Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did You Start MatchPace?

Efforts to optimize our work (in short, do more in a shorter amount of time) haven’t resulted in more freedom and flexibility for workers. Instead, our ability to work from anywhere, any time has resulted in more work that never seems to end. 

In a knowledge economy, employers leverage a person’s brain, which doesn’t turn off just because you’ve left a particular location (and honestly, doesn’t turn back on just because you are in a particular location). 

Yet we still structure our days as though work can only be done in one place and requires a fixed amount of time to accomplish. Right now, in most organizations, there is no incentive to get your work done faster. People who can work faster and smarter are given more work than you could reasonably expect from one person, just to keep them in the office until 5 p.m. People end up filling their time with busy work, scheduling unnecessary meetings, taking care of personal obligations at work, or wasting time on Facebook.

We’ve all watched talented friends exit the workforce because of this frustration. Whether they left because they had children at home, needed to take care of aging parents, wanted time to volunteer for a cause they were passionate about, launched a “side-hustle,” or wanted to phase into retirement, they felt like many of their hours at work were wasted, and there was no way they could recapture that time without lying about hours or “stealing” time from their employers. 

But remember how we said we care deeply about the work you are doing? We truly do. And we want you to keep the most talented people working on those problems. We know the best way to get them and keep them is through honoring their skills, honoring their efforts, and honoring their priorities by giving them the freedom to work at the pace that maximizes both their productivity and satisfaction. 

We want you and your employees to work well and live well.

Why Are Organizations Resistant To Reimagining The Workday?

Change is hard. We’ve done things a certain way for a long time. You see some organizations enacting incremental change, like teleworking policies or flexible hours. But these changes are often implemented in a way that encourages dishonesty and waste instead of maximizing productivity and contributing to your organization’s success.

People often associate large investments of time and the appearance of activity with productivity and success, and there is resistance when you challenge the culturally accepted norms of a long workday. Managing to outcomes is much harder, but much more accurate and effective, than managing to time. Our goal is to get our clients beyond their fears, to help them structure their teams to produce the most essential work, and to recognize that a well-rounded and well-rested team is actually their best resource to fight for their cause and change the world, just like they intended. 

We will always be honest and forthright about what it takes to achieve real results in our current environment and set employees free to do it at a pace that works for them and you.

No Offense, But Isn't This A No-Brainer?

We agree–it seems relatively obvious. But how many workplaces do you know of that have a laser-like focus on their goals, manage to outcomes, are really careful with their time, make retaining top talent their priority, and work less, not more than the standard 40 hour work week?

The U.S. entered the Industrial Age in the early 1900s. Factory owners started implementing the reduced workday in the 1920s. Then along came service and information jobs, really becoming a force in the 1950s and 60s. But the workday stayed the same as if we were still working in factories. People were still managed by the number of hours worked, even though time spent at work does not guarantee anything is actually produced.

Over 60 years later, we're still using an Industrial Age framework to determine how we should work. Our current workdays are a mishmash of too many meetings, management by email, and constant interruptions. Plus, they're just too long to effectively focus all day.

Even worse? People are time-starved, feeling like they don't have enough time to tend to their health, their families, and their passions.

While it may seem like a no-brainer, it's a change that actually requires a lot of intention and a big commitment: a change in mind frame, a change in focus, a change in management style. And all of those changes result in bigger changes: increased productivity, achieved goals, happier employees.

We want to help you get there. So no offense taken. :)

How Do You Help Organizations Optimize Their Pace?

We take organizations through a process that considers their goals, culture, and organizational and leadership personalities as well as their need for synchronization and collaboration.

We start with assessing your organization’s values and norms, and find where certain decisions or activities are misaligned with your values. We then help our clients articulate their true inputs and outcomes, not just the number of hours worked by their employees. We start with what they need to accomplish on a strategic level, then walk it back to make sure that the roles and responsibilities of each person align to your strategic goals, and work backwards to design a workday that maximizes their energy and efforts.

Next we evaluate how necessary each current action, activity, and tool is, and how they influence outcomes, looking at everything from position alignment to each task, meeting, and conference call. We help you redesign your methods and your workday to help you accomplish your mission better and faster. Once you accomplish your mission efficiently and effectively, you are then able to recharge and think of your next creative solution.

We walk our clients through an organizational shift: evaluating progress, adjusting as necessary, and continually driving towards trust, results, and an optimized pace.

Aren’t You Just Talking About Teleworking Or Flex Hours?

No, we’re not. While telecommuting and flex schedules may work for some types of organizations, they don't work for all. Teleworking and flex hours are one path toward the workplace flexibility that everyone is looking for, but here's why we promote a shorter, more efficient workday instead:

• Telecommuting and flexible schedules don’t manage to outcomes; they still manage to time.

• There’s a reason why “telework” often comes in “air quotes” - there’s a significant assumption that people are “working,” not actually working. And whether that assumption is often not correct, it has a negative impact both on the people teleworking and the people in the office.

• Sometimes companies see telework and flex hours as "favors" they are doing for their employees, implying the power rests with the employer. The employer/employee relationship isn't just a one-way thing; it should be recognized by both parties as mutually beneficial.

• Today’s factory is communication cycles. When people work “off hours” it slows down communication cycles, because you’re wasting time waiting for someone’s response.

• Knowledge work is about focus. Research shows that most people are not good at eliminating distractions on their own. We’re not saying you need to block Facebook and track people’s keystrokes, but you need to give them an environment where they can focus and work hard. Your office should provide that environment.

Overlapping hours, with your team generally in the same place, keeps everyone on the same communication cycle, allows for collaboration and brainstorming, and helps you get the job done.

Want to learn more? Contact us to get started today.

So You’re Saying We Can Pay People Less, Because They Are Working Fewer Hours?

Our recommendation is to pay people for the outcome you expect them to produce. Give them the tools they need to produce that outcome (or help find the tools), organize your workday to meet your organization's specific needs for coordination and synchronization, and set your employees free to meet their goals. In our minds, they are still due their full salary - and they get to take control of their time, too.

How Much Time Do People Waste At Work Each Day?

Two-thirds of employees spend time on social media at work, with 20 percent wasting an hour or more a day on Facebook while on the clock. But the issue of wasted time isn’t just about social media, or chatting with coworkers, or completing personal tasks during the workday. Time is lost when people spend hours doing tasks that could be done by a productivity tool. Time is lost when people spend more time managing their work than actually doing it.

McKinsey reports that today’s workforce spends 61% of their time managing their work. Not actually completing work, just trying to keep it under control.

“The average interaction worker spends an estimated 28 percent of the workweek managing e-mail and nearly 20 percent looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks.”[And another 14% communicating and collaborating internally]

That is crazy.

There are ways to work smarter, there are ways to communicate better, and there are ways to cut out the chaff and get work done faster. So why make people sit at their desks for 8+ hours a day, every day when a chunk of that is wasted time?

If you can get the same - or better - output in less time, how does it serve you to have people work longer days?

According to this working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, you should shorten your days if you want to get more done. The American Time Use Survey that they quote found that the more time people spend at work on a regular basis, the more time they spent goofing off.

Isn’t It Illegal To Change The Workday?

The standard work week in the US is capped at 40 hours for hourly workers, before things like overtime need to be taken into consideration. There is nothing in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandating a 40 hour workweek.

“The FLSA does not define full-time employment or part-time employment. This is a matter generally to be determined by the employer. Whether an employee is considered full-time or part-time does not change the application of the FLSA.”

The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or holidays (Federal or otherwise). These benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee.

Where hours take on a legal standing is how it relates to things like benefits. For example: the Affordable Care Act states that employers with 50 or more workers must provide health insurance to all full-time employees or pay a fine. The ACA defines full time as 30 hours of work per week.

So there are implications to changing the way the workday is structured. But Optimizing Your Pace is about outcome, not about trying to squeeze more work out of your employees for less money, or to escape the ACA mandate.

We see changing the hours required of an employee as a benefit, not a way to squeeze them out of benefits you have decided to offer them. In fact, if your employees are achieving more in less time, you have increased productivity, outcomes, even profit and are more able to offer competitive benefit packages that attract top talent.