Hi there,
I hope you had an exciting first half of summer – the year has been flying by faster than ever.
It’s been business as usual at Mäd: for us this means an ever-evolving stack of projects under our belt and a lively environment at the office.
We’ve had a busy sales cycle this quarter, lining up several new projects for Q3. Alongside this, we’re in the final stages of signing two strategic partnerships with leading software providers to support the growing requirements of our new and existing clients.
We’re continuing to develop our internal communications channels. Part of our goal has been to produce more high-quality insights – something we’ve been putting our efforts towards with our recent series about design and development (and more in the backlog). We’ve also maintained our presence on LinkedIn and grew our following.
Finally, we’re actively preparing to publish Work Like Mäd – our very first ebook that has been in the works for quite a while. Although this will be a completely novel experience where we’re guaranteed to encounter some trial and error, it’s certainly something we’re thrilled about.
Join the exclusive Work Like Mäd mailing list to find out more!
With all this going on, I’ve recently found myself reflecting on intentionality.
It’s invaluable to learn how to be deliberate in all that you do – whether it’s work, relaxation, or play. This means making informed decisions based on specific goals and committing to act on them.
Without this intentionality at work, it’s easy to fall into the “busyness” trap, where we feel busy yet struggle to make significant progress towards our goals and objectives. Especially when working on a flex-time schedule or 4-day work week, the ability to work more deeply is essential.
As a result of deep, intentional efforts, you can fully rest and recharge when you’re off work. This leaves you not only refreshed but also capable of achieving more with less.
As we’ve reached the end of our trial (and have decided to fully adopt this working arrangement for the time being), I’d like to look back on our 3-month experiment.
Our aim was to ensure that all team members are able to get closer to achieving a state of work-life balance – maintaining both work productivity and personal wellbeing. We’re still following a flex-time arrangement, just with more flexibility of how and where to use that time.
To get some insights and statistics, we conducted a company-wide survey halfway into the experiment, and once more at the end of it.
The majority of the team (80%) reported increased productivity and focus, with most people feeling more productive in the mornings (although this varies, which is why we advocate flex-time). We were happy to find that ALL of our team members reported improved well-being and happiness, stating that they’ve had more time for family, hobbies, and traveling.
As for client projects, we’ve been able to keep up with deadlines and reach set expectations. We’ve noticed that those of us who work with clients often tend to be result-focused, rather than thinking about defined working hours as such. Of course, there are Fridays when some of us do work but then again – the structure of the week as a whole is flexible enough to enable any adjustments that individual team members want to make.
To our surprise, our small trial was even noticed by the 4 Day Week Global organization! They reached out to us to find out about our experience as perhaps the first and only workplace in Cambodia to test the 4 day work week.
We’re optimistic that this experience has allowed our team to learn how to better balance their lives and avoid burnout. Our hope is that we can inspire other companies in the region to conduct their own trials and see the benefits for themselves.
Remember we mentioned a guide on how to find the balance between your design and development teams? We’ve now released the first two insights of the series – check them out below.
Putting ideas into words is a severe test. The first words you choose are usually wrong; you have to rewrite sentences over and over to get them exactly right.
The Harder You Try, The Worse It Gets | Law of Reversed Effort
We hope you’ve had a productive (and fun!) month. As always, we’re here to support you and your business if you have any inquiries or are looking to reach your digital transformation goals.
Have a great summer and stay safe!
Cheers,
Manny
Before you go, check out an introductory sneak peek from our upcoming ebook:
Hello.
This is the book that I wish I had when I first started my business.
Starting a business has been one of the most challenging things that I have accomplished. In hindsight, this could have been much easier if I had made better choices.
The only way to make better choices is to have the proper framework for decision-making. This should have foundations in both experiences (often known as mistakes!) and insights.
If you can learn from other people’s mistakes, that’s often better than making your own — hence this book.
This book analyzes the last seven years of experiences that I have had running Mäd, a strategic consultancy. I’ll be teasing out fundamental principles that helped me overcome my initial lack of knowledge.
I’ll be sharing some of the ideas and processes that I use to ensure I make the right decisions more often than not. The key idea is to run a calm business that has solid fundamentals.
Perfection, after all, is not required to be successful!
If you’re starting out, the advice here will save you a significant amount of headaches. It will also lead you to a successful business with sustainable growth.
By sustainable growth, I mean building a firm that:
If you already have a business, then you will gain value by discovering new ways of doing things.
P.S. Join our exclusive Work Like Mäd mailing list to be the first to know the official release date (and get a special offer – that’s on us!).
