Get back to work
Work is one of the things that can define our lives, and it is always changing. Normally, that change is slow enough to be almost imperceptible; but sometimes it is immediate and unmissable and so it has been during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Many countries have been forced to lockdown their populations to restrict the spread of the virus and this has disrupted established patterns of working, particularly for those who normally work in offices and those who have, sadly, seen their jobs put on hold or destroyed.
This has certainly been the case in the United Kingdom, where Drawnalism is based. The four nations of the UK have lived through three lockdowns since March 2020, with entertainment and non-essential shops closed and people urged to ‘stay at home’ and work from home where possible.
In the UK, the third of these lockdowns is slowly being lifted, and this has led to an intense debate about whether former patterns of work will re-assert themselves. Politicians, landlords, and businesses that depend on travelling or commuting are desperate to see a ‘return to the office’ – and some workers are telling surveys that they would like to see their colleagues face to face, instead of on Zoom calls.
Yet it is hard to detect any real appetite for a return to long morning and evening journeys and to working 9am to 5pm in an office, often far from people’s homes with a sandwich or take-away noodles for lunch. The growing expectation seems to be that the future will be some form of hybrid working - spread between dispersed locations and underpinned by mobile and digital technologies.
We’ve been thinking about these changes and how they might impact Drawnalism, which switched abruptly from working In the Moment to working On the Air when Covid-19 hit. Since our business is capturing knowledge and ideas in graphic form, we’ve come up with a piece of At the Studio Drawnalism to reflect some of the benefits and challenges that the new world is likely to bring. And some of the things upon which change depends.
Moving on during the Coroavirus pandemic has shown that digital technology enables work to be carried out remotely from dispersed locations
The large drawing conveys the idea that the consequences of hybrid working are likely to be positive and negative at the same time. Work may be cheaper for businesses if they no longer have to pick up travel costs; but the infrastructure, devices, working practices and skills required for it to be done remotely will have to be improved and maintained.
Individuals may secure a better work-life balance if they can work flexibly and make time for family and exercise; but teams may miss the creativity of face-to-face interactions and the mental health benefits it can deliver.
Then, there are the wider implications of these changes that, as a society, we have barely started to consider, such as the impact on: carbon emissions and the drive for net zero; mass and individual transport; commercial and private property; catering and grocery delivery; in-person and online shopping; corporate and individual entertaining.
What else can you see in the Drawnalism? We’d be very interested in the thoughts of our clients and prospects on the future of work; and of course, on how we at Drawnalism can help support it.
Over the past year, we have found that our On the Air service has delivered huge value to clients running remote events and team meetings, by capturing insights that might never emerge from call recordings, engaging remote workers, and creating collateral for customers facing ‘Zoom fatigue’.
We have also found that our At the Studio work has helped clients to think through the new systems and workflows that they need to succeed in a rapidly changing environment. In future, we expect that to continue and that our In the Moment service will become a premium service; one booked only when face-to-face interaction is really needed and can deliver demonstrable value for its higher cost.
But, like everybody else, we are looking forward to seeing what the emerging, post-Covid or accommodated-to-Covid world looks like. And, of course, to capturing it graphically.