Remotely possible.

Since our inception in 2018, Together has managed to stay together while being fully remote.

I was among the first to join the agency back when we were a team of five or so. (I certainly wasn’t the first — others can vie for that accolade.) And I can vouch for how smoothly it all worked. Naturally, as we’ve got slightly bigger (a lot bigger, in fact), we’ve had to adapt and evolve to keep things running as smoothly.

Fast forward to today, our team of 30-odd strategists, writers, designers and developers are still working remotely, from all over the UK and Europe. Some from their home offices, others from coworking spaces, and some — I will name no names — from bed.

How does it work? Let’s see.

But first, why are we remote?

We embraced remote working from the first because it felt right. At least that’s what the founders have told me (you’ll notice this is a recurring theme throughout the article — I am merely a scribe).

Starting as a small team, not having a physical office allowed us to be agile. It meant we were able to hire people without being hamstrung by location. We could also keep costs down while allocating resources to more important things, like that cardboard cutout of Drake we got for Ryan’s birthday.

And now, despite being successful enough to open an office, we just haven’t really felt the need. Or that’s what the founders tell me.

So before this post comes back to haunt us, which it’s bound to do, here are a few bullet points to explain why we’re embracing remote.

• Trend. Everyone is doing it. Most of our clients work remotely themselves, meaning we operate on the same wavelength.
• Talent. Without a physical office or studio, we’re able to hire from a talent pool larger than most. That’s not to say the UK lacks talent, but according to a map I just consulted both Europe and the US are much, much bigger.
• Trust. Being remote means building even greater trust with the people that work here. We trust everyone implicitly to manage their own work and finish stuff on time. Our opinion is that this leads to better results, with people assuming greater autonomy and responsibility. Oh, and it also means everyone feels they’re being treated like a grownup.
• Time. No office means no office commute. Enough said.
• Teams. With greater freedom over how and where they work, we think our teams live happier, healthier lives.

What about the clients?

A good question.

The fact is that being fully remote doesn’t stop us from working as closely with our clients as we want. And it’s no secret that we do prefer that.

None of them really expect us to have a fancy office for them to come to — or for us to come to theirs. This is in part down to that thing that happened in 2020, but also because typically we’re not based in the same city, or — not to brag — even the same country. (A lot of our clients are based in the US).

Either way, remote is something that people have got used to, perhaps because it actually makes a lot more sense…

If projects are to run smoothly and relationships to develop, there are a few things that have to fall into place first, which, for your reading pleasure, I’ve gone to the trouble of listing as bullet points:

• Living in the cloud. It goes without saying that remote work wouldn’t be possible without technology. The tools we use to work with our clients come in different shapes and sizes, helping us connect across borders and time zones. Slack, Notion and Figma are some of the usual suspects.
• Synchronised watches. Working across time zones comes with its own set of challenges: GMT, CET, EST, PST… you see where this is going. Making sure our calendars align is a job that falls in the very capable hands of our Project Managers.
• Over-communication. The success of being a remote agency very much depends on how we interact with clients. That means going beyond the bog-standard daily update on Slack or weekly catchup on Zoom. In our minds, there’s no such thing as over-communication.
• Collaborating (a lot). People spend a lot of time on calls. The last thing you want is to become just another call. Rather than deliver endless monologues at monthly intervals, getting clients involved is paramount, whether that’s through a product download, brand strategy workshop or weekly sync. Add rapid feedback cycles and daily messages on Slack into the mix, the collaboration part all becomes a bit easier.
• Pitch-perfect presenting. To convince people that the work you’re creating is really excellent, it’s not simply a case of sending something over gift-wrapped. Whether it’s a manifesto, wireframe or clever bit of code, presentations are key to the success of every project.

What about the team?

Another great question.

We basically take all the client-related principles detailed above, and apply them to Together. When new people join, we make sure they’re comfortable using our tech stack. Once settled in, we have daily team stand-ups, where we all gather, occasionally breaking our silence to talk about work. But the important point is that we get to see each other every single day, despite not being in a physical office.

And the culture?

Our view is that if you put in just a bit of effort, the culture thing is easy to get right. Whether through our daily catch-ups on Google Meet (10am, sharpish), co-working days, monthly “Get Togethers” (see what we did there?) in and around London, or our summer and Christmas parties (organised by Dom, our in-house social secretary), we’re always looking for ways to connect.

Perhaps that’s why we’re called Together? (I’ll have to ask the founders).

What the future holds

The future, being notoriously difficult to predict, makes it hard to tell how things will develop. But one thing we’re quite certain of is that remote work is here to stay. At least for us.

At the time of writing, a glorious morning on the 3rd of June 2024, our team scattered across 6 cities in the UK and Europe, is busy working with clients in London, New York and San Francisco, some from their home offices, others from their regular coworking space, and some — again, no names — from bed.