# Worked example — four sources on a four-day week ## Input given to the skill > Acme is thinking about moving our 14-person support team to a four-day week. Can you > synthesise these four sources? I've pasted the relevant pages below. > > 1. Northwind People Team, "Four-day week pilot: final report" (internal, Feb 2026, 18 pp.). > Excerpts: p3 "The pilot ran for six months with 60 staff." p6 "Tickets closed per person > fell 2% against the prior six months." p9 "Self-reported burnout fell from 41% to 22%." > p11 "Sick days fell 30%." p12, Table 3: support team first-response time up 9%. > 2. Contoso Research, "Shorter Weeks 2026" (survey of 1,200 managers, Mar 2026, 32 pp.). > p7 "63% of managers at firms trialling shorter weeks say productivity was maintained or > improved." p14 "18% report coverage problems in customer-facing teams." > 3. Transcript of my interview with our support team lead, 12 Mar 2026, 41 min. > 00:14:20 "Fridays the queue builds up, Monday is brutal." 00:22:05 "Honestly the team is > happier." 00:31:40 "If we do it, I'd want people to take different days off." > 4. Fabrikam News, "Four-day week works, says survey" (Apr 2026). Paragraph 2 reports the > Contoso survey's 63% figure. --- ## First draft, checked The first draft went through the checker before it was shown to the user: ```bash python3 scripts/citations.py synthesis.md ``` ``` # Citation check: synthesis-v1.md Sources: 4 · Claims checked: 12 · Errors: 4 · Warnings: 1 · Result: FAIL ## Errors: citations that do not resolve (1) - line 49: [S1:p3; S5:p2] — no source S5 in the list ## Errors: malformed citations (1) - line 48: [S1, S3] — write one id per part, separated by ';', e.g. [S1:p4; S2:p7] ## Errors: uncited claims (2) - line 33: "The usual fix is a staggered rota so the desk is covered five days a week." - line 48: "- No source measures customer satisfaction scores, only response times [S1, S3]." ## Warnings: citations with no location (1) - line 44: [S2] — add a page, section or timestamp ## Warnings: sources never cited (0) None. ## Info: [outside] claims to check by hand (0) None. ``` What each error meant: - **Line 33** was a sentence from memory ("The usual fix is a staggered rota…"). No source says it. It was cut; the team lead's suggestion at 00:31:40 already sits, cited, under "What the sources do not say", with the note that nothing tests it. - **Lines 48–49** had a malformed citation and a typo'd id (S5). Fixed to `[S1:p12; S3:00:14:20]` and `[S1:p3]`. - **Line 44** cited S2 with no page. Fixed to `[S2:p14]`. After the fixes the checker reports: ``` Sources: 4 · Claims checked: 11 · Errors: 0 · Warnings: 0 · Result: PASS ``` S4 is cited once, and only to record that it repeats S2. That is deliberate: the register counts it with S2, so F1 rests on two lines of evidence, not three. --- ## Output: the synthesis as delivered # Synthesis: four-day week for Acme's support team _Prepared 2026-04-20 · 4 sources (3 independent) · Question from the user_ ## Question Should Acme move its 14-person support team to a four-day week? Sub-questions: does output hold up, does wellbeing improve, and what happens to customer response times? ## Bottom line Output held roughly steady and burnout fell in the one controlled pilot [S1:p6; S1:p9], and a manager survey points the same way on output [S2:p7]. The clear cost is customer coverage: response times rose in the pilot's support team [S1:p12] and Acme's own team lead describes a Monday backlog [S3:00:14:20]. The evidence on output is moderate; on coverage it is limited but consistent. ## Findings ### F1. Output per person held roughly steady In Northwind's six-month pilot of 60 staff, tickets closed per person fell 2% against the prior six months [S1:p6]. In the Contoso survey, 63% of managers at firms trialling shorter weeks said productivity was maintained or improved [S2:p7]. **Agreement:** S1 and S2 agree. S4 reports S2's survey and is counted with it [S4:para 2]. **Strength:** moderate. Criteria: one primary pilot with a before-and-after baseline, plus one self-reported survey. ### F2. Burnout and sick days fell Self-reported burnout fell from 41% to 22% over the pilot [S1:p9], and sick days fell 30% [S1:p11]. Acme's team lead says the team is happier on the trial schedule [S3:00:22:05]. **Agreement:** S1 and S3 agree; no source disagrees. **Strength:** moderate. Criteria: primary data, but burnout is self-reported and S3 is one person's view. ### F3. Customer response times got worse in support roles First-response time in the pilot's support team rose 9% [S1:p12, Table 3]. Of managers surveyed, 18% reported coverage problems in customer-facing teams [S2:p14]. The team lead says the queue builds up on Fridays and Mondays are hard [S3:00:14:20]. **Agreement:** S1, S2 and S3 agree. **Strength:** limited. Criteria: one support team in the pilot, a minority finding in a self-reported survey, and one interview. ## Agreement and disagreement | Finding | Agree | Disagree | Likely reason for the split | Strength | |---|---|---|---|---| | F1 output | S1, S2 | none | — [S1:p6; S2:p7] | moderate | | F2 wellbeing | S1, S3 | none | — [S1:p9; S3:00:22:05] | moderate | | F3 coverage | S1, S2, S3 | none | the survey's 18% covers all customer-facing teams, not only support [S2:p14] | limited | ## Gaps - No source measures customer satisfaction scores, only response times [S1:p12; S3:00:14:20]. - No source follows a team beyond six months [S1:p3]. ## What the sources do not say - The pilot reports output held steady; it doesn't say whether ticket complexity changed over the period [S1:p6]. - The team lead suggests staggered days off [S3:00:31:40]; no source tests whether a staggered rota fixes the coverage gap. ## Outside the sources - None. ## Sources - S1: Northwind People Team, "Four-day week pilot: final report", internal report, Feb 2026, 18 pp. Before-and-after, 60 staff, six months. - S2: Contoso Research, "Shorter Weeks 2026", industry survey, Mar 2026, 32 pp. 1,200 managers, self-reported. - S3: Interview transcript, Acme support team lead, 12 Mar 2026, 41 min. - S4: Fabrikam News, "Four-day week works, says survey", news article, Apr 2026. Reports S2's survey; counted with S2.