Our organisation’s sudden 100% move to working from home heeds big and sometimes surprising changes when it comes to how we work, how we live and how we stay connected. Every week you’ll hear from a new individual at RAPP. Last week, Account Director, Philip Allan opened a window into his WFH life for us…
Monday
7:00AM Stupidly, I awake at my usual time to jump out of bed and have the fastest shower you’ve ever know. It still hasn’t quite sunk in that I won’t be jostling for space on the tube this morning as the office is still very much shut. *GIANT SIGH*.
Still, it’s nice to be an early riser. So, I make a delicious cup of Nespresso’s finest Columbian late harvest Arabica (Dolly Parton would approve), fire up my laptop for a day filled with fun.
14:46 It would seem I was wrong with my prediction of the day. Webex has claimed the souls of all who work at RAPP, and we are forever her slave. Curses.
On the upside, I have shared some wonderful emails with clients about coping in the current situation, how we can streamline our working relationships and help lift each other; they certainly put a smile on my face. Refilled with positivity and good vibes, I make a sandwich and go mad on the filling. Yolo.
17:45 The day ends on a high as work that has been pretty labour intensive is finally complete. Clients happy, team happy, and the glass of wine I’m holding is making me very happy.
Tuesday
8:15AM Determined to get back on the right foot this week, I allow myself a little lie-in, before trotting off to make myself the breakfast of champions: Beluga caviar, crème fraîche, toasted bellinis and three breakfast Martinis. Just kidding. I ran out of crème fraîche last week.
13:00 Such a nice day! Excellent session with clients on a new project kicking off next week and partnering with another agency to collaborate. A brilliant opportunity for RAPP to shine on a bigger stage and to showcase some of the excellent talents we have! I have another breakfast Martini to celebrate! Just kidding. I ran out of gin at breakfast.
16:32 All systems go at this stage, loads of work to complete this week including some beefy proposals that Andy K and James A have been working up. Super exciting propositions that will transform the way our clients work and communicate with customers. Watch. This. Space.
Wednesday
9:30AM A hilarious yet thought-provoking chat has just occurred with a member of my team. He asks me whether it would be possible to start having more daily calls/check-ins because it’s starting to feel like I’m a faceless AI that gives orders through the screen. While I internally debate if it’s possible to get a chatbot to take over my daily grind, I decide it’s far better to have the calls. The situation makes you appreciate the face to face communication we would typically have. I find the whole subject a little saddening.
12:55 I come up for air after my 20,000th call of the morning and realise that I need to prioritise more. Ordinally, I would be all over a hard day like today, but I am not allowing myself the time to do the work. I make a note to be stricter with my time and be efficient on the calls that matter.
Respite comes in the form of one of my favourite clients, giving me a call to chat through some new strategic thinking around customer comms planning, and to gossip (Who knew ‘Shirley’ from accounts could be so terrible?!).
Thursday
8:20AM Everyone knows that since 2015, Thursday is the new Friday, and as international singing sensation Rebecca Black once said: “You gotta get down on Fridays!”. With that earworm well and truly embedded, I make some brekkie and start work.
10:31AM I am ON FIRE, my friends. So far, I have taken three calls, completed a brief and started work on a new SoW — nothing will slow this workhorse down today!
10:45AM This workhorse has fallen at the fourth jump (project timing has gone out the window), but hold off with the big white curtain! I am back up and running with a little help from some expert Excel masters and some music from the Pointer Sisters.
17:31 What a whirlwind of a day. Some successful client calls — lots of promising work opportunities coming up in the next few months. A brand new retainer proposal drafted and some great creative work shared throughout the day. Dare I say I’m pretty stoked. I shall reward myself with too much red wine.
Friday
7:45AM Real Friday has arrived and thankfully last night’s red wine isn’t hanging around as badly as I thought it might. Breakfast of spinach, mushroom and pancetta omelette is a delight, and I’m ready to smash today clear out the park — is what I believe sports types would say.
10:00AM Weekly check-in with my boss Andrew (Managing Partner with the mostess and work Dad). We have a great chat about the week’s work, catching up on projects and working out plans for the coming week; promptly followed by a good giggle about each other’s working environments. It’s these calls that make me realise once more, how important the human connection factor is.
14:00 With planned project work easing off, I start thinking about some of the proactive ideas we have been sharing around Covid-19 communications and how to best help out clients through these turbulent times. After a few calls, there are some great ideas to share, and we all pat ourselves on the back.
16:45 We say a fond farewell to a colleague who has now gone on maternity. It’s a strange call with a dodgy signal, but the sweet sentiment comes through none-the-less.
As the day comes to close, I look back over a busy but fulfilling week: many highs, the odd low and many a glass of wine.
I think it’s fair to say that while this situation brings a lot of challenges, we keep pushing on to maximise the opportunities given to us, and be sure to keep a bit of humour in the mix for good measure.
