A lot of businesses are struggling with the question of what to do about the office.
Luckily, we never had an office. We had a Writing Room. But our dilemma is the same as everyone else’s: we don’t need to be in a room together to get work done. But we don’t want to become a company of individuals working at home without any human interaction.
So what to do?
Our solution has been to introduce The Writing Club Quarterly.
Instead of renting a room that no one wants to be in very often, we’ve decided to spend the rent money on meeting up every quarter instead. Where possible this will always be in a different part of the UK but with a few consistent ingredients:
· A period of time working together in a room (just for old-times’ sake)
· Some form of training or other inspiration
· A delicious meal in a restaurant
· A relaxing night in a fancy hotel
So far we’ve managed four Quarterlies and they seem to be a success. They come around just as we all need to let off steam, take a break from home working and explore somewhere new. And they’re a great way to maintain team bonds, while giving everyone maximum flexibility day-to-day.
This year we’ve got a few exciting Quarterlies in the pipeline, including Belfast and Manchester. But ultimately, the point about flexible working, is that it's flexible. So our approach to this will be too. At the moment it seems to be working well. But if people become unhappy, or our clients need us to work in a different way for some reason, then we’ll think again.
