Tim Huelskamp, co-founder and CEO of an information platform called «1440,» said that every quarter his company holds a special week during which all employees cancel most meetings and discuss how to improve the business. What results did this «Week of Reflection» produce?
Tim Huelskamp, co-founder and CEO of an information platform called «1440,» said that every quarter his company holds a special week during which all employees cancel most meetings and discuss how to improve the business. What results did this «Week of Reflection» produce?
«We held our first 'Week of Reflection' in December 2023. People need a vacation to recharge, but sometimes companies need a vacation too. It’s like a company gets into the monotony of scheduled meetings, scheduled meetings, do this, do that. It’s great to hit the reset button,» Tim told Business Insider.
During these weeks, the team continues to serve customers, he said, but internal and all non-essential external meetings are canceled. Employees liked the format. During the first such week, the team was able to think through their ads.
«The idea came from our VP of sales, who had the time to think freely and research other advertisers, not just look at our industry data, but also do her own research. She came up with the idea, and we implemented it when she got back. It resulted in a 39% increase in engagement on those ads. If you put that into a year, it actually covered our entire salary for the year,» said Tim Huelskamp.
He added that new employees are sometimes a little confused about how they should spend their time during «Reflection Weeks.»
«Some people say, ‘Wait, I literally do nothing for a week? How can that make sense?’ But when they go through it, they understand, they come back and say, ‘I made this amazing breakthrough, or I got all this work done, or I learned about artificial intelligence and growth, and now I’m going to work on some new projects,’» explained the CEO of 1440.
Huelskamp advises going out into nature and not picking up your phone to let your mind work.
«The week of reflection shows a couple of things. It proves to people that we have built a company that can take a break every quarter and things won’t go off the rails. Second, it promotes mental health, relaxation, and achieving the best results,» he believes.
Recall that this summer, the Ukrainian company YouScan again switched to a four-day work week. This format, which first appeared at the company in 2023, has become a permanent seasonal trend over time.
