18th Oct 2022
3 Min Read
Stop, collaborate (creatively) and listen
Elle Bradley-Cox
scarlettabbott news
How often do you take time out to play? And isn’t that, well, not work? After a long slog of distance, adjusting to hybrid working, new teammates and busy client challenges, we got some of the team together to step away from their screens, reset and ask: ‘How do we lean on each other’s strengths to make the magic happen for our clients? And make it feel fun along the way?’ It starts with collaboration.
We’ve all been conditioned to think that work must mean slogging away for hours. But that’s BS, as our lead behaviour scientist Lindsay Kohler says: “Managing your energy matters. By mixing up where and how we work, we use different parts of our brain which means we’re more likely to remember information better – and we’re much more effective. And play can make moments more memorable.”
So, we set to work and play. Project delivery working hand in hand with creatives and content with consultants, dissecting mock client briefs and asking better questions alongside a Lego Serious Play workshop with Victor Perez Moruga, who’s researching leadership, creativity and play as part of his PhD at York University.
One of our newest team members, editorial assistant Declan Newcombe says: “We’re all at scarlettabbott for a reason but a focused day together, laptops away, brought home why we’re here. We may all have different roles; we may think and work differently, but it’s exactly that which makes our team so powerful. The creative collaboration workshop put that front and centre.”
There’ll be more sessions with the rest of the team to come because we’ve found the benefits are so holistic. As senior creative Chris Hudson says: “I’m ready to put these ideas into place to help us deliver a better world of work for us and our clients.”
“I loved our creative session. Fun, engaging, digestible and it highlighted many shared views in the team. It left us all with food for thought.”
Russ Williams, senior creative
“As a writer, it was truly eye-opening to realise just how much inspiration other people give me. How much creativity can be brought to the table when we work together. Ask the tough questions and you’ll get extraordinary results.”
Declan Newcombe, editorial assistant
“It was great to take some time out to connect and reconnect with colleagues in the flesh, take a pause from the everyday and really look at how we work as the cogs in our big machine. We discussed the benefits of collaboration, communication, breaking down the digital divide – it was good to see the team.”
“I loved the opportunity to spend time with team members I don’t normally get to and to connect in a way that doesn’t happen in your day-to-day work. The whole day opened my eyes to individual roles, especially mine, and how we are all needed as a team.”
Leila McCausland, project delivery manager
"It was interesting to see how people responded to creative challenges in the LEGO workshop. Those exercises demonstrated how different and unique we are and how important collaboration and communication are to work better together."
