"Flow has always been innovative and flexible," says Tara Turkington, CEO of Flow Communications. "Now, our flexibility is at another level. We're excited to chart this path, along with our amazing team."

"The forced work-from-home arrangement during COVID-19 made us realise that teams who choose when and where they work create more innovative work and offer even better and more responsive client service," adds Turkington.

"We're grateful to be among those South Africans for whom working remotely has proven to be not just a necessity but an advantage. At Flow, we're embracing this opportunity to offer our staff what is, after all, widely predicted to be the work experience of the future for knowledge workers," says Turkington.

According to the company, the advantages to clients include:
  • teams that are more focused and available
  • the ability to work with more clients in more countries
  • a reduced carbon footprint
  • easier methods to arrange meetings 
  • access to a wider range of staff
  • more integrated teams
  • an increase in innovation
  • more time is spent on client work, and
  • the improvement of agility, flexibility and responsiveness.
According to Flow Communications, remote working does not equate to working from home; it's a choice and not a necessity and enables teams to embrace opportunities.

Examples of such opportunities include:
  • being able to work from anywhere in the world
  • reduced travel costs and eliminating the frustration that comes from commuting to and from work
  • more family time
  • better health
  • more accountability and productivity
  • less micromanagement
  • a tighter-knit culture, including integrating all offices into 'one big online family'
  • the opportunity to learn new skills and embrace learning opportunities
  • being responsible for one's own working times, productivity and office space
  • customising the work environment to suit individual needs
  • less hierarchy, the democratisation of the workspace and making people more accessible, and
  • remuneration that based on productivity rather than presenteeism.
"It's our experience that this new way of working is not at all remote, but rather closer, more accessible, more flexible and more agile — retaining our unique 'Flow culture', while offering more," says Tiffany Turkington-Palmer, Flow's managing director.

"We have all the tools at our disposal that have enabled us to make this transition smoothly, including our bespoke TimeSponge time-tracking system, developed in-house by our developers and designed to suit our clients' unique needs," adds Turkington-Palmer.

"We're also embracing the opportunity to develop an even closer 'Flow culture', with morning check-in meetings that have already become a daily highlight and include a 'culture club', a joke of the day and the opportunity for staff to share insights with their colleagues," Turkington-Palmer says.

"All in all," concludes Turkington-Palmer, "we wonder why we didn't do this sooner. We're excited about the opportunities ahead and are reminded of the old adage that 'there is no challenge that does not represent an opportunity'."

For more information, visit www.flowsa.com. You can also follow Flow Communications on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.