Craft vs Collaboration - Balancing creative life in the new normal

Recently, here at Teamspirit, we wrote a piece around how craft and collaboration have been affected by the new normal we’re all living. And just how this way of working has changed each element for the better or worse.

Published in Creativepool, it featured snippets of stories from our creative team and we wanted to take the time to delve into these a little more – to get a better understanding of how people were feeling in times like these.

By sharing these quotes, muses or rants, we can begin to see the bigger picture: we’re all different in the way that we work. This is hugely important.

As established in our article, craft seems to be flourishing at the moment. Whereas collaboration could use a gentle shove in the right direction. All of our insights around this are in our last blog entry (and the article), including a fun video that outlines some collaboration dos and don’ts.

But enough about that. Let’s see how some of our team are feeling about their own craft and collaboration efforts.

RICHARD WALLACE Integrated Copywriter

“University of California Irvine did a study showing that it takes on average 23 mins to get back to what you were doing if you get interrupted when you’re trying to focus. Having space to get on with something is essential, and offices are often full of distractions.

However, collaboration is still necessary, and often a big time-saver when done in person as there’s less malfunctioning technology and it’s easier to understand each other.

Personally, I love working from home as it suits my workstyle better (copywriting requires lots of head-down time). Plus, my mind works better when it’s not full of post-commute stress. I haven’t found Zoom/Teams to be a huge barrier to collaboration either, as long as everyone has a decent connection. However, it might be harder to form those all-important work relationships as a new starter.”

And on that note, Richard…

MICHELA COMISSO Senior Art Director

“At the beginning it was a bit strange because I had just started two weeks earlier. But when I began to understand the work dynamics and how to collaborate with my new colleagues everything was simpler, and I started to love my new work routine.

I have been working just as hard, if not harder, at home, and like most of the people I know they have been working harder too, balancing their existing job with the new challenges: Zoom/Teams calls, not having an actual desk and, in many cases, the constant demands of childcare. And we enjoyed it!

I personally loved working from home, I found myself less distracted, more focused and even relaxed. Having a bit more time to read and research creative topics (a very important part of my job if I want to push the creative in new directions) and stay aware of industry progressions and trends to help keep things fresh.”

So, as we’ve seen here, that some of the team are feeling pretty positive about their new (or not-so-new environments) and may even be enjoying the new challenges thrown their way. But will this upbeat attitude be reflected throughout the rest of the team? Find out in our next blog, which we'll be publishing next week.