Taking (remote) control
On a Friday in mid-March, our team went home after another busy week at work. We planned to work from home the following week while we saw how this “COVID thing” would evolve. It seemed innocent enough at the time. But like most businesses, one week has turned into four months and an all-new way of doing business.
Though we wish the circumstances were different, the results have been quite positive - so much so that we’ve decided to extend the experiment indefinitely. Going forward, Form & Affect will adopt remote work on a more or less permanent basis. We are moving out of our studio in downtown St. Catharines and walking into a future full of new possibilities.
When we moved into our space seven years ago, we loved the idea of an open office. As the years went by, however, it became clear that the idea wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. By 2020, we needed more space and a new way of working.
We got the latter. As for space, well...
At first, it felt odd doing all of our business via video conferences and Slack channels, but our team and our clients adapted quickly. We’ve now fully embraced this new reality, and the early returns have been outstanding - productivity and positivity are up, and our work-life balance feels better.
This isn’t to say remote work won’t present its challenges, or that we’ll never see our teammates or clients in person again. We’re eager to do that, but see no reason to rush it. In the short term, we’ll continue to work from home exclusively. Then, when it feels right, we’ll hit the road and #SupportLocal by booking spaces for our team sessions and client meetings at various venues throughout Niagara.
Eventually, we’ll secure a new space with a different purpose in mind; our team will use it mainly for meetings and brainstorming sessions while we continue doing production work from the comfort of our homes.
Think one big table, a huge whiteboard, and of course, orange couches.
We’re grateful for the time we’ve had at 104 St. Paul Street in Downtown St. Catharines. We’ve done a ton of exciting work and met some incredible people within those walls, but now’s the time to shift, and to redefine the way serve our clients and do what we love.
Fortunately, we have a number of great projects in the works that we can’t wait to share with you. We’re going to keep bringing our best, pandemic be damned, so follow us on our social channels (in, fb, tw, li) and let us know what you think!
In the meantime, stay safe friends and neighbours - we’ll see you soon!
