Multi-disciplinary agency GO Digital opened a temporary office in Canggu, Bali, to unite its remote team who hadn't worked physically together.
The Bali outpost was an opt-in program offered to all staff including those who had just been hired.
John Yanny, general manager and co-founder of GO Digital, told AdNews: “What I found is that the Bali team had developed a stronger bond because the experiences we shared don't happen in an office or remote environment.
"In an office there's a real short window of time and a real normality around bounding. But to have a really awesome culture, often relationships form after work when teams are away from the office."
For one month the agency paid for a private space in a coworking office, administrative costs, insurance, some social outings, some food, some drinks and other support for 15 employees.
Employees paid for their own travel, accommodation and any extras. Some teams grouped together in shared villas while others brought their families.
Yanny: "Obviously I would have loved to just pay for everyone, but at that point the cost would have just been a massive blow.
"From a cost perspective, the office rent was cheaper in Bali than any Australian city by a long way and I think people's living expenses were reasonably reduced while they were there.
"So people weren't massively out of pocket, but people saw this as an opportunity to explore."
Go Digital coworking space in Bali.
Teams worked during the Australian east coast time zone and subscribed to three key principles: don’t let down your team, don’t let down your client and meet your deadlines.
Yanny: “There was a concern for us internally around the perception of productivity with this idea because Bali is a holiday destination in most people's minds.
“When in reality it was nothing close to that.
“We picked Bali because timezone wise it was flexible, temperature was obviously fantastic and it's a really affordable place day-to-day.
“But we also made agreements internally in the team to address any kind of risk of being perceived that this is not a productive trip.
"For example, working to Australian time was important to ensure we were never going to put a client out or another team member out because the timezone is a couple hours different. And of course, the side benefit of that is the Bali team finished work at 3:30 Bali time.
“We were actually more productive by a long way - it sounds super cliche but what I perceived happened in the Bali team was a bit of a work hard play hard culture.
“They fully understood that we were there to work in a cool and exotic place, so they leaned into the opportunity and gave it their all.
"So we saw people making sure they were super productive and proactive to get things done. And then afterwards we would all go out and socialise together and share great experiences.
“People went on day trips and on the weekends went to remote amazing places.
“In this financial year, our attrition has essentially dropped to zero, we've had no turnover in our 65 people business. This is becuase of our flexibility initiatives such as our Bali outpost."
Go Digital Bali team.
A staff survey that followed the conclusion of the experience reported increases in job satisfaction, happiness and improvements in attitudes towards the business.
Even though Go Digital is a 100% remote business, Yanny believes any agency can benefit from this strategy.
“Even if you weren't working remotely, I think the idea of working in a different place is an exciting concept for most people.
“Actually the motivator for this project was we asked ourselves how do we get people together in a way that makes sense rather than forcing them to come to a physical office? How do we make an office a place that adds a real mutual benefit to both management and staff?"
Leveraging the success of the first outpost, GO Digital is planning another outpost in the Philippines in 2023.
GO Digital has a team of employees based in the Philippines so the outpost will also provide a unique opportunity for locally based employees to build connections with the wider team.
Yanny: “There's a bit of a legal construct that forces us to only have one month of work.
“From what I understand, you can basically work anywhere in another country for 60 days, based on Australian Tax Law. Before there's an issue with like country of residence, payroll and HR from what I understand."
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.