Rocketing through the outskirts of the atmosphere, satellites are conversing and relaying information to each other as they orbit around a central celestial body. We’ve been doing the same but from the comfort (and sometimes discomfort) of our own homes – DMS being our center and all of its great employees communicating to make an email campaign or new marketing strategy come to life.
DMS, along with almost every other marketing and advertising agency out there, has donned this title, Satellite, after suddenly being jettisoned across our communities to work remotely. As a result of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, what once was the title of a great song by the Dave Matthews Band, has now become a description for how we work in a remote or virtual capacity.
I Thought the Coffee was Better at My House. I was Wrong.
Coffee brewed from our office’s Keurig has been fair to acceptable in the past. The pod of month-old Pike’s Place didn’t compare to a freshly brewed French press of a local, or fair trade freshly ground brew that I stock at home.
And yet I miss waiting for that machine to gurgle out that passable coffee. I don’t know about you, but a lot of jokes, lies, and really great stories have been told around our office coffee maker and water cooler. I miss catching up with my colleagues as we queue up for coffee, discussing what we are watching, what happened in sports, or the weird graphic on Ian’s new t-shirt. We long for the day when we can enjoy those human moments around the office coffee maker again. Until then, as we drink coffee at home, we must remember to make concerted efforts to reach out and say “Hi” to our other co-orbiters. It reminds all of us that we are human and we are all in this together.
Tools That Help Keep Virtual and Satellite Teams Organized
Now that we are all home and working in a satellite capacity, those of us who have children are multi-tasking through online learning platforms, being unpaid short-order cooks, and taking on all of this during an already busy daily schedule. How do we make the day more streamlined? How can we fulfill these responsibilities more effectively? How, as account executives and project managers, can we communicate most efficiently with creative teams, web development teams, and our clients without elements of these projects getting
lost in translation?
There are a lot of great tools out there to optimize communication and project organization. We have compiled a list of some of the tools we are using to help us communicate with our team members and clients in ways that minimize business interruption as much as possible.
Depending on the size of your organization, Google offers a lot of really robust organizational tools. Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Sheets can all be used for creating shareable and organized project plans which remove the need to worry about document version control. And best of all, can be easily shared directly from Gmail.
Project planning in marketing and advertising are crucial. Smartsheet is like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets on steroids. Project planning becomes easy using features like Gantt charts, calendarization, and dependency email settings that help us keep projects on track. It can be as simple or as intensely thorough as you need it.
For the majority of our clients, maintaining the highest security standards for their data is paramount. Therefore, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an absolute must for us. It allows us to communicate and collaborate from home safely on secure, encrypted connections with greater privacy. By using a VPN, we are able to access important files that are necessary to keep our projects organized and our clients’ marketing strategies moving forward.
Companies are using web conferencing technologies like Google Chat, GoToMeeting, Skype, and Zoom more these days. Due to the unprecedented levels of increased traffic and server load that these platforms are currently facing, at times they can become glitchy. However, we have found that Join.me still seems to function quite well, as long as your internet connection is strong.
We have a lot going on — so much more than usual. Between caring for pets, children, and dealing with irritable roommates or spouses, we have to eat. UberEats is a great solution. They are not only delivering amazing deliciousness from local restaurants, but they are also the fiber helping to keep the local food and beverage small business industry hanging on right now. Additionally, they just added an option to “Leave at Door” which is great for practicing Social Distancing.
Need groceries? Instacart is a great option. I did, however, discover that they will not deliver beer and wine in the state of Georgia due to the Georgia alcohol distribution laws. Oh well, outside of not being able to have that great bottle of Pinot Noir, or a sixer of the microbrew du jour delivered, they are still a fantastic option for grocery shopping while maintaining all of our Social Distancing responsibilities. Keep in mind that my experience has proven that it’s best to place your order today for what you’ll need four or five days from now, if the application will allow it in your area.
Having access to music and podcasts at the tips of our fingers has been a huge boost to morale. Taking advantage of working from home has allowed me to do a deep dive into Americana. My oldest has not enjoyed the vocal stylings of John Prine, or Jason Isbell as much as I have, but now they know how I feel when they sing Disney songs on repeat. We’re all expanding our musical comfort zones these days.
I have always enjoyed a Corona on warm days after doing yard work. Never did I imagine the name of something so delightful could be applied to one of the deadliest pandemics our modern world has ever seen. We hope to reassure you that we are all in this together. Working together remotely will be our new normal for a while. But, as we fulfill our duty as a society to abide by the current safety requirements, we can make the best of our new virtual, satellite work-life by leveraging new services and technology along the way. We encourage you to take advantage of some of these project and life-hack tools to create efficiencies as you navigate the days ahead and stay connected.
We wish health and safety to you and all who have been affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Take care. We are with you!
This is Patrick, signing off from one of DMS’ new satellite offices, my man cave.
