Business View Oceania | September 2020

18 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA SEPTEMBER 2020 BOOKMARKED Charlotte Lockhart and Andrew Barnes share their insights on how the”4 Day Week” concept and book would help people as they adapt their businesses and navigate reopening during the new COVID-19 version of normal. Here are their thoughts: “It’s quite amazing what we have been able to do here in New Zealand. It helps being an island (actually a group of islands) at the end of the world. We have been having lots of conversations about 4 Day Week. It’s a very interesting time. “Reopening after Covid-19 presents us with some unique opportunities to reshape and frame the workplace in a style more suited to our lives. Prior to the work from home requirements the biggest obstacles to flexible and remote working arrangements were management fear and trust. How can I measure your productivity, and how can I make sure you are doing your job if I can’t see you? “Now that our people have been working well, and in many cases more productively, these questions have been answered. The irony is that the workers who wanted flexible and remote working were the parents. And we gave it to themwhile the children were off school and had to be educated at home! The future of work is here. Let’s grab the productivity, social, health and environmental gains with both hands.”