Aaaargh! Oh, wait. There's cake? Well then...
1) It will usually be viewed as an informal party, and should always be accompanied by food.
2) If done too often, employees will begin sluffing off on Friday, because they know they’re going to have to make up the time on Saturday anyway and they need to enjoy their weekend while they can. (This may not pertain to your employees, per se, but I’m surprised at how often this one pops up.)
3) If used rarely, productivity and creativity can almost double on these days because your employees now it isn’t their usual 9 to 5 and they need to come in with their game faces on.
4) Starting at 10 instead of 8 will go a long way toward tcutting back on the complaining when it’s time for your team to get out of bed.
5) Nobody really needs to wear a suit and a tie to the office on Saturday.
6) If you know you’re going to need your team to work on Saturday, consider taking them out for lunch during the week. Unless that hour could get you out of working on the weekend, in which case you’re better off staying right where you are.
7) Make weekends project driven, not time driven. Knowing they have to get the first three stages of a project done by Monday morning, your team will bust their humps to get those stages out and get out of there as quickly as possible. If they know they’re stuck until 4 regardless, they’re going to drag the process out under a case of the weekend “I don’t wannas” for as long as possible, and may still be cutting it close at the end of the day-if they don’t just decide to roll over what they haven’t done until Monday morning.
8) Opening the windows might seem like cruel and unusual punishment but there’s almost nothing more painful than a grey, gloomy office on a bright, sunny Saturday. So let the sunshine in, take it with a grin, and go out there and get ‘er done!