“Casual Day” is now the norm in many workplaces. It’s typically on Friday, which got me thinking about the rest of the week. Why can’t we dedicate the other days in even better fashion?
“Learning Thursday” would be just that — a day to learn something about anything that’s remotely related to work-related. Each person or team would have to initiate their own learning, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re talking five minutes to have a colleague explain how the accounts are processed. Or asking the resident expert for tips on how to use that new machine. Or getting with colleagues to share your best proven practices for doing certain aspects of your job.
“Why Wednesday” affirms the importance of critical thinking. At least once during the day, people are to ask “why” when they find themselves doing the same thing in the same way for no good reason. “Why are we filing away these forms that no one ever uses?” “Why am I checking my email ten times a day when once or twice would be plenty?” “Why haven’t I walked over to accounting to meet and talk with my contact there in person, instead of my usual drill of sending him yet another email?” All good questions.
“Customer Tuesday” puts the attention on customers. True, we should be serving them well every day, but how about one day a week when we’re expected to reach out and ask them directly for feedback. Each person would contact at least one of their internal or external customers, to see whether they’re thrilled and to get at least one actionable insight or improvement idea.
“Acknowledgment Monday” is about recognizing what’s going right and who’s doing great things at work. Each person would make a point of finding at least one positive — and calling it out to colleagues. Maybe it’s a newly improved process that’s making life easier for everyone. If so, say so. Maybe it’s someone on your team whose service ethic has them always helping out. If so, let them know they’re appreciated. Or maybe it’s just a silent acknowledgment inside — appreciation for a job and colleagues and the chance to serve, even if there are things we’d like to change.
Last but not least, let’s institutionalize the “No-Work Weekend,” setting aside one or two days each week as a completely work-free zone. No working on work, no thinking about work, no talking about work, no worrying about work. We can’t enforce such a thing, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying.
(On a much lighter note, some other possibilities come to mind: Comedic Monday, No-Talk Tuesday, Web-Surf Wednesday, Rave-and-Rant Thursday, No-Show Friday. I’m kidding, mostly.)
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