We're a digital agency and we prefer working IRL

Fabio Longano, founder and managing director of TouchFoundry

While some had already laid the groundwork and perfected it during lockdown – like Checkers and their Sixty60 grocery delivery app – others had to scramble to find ways to connect with their customers, and to find ways of keeping their people working, when very few people were allowed to go into the office.

You’d think that with TouchFoundry being a digital agency, slipping into work from home would have been as easy and as comfortable as (almost) never having to get out of your pyjamas any more. However, much as we’ve respected every regulation, and we’ve worked remotely wherever possible, we’ll be heading back into the office when we can. Here’s why:

• We’ve realised how much of our efficiency and efficacy depends on being in the same physical space. Even though we’re digital consultants, we’re social creatures, and we need to be in the same space for that true creativity to spark, and to build on the momentum that comes with in-real-life collaboration.

• We’ve all found rhythms in working at home, but they can become damaging. There’s no more chatting in the kitchen as we make a cup of coffee, or around the water cooler – every chat has to be scheduled as a Zoom or Teams meeting, leading to diaries crammed with more, shorter meetings, and less time during the day to do the work.

  While virtual meetings may take less time – there’s no social chitchat or those awkward moments while everyone waits for the refreshments to arrive – they don’t have the precious informal moments where everyone catches up on their latest news, and where real connections are made.

• We’ve realised that, as much as a lunch break is a good time to recharge, we need banter and chatter around us and with our colleagues to take a break during the day and to recharge. Working alone at home – for us and for many other businesses - means a 100% focus on the job at hand, all day, and we’re landing up in a hyper-efficiency trap that’s detrimental to our health.

The beauty of being a consulting business is that we can take our own learnings and experiences and help our clients navigate through similar challenges. While some may say that working from home is the way of the future, we’re not convinced.

Even though our business is digital, and we’re helping build a more digital world, we firmly believe that there’s simply no replacement for human interaction, whether it’s between colleagues, or between a supplier and their client.

It’s true – our business has adapted to new ways of working, and we’ve helped many clients pivot and adapt too, with great success. But at the heart of any great technology are the humans that made it – and the relationships they forged while creating a meaningful solution to a real challenge.