Do you break the working week up into pieces? Monday, first day back at the office after the weekend, it’s hard to get back into the swing of things. Tuesday, not quite as bad as Monday but the next weekend seems so far away. Wednesday, affectionately referred to as “hump day” – once Wednesday is finished, the weekend is almost here, right? Just have to get through Thursday (does anything even happen on Thursdays?), then it’s Friday at last!
There’s been plenty of research trying to figure out what day in the week is the best for different kinds of business activity, even down to the best times of day. The results are interesting, and could influence the way you organise your week.
Monday and Friday are considered the least effective days to hold a meeting. Why? Some researchers put this down to the “weekend effect” – people often aren’t tuned in to the business for a day or so after a weekend, or they’re too busy looking forward to it to focus on a meeting. Also, some people use personal leave or vacation time to extend their weekends, so you could be down a few attendees.
The best time to unveil a new program or initiative? This would tend to be at the beginning of a month, on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon are generally the best times to make big announcements. If you wait until the end of a month to make an announcement about an initiative that’s due to start the next month, people can lose interest in the proposed changes. Don’t expect enthusiasm at 8am on a Monday morning, likewise at 4pm on a Friday afternoon.
Though it may seem that Mondays and Fridays would be the least productive in the workplace, this is not necessarily the case – people tend to perform specifically delegated tasks well on these days, especially ones that have clear and measurable outcomes.
We all love beer o’clock, and we know when to expect it, but to get a good result on the next important meeting or big initiative, it’s well worth considering your timing.