The Inner Workings of a Digital Agency Working Remotely

The Covid-19 virus has caused unprecedented times in the UK, and understandably many businesses are having to adapt and embrace digital processes. 

At Venn we are fortunate that Digital is our world and as digital natives, we are well in our comfort zone working remotely. As your digital partner we are still here as a continuous source of support and guidance, whether we are in the office or working from home. With all this in mind, we thought we would share our experiences with you and the tools we use to ensure you can lean on us in these challenging times.

Communication

We’ve found the best way is to combine the use of online communication tools like Teamwork and Teams with organised regular catch-ups, so nothing gets lost in transmission.

Teamwork is our Project Management software. We create milestones, deadlines and tasks which can be assigned to both our internal team and clients. We can share files, such as design concepts and branding documents to ensure everything is stored in a single location for both Clients and the Venn team.

Teamwork is also home to our ticketing system. When you raise a ticket, it comes through to a portal which allows us to track, monitor, reply and create tasks which can be assigned to our team of designers & developers. Clients can also create an account and login to manage all their tickets in one place. 

Float is our tool for resource planning and scheduling. Each member of the team is set up in float and then we book in work accordingly. This tool allows all the team at Venn transparency over who is available and working on which projects, and crucially when work is due to take place.

When it comes to meetings, we are all familiar with using Skype for Business, Zoom & Google hangouts - so we can adapt to use whatever software our clients need for meetings.

Design

InVision is our tool for sharing design work with our clients. Once a design has been reviewed internally it is presented face to face. This is then shared with our clients via InVision, allowing them to gather with key stakeholders and review to provide feedback. You can leave comments on the designs, which allows us to work more efficiently. 

(you’ll notice the shapes didn’t make the final cut on our new website)

Development

Apteve is our cloud-based CMS, which means you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection.

We can code and develop on your site from anywhere and the Staging environment allows us to test changes to your site on a test domain without publishing to the live site, so that clients can review and test before updating on the live site. 

What about tech support?

According to Marketing Week, 61% of Senior Marketers are worried that getting tech support remotely will be difficult.

At Venn, we have the structure and processes in place for remote working by the nature of being a tech business. Our Ticketing System will continue to run as usual and our phones will continue to be answered with no service interruption.

We are incredibly lucky here at Venn to have in-house developers alsongside a wide range of skilled individuals. This means that even if we can't provide you with a quick fix, or an immediate answer, there will always be an expert on hand to look deeper into the issue, allowing us to work together to find a solution.

Take this time to get to know the CMS that your website is built on and ensure that all the team are confident in using it too. This can also be an excellent opportunity to upskill and explore different marketing platforms such as Mailchimp or social media.

During these challenging times, we are here to support all our clients, and any further businesses that might need help embracing digital. Whether you need advice on how to help maximise your digital assets such as your website, are looking to upskill your team or want help strategising for the future, our team are all on hand, simply get in touch here.