The No Bullsh*t Agency are back together again as they settle into their new office in Aldgate East. Here, they discuss why they prefer office life compared to remote work and why that’s important for a creative agency.
For many companies, the pandemic completely changed the way they worked. It opened their eyes to the prospect of remote working – something they had not considered before. But it was really the more corporate companies who were surprised by this way of working. The agency world already knew that this could work, but it just doesn’t work for everyone.
As an extremely creative team, Complex Creative does their best work when they are in the same room. They can bounce ideas off each other, collaborate on projects a lot more easily and the communication just flows extremely quickly. There’s absolutely no doubt that their team is better when they work in an office.
But this is not the case for everyone.
Remote Working Vs Office Life
When comparing the two, it seems extremely easy to find tons of pros for remote working – namely the fact it saves a ton of money and it’s extremely flexible. But do these pros really outweigh the cons? It’s difficult to measure because the financial benefit is such a strong one.
But think about your daily activities within your agency; how easy is your team meeting when you’re talking over each other on Zoom? When you’re collaborating on design ideas, and you have to take screenshots and share them over Slack, etc, and try to explain everything instead of just pointing at a screen? If you were to genuinely add up the additional time you take to carry out these activities and multiply this by your agency’s hourly rate, you’d be quite surprised.
So, if the monetary benefit is then canceled out, add in the fact that this wasted time is frustrating your clients, as you are now nowhere near as efficient as you were before. This means fewer referrals, your reviews are less glowing, and generally, you’re not performing as you should as an agency.
Office Culture
Another huge aspect to consider is office culture – none of it exists when you work remotely. Yes, we all did Zoom pub quizzes and jumped on House Party for virtual games night during the lockdown, but it’s just not the same as actually meeting in a real pub.
Nothing beats a real-life social; it’s crazy how fast relationships accelerate once you’ve spent time socially together and get to know each other. The bond between office-based teams is absolutely nothing like a remote one.
But not every agency cares about this. Remote working is definitely the more profitable model, as you do not need to pay office rent and other overheads, and you can probably save a lot of money if you hire your staff as contractors rather than employees too. Naturally, this depends on their working patterns. As usual, McKinsey have done a report on what they think the future of work looks like after the pandemic. Feel free to check it out and see if you agree with their findings.
Complex Creative’s New Office
For some agencies like Complex Creative, it’s a no-brainer to get back to that collaborative space. They have now opened up a new office in Aldgate East, around the corner from their old home in WeWork. But they’ve now ditched the “fancy” serviced office space for their own studio. Not only was this a sensible financial decision, but something they’ve been wanting to do for several years now – to make the space their own. They can now bring their own creativity to their workspace!
For anyone who has done an office move, you know it takes time to fully be able to set up your space as you want it, but they’ve already made great progress. Here are just some of the exciting new features in the Complex Creative office:
- New, coloured iMacs: personalising computers to style
- Sofas and rugs for a “chill area”
- Coffee machine and snack station
- Dining table and chairs for lunch away from your desk
- 65 inch TV mounted for remote meetings
- Giant whiteboards for brainstorming
- Lots of office plants
- Paints and rollers for makeover time!
They’ve even got a dedicated plant marshal who is responsible for looking after all the office plants and helping brighten up the place and improve people’s mental health.
Face-To-Face Meetings
One thing that Complex Creative has always been in favor of, is the face-to-face meeting! This is not only for the initial meeting, but client catchups, check-ins, and marketing presentations. Nothing beats doing this in the same room, over a nice cuppa!
Their office is fully open now in E1 Studios, Aldgate East and they are always welcoming visitors! So, if you’re in the area and fancy dropping by for a coffee, feel free to get in touch!
About Complex Creative
Complex Creative is a full-service creative agency providing everything associated with a high-performing, bespoke WordPress website. This may start with a brand strategy/identity to ensure your company is appropriately represented.
Then, they create a bespoke website design on Photoshop, which is then converted into a custom theme based on WordPress, so you have all the benefits of the world’s leading CMS tailored to your needs.
Complex Creative stands out from other agencies as they continue the service after the site is live and perform maintenance and security updates. Plus, they teach clients how to make edits on their own site, saving them thousands of pounds.
Additionally, they are available for complimentary services such as SEO and copywriting work that will further enhance the success of the website.
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