Remote Working: Back to the Future
There’s been a lot of talk lately of remote working, saying goodbye to offices and changing business practices for good. We’ve taken the plunge to move to a different model of working, but we’ll let our Managing Director, Ash, tell you the rest…
No not the 1980’s classic with Marty and Doc, but it’s as if Team Neo climbed into a DeLorean and sped off five years into the future to catch up with its 2025 vision of being a very different style of agency…
Shortly before we were all caught up in the biggest change to life that any of us has ever experienced, Neo’s leadership team met off-site to discuss its vision for agency life in 2025.
Part of that collective vision was to move to a remote working culture, with a formal office becoming a thing of the past. Though, when enforced lockdown and the immediate need to move to remote working came, there were plenty of other more immediate things on our minds like the daily news horrors of infection rates and hospital admissions and wondering where all the flour went.
But as we all settled into our weekly routine of video calls – getting together virtually on a Tuesday to have an All Hands meeting and then again on a Thursday to have a virtual lunch – it started to become clear that despite the personal restrictions, work seemed to be going OK. In fact, more than OK as the benefits of remote working started to make themselves clear.
Once we’d found our spaces to work – from the kitchen table, to the spare room – and got ourselves comfortable with chairs liberated from the office and laptops were no longer balanced on, well, laps, our minds started to wonder if this could be our new normal.
Though we’d already moved to flexitime, the daily commute was still a grind and we had convinced ourselves that an office was a great way to manage culture – a culture we are very proud of. But actually, we found that we still had the comradery and the level of interaction we needed without the need for proximity.
The move away from the daily commute gave us back time, money and a better work-life balance. Indeed, we surmised that an office is a lazy way to create culture. Sure, we all missed physically seeing each other, but as far as getting along and getting great coverage for our clients, we were still knocking it out of the park.
Introducing The Stables
Yes, it’s actually converted stables! We’ve transformed Narnia… But we still have our signature wall!
We all agreed remote working was great, but how to solve the getting together for meetings and a bit of face-to-face physical time? What we needed was a meeting space that we could use as and when it made sense and that’s when The Stables concept was born: utilising an existing space designed not as an office, but for occasional gatherings.
Two weeks on and things are looking good. Team Neo are very happy with the new arrangements and flexibility is the new watch word. And as restrictions on social distancing ease, occupying the same space occasionally is proving to be a winner.
Is Remote Working the Future?
What about the effect on our clients? Well, we are more content as a team and our culture has gone from strength to strength and with that our delivery levels are up along with the results for our clients also. And if any of our lovely clients wish to come and see us, they are always welcome at The Stables where a good coffee and a chin wag is the order of the day.
The DeLorean is parked out back in case we need it again, but for now the future is here to stay and it’s a great place to be.
Share your thoughts! We’d love to hear your views on remote working – connect with Ash on LinkedIn and join in the conversation.
