Working from Anywhere?!
It’s been almost six months since the shoal swam away from the Aquarium together, laden with laptops, monitors and, in some cases, chairs and beer!
Back in March we didn’t know what was going to happen,not just for the shoal, but in the world. We’re a company that loves a challenge and embraces change, but this was unprecedented.
We love our Aquarium!
At Firefish, we’ve always worked in the office,or The Aquarium as we call it. We had some flextime in place, but home working wasn’t something that we’d done before, so it was an especially nerve-wracking time. It’s safe to say we were pretty worried, but what followed was unbelievable: The Fish pulled together in ways that could never have been anticipated. They were the most productive we’d ever seen; new working partnerships formed and drove the business forward; and we still managed to maintain our Friday Fish Bar…just online instead!
It was looking as though home working was extremely effective and enjoyable for many of the shoal…but was that the case,or were they actually just really good actors who were doing their best to look on the bright side in the short term?
Making a change
One of the most important aspects of being a Fish is having your voice and being able to help shape the business. With this in mind, in April we started sending out monthly surveys to find out how the team were feeling about working at home; what they missed about working in the office; and any concerns they’d have about returning to work fully in the Aquarium.
The results were clear: The Fish were loving working at home, so much so that not one person ever said that they wanted to work full-time in the Aquarium again! However, they missed their shoal-mates and wanted to have the opportunity to collaborate in person where possible. Change was clearly needed, and taking onboard the thoughts and comments of the Fish, we hatched our plan for the Firefish of the Future:
We now Work from Anywhere!
The new normal
The Fish are no longer office based. Working hours have gone, replaced by“available hours” for queries and meetings, but otherwise each Fish works when and where best suits them. Fancy working from Spain? That’s cool, just don’t forget your sun lotion – no one wants to be on a Zoom call with a lobster.
As long as they continue to make a positive impact, the Fish can decide whether they want to work remotely full time, or a combination of remote working and days in the Aquarium, which is no longer called “the office”: it’s now our cultural hub, a space for collaboration and enjoying being together.
These changes will – we hope – offer the shoal a much greater work/life balance and the opportunity to take real ownership of their roles, but our customers needn’t worry – we’re still here to provide all the support they need! We’ve implemented new phone systems and even hired some new faces to ensure that our Fish friends continue to swim to success.
So, on Tuesday 15th September – one day short of six months since we all swam away from the Aquarium – the Fish can swim back again. But only if they want to! It’s a whole new way of working, but we trust the team to take ownership of their roles and to make the positive impact that Firefish is renowned for. The only difference is that they can now do it from their home offices,living rooms, balconies abroad…they really can work from anywhere.
