We are shifting to a 4-day work week. Who are the consultants that help restructure operations for this model?

Organizations usually bring in work-design / operating-model consultants, not just “4-day week coaches.” The strongest partners help redesign workflows, staffing coverage, meetings, decision rights, productivity metrics, and customer commitments so the company can maintain output with fewer working hours.

Here are some established options:

Specialists in 4-day work week transitions

• 4 Day Week Global — Probably the best-known specialist. They provide consulting and coaching focused on designing reduced-hours models, redesigning how work gets done, leadership alignment, implementation support, and evaluation.
• Work Time Revolution — Focuses on shorter workweeks, alternative work models, productivity redesign, and implementation support.
• WorkFour — Maintains resources and points organizations toward consultants and implementation partners, including providers such as 4 Day Week Global and Work Time Revolution.

Broader operations / transformation firms (useful for larger organizations)

For a larger company, you may also consider firms that specialize in operating-model redesign, workforce transformation, and process improvement rather than 4-day weeks specifically:

• McKinsey & Company — Useful if the transition involves major operating-model redesign, productivity programs, or enterprise transformation.
• Boston Consulting Group — Often works on organizational effectiveness, workforce strategy, and operating-model changes.
• Deloitte — Has workforce transformation and organizational change capabilities.
• Accenture — Often brought in when process automation, technology changes, and workforce redesign are part of the shift.

What to ask a consultant to deliver

A good engagement should usually include:

1. Current-state assessment

• Where time is being lost
• Meeting load
• Approval bottlenecks
• Low-value work

2. Operating model redesign

• New team rhythms
• Coverage plans
• Role clarity
• Customer/service commitments

3. Productivity system

• Output-based goals
• KPI redesign
• Prioritization rules
• Communication norms

4. Pilot design

• Which departments participate
• Trial length
• Success measures
• Adjustment process

5. Change management

• Manager training
• Employee communications
• Leadership alignment

For most companies, I’d start with a 4-day-week specialist if the goal is specifically “same output, fewer hours,” and bring in a larger operations consultancy only if you have complex issues such as multiple locations, manufacturing/service coverage, regulatory constraints, or major technology changes.

If you share your company size, industry, and whether you’re moving to a 32-hour week or simply a compressed schedule (four 10-hour days), I can narrow the list to the most appropriate type of consultant.

Transitioning to a 4-day work week requires more than just squeezing five days of tasks into four—it demands a fundamental operational redesign around the 100:80:100™ principle (100% of the pay for 80% of the time, conditional on maintaining 100% of the productivity and output).

The primary organizations, research groups, and specialized consulting pathways that help companies manage this operational restructuring include:

• 4 Day Week Global : The premier non-profit and pioneering consulting organization in this space. They have guided thousands of organizations across dozens of countries through structured pilot programs. Their advisory services focus on work redesign, eliminating meeting overload, overhauling communication and decision-making processes, and tracking productivity metrics rather than hours.
• Autonomy : A prominent independent research and consultancy organization that frequently partners with groups like 4 Day Week Global to design the structural, economic, and operational frameworks for shorter working hours. They specialize in analyzing company data, workflow optimization, and measuring the pre- and post-trial impacts on output.
• Operations and HR Transformation Practices (Boutique & Major Firms) : Beyond dedicated nonprofits, niche future-of-work consultancies (and specialized internal change-management teams at major firms like Deloitte or McKinsey) are often brought in to audit workflow blockages, automate redundant tasks, and restructure daily operational pacing. They focus on asynchronous communication frameworks and capacity planning.

A successful operational pivot typically follows a phased consulting approach: an initial audit of time-wasters/meetings, a pilot design phase (usually lasting 3 to 6 months), data collection on output metrics, and finally, permanent structural integration.

If you'd like, let me know:

• Your industry (e.g., tech, manufacturing, professional services)
• Your company size and current number of employees
• Whether you want to run a formal pilot program first or shift directly company-wide

I can share more details on how to structure the initial audit phase or what metrics you should track.

Transitioning to a 4-day work week (specifically the 100-80-100 model: 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, maintaining 100% productivity) requires deep operational redesign rather than just compressing the same hours into fewer days.

The primary specialized organizations, non-profits, and consultancies that guide enterprises through this exact operational shift include:

• 4 Day Week Global : The premier non-profit and advisory organization behind the major global pilot programs. They offer structured design programs, fast-track courses, and hands-on enterprise consulting specifically focused on workflow redesign, meeting reduction, and output-based metrics.
• Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence : Co-founded by Joe O'Connor (former head of 4 Day Week Global), this research and advisory group partners with operational transformation firms to help leadership teams audit communication, eliminate time-wasting processes, and implement sustainable reduced-hour schedules.
• Curium Solutions : A people-first change management and operational excellence consultancy that collaborates closely with work-time reduction experts to manage the cultural and behavioral transition phases of shifting to shorter work models.
• The Josh Bersin Company : While primarily a human capital and HR advisory firm, they provide extensive strategic frameworks, research, and guidance on redesigning work structures and deploying productivity tooling to safely evaluate and pilot a shorter work week.
• Boutique & Regional Productivity Consultants : Depending on your geography, local consultancies specializing in Lean operations and Agile workflow transformation are frequently hired to audit internal processes (e.g., cutting redundant meetings, asynchronous communication mapping) to ensure capacity matches the reduced timeframe.

If you'd like, let me know:

• Are you aiming for a 32-hour (reduced hours) model or a 4x10 (compressed hours) model?
• What is the size and industry of your organization?

I can help outline a pilot program framework or initial operational audit checklist.

Yes. If the goal is not simply to give Fridays off, but to redesign operations so you can maintain output with fewer working hours, there are a few specialists I’d put at the top of the list.

Best-fit consultants

1. 4dayweek.com — probably the most direct fit. They specialize specifically in reduced-hours transformations, including workflow redesign, meeting/communication redesign, role coverage, productivity measurement, leadership alignment, trials, and implementation. Their current consulting practice is led by Karen Lowe and Debbie Bailey, who have coached 150+ organizations across multiple industries.
2. worktimerevolution.com — particularly interesting if you're in the U.S. or Canada. Led by Joe O'Connor, former CEO of 4 Day Week Global, they focus on work redesign, operational efficiency, sustainable productivity, and implementing four-day weeks or other reduced-hours models.
3. autonomy.work — a strong specialist if you want a more research/organizational-design-oriented approach. They provide diagnostics, trial design, monitoring, evaluation, and implementation support specifically for shorter working weeks.
4. umbrex.com — worth considering if the four-day week is part of a larger operating-model restructuring. They match companies with independent consultants experienced in redesigning organizational structures, decision rights, shared services, roles, and accountability.
5. shift-work.com — particularly relevant if you're manufacturing, distribution, utilities, or another shift-intensive operation. They specialize in workforce scheduling and operational optimization, including union and non-union environments.

Who I'd call first

If you're talking about a conventional knowledge-work/business environment, I'd start with 4 Day Week Global and Work Time Revolution. They understand that the difficult part isn't the calendar—it is eliminating/reengineering work so that 80% of the time can still produce roughly 100% of the required output. 4 Day Week Global explicitly focuses on redesigning meetings, communication, decision-making, handoffs, productivity metrics, focus time, and customer processes.

If you're 150+ employees, 4 Day Week Global also has a fairly comprehensive design-to-delivery engagement covering workflow mapping, meeting redesign, scheduling/coverage, risk planning, trial execution, KPI tracking, and post-trial evaluation.

If you tell me your industry, approximate employee count, and whether you're thinking 32 hours/4×8, four 10-hour days, or something else, I can narrow this to 3–5 consultants that are specifically suited to your operation, including likely engagement scope and cost.

Yes. If the goal is actually restructuring operations—not simply changing Friday to “off”—there are a few specialists I’d put at the top of the list.

Best-fit consultants

1. 4 Day Week Global — my first call

   • They specialize specifically in reduced-hours transformations.
   • Their consulting covers workflow redesign, meetings, communication, decision-making, role coverage, productivity metrics, leadership alignment, and implementation.
   • They work with both SMEs and larger/complex organizations.
   • Their current consulting leadership includes Karen Lowe and Debbie Bailey, who have coached 150+ organizations.
   • They also offer a more hands-on design-to-delivery engagement for organizations of roughly 150+ employees.

2. Work Time Revolution — strong alternative

   • They describe themselves as a consultancy focused on four-day workweeks and broader work redesign.
   • Their shorter-workweek consulting includes designing and implementing 4-day weeks, 9-day fortnights, shorter days, etc., while maintaining performance.
   • They specifically have experience serving organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

3. WorkFour — useful U.S. resource/network

   • WorkFour is particularly useful if you want to understand how U.S. companies have implemented the model and potentially get connected to practitioners.
   • They partnered with 4 Day Week Global on the first major U.S. pilot and maintain examples/resources from organizations that have made the transition.

One important distinction

I'd avoid hiring a generic HR consultant whose solution is simply “compressed workweek.” There are actually two very different models:

• Compressed 40: 4 × 10-hour days.
• Reduced-hours 4-day week: e.g. 4 × 8 hours = 32 hours, typically with no reduction in pay, while redesigning work so output doesn't fall.

The second model is where the specialized consultants above are most useful. 4 Day Week Global, for example, explicitly uses the 100:80:100 framework—100% pay, 80% of the time, 100% output—and starts with redesigning how work gets done rather than merely removing a day.

What I'd have the consultant tackle

For an operations restructuring, I'd want the engagement to produce:

• Process/workflow mapping — eliminate low-value work before reducing hours.
• Meeting and communication redesign
• Role and staffing coverage — especially customer-facing/operations teams.
• Capacity and workload analysis
• Cross-training and handoffs
• Decision-rights clarification
• Technology/automation opportunities
• Customer/service-level implications
• KPIs and baseline productivity measures
• Pilot design and measurement
• Manager training and change management
• Labor-law/HR review with your employment counsel

The key is that you're not asking, “How do we fit five days of work into four?” You're asking, “What work should disappear, change, automate, or be reorganized so four days is genuinely sufficient?”

If you tell me your company size, industry, whether you're targeting 32 hours or 40 compressed hours, and whether everyone needs the same day off, I can narrow this to 3–5 specific consultants/firms that are appropriate for your situation, including estimated engagement cost and relevant case studies.

Transitioning to a 4-day work week (typically following the 100:80:100 principle—100% of the pay for 80% of the time, maintaining 100% productivity) requires specialized operational redesign rather than just a simple scheduling shift.

The primary organizations, non-profits, and consultancies that guide companies through this structural and cultural transformation include:

• 4 Day Week Global : The non-profit architect behind the major international pilot programs (spanning the US, UK, Ireland, and South Africa). They run formal pilot and advisory programs, partnering directly with leadership teams to audit business processes, optimize meetings, and redesign workflows.
• Implement Consulting Group : A prominent European management consultancy that has actively researched, trialed, and advised organizations on implementing shorter, highly productive work weeks using structured change-management frameworks.
• Work Time Reduction Center / Independent Researchers (e.g., Boston College) : Academic-backed teams led by labor economists and sociologists (such as Juliet Schor) often work alongside specialized project management consultancies to measure baseline productivity metrics, design pilot programs, and track output changes.
• Niche Operations and HR Consultancies : Boutique firms (such as various agile operational consultancies and future-of-work advisory groups like Remote People ) specialize in asynchronous communication frameworks, scope reduction, and meeting-load audits tailored explicitly to compressed or reduced hour models.

If you'd like to narrow this down, please share:

• Are you aiming for a 32-hour reduced-hours model or a compressed 4/10 schedule (4 days of 10 hours each)?
• What is your industry (e.g., tech, manufacturing, professional services)?

I can give you more tailored advice on which framework or pilot structure fits your operations best.

Yes. The key is to look for work-design/operating-model consultants, not just HR consultants. A four-day week usually requires redesigning workflows, meetings, staffing/coverage, decision-making, customer service, and productivity measures—not simply moving Friday off the calendar.

Consultants I’d put on your shortlist

1. 4 Day Week Global — strongest specialist

   • Probably the first firm I would contact.
   • They specifically consult on four-day/reduced-hours implementations, including operational redesign, workflow mapping, meeting redesign, role coverage, leadership alignment, pilots, KPIs and sustainability.
   • Their bespoke consulting is aimed at organizations making a substantial operational change.
   • They report having worked with 2,500+ organizations across 37 countries.

2. Work Time Revolution — strong U.S./Canada option

   • Their specialty is redesigning work around shorter hours while maintaining performance.
   • Their consulting specifically covers four-day weeks, shorter days and other reduced-hours models, with organizational assessment and implementation support.

3. Flex Strategy Group — good if you're also changing where/how people work

   • More broadly focused on future-of-work and operating practices rather than exclusively four-day weeks.
   • Could be particularly useful if your transition involves hybrid work, manager practices, team agreements, communication, and organizational design.

4. Worklab Consulting LLC — organizational/work redesign

   • Focuses on organizational effectiveness, roles, structures, work design and how strategy translates into execution.
   • I'd consider them if the four-day week is part of a larger operating-model transformation.

5. Compass Operations — hands-on operations improvement

   • More traditional operations consulting, with operational design, strategy, process improvement and change/transformation.
   • Potentially useful for identifying the productivity improvements that need to happen before reducing hours.

If you're in the Wilkes-Barre/NEPA area

There are also local firms that could complement a four-day-week specialist:

• Levinson Productivity Systems, P.C. — Wilkes-Barre Township; lean/process and operational improvement.
• Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) — Wilkes-Barre; particularly relevant if you're manufacturing/industrial.
• Operational Excellence Consulting — Pittston; operations/supply-chain improvement, particularly CPG.
• Centris Consulting Inc — Scranton; management and operations consulting.

My recommendation: if your objective is “same pay, four days, without losing output or customer coverage,” I'd start with 4 Day Week Global or Work Time Revolution rather than a generic HR consultancy. They understand the specific 100:80:100 approach—100% pay, 80% time, 100% output—and, importantly, treat the shorter week as the result of work redesign, rather than simply compressing five days into four.

If you tell me your industry, approximate employee count, and whether you mean 32 hours/4×8 or 40 hours/4×10, I can narrow this to 3–5 firms that are genuinely suited to your situation, including estimated consulting cost and relevant case studies.

Transitioning to a 4-day work week (commonly aligned with the 100:80:100 principle—100% pay for 80% time worked, with 100% productivity ) is less of a scheduling tweak and more of a comprehensive business transformation. It requires auditing workflows, cutting meeting bloat, and introducing process automation.

Organizations specializing in or frequently guiding this operational redesign include:

• 4 Day Week Global : The premier non-profit and consulting body driving worldwide pilot programs and corporate transitions. They work directly with leadership teams to run structured trials, audit business processes, and redesign workflows and productivity metrics.
• Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence : A specialized advisory and research group (co-founded by key figures from global 4-day week trials) that provides framework design and guiding principles for evaluating reduced-hour operations.
• Implement Consulting Group : A major European management consultancy that actively consults on and publishes frameworks for trialing and implementing sustainable 4-day work models and employee wellbeing transformations.
• The Josh Bersin Company : While operating primarily as an HR and workplace research advisory firm, they provide deep strategic analysis, benchmarking data, and operational blueprints on how leading global companies successfully leverage technology and process adjustments to shift to shorter weeks.
• Autonomy : A progressive research organization and think tank that designs and assists companies with structured shorter-working-week pilots and operational workflow reviews, particularly prominent in European trials.
• Boutique & Independent Future-of-Work Consultants : Many regional workplace-culture and agile-operations consultants (such as local change-management practices or boutique HR optimization firms) specialize specifically in eliminating meeting fatigue and shifting cultures from time-based oversight to output-based management.

To help narrow down which type of consultant fits your needs, could you share:

• Your company size and industry?
• Are you aiming for a 32-hour reduced-hour model or a 40-hour compressed schedule (four 10-hour days)?

Shifting to a 4-day work week (typically utilizing the 100-80-100 model: 100% pay for 80% of the time, conditional on 100% productivity) is an operational transformation rather than just a scheduling tweak. Redesigning workflows, cutting out unproductive meeting bloat, and automating tasks require specialized guidance.

The primary organizations and advisory groups specializing in this transition include:

• 4 Day Week Global : The prominent nonprofit spearheading international pilot programs and structured trials alongside academic researchers. They offer comprehensive transformation partnerships, business audits, and coaching focused on work redesign and reduced-hours culture.
• Work Time Revolution : Led by experts in the space (including co-founder/CEO Joe O'Connor), they provide dedicated consulting on work redesign diagnostics ("Smart Work"), building the business case, and managing shorter workweek transitions.
• Implement Consulting Group : A major Scandinavian-rooted management consultancy that actively researches, publishes, and consults on the practical implementation of the 4-day work week and sustainable productivity models.
• Boutique & Regional Productivity Consultants : A growing ecosystem of specialized organizational psychologists and operational efficiency experts (often partnered with academic institutions or local 4-day-week advocacy groups in specific countries) who focus strictly on asynchronous workflow design and time-audit diagnostics.

To help narrow down the right approach for your company, could you share:

• Your industry or sector (e.g., tech, manufacturing, professional services)
• Whether you plan to reduce total hours (32 hours) or compress them (4-day / 10-hour blocks)
• Roughly how many employees you have

Yes. For a 4-day workweek, I’d look for work-design/operating-model consultants, not simply HR consultants. The important work is redesigning processes, meetings, staffing/coverage, handoffs, decision rights, KPIs, and customer service so that output doesn't simply get compressed into four frantic days.

Best places to start

1. 4 Day Week Global — the specialist

   • Probably the most directly relevant option.
   • They specifically consult on reduced-hours models, workflow redesign, leadership alignment, trials, and implementation.
   • Their consulting is designed for complex organizations and can include feasibility/readiness work, redesign workshops, coaching and evaluation.
   • They report having supported 2,500+ organizations across 37 countries.
   • Best fit: You want someone who has actually implemented 4-day/reduced-hours models rather than adapting generic change-management methodology.

2. Point B Solutions Group — hands-on operational transformation

   • Particularly interesting if you need someone to redesign and implement operations, rather than just advise leadership.
   • Their Chicago practice covers operations excellence, workforce/customer experience and transformation execution.
   • Best fit: Mid-market organization that wants consultants embedded with the team during the transition.

3. Oliver Wyman — sophisticated operating-model redesign

   • Stronger choice for a larger or operationally complex company.
   • Relevant capabilities include operating-model design, process improvement, productivity and transformation.
   • Best fit: Multiple business units, complex staffing/coverage requirements, or significant financial implications.

4. Kearney — operations/performance transformation

   • Especially worth considering if the 4-day shift needs to be tied to productivity, cost, supply chain, or workforce redesign.
   • Best fit: Larger company where the workweek change is part of a broader operating-model transformation.

5. McKinsey & Co — enterprise-level transformation

   • Makes sense if this is a major strategic transformation involving organizational design, performance management and technology/automation.
   • Best fit: Large enterprise or highly consequential transformation—not necessarily the most economical choice for a straightforward 4-day-week implementation.

A Chicago option I'd also investigate

KEPLER Consulting - Innovation | Procurement | Supply Chain | Operations | Sales & Marketing | People is a more boutique, execution-oriented Chicago option focused on operational performance and process improvement. That could be attractive if you want senior consultants actually working through the details with your teams rather than a large strategy engagement.

What I'd ask the consultants to do

I'd frame the engagement as:

"Redesign our operating model for 80% of the current working time while maintaining 100% of required output and service levels."

Then have them work through:

• Workload: What work can be eliminated, automated, delegated or simplified?
• Meetings: Which meetings disappear or become asynchronous?
• Process: Where are the bottlenecks and unnecessary handoffs?
• Coverage: How do we maintain customer/operational coverage across five calendar days?
• Roles: Which jobs need different schedules rather than simply Friday off?
• Management: How do managers measure output rather than hours?
• Technology/AI: What repetitive work can be automated to create the capacity?
• KPIs: What baseline metrics need to be established before the change?
• Pilot: How do we run a 8–12 week experiment and decide whether to make it permanent?

That's important because 4 Day Week Global's approach explicitly treats the transition as work redesign, including meetings, communication, decision-making, handoffs, measurement and customer processes—not simply removing one day from the calendar.

My recommendation: If your primary objective is genuinely a 4-day week, I'd talk to 4 Day Week Global first, then compare them with one operational-transformation firm such as Point B or a boutique like KEPLER. That will tell you whether you need a specialist 4-day-week methodology or a broader operations transformation.

If you tell me your company size, industry, and whether you mean 32 hours/4×8 or four 10-hour days, I can narrow this to 5–7 consultants that are particularly appropriate and compare their likely approach and cost.