The Significance Of Working From Home Culture

// Working from home is the new normal. It might be controversial. It may spark some uproar. But with Covid-19 going everywhere but away from us, it’s something we’re going to

Working from home is the new normal. It might be controversial. It may spark some uproar. But with Covid-19 going everywhere but away from us, it’s something we’re going to have to learn to love – if you don’t already.

Whilst some businesses are encouraging their team to return to the office, we at Absolute Digital Media are fully embracing the working from home life. It’s different, but it works. And why try to fix something that’s not broken?

Of course, there are several things that come alongside working from home. Culture is a huge one. How do you match that of the office? Of the Friday feel good tipples? Of the spontaneous team lunches?

We’re PRO working from home and here’s why you should be to.

Working From Home Culture

Working from home offers a lot of convenience – to everyone. It’s not just about commuting back and forth to the office 5 days a week (think petrol costs, time spent) but what it offers to those with family, hobbies and team members who live slightly further afield.

Office culture is not easy to replicate but it’s not impossible, especially when you take the time to understand your team, their needs and ultimately what they want from the role they’re in.

Here’s what our team had to say when we asked them:

“For me the word that comes to mind with working from home is actually freedom. There is a luxury of independence that I really enjoy, whether that means choosing flexible working hours or working in a coffee shop for the afternoon. As well as that, not having an office allows us to have more social events – and who’s complaining about that? I think the transition to working from home can be intimidating, but Absolute did a really great job of maintaining a positive, lively, enjoyable working environment whilst keeping the team connected.”

Tom Scott, Paid Media Executive

“I like working from home as I save so much time not having to commute which allows me to have more time in the evenings to do things I enjoy outside of work. I also find it easier to concentrate whilst working from home as there are a lot less distractions. We thankfully still get to enjoy the office culture by having regular virtual meetings and in-person events for the team to catch up and get to know each other outside of the work environment.”

Sam Stockwell, Finance Manager

“Can’t even explain how incredible it was to be able to work from Cyprus. I hadn’t seen my family in a very long time so as soon as Absolute introduced the ‘working from Europe’ perk I was the first one to request it. That time spent with family at home has massively improved my mental health and productivity. Thank you Absolute!

Sofia Akritidou, PPC Manager

“Working from home is great! I no longer have to worry about the commute to and from work, including the cost and time spent. It enables me to focus more on what I’m going day to day and allows me to do as I please in the evening without needing to rush from one place to another. Having home comforts around you whilst you work is also great, giving you the freedom to work in the ways you find most comfortable without being restricted to just a desk or chair.”

James Wood, Head of Outreach

Differentiating Work / Home Life

We speak about our perks a lot, including the incentives we put in place to support our teams. Helping them separate their home and work life is just one of the ways we’ve been supporting them in becoming a remote-first agency.

The decision to become a remote-first agency was made by the agency, not just the senior team or anyone else for that matter. We were all in for the idea at the start of the pandemic, much like we still are now.

We know that the fear of overlapping work and home life is common amongst agency owners and their teams which is why we took the time to implement a number of steps to make sure that no one felt as if they had to work over past 5pm or 6pm depending on whether they are an Absolute Early Bird or Absolute Owl. This included:

  • We largely encourage our teams to switch off post-working hours. They shouldn’t feel the need to be online past 5pm or 6pm and we’ll do what we can do support them should that be the case.
  • We hired new team members to support growing workloads, helping to ease the pressure on the existing team and ramp up excitement for those joining us.
  • Where possible we’ll move deadlines and priorities around to make sure that everyone has a sufficient amount of time to complete their task. We remain flexible so our team can too.
  • We’re big believers in selfcare so sending bi-monthly packages to all the team to encourage them to unwind the best they can.
  • Video calls can sometimes be crucial, but we never put pressure on our team to be always on camera. We know that sometimes they might just not feel up to it – and that’s OK.

How We Plan To Grow As A Remote Agency

Something a lot of people ask us is how we plan to grow as a remote agency. If anything, becoming remote has offered us greater opportunity within the agency and the team. With our working from home strategy in full swing, we’ve been able to hire team members from further afield such as Manchester and Liverpool.

From a talent perspective, it’s been great. But it’s also been wonderful in terms of opportunity too. We’ve been able to enter more awards (hello Northern Digital Awards!), attend conferences and events beyond London, encourage our team to look at speaker opportunities across England, not just within Essex and London, expand our knowledge, become a stronger team, and host some really cool events.

We have also recently welcomed Nick Eubanks on board as our Non-Executive Director, to provide us with further experience and insight into the world of remote agency growth. Nick will be working closely alongside myself and my wife Lou who is COO of the company and other senior members of the team to support our approach to working from home.

We may have been continuing to work from home for almost two years now, but it still feels just as refreshing as it did at the start. There’s no dull day when you love what you do!

For more information about how we have supported our team when working from home, call us on 0800 088 6000.

 

 

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