What We’ve Learned a Year Into Covid-19

A year ago, we closed down the 25madison office in response to Covid-19. At the time, we had no idea how long it would be before we saw each other again. The last year has brought challenges, learnings, and unexpected benefits that impact our team and the businesses we help build. We’ve shared some of our learnings below.

By Grant Silow

1. Culture Matters

When we put together our first betting pool on return-to-office dates, nobody had a prediction further out than Memorial Day 2020. Even that two and a half month stretch seemed like it would pose serious risks to our cohesion and productivity. But, we were wrong.

A year later, we’re moving faster than ever. I attribute this to our culture. While our leadership generally relies on employee initiative to move our business forward, we snapped into a new routine when we went remote. After initially over-correcting with daily standups, we settled on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday routine in which everyone reports on top priorities and flags any “blockers” they’re experiencing. We’ve had ad hoc happy hours, continued the tradition of our Long Island retreat (outdoors and distanced), and initiated a weekly trivia game via Slack. By staying present in each other’s daily routines, we’ve overcome physical distance and become closer as a team.

2. Overcommunicate

Using our regular standups and ad hoc team meetings, we are very communicative about ongoing…