting the economic benefits of the 4-day work week.

In February 2020, most employers and their employees would have said, “Work from home? No way!” Fifteen months later, it’s a very different story. While some businesses want all of their employees back in the workplace, in this episode, Tony and Brian encourage a more intentional approach. We discuss some of the key factors to consider including ways in which working from home has proven to benefit the bottom line, employee wellbeing, performance, and job satisfaction. Simply put, there is no single right answer. In a broader context, finding the right mix of working from home and in the workplace is one of the building blocks of a 4-day work week, so don’t jump to conclusions.

Since 2018, the Do-Be Associates have been focused on how business owners and their employees can create greater life/work balance while increasing profitability in a sustainable way. By 2019 we were sure that it was possible and had begun to develop a program for helping others to make it happen. That year we trademarked 4-Day Work Week with the intention of launching the program in the Spring of 2020. Covid had other ideas. But now is the perfect time for you to consider the 4-day work week for your business. In this podcast we talk about why a 4-day work week can benefit your business as well as your life and the lives of your employees; and we discuss why now is the ideal time to begin exploring how to make it work.

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on how, when, and where you do your work. For many, this has made it difficult to separate work and home lives, to run their businesses successfully, and to meet their business goals. Last fall (Episode 20), Do-Be Associates Tony Carnesi and Brian Gorman introduced our approach to a 4-day work week. With this replay, we begin our roll-out of a program designed to help you return to – or gain for the first time – the balance between your professional and personal lives that you want, to attain the business success you are seeking, and to lead your organization into a fulfilling future.

On December 6, 2020, Do-Be Associate Brian Gorman (“Mr. BE”) gave a talk for TEDx Hartford. Through the story of his own life and his work with clients facing change over the past five decades, Brian has come to understand Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey as the path we take on each change we move through. He shares how to improve the likelihood of successfully moving through change, some of the risks you face along the way, and how to address them. This podcast is a re-broadcast of Brian’s interview with Paul Geiger and Glen Ingram about his TEDx experience and the change journey. The interview was conducted on the online program and podcast Blabbit on December 11, 2020. The TEDx Hartford talk is available at TEDxHartford.com and on YouTube (search “TEDx Hartford Brian Gorman”).

When she started Jillian’s Circus, Jillian Weston thought that her job was to sell social media marketing services to prospective clients. As she discusses with Tony and Brian on this edition of it’s DO-BE time, she was wrong. In fact, Jillian is an educator. By bringing an understanding of social media to clubs, libraries, schools, chambers of commerce, and elsewhere, she is creating a deeper understanding of the world of social media marketing. In doing so, she has become a vital member of her community and a successful business woman.

With Congress’s authorization of a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Joel Brach (JD Capital Strategies) returns to the it’s DO-BE time studio with Tony and Brian. In this podcast, Joel discusses the significant ways in which the second round of PPP is different from the first and more accessible to smaller business owners. He provides an update on first round PPP forgiveness and the EIDL program. Joel also offers insights on programs for business owners offered by New York City and New York State.