Throughout my career, I’ve sat in many board rooms where senior leaders have obsessed over presenteeism, refusing to believe teams were working unless they could see them at their desks. For years, the industry seemed to think that the only way to manage a studio was to run it like a factory floor. While this might make sense in other industries, I’ve found that great creative ideas are born from how we see the world, not where we sit.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, everything changed. Remote work became the only option, and we muddled through this chaotic and confusing new normal for almost two years. While the transition was difficult (team members juggling parenting, the politics of house shares, relentless isolation, and Zoom fatigue), the pandemic proved that alternative working methods were possible. While we didn’t realise it at the time — our psyches were still processing living through a pandemic, and all that forced us to hold — it set off a monumental shift in our relationship to work.

Three years later, many agencies have adopted a hybrid model that blends working from home and set in-house days, yet boards remain conflicted about the impact of remote working on the product and culture. Senior leaders seem nostalgic for how things were. They came up climbing the corporate ladder where being seen equalled success. They were the first to arrive and the last to leave and wore their burnout as a badge of honour. Now they claim agency culture is dying, dubiously weaponising this in another attempt to get teams back in the studio. The ‘culture’ they suddenly care about is no longer a retention line item on their P&L, but in their eyes, it is the only way work can be done.

We need to create an environment where everyone has a voice and is invited to provide both input and pushback. Creating opportunities to build psychological safety is vital

While comfort in the familiar may play a part in the current cynicism around remote working, the real discomfort is coming from a more significant shift. The flexibility and freedom of remote working has birthed new priorities and expectations around what the creative industry could look and feel like. The power dynamic is shifting and the era of ‘transaction’, where we trade work for pay, where an employee’s success lies exclusively with the individual to constantly prove their worth while leadership absolves themselves of responsibility, is over.

“We need to create an environment where everyone has a voice and is invited to provide both input and pushback,” HR consultant Lucy Haggis explains. “Creating opportunities to build psychological safety is vital. Employers now have a lot more responsibility in providing well-rounded support; there is no ‘one size fits all’, and we need to constantly review, adapt, and shift our approach.”

I see the future of creative agencies as more reciprocal, where trust and accountability are a priority in a co-created environment that serves the needs of many, rather than just a few. We need to devise new systems that don’t just replicate what we had before, but dream bigger and offer more. Amongst this, a new set of questions are emerging: What constitutes a creative studio? Do we need a physical space to thrive? How does IRL connection differ from digital togetherness? And how will a sustained alternative approach impact how we work and our productivity?

We want more time together and more informal ways of gathering that’s not just about specific project work

Until recently, my experience of studio culture has been basic and underwhelming: top-down, tokenistic, alcohol-fuelled, ill-timed, and one-size-fits-all. Agency culture isn’t born at lavish Christmas parties. It’s not about free fruit, company playlists or ‘the first round’s on us’. It’s not about the insidious notion that ‘we are a family’ or ‘fit in or get out.’

As a neurodiverse, gender-non-confirming person, finding a sense of belonging in agency culture was never a given. It wasn’t until my time at Dazed as project director in 2015 — a company built upon the creativity of emerging generations — that my shoulders began to relax, and I felt some sense of safety. It was the first time in over a decade that I didn’t have to code-switch for survival or take casual misogyny and homophobia on the chin so as not to make others uncomfortable.

“One of the things I hear most often when I’m working with teams on what they’d like to change is ‘belonging’,” says Letesia Gibson, founder of New Ways, a behaviour change consultancy that helps organisations embed anti-racism, equity and belonging. “We want more time together and more informal ways of gathering that’s not just about specific project work.”

I’m in several work-related WhatsApp groups with peers worldwide. In a sense, we are work colleagues as we work in a similar industry, share resources and discuss industry changes

While the leadership of previous generations has been defined purely by commerciality, I see my success as a managing director integrating business and culture in effective and meaningful ways, whether we are remote or in-house. There isn’t one metric or objective; how we navigate commercial success is inextricably linked to taking care of our teams, prioritising psychological safety, centering belonging and continuing to co-create our working lives together.

When Lydia Pang and Sam Jackson built Mørning, they wanted to reimagine a new model for creative studios, including a four-day work week, flexible hours and remote working as optional: we have a studio in London that our teams can freely access and where we come together socially and on projects. As founders, it was imperative to them that culture is at the heart of everything we do and our time together is sacred.

What I’ve discovered is that genuine agency culture is born every day. It builds over time, through trust and collaboration. It’s rooted in every decision made, from the macro to the micro, and is shaped through the contributions of every team member at every level. When it comes to the success of remote working, building and maintaining culture is the lynchpin.

We’ve experimented with different modes of coming together. We went ‘out and about’ together once a month, immersing ourselves in culture. While generative, the team felt it created too much pressure in the studio. We listened and co-created a monthly IRL (including everything from workshops with artists to body modifications) and an annual three-day retreat where we travel to cities and spaces that offer creative discovery. Each retreat is carefully programmed to support different personalities with time allotted together as well as space to self-orientate, allowing us to detach from our work lives and create collective memories.

I should be jaded by agencies but one of the most exciting things about working for a startup with progressive founders is the opportunity to reimagine systems

Making IRL moments count is essential, but the incremental change born from nurturing culture every day — on everything from Slack to Zoom — has a lasting impact. For us, this is about team-led conversations sharing cool shit and celebrating wins. “This rise of ‘water cooler’ channels offers a digital version of informal office chats,” says Robin Shaw, co-founder of direct social startup iiNDY. “I’m in several work-related Discords and WhatsApp groups with peers worldwide. In a sense, we are work colleagues as we work in a similar industry, share resources and discuss industry changes, but what’s interesting is a company doesn’t own the channels; they are ‘internet offices’ that are decentralised and owned by the workforce.”

I should be jaded by agencies — it is my right after working my way up over the past 20 years — but one of the most exciting things about working for a startup with progressive founders is the opportunity to reimagine systems. This new world requires leading with openness and without ego, unlearning the past and moving forward with fallibility, knowing we won’t always get it right, but giving ourselves the grace to pick ourselves back up and try again.

As a leader, I care that the work is done with craft and care, but that’s just base stakes. My ambition is for our team to feel part of something — ideally, a community they have helped shape and define. Gratefully being a Mørning Person is a call for you to show up as your fullness of self and make this industry a little less shit.

Lily Fletcher is managing director at Mørning; morning.fyi; Top image: Shutterstock