What you need to know:

• Mental health at the forefront as multiple agency young guns advise their peers to stay in touch, reach out if in trouble and remain vigilant 
• Challenges of navigating sharehouses, knowing mental boundaries and dealing with a declining sense of purpose becoming the new norm
• COVID said to be the "watershed moment" for agency operations beyond 2020
• Workplace process disrupted - Zoom chats not the same as late-night pizza brainstorming sessions
• Recruitment freezes and different team dynamics impact newly minted managers
• Keeping focused - young guns warn not to get stuck in a "YouTube cat video" vortex

WFH teething issues: sharehouse solidarity 

The days of someone pinching your last beer out of the fridge seem a distant memory for many of the industry's younger members who have since converted their share houses into home offices.

Taking calls, carving out your own space and continuous Zoom meetings have since replaced petty squabbles that once plagued housemates nationwide.

Now with lockdown measures firmly in place, Mi3 checked the pulse of adland's emerging leaders to see how they were adjusting to the new working environment they find themselves in.

James Graff, Client Director for Woolworths@DAN says it's important to note that while it's clear all groups and sectors are being impacted by this, some worse than others, this industry is lucky to have been able to adapt quickly to WFH.

"We’re all hearing the impacts in media, from pay cuts and clients pulling spend to job losses and forced leave," Graff says.

"However, we are lucky to work in an industry that’s been able to adapt quickly to WFH, which not all industries can. Look at the hospitality industry, in the space of a day, it was virtually shut down. While we can’t control how long it lasts, we can control how we respond."

Digital Director at Wavemaker Katharina Herzfeldt agrees, adding that while the economy was entering a difficult time ahead with decreased consumer confidence and a potential recession, there was still a responsibility to help clients "future proof their business"

"[This] is now more important than ever. It’s been great to see the collaborations between internal teams and media partners to proactively turn around market landscape insights, competitive updates & re-working media budgets within tighter deadlines and added external pressures," Herzfeldt says.

Charlotte Goodsir, Co-chair of Youngbloods NSW, an industry organisation for people with under 10 years of advertising experience, and Social Strategist at The Monkeys says that while some have suitable WFH setups, many are navigating share houses or living with parents during this uncertain period.

"For a lot of us, our bedrooms are now also our workspaces, so any sense of work/life balance has become confused. All of this is having a significant impact on our mental health and our personal relationships," Goodsir says.

"All the while, we wait anxiously to find out if our jobs are safe, or if work will reimburse this desk chair I had to buy because the $12 IKEA stool I was using caused me lower back pain."

A 'watershed' moment: Zoom replaces late-night pizza

Matt Bladin, Victorian Co-chair for Youngbloods and an Art Director at CHE Proximity Melbourne says this will be a "watershed moment" for agency operations beyond 2020.

He says if remote working was previously seen as a progressive accommodation, it’s now being proven as a "functional alternative", however, there are still improvements that need to be made as far as traditional working process are concerned.

"A nine-person Zoom shares ideas differently to an extroverted creative department sitting around a late-night pizza. Dialling in from your couch with the same pizza just feels sad. The digital alternative still needs working on," Bladin says.

"The threat isn’t just to our creative process, it’s also to the less quantifiable moments of human connection that bring together a team. Zoom and Slack banter have been a great way to keep agency culture alive, but we’re missing those more intimate opportunities to have a deeper conversation."

Starcom Strategy Director Nick Bauer says he has seen a real sense of comradery emerge between team members, agency villages, media owners and clients, as the industry tackles the challenges of COVID-19 together.

"At a group level, Publicis Groupe was well prepared to support a remote workforce with our flexible working framework Publicis Liberté. It already established some of the knowledge and foundations to this way of working," Bauer says.

"From another perspective, people are gaining more insight into the personal lives of their colleagues - as kids, dogs and hobbies all make appearances in video calls."

Managing mental health: keep a purpose

Youngbloods QLD Co-Chairs Samantha Coates (Digital Experience Account Manager at Alpha Digital) and Alessia Castiglione (Copywriter at Brother & Co) say the most important thing you can do for your mental health is to stay in contact with people and maintain connections.

They say while many may be working from home at full capacity, many roles and job duties have changed or dropped relevancy during this season, leaving people with a diminished sense of purpose.

"If this has happened to you you might be facing feelings of a loss of purpose or a lack of clarity on what to work on," they say. "Rather than stuck in an endless loop of funny cat videos on youtube find a project that you can dedicate 100% of yourself into. Time goes slow when you have nothing to do and being unproductive negatively affects your mental health."

"Basically find a way to sink your teeth into something meaningful. This is an integral booster for your mental health."

Herzfeldt says it's also important to check in with teammates on a personal level to try and support each other as everyone will be facing different challenges.

She says making a conscious effort to share positive news and stories with the team helps as well.

"Switching off from the News and taking time out to exercise, read books, learn a new skill, take an online course and re-connect with family and friends over the phone," Herzfeldt says.

"There is also a range of mental health services and psychologists available over the phone, which I would encourage anyone facing difficulties to reach out to."

Newly minted managers feel the pinch

For the Sydney Chair of MFA 5+ Emily Cook, an issue that has had less discussion around it is the impact COVID has had on young guns who have recently stepped into management positions.

With a team of 12 who work into her across planning, digital and offline media, she says remotely managing the team has been the biggest change and hurdle for her to overcome. 

"The visual cues I get from being in the office, overhearing conversations and helping navigate tricky conversations is how I best support the team," Cook says.

"I also work in an integrated team so have the additional nuance of working with Account Service + Creative and Production. We always have lots of moving parts and staying across all of these conversations have been difficult. "

Additionally, she says those in this bracket who are running teams have had global freezes on recruitment given current landscape.

This is putting pressure on teams with gaps and trying to find a solve to get additional support within the agency to help plug gaps. 

"I have two new starters this week which has been interesting, recruiting via vid call, getting tech couriered to their house and then doing on-boarding meetings via Microsoft teams," she says.

"While the nuances of meeting and taking someone out to lunch and getting to feel part of the team will be lost, it will be a new learning curve in preserving the culture and bringing the warmth and belonging that you get when finding your way in a new role."