Working apart together

When you walk down the street, the "normal" world seems to stand still. It makes quite an impression, especially in busy Amsterdam. Like almost every other entrepreneur, we were also a bit worried at first: does the work keep coming? Fortunately, it does; we are even busier than usual. One reason is obvious: we are working on the kind of digital products everyone now relies on, both professionally and personally.

Partners in the fight

But there's more to it than that. Many of our clients are working tooth and nail right now to help vulnerable people through this crisis. Oranje Fonds, for example, has set up a €3.5 million relief fund to support social initiatives so that no one has to stand alone now. The Rainbow Group is sheltering nearly 300 homeless people in a sports hall so they can stay safely during the epidemic. And with Villa Pinedo, we are exploring whether their Buddy platform can be used for other social organizations. But also on a very personal level: our friends from the Communications Department at HVC who go along on the garbage truck to replace sick colleagues and keep the place clean. We are all very proud that we get to work with these kinds of people and organizations that are showing their worth right now.

Intensive collaboration at an appropriate distance

The digital products we create are always the result of intensive collaboration, with each other and with our clients. Some of them even sit in our office on a weekly basis. Despite our digital domain, we therefore do not have a strong culture of working from home: everyone actually enjoys sharing a space, having very direct and personal contact. Workshops, presentations, work sessions and meetings, how do you make sure it stays effective (and fun) if you suddenly can't get together?

Self-directed, multidisciplinary and full of initiative

It takes everyone getting used to this new reality but we marvel at how quickly we manage to adapt. Of course, we are used to something with a market that is constantly changing and technology that is constantly innovating. But this situation is mainly a test of our self-organizing, multidisciplinary teams, a development we put a lot of effort into last year. They make their own schedules, their own appointments and do their own evaluations. Now that we have to work remotely, it becomes really clear what this gives us.

Tools and methods that (really) work even remotely

There were some sighs in the past when another new internal tool had to be tested but even that investment in the process is now happily paying off. Besides email and phone we communicate via Slack and Zoom; for our planning and work process we use Simplicate and Monday, workshops we do using Miro and our developers make intensive use of Gitlab. Each process its own tools but now that it works even remotely, we know for sure: this set of tools fits us like a glove.

An uncertain future also offers opportunities

At a time when the health of so many people is at stake, one must be cautious in extolling the positive effects of this situation. But when nothing can be taken for granted anymore, everyone is forced to reflect and new perspectives emerge. Consuming and emitting less CO2, looking out for each other more; it was easy to be pessimistic about the challenges facing our society. Now they suddenly appear to be within reach: the air is rapidly becoming cleaner, the water clearer. Let's hope that besides a lot of fear and sadness, this crisis teaches us that together we are capable of a lot, and that some of those adjustments, will prove to be lasting improvements.

In any case, we are ready.
And our virtual door is open to you.