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It’s been said a million times and I’ll say it again: we could never have predicted this year. As we move closer towards 2021, it’s becoming apparent that we can’t be certain about much. During this time of the calendar year, we are being told to look forward into 2021, to make plans in our careers, develop working relationships, hit targets. These things are all possible, but in order to achieve them, we need to prioritise one thing: flexibility.
The importance of flexible planning has been something we’ve learned over and over in 2020. Birthday parties have been moved to a Zoom room at a moment’s notice, holidays and celebrations re-imagined in a digital world, and plans at work have been no different. In the process of planning marketing campaigns with my clients for the coming year, it’s of the greatest importance that we create campaigns with contingency plans. If we have plans for outdoor activity, a partnership or experiential activation – what will we do if a lockdown is announced that means this can’t happen? Protect your future-self, both in terms of success in the workplace and your own sanity! Be prepared for an uncertain climate while making plans so that you’re not struck off-guard as we were in March.
The release of The Valentines: Far From Perfect by Holly Smale was subject to lots of change; the publication date was moved to July, and the whole world was completely different to when we had made our plans at the start of the year. Luckily, we were working with influencers whom we have built trusting relationships with. This meant that they were flexible and understanding around the changing timeline. The lockdown also meant that the author wasn’t able to attend any live events, so we teamed up with Hannah Snow, who hosted a livestream on her Instagram where she interviewed Holly on the night of publication. This quick thinking allowed Holly to communicate with her audience directly through Hannah’s platform. This kind of adaptability would not have been possible without the strength of our working relationships, with clients, influencers and each other.
Prioritising positive relationships and working hard to strengthen these in the year ahead will make implementing contingency plans much more feasible. Be open and understanding when deadlines have to be pushed, when things are delayed, or plans change. We’re all operating under circumstances that no one was ready for, so be patient with those around you as they adjust. We have all adapted in a way we never thought we could, picking up our laptops and working from home, merging our professional lives with our personal. Remember this when talking to colleagues, you’re all in it together, aiming for collective success with your titles. We’ve almost made it through a tough year, but with likely more to come, it’s imperative that we’re kind and forgiving with one another.
Working relationships within your wider business should be no different. Whether it be publisher to agent, media owner to client, creative to production, we must allow for an adaptable working process in the coming year, and put relationships first. When hopping on a work call, take the time to ask how the person is, offer support if they need it. Our coffee breaks and trips down to Pret have been taken away from us, meaning that the time we usually fill chatting to our colleagues about our lives has been replaced with flicking on the news to catch up on the chaos around us. Creating space for emotions in your working day will increase the level of trust in your relationships, and you’ll be rewarded for it. Perhaps this strange time can help us be more human, not less, even if we're short on real face time.
Developing your working relationships is one thing, but make sure you also take into account how your audience are feeling at this time. How would you as a reader wish to be spoken to? As a brand, be conscious of the struggle that is the every day for so many, and be kind and careful with your words and overall campaign messaging. People need to be reminded that their favourite publishers and booksellers are in this too.
While being kind to others is key, don’t forget yourself. If you had planned to achieve a certain goal by next week, but it’s not going to happen until next month – don’t be too hard on yourself. We’re all trying to juggle our lives as normal while going through a completely crazy and upsetting time. When working from home it can be tempting to let work take over your life, after all what else is there to do? It’s important to be gentle with yourself, making time for the things that you enjoy doing... like reading a book. Or doing something that has nothing to do with books. In short, even when it comes to self-care, it pays to be flexible.
When we can't predict much, it's staying tuned in to those around us, and making relationships our priority, that will see us through.
Georgia Henry is a campaign executive for Rocket.