Janine Woodcock; professional coach, speaker and author of The Power of Choices discusses ‘Conscious Leadership’ with Sparro House MD, Paul Kirkcaldy.
Tuesday 8 September 2020, 11:00-12:00
The demand for greater choice, flexibility and meaning was challenging leaders to think differently about their approach to talent and the workplace even before the pandemic hit. Recent experiences have just deepened these desires and been a catalyst for broader change in how agencies work, behave and operate – as businesses, and communities of people.
What comes next for the world of work is not a ‘return’ to anything. It’s a transition to a new era and every business needs to raise their game when it comes to how they lead, the culture they create and how they support and leverage their best talent. Get the balance right and it will be a win-win for your business and the people you want to stay and draw.
Based on detailed research and hands-on experience in recent months, we will explain how agencies need to respond to these new expectations. We’ll share our knowledge and experience and explain how you can manage change in a way that sets your business up for success.
This event is for Bristol Media members only and aimed at all agency founders and leaders seeking valuable insights to help shape a positive and progressive working culture for their agency.
This is the third event in the Future Positive series. The next session on 7th October will cover how to create and manage business value. More details to follow on this.
Places are limited to allow for a more personal and productive discussion. To reserve your space, register here
Whilst this is a free event, we’d be grateful if members would consider making a donation.
Although some of our members have been unaffected by COVID-19, we recognise for others this is still challenging business climate so we want to do what we can to support. As many will know, Bristol Media operates as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company and revenue comes solely from membership fees and events. We receive no other funding or financial support. We’re hopeful that the donation approach will allow all members to continue accessing our events whatever their financial situation whilst also allowing us to replace some of the revenue we’ve lost over recent months. All our speakers give their time and expertise voluntarily. Thank you for your continued backing and we hope that you’ll be able to support this approach and look forward to being able to deliver a series of worthwhile events that our members enjoy and importantly find beneficial to their businesses.
We’re the business consultancy to add clarity, colour and confidence to your ambition.
We add our collective knowledge and specialist expertise to help you realise your full potential and value.
The Future Positive series will be run by the Tonic senior team, who will draw on their experience leading and guiding some of the best agencies through challenging times.
To find out more about Tonic, click here.
Pre-Covid, creative teams benefitted from being in close proximity. This is mainly because one of the driving forces of creativity is (ironically) its infectiousness.
Being part of a creative idea gaining traction – being able to see, hear, and feel its potential – is why most of us do this.
Now, with the panic of lockdown beginning to fade, and the possibility of remote working remaining part of daily life for a while yet, we’ve been evaluating the ways we’ve adapted over the last few months.
While our technology enabled us to switch locations immediately, our creative habits needed a little aligning to ensure a smooth transition.
Seeing people’s expressions and body language is vital when briefing, sharing, reviewing and presenting ideas.
Being able to notice the difference between silence when they are excited and scribbling ideas, and silence from them drawing a blank, ensures you can keep things moving.
Creativity needs energy and nurturing, and audio alone is not enough.
Creating a way to bounce ideas around as a team when our four walls became two-dimensional was an initial challenge, whether they were conceptual ideas, executional solutions or UX planning.
We found using collaborative programmes, especially Google Chat, Google Meet and Google Docs, meant we could share work straight away.
Sharing screens and documents in small groups for live ideation, or sharing screen grabs or photos of sketches in larger project chat groups, ensured the momentum was never lost.
None of these programmes recreate the beauty of walls covered in layout sheets bursting with ideas; but programmes such as Miro allow us to get nearer to the satisfaction of problem solving with Post-it Notes.
It’s easy to become task-orientated when you can’t physically see your team and without strong intentions individuals can become siloed.
But it’s vital that ideas are seen and challenged by others. A fresh perspective will ensure ideas are robust and refined.
We have staggered project team video ‘scrums’ each morning which serve to not only align us to our goals, but also alert us to opportunities to collaborate outside our initial tasks.
When you’re physically surrounded by creatives the unplanned check-ins that occur when you catch a glimpse of a colleague’s screen, or overhear an exciting idea, are often the times when projects gain momentum.
To attempt to create these naturally and informally without the pressure of a booked ‘meeting’, the team is encouraged to frequently share roughs, and experiments either one-to-one, or in small groups, via screen shares in video chats or screen grabs or sketches in chat groups.
When things get exciting and we want to share wider, the seconds it takes to drop a Google Meet link into individual chats is far quicker than running around a studio looking for other team-mates.
All this constant sharing means that the team has also had to allow for calm times in order to focus and produce the work.
We’ve had to become better at prioritising our time; knowing when to ask for time to focus and how ensure others are getting it.
We’ve found that early afternoon is when we can carve out concentration time; and for this isolated working can be a blessing.
The last few months have affected our work lives more than any impactful event I have experienced during my career; whether worldwide, like the 2008 recession, or the more localised and terrible 2005 London bombings.
Everyone is navigating their ‘new normal’ in different ways, at home and at work. This makes finding the right time to check-in and support each other a bit of a challenge.
But I think our communication and transparency has been forced to improve; bringing us closer, and making us far more efficient as a team.
This article was written by Art Director, Hannah Waters, and first appeared on Mediashotz on 15 July 2020.
Join the Noisy Little Monkey team at 4pm on Friday 3rd April for a virtual meet-up where you’ll learn tips on dealing with anger during lockdown and beyond.
Mike Fisher will be joining Noisy Little Monkey’s Digital Guzzle meet-up to help attendees manage their anger and stress during difficult circumstances.
Mike is Founder of the British Association of Anger Management and has over 32 years of experience in the field of personal and professional development. When he’s not facilitating Anger Management groups or counselling on a one to one basis, Mike is often interviewed about mindfulness and anger and featured in the national press and BBC, Channel 4 and ITV.
You can join the Zoom call at 4pm on Friday 3rd April by registering here. You MUST register before the session starts.
Bring a drink with you, hard or soft, and be prepared to chat with others – these sessions work really well if everyone is open to engaging in the conversation!
Digital Guzzle is a virtual meet-up for marketers and sales folk who want to wind down a hard week together. Each session features a Q&A with an industry expert (topics vary from digital marketing tips to mindfulness and well-being advice) as well the chance to play games and network with lots of friendly faces. Digital Guzzle is hosted by digital marketing agency Noisy Little Monkey every Friday at 4pm during lockdown.
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