Will the Coronavirus change agency habits?

My (rather untidy) home office is often Web Wise’s base of operations.

Have you seen the news? Google is apparently “leading the charge” (sigh) “to work from home” in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Twitter too is encouraging 5,000 members of staff globally to stay away from the office. This seems sensible given the circumstances, but I can’t help wondering if this will remove the stigma of many smaller traditional businesses towards “office-less” agencies? We’ve definitely lost out on pitches to traditional agencies with big teams and fancy real-estate, despite the lack of value being added.

For a long time I’ve been a big advocate of remote working. My team have been operating from their homes, hot desks, coffee shops, libraries, hotel rooms, Universities and wherever else is convenient, since 2010. Furthermore, every January I do a work-retreat in South East Asia, meeting with digital business owners from all over the world, connecting with freelancers and sharing ideas, work and inspiration.

I believe that freeing our business from the shackles of an expensive physical office is the way to deliver not only excellent value-for-money, but also to keep our culture fresh and on top of modern trends. I believe this so strongly, that it is baked right into our company values.

How will companies like WeWork and The Office Group be affected by the Coronavirus?

Many of our competitors will now be thinking about keeping their staff at home during these worrying times and I really hope this encourages some to think again about their culture longer-term. A move to location-less working is definitely good for the industry and consumers.

I have experienced a fair bit of personal disruption myself as a result of the Coronavirus virus, but thankfully no illness in those close to me. I sincerely hope our lovely customers are able to stay safe during this outbreak and that your businesses aren’t too adversely effected. We’ll be working as normal – even if a quarantine does come into effect – so please do let us know if we can do anything to help your business.


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