logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
19m 42s

How We Work: Summer Fridays

37signals
About this episode

In this episode, host Kimberly Rhodes chats with 37signals' cofounders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson about the company's Summer Fridays policy, which grants employees a four-day workweek from May to September. While the perk encourages work-life balance and a feeling of seasonality, there are drawbacks to consider, like reduced productivity.


Key Takeaways:

00:46 - 37signals' Summer Friday policy and why it was initially introduced

03:09 - The trade-offs the company makes with summer hours

10:12 - The challenge with summer hours in the pursuit of more ambitious goals

13:09 - How the company balances coverage for always-on teams, like customer support

16:17 - The effect on team projects that require collaboration


Links and Resources:

Samsung shifts to emergency mode with 6-day work week for executives

The Hawthorne Effect

Books by 37signals

Sign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.com

HEY World | HEY

The REWORK podcast

The Rework Podcast on YouTube

The 37signals Dev Blog

37signals on YouTube

@37signals on X

Up next
Oct 8
Built on Trust
Trust is the foundation of any strong company. In this episode of The REWORK Podcast, 37signals co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson joins host Kimberly Rhodes to explore what it really means to build a high-trust organization. David shares how trust shapes the culture and ... Show More
27m 59s
Oct 1
Refining before release
As 37signals gets closer to launching their newest product, Fizzy, Jason Fried joins host Kimberly Rhodes to reflect on the final stretch of development. He shares the trade-offs of setting your own deadlines, the importance of onboarding new customers, and the company's process ... Show More
24m 43s
Sep 24
Escaping Workaholism
In their book REWORK, 37signals' co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson caution against glorifying nonstop work. In this week's podcast, they tackle a listener's questions related to the chapter Workaholism and dig into employee management including how to measure p ... Show More
21m 39s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
How Collaboration Fuels One Entrepreneur’s Business
This week on Stay Paid, Krisztina Bell—Georgia real estate agent and proud owner of two staging companies—shares how working with a stager can help agents boost their clients’ and help quickly sell a home for top dollar. She also explains how she collaborates with other local sta ... Show More
31m 31s
Sep 2023
GTM 59: Weekly Active Users Up 33% by Making the Hard Decisions Faster with Melanie Fellay
Melanie Fellay is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spekit, a just-in-time platform that is transforming how we learn at work. Spekit meets reps with the process guidance, enablement and knowledge they need, right when they need it, in their flow of work to help them be more efficient, d ... Show More
49m 47s
Nov 2023
The Power of Focus and Playing The Game (on Leveling Up with Eric Siu) Pt. 1 - Aug ‘23 | Ep 634
“We will do our jobs. We will do a good job. We will do all of the basics and we will do it every time.” Today, join Alex (@AlexHormozi) he guests on Leveling Up with Eric Siu to discuss the challenges and lessons learned from running multiple businesses simultaneously, emphasizi ... Show More
59m 58s
Sep 2019
The High School Party Concept | INSIDE 4Ds
Podcast listeners, today you get a special Inside 4Ds episode. This session took place on August 15th out of our NYC office. As you know 4Ds is one of my favorite things to do as I get to help solve every day business problems that entrepreneurs, SMBs and personal brands deal wit ... Show More
1h 14m
Jul 2019
I Care More About Employee Retention Than Profit | Brand Minds Podcast
Today’s podcast is from a talk I did in Sweden a few weeks back. We talked a lot about why engagement is the most crucial factor for results and the well being of your employees, as well as accountability and entitlement. Please tweet me @garyvee with any takeaways from this epis ... Show More
45m 44s
Dec 2023
The Future of the Office: The Hard Choices We All Face
In this episode of the HR Leaders podcast, I'm joined by Peter Cappelli, Wharton Management Professor, to discuss The Future of the Office: the Hard Choices We All Face. 👉 Subscribe to HR Leaders: http://bit.ly/2wFkCEq🎙️ Listen on your favourite platform: https://art19.com/show ... Show More
38m 23s
Mar 2023
Episode 37: Why the “remote vs. office” conversation is missing the point
In this week’s episode, our co-founders Darja and Anthony chatted with Scott Markovits. Scott was one of the Founding Team at InVision - one of the first companies to work fully remotely (before either Zoom or Slack were created). Since then Scott has helped tons of other compani ... Show More
56m 10s
Jun 2024
25 Years Of Founder WISDOM In 55 Minutes (ft. Jason Fried)
Episode 592:  Sam Parr ( https://twitter.com/theSamParr ) and Jason Fried ( https://x.com/jasonfried ) open up about personal finances, raising kids around wealth and dealing with risk.  —Show Notes:(0:00) Sam and Jason play Would You Rather...(5:15) Loosening the grip on the sti ... Show More
59m 43s
Jan 2024
Trane Technologies: Hot and Cold - [Business Breakdowns, EP.144]
This is Matt Reustle. Today we venture into the world of HVAC to break down Trane Technologies. Now, it's not often that I come across an industrial company with a $50 billion market cap that I just hadn't heard of. So when our guest today, Brett Larson, investor at NZS Capital, ... Show More
46m 53s