For decades, the workday meant that employees arrived at their desks at 9:00 in the morning, had lunch at noon, and left at 5 or 6 in the afternoon. The pandemic, of course, changed this. Workers have not only been doing their jobs from remote locations in the last two years, they have also changed when, exactly, they do it.
This change has given rise to new working models, including the so-called “non-linear working day”. Employees using this modality they can get their work done outside of the traditional rigid 9 to 5 block, often when it suits them best.
By working asynchronously—keeping a different schedule than their peers—workers can complete tasks in flexible and concentrated bursts distributed throughout the day. The idea is that employees can articulate their work schedules around their personal lives, instead of stuffing themselves with fixed hours and fixed in contracts.
In past decades, “non-linear” working hours used to be quite unusual. Now, however, the massive adoption of hybrid and remote working models, as well as increasingly flexible hours, means that these modalities are more affordable for large sectors of the active working population.
In some cases and without realizing it, many people already practice this way of working to some extent. An example is when they choose working late at night or carrying out projects first thing in the morning.
Not all employers are going to give workers this degree of freedom, of course. But in the new world of work, “non-linear” shifts are going to have a greater role in some sectors.
According to experts, asynchronous work has innumerable advantages, as long as certain measures are taken.
control over time
Although “non-linear” shifts seem to be the latest product of the pandemic shaking the labor market, they are not a new concept.
In fact, they are a throwback to the way humans traditionally worked in pre-industrial times, when a typical workday lasted from dawn to dusk, interspersed with regular breaks, meals, and naps.
However, when society industrialized, a rigid workweek of 5 days and 40 hours in factories, said Aaron De Smet, a partner at New Jersey-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
The kind of the 8-hour day moved to the officeand even with the advent of technology, conventional wisdom and social norms meant that fixed 9-to-5 office structures were maintained.
However, according to De Smet, the pandemic shook this traditional thinking, as workers remained productive while they took breaks, spent time with family, and worked flexible hours.
Non-linear journeys can manifest in many ways. Perhaps a worker with roommates wants to get specific tasks done before everyone else wakes up, so he does some tasks from 6 to 8, then cuts his workday short at the end.
Or perhaps a parent takes a couple of hours in the afternoon to pick up their child from school and share a meal, completing the rest of their work after their little one goes to sleep. The variations are endless and very personal.
Laura Giurge, Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the London School of Economics, said that the growing popularity of “non-linear” working hours is because workers have become accustomed to flexible work routines thanks to the covid-19 pandemic.
“Asynchronous working allows you to save time commuting, perform administrative tasks during off-peak hours, get more exercise, and save money on home-cooked meals,” he explained.
Less stiffness, more productivity
More flexibility often means more productivity as well. Instead of going online for eight hours at a time at a fixed time, employees can divide their workday into blocks that better fit their routines.
“One of the main advantages of non-linear working hours is having control over how to spend timeGiurge said, adding, “and doing the work when you’re most productive.”
Non-linear working hours help shift work from being activity-focused to being results-focused, he added.
“It’s not about when or where you work, but to do the work. Managers are in charge of setting the objectives and the vision for the employees, but they do not tell them how to reach them, ”he pointed out.
De Smet argued that the nonlinear model fits the nature of knowledge work: it allows employees to do their jobs when they are most creative and productive.
“It is no longer really about the effort and time spent, but to create the best results“, he claimed. “As the nature of work has changed, so has the way workers want to optimize how they do that work.”
However, the expert cautioned that for a “non-linear” model to be successful there has to be some framework: benchmarks that ensure that employees don’t stray too far from a workable schedule.
This could take the form of core collaboration hours, where face-to-face and synchronous work can take place, such as meetings or brainstorming.
De Smet argued that these mechanisms add a layer of complexity to this type of conference, which is why some businessmen have been slow to adopt them.
“You can’t let everyone dictate their own hours to themselves, or you end up with a free-for-all where you never get any synchronous work done,” he explained.
look longer term
Even before the pandemic, many employees were working out of sync, at least a little: completing tasks or sending emails outside of contract hours or outside of the workplace.
However, this was actually unpaid overtime, done after long commutes and 9-5 office hours.
The hope is that if employers can introduce ‘non-linear’ working hours policies more formally, the balance between asynchronous work and overwork will be restored.
De Smet assured that this can help to prevent burnout. “It’s about finding that perfect mix between the new world of work, where the restrictions of when, where and how we do our work have been loosened: partly because of technology and partly because of the new conditions that have emerged after the pandemic,” he said. .
At present, “non-linear” working hours are mainly in the technology sector. Start-ups, with teams spread across time zones, are more capable of adopting asynchronous schedules than large, traditional companies with a history of working in-person in the office.
However, this modality could increase as a result of labor market demand: more workers seek greater flexibility and autonomy.
A study conducted by McKinsey in July 2022 among 13,382 workers around the world, revealed that 40% of those consulted considered that flexibility in the workplace was one of the main reasons for staying in a position.
“Employees now have diverse work practices and preferences,” Giurge said. “Not acknowledging and appreciating those differences will make companies lose talent in the long term».
De Smet, for his part, asserted that the benefits of this type of conference are reciprocal.
“For employees, huge workloads no longer mean staying in the office past 7 and miss your kids’ soccer game. Now they can have more of a personal life and do their work. For employers, the work that is done is often more creative, innovative and emotional, and it is best achieved in flexible and optimized environments,” he said.
In the new world of work, “non-linear” shifts can also fit neatly into hybrid and remote working models.
“We are seeing that the future world of work is increasingly non-linear,” De Smet added. “We have to find new rhythms that favor productivity, efficiency, well-being and creativity.”
