Mike Melillo is co-founder and CEO of The Wanderlust Group Inc., a Newport-based technology company known for its outdoor adventure and boating-focused platforms.
Melillo spoke with PBN about the company’s decision to institute a four-day workweek and how that has affected workers and company growth, including the recent closing of a $30 million Series C funding round.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
PBN: When did you start a four-day workweek at The Wanderlust Group and what prompted that decision?
MELILLO: We first introduced a four-day work week in May 2020 at the height of the pandemic. As I’m sure many can attest, at the time we were all far too connected to work and our devices – myself included.
As I was prepping for work one Sunday, I decided we had to make a drastic change. I sent a note to my team saying that I wanted to move the company to a four-day work week, giving everyone Monday off. After seeing the difference it made in our employees’ lives, we later made the four-day workweek a permanent practice.
It’s not just that, although that would be enough. In addition, we’re an outdoor technology company. We’ve always believed in the value of spending time outside in nature. Moving to a four-day workweek aligned really well with our mission of getting people outdoors and created that space for our team to do so.
PBN: How has this policy affected you and your employees in terms of morale and productivity?
MELILLO: Since the practice went into place 18 months ago, we’ve seen some incredible changes to the company. Not only has employee morale and productivity grown, but we were able to reach and exceed yearly goals and key performance indicators. In the 12 months following the start of this policy, we hit nearly 100% year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue. On top of that, in 2021 we reached a major company milestone of 5 million stays booked through Dockwa, the company’s biggest platform.
On a personal note, it’s touching to hear how people are enjoying their extra day off. Employees have shared that they’ve used the time earning a pilot’s license or volunteering at a nonprofit youth sailing club. Others simply use the day as time to run errands so they can enjoy the full weekend with family and friends undistracted. I’ve even received four handwritten thank-you notes from spouses of employees after instituting this practice, which speaks to the impact it can have on a whole family.
PBN: Have there been any disadvantages or drawbacks to this new schedule, particularly in dealing with other companies or customers who may be working on days your workers are not?
MELILLO: For us to do this, we needed to ensure that our customers weren’t left unsupported. So, we chose Monday – a day that is traditionally less busy for our recreation-focused customers – and we put our customer support team on a rotating four-day schedule so there would be no point in the week at which we didn’t have someone on staff to help customers.
As for drawbacks, we haven’t hit upon many yet, but I will say it is a big transition. You cannot simply switch to a four-day workweek and not change anything else about the way you operate. For example, we cut about a third of standing meetings when we made this shift. And we’re disciplined about meeting creep. If a meeting doesn’t have a strong, purposeful agenda – we skip it. As a result, we’ve had to get better at asynchronous communication. We use a central wiki, set clear goals and document our decisions. It has taken intention to get this right and we’re learning all the time.
PBN: You recently closed a Series C funding round while keeping a four-day workweek. Was this challenging? How did you manage that kind of fundraising on a reduced work schedule?
MELILLO: We’re proud to be one of the first tech startups that was able to accomplish a major funding round while working a reduced schedule. There were days in this process that required me personally to work on an off-day or take a Monday flight, but I am proud that it didn’t change much about the rest of the team’s schedule. To me, the biggest takeaway from the whole experience is that our results, not our work schedule, were the focus of the round. Not once did I have to address our work schedule because the team proved that we work smarter on a shorter week.
PBN: What advice or tips would you offer to other companies thinking about a similar four-day workweek policy?
MELILLO: Momentum is building on the four-day workweek. Since we started doing this, we’ve met a diverse range of other companies finding success running on a shortened week: from a large global agency with 1,200 employees to a manufacturing company. These companies all started, as we did, with a pilot period. A pilot period allows you to really get a sense for what a shortened workweek would be like in practice for your company. It dispels fears and surfaces adjustments.
If you want support, there’s a nonprofit organization called 4 Day Week Global that helps companies structure their pilot program and supports them with examples and resources. We discovered 4 Day Week Global after having adopted the practice ourselves, but this year we’ve gotten involved as a mentor organization for companies just getting started with it.
Nancy Lavin is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
