{"id":28220,"date":"2021-12-14T12:39:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T12:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toggl.com\/blog\/?p=28220"},"modified":"2024-09-24T20:27:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T20:27:29","slug":"work-culture-at-toggl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toggl.com\/blog\/work-culture-at-toggl","title":{"rendered":"Why Toggl Chose RAFT Over 40 Hour Workweeks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At Toggl, we\u2019ve been living and touting the benefits of working from anywhere since 2014. Not just that, but we\u2019ve also made a big bet on the future of remote work by creating tools that enable distributed teams to be more productive and successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working remotely has worked out well for us, too. Hundreds of thousands of users now track time on our app<\/a> daily, and our team has gone from about a dozen to almost 100 since 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from anywhere in the world also means working at any time. A 9-5 day doesn\u2019t make sense when your globally distributed team is spread out across five different continents. Now we\u2019re experimenting with total work hours, period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re trying out something called RAFT\u2013 Results and Accountability First at Toggl. It\u2019s about giving people complete control when it comes to how long they spend at work. It\u2019s about focusing on results rather than hours worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is RAFT at Toggl?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

RAFT is about results over effort, hours, or passion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By emphasizing results, we aim to give everyone on the team the freedom to figure out the rest. How long you work, when and where you work, and even how hard you work is totally up to the individual\u2014as long as you\u2019re doing good work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re free to run errands on a Monday, work a 4-day week, or wrap up undone work on a Sunday night. If this is what helps you get results, we\u2019re not going to stand in the way.<\/p>Toggl<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These freedoms are different from company benefits, like paid time off. You don\u2019t have to ask for permission from your manager or feel guilty because you produced the same results in less time. The only condition is that you can\u2019t slow down other team members who rely on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We track time to protect against overwork<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Time and again, we see tech companies that offer unlimited paid time off, which is, of course, unlimited only in theory<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can have all the vacation days in the world, but they\u2019re useless if you can\u2019t use \u2018em because you need to hit a certain target by the end of the quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Toggl we defend against overwork with time tracking<\/a>. Time tracking<\/a> allows us to understand how long things take, improve our planning, and also spot inconsistencies in how work is allocated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don’t think anyone should have to work 40 hours a week to get results. If it’s constantly taking someone 60 hours to do something that someone else might be able to finish in 30 hours, we’d rather put our money on the latter. Overtime is not a virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re results-oriented<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t believe in getting the work done at the cost of your mental and physical health and wellbeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time tracking helps us find this balance. But once again, it\u2019s up to the individual to decide on the process that works for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why RAFT?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Self-determination theory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m particularly bullish on this approach because I see how closely it\u2019s linked to a fundamental theory about what keeps humans motivated, productive, and happy\u2014Self-determination theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-determination theory states that we have three basic needs in life in order to feel fulfilled: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How RAFT promotes autonomy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a team, we already do a lot in relation to the first two. RAFT is the final piece in the puzzle for the third need, autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n