How ought to artistic groups work when the locks are over?
As a creative duo we have been sitting side by side for almost 20 years – for Hakuhodo, VCCP, Forever Beta and George & Dragon and currently as Creative Directors at Five by Five Global.
When the blockade began, our creative and professional life changed dramatically. However, the work of Five by Five and others in the industry in recent months has shown that creative teams can work from home. We even believe that this will even set a precedent for creative work in the future.
THE CHALLENGES OF WORKING FROM HOME
As creatives, we are very social people and we love to share things. We love to discuss things and share our views and ideas. While we can usually turn around and talk to each other, we can't now, and it has been difficult to get used to. Most creatives would agree that one of the best parts of the creative process is getting the job and spitting, sharing, and doing what if. This is difficult when spontaneity is lost.
Then there are the distractions. Working from home was a challenge for whole parts of former happy office residents. Children just don't care that you attend a zoom meeting. By now we have probably all seen a department head trying to make a conference call with a child on his shoulders.
But seriously, this lack of distinction between life and work can be a burden – you're still trying to be professional and get the job done, but at the same time there are all these other things like lunch and homeschooling. It's the kind of constant struggle that doesn't always go well with the creative process.
THE ADVANTAGES FOR CREATIVE TEAMS
While we are used to taking long walks and exchanging ideas over coffee in Soho, this process is no longer an option. However, we quickly learned to adapt to a world of FaceTime, zoom calls, and Google Hangouts.
To stay connected, we use the Mural app for visual collaboration, which allows users to pin notes and share ideas. This way we still have a lot of interaction – we will probably see even more of each other.
We also work much faster because we have to. There is so much more immediacy in everything. We usually have a few days to deal with a letter, but now we are much faster.
This also means that we have to be more agile. For example, we're working on a number of ideas, and Covid 19 restrictions have resulted in some of the luxury goods that we might have taken for granted – from cFancy production meetings, reccies and filming – are out the window.
The idea that remote working means a lack of collaboration does not apply – at least not for us
We certainly never would have thought that we could do most, if not all, of these things with Zoom, but it is possible – as some of the great work that other agencies have shown. We came together as a team: everyone focused more on the job in question and met a few tight deadlines. At the same time, our customers understand the restrictions even better during these test times.
The idea that remote working means a lack of collaboration does not apply – at least not for us. You may see people walking by or making coffee when you work in an office, but at least in our experience, you can't always speak to the entire agency. Now we had about 40-50 employees on a call, which really gave the agency cohesion that we may not have had before.
Our customers are much more integral to the process
Lockdown was also a great opportunity to see more of our customers, even if this is an oxymoron. In the past, we may have sent emails and waited for a response. Now we’re going to jump into Hangouts instead. This allowed the relationship between creative and customer to be strengthened. And our customers are much more involved in the process. We are all in the same situation, so there is a lot more empathy and understanding.
Perhaps the biggest change in collaboration is evident in our international agencies. We have always been able to work and work with different offices at different times or to hand over at the end of the day, but we are doing so much more now. The work is constantly evolving and this has definitely improved our relationship with our sister agencies.
A new way to work
Will all of this affect the future functioning of the industry? There will surely be a strange transition period. Some people haven't seen another soul in person for weeks and we all have to learn to get used to each other again.
It certainly showed that we don't all have to be in the same place to do a great job. We believe that we can all work virtually to our advantage from now on, and we believe that we will work much more than before from different locations.
Most creative agencies these days have guidelines on how many days you can work from home. Of course there is nothing better than real life and being close to people, but at the same time we never imagined how much we could do from a distance.
The creative world needs to have more understanding of domestic responsibilities
We also think that the creative world needs to have a better understanding of home responsibilities. At Five By Five, everyone has surely ascended. People did their job and were really responsible. Leaving a meeting early may have been frowned upon, but it is now clear that people are beginning to loosen up their views on reconciling work and private life.
Many people loved that they spend more time with their families. However, we also know that some people who may have stared at the same four walls in the past few weeks can't wait to get back to the office.
What we do know is that we definitely don't have to spend five days in an office anymore. It is important that the agencies work towards an office culture that is best suited for everyone in this spectrum. Ultimately, people are most important when work returns to (new) normalcy. We hope that our employees have the security they need to work creatively in the right headroom.
Ravi Beeharry and Andy Mancuso are Creative Directors at Five by Five Global, a creative marketing agency with teams in London, Southampton, Sydney and Los Angeles. fivebyfiveglobal.com