Following on from my first blog, we are now coming to the end of 'dreary January'!
It's been a strange month. Covid 'rinsed its way' through my own household for two weeks of it,
which meant cancelling quite a few things both business and pleasure wise. We are now though very
pleased that we've built up our antibodies and hope that there are no further interruptions for a
while yet...and that our planned holiday during February half term is less likely to be effected
by a 'dreaded 2nd line'!!
Seventy9 has made a very decent start to the year. We have introduced three new clients to our portfolio already and are busy working with them on their new websites, digital marketing and social media platforms. January is usually (for us) the quietest month of the year in terms of new business development, but this year seems to be better than previous for that. I think it's because we are now finally re-emerging out of our covid cocoons and starting to engage with people properly again, getting people back to the offices/workplaces etc. In our case we've not really changed much yet but are starting to broach the subject with each member of our team and consulting with them as to how they feel about coming back to the workplace for at least a day or two each week.
I think that many of us have become VERY USED to getting dressed for work later (if at all in some instances,
I’m sure!!!), not factoring in work when it comes to arranging deliveries to the house, preparing dinner at
random times during the day, school runs...all sorts of things. I sometimes play squash at lunchtimes...
that didn't happen before covid! The balance between working life and homelife is very important, and in
many ways a lot of people have benefitted and it's now actually quite a big ask to expect people to just
revert to how they were working before the virus 'did its thing' and stopped us all in our tracks.
HOWEVER. Working remotely does have its downsides and many of them...
...one of which is a void in the team environment which of course has a detrimental effect to creative thinking,
working on new ideas etc. Zooms/team meetings are great, but we all do need some human interaction. As a
creative and digital agency, these are huge considerations we must factor in, so it's important that we now
start to move forward with things and get back out into the big wide world. Just not as much as before though!!
I also think that for highly motivated people, productivity on a normal day is better if not interrupted.
But of course, everyone's remote working environment is different and presents its own challenges,
so it's hard for a business to adopt a blanket approach to it.
So much for many of us to consider and I'm sure that every business has its different challenges when it comes to this subject. I hope that those businesses that this is relevant all make a successful transition and are stronger and more productive than ever before.
A final note. One of our long serving employees left the business two weeks ago. Myfanwy had been with us
for nearly six years; we wish her the very best in her new role. We also look forward to welcoming a new
member to our team in the coming weeks. Not a direct replacement as such, but someone who will be taking
on a fair few of Myfanwy's tasks whilst bringing her own ideas etc., to the business. Of which we are
confident there will be many.
Enjoy the rest of January everyone...it's nearly over!
Shane
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