dxw time

dxw time is what we call the time that our billable staff (Delivery+ and GovPress) spend not working on client work doing things for the company, along with other colleagues. What’s set out here is a general position and individual business units might have slightly different approaches.

dxw time is everything that does not fit the ‘client work’ category on Productive. It’s time spent on activities that are business focused and help dxw to grow and develop.

The amount of dxw time you can take #

We allow for, roughly, 1 dxw day every 10 working days. This reflects the 9-day sprints worked by everyone in a full-time, billable role. For people in roles with responsibilities for scheduling and managing across disciplines, like Heads of, this number is higher.

It’s time that’s factored into our business planning. As is additional time for the natural gaps that sometimes fall between projects.

How it works in practice #

In the past, dxw time has taken various forms. When we were smaller and based in one office, the team would come together in person every Friday often having worked at client offices for the rest of the week. The day was spent doing operational work and things to help the company run better.

Now we’re bigger, remote-first, located nationwide and with a range of working patterns, dxw time means people can do non-client work at different times, in a way that works alongside their client projects. Some people might put aside a short block of time every day, half a day a week, or a couple of days a month to work on something. For others, it will fall in an irregular pattern.

Some people will spend more time doing non-client work, and others will spend more time doing project work. We expect that and it’s fine. Heads are responsible for managing how dxw time is spent overall for their teams, so that our targets for client work are met and people have the time they need for non-client work.

How we expect people to use dxw time #

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but the things you spend dxw time on might include:

• line management outside of client work (line management support for projects is billable)
• helping with recruitment
• supporting our sales team with bids
• working with the marketing team on blog posts, case studies or events
• being a member of the Staff Council
• taking an active role in our DEI, Earth or Wellbeing groups
• getting involved in projects to improve our products or the way we work, like improving the Playbook, dxw website, how we use Productive or creating something new to help us be more effective and efficient

This work is essential to the company and we invest a lot in it.

If you’re in one of our billable teams, please talk to your line manager and agree how you will use dxw time. This should be reflected in your objectives. If you find yourself with a gap between projects, please use this time as dxw time. Speak to your Head and line manager to make sure you’re working on something that adds the most value for dxw.

Non-billable staff #

Of course, people in our non-billable teams also get involved in company-wide work and personal learning and development activity outside of their day jobs. This should be agreed with their line manager as part of their objectives in a similar way.

Last updated: 4 December 2023 (history)