A Year in Review – An Agency’s Adaptation to New Ways of Working

A year ago, COVID-19 interrupted life as we knew it. Our lives were put on hold as the challenge of the pandemic became apparent. It was important for our agency to quickly adjust to the “new normal” while still maintaining a sense of togetherness. Fast forward to where we are now. We have made it through a year of working in a post-pandemic environment. As we reflect on our shared experience with COVID-19 we can appreciate the lessons learned, and recognize our achievements as a team over the past year.

How Our COVID Journey Started

We set three overall goals for moving forward.

• Safety of employees and their families

• Provide a seamless transition to remote work for clients

• Employee retention

On March 12, 2020 we pulled the trigger on our plan, moved out of our offices and into remote work mode. We’ve been back only sparingly during the last year and never as a complete staff.  We never anticipated that a year later, we would still be working remote.

Key Elements of Our Plan

Every strategy needs a plan of execution that includes the tactical things that can help achieve your goals.

1. The first thing we did was make sure that we had the technology we needed to go remote. Where we needed more or different, we invested. Did we want to increase overhead in the face of so much uncertainty? No. We’ve always distinguished between foolish risk and calculated risk. *This was calculated risk.

2. We informed our clients of what we were doing, began discussions of what their plans were and how we could best interface with them.

3. We sent our staff home…still employed.

4. We put into action several platforms designed to promote agency morale and keep everyone as “face-to-face” and informed as possible. All of our meetings became ZOOM.

5. Weekly staff meetings to discuss the status of every client project we had underway.

6. Weekly staff meetings to celebrate the “wins” of the week. Specifically the things our staff felt proud of achieving.

7. Weekly updates on COVID plans going forward.

8. Regularly scheduled client meetings to maintain open lines of communication to make certain we stayed on time, on budget and met our clients’ expectations.

9. We also created real-time, online “bulletin boards” so that our clients could review past and current work at their convenience, 24 hours per day.

10. Monthly employee recognition. A cash bonus for a staff member, chosen by vote of the staff, who had made the most significant contribution during the month. We labeled it MVG  (Most Valuable Grouper)

11. Two staff-wide bonus distributions based on profits they had helped generate at 6 and 12 month intervals.

12. Gave the staff the entire week of Christmas off as a thank you for their hard work.

13. Held monthly, social “get togethers.” Outdoor, distanced and masked.

*About six months into the pandemic, we also determined that we needed to increase our overhead in terms of personnel which lead to hiring two new staff members.

Read our blog titled, “An Open Letter of Working in the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Lessons Learned

We have excellent customers and staff. Business continued. Overall companies kept a forward vision that emphasized maintaining their brand equity. At the end of calendar 2020 we issued a companywide survey. Virtually all of our efforts were appreciated by our staff and considered to be helpful. Personally and professionally. Our commitment to a seamless transition for our clients was successful.

computers and away from face-to-face relationships. To coin a new phrase; “You can’t hug a computer.” Research has pointed out that lack of human contact with co-workers has been one of the most challenging and detrimental effects of this whole experience. Research also indicates that the vast majority of employees are ready to get back to some form of personal interaction at work.

Read our blog titled, “How to Keep Your Team Motivated, Remotely.”

Hope prevails. Businesses are dreamers. Success is reflected by being able to think and act “outside the box.” We couldn’t end this plague before winter came, but, spring is here and there is new hope on the horizon. In the meantime, we will stay the course. At some point we will regather as a staff. We’ll make that decision rather than have it made for us. After all, we get paid to think.

The Fallacy of Two Lives

One of the principles that I adopted years ago, is what I refer to as the fallacy of two lives. We’ve all heard the adage “you have a personal life and a professional life.” I believe that is a greatly oversimplified statement. We have one life, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. I’ve never felt that most people were able to simply flip a switch between their work and personal life. Sometimes physically.  Most often mentally. We’re just not wired that way. Historically, that “switch” we like to believe is there was reinforced by “I’m going to work now” and “I’m going home now.” That distinction had already been pretty much dissolved by technology and the fact that our work can follow us anywhere at any time. If there was ever a doubt in the fallacy of two lives, COVID has certainly proven otherwise. Work and home have become the same place. Our challenge has become one of balancing our closeness to family and the 24-hour a day work “opportunity” that remote work has provided us. One life.

I’ve done my best to cherish the extra time I’ve had with my family. I’ve worked hard and encouraged our staff, not to be 24-hour a day laborers to business. The holidays this year were especially meaningful. The “once in a lifetime” snow we recently experienced was a wonderful break. We even proclaimed a snow day for our employees encouraging them to move away from their computers and make some memories with their family. And, and this is a BIG and, I’ve really been impressed with and found enjoyment in how our staff has responded. We have great people.