Pre-Covid, the traditional model of work had us all travelling to a single building, starting at 9am, and finishing at 5pm. But anyone who’s worked in communications knows that (pandemics aside) the job rarely fits neatly into set hours, and the work of an organisation delivering public services – such as the NHS – never really stops.
The 24/7 world we live in, particularly as we emerge from the grips of a pandemic, is driving an ever-increasing requirement for communications teams that are totally flexible and responsive to need, working on demand from wherever they happen to be – in an office, at home or anywhere else. And you don’t always know when you’ll need an extra hand. At Sorted Communications we work flexibly, remotely and on demand, so we can deliver exactly what’s needed, just when it comes up.
When an NHS acute trust wanted 12 months’ internal communications cover, it made sense for us to sit with the in-house team, but for shorter projects, such as overhauling the content of their website, we link in remotely – using our own desk and computer – to deliver the work.
In an organisation that’s built around different shifts and flexible working, it just makes sense for providers like us to work the same way.
If the healthcare profession can do it…
Technology is changing the world of work for communications and healthcare professionals alike. We’ve written for NHS England about GPs using video links to get advice on treatments – saving patients long journeys to specialist centres and speeding up care; we led the communications around a survey asking local people how they want to interact with the health service, with options including video calls and text messages; we’ve interviewed patients who use simple electronic devices to record their blood pressure, weight or other statistics at home, so that healthcare professionals can monitor them remotely.
Just as the NHS can deliver some services remotely, so a remote approach can make communications support much more flexible and responsive.
Working remotely we can:
- Phone or email staff or patients to research, write and seek approval for case studies, press releases, trade media features and newsletter copy (just as anyone sitting in your communications office probably would do).
- Proofread and edit documents of all sizes in a quiet, interruption-free environment.
- Project manage larger tasks such as annual reports, as well as sourcing and editing information, writing entire sections and proofreading the final results. Taking projects such as these outside of the in-house team means they aren’t jeopardised when an unexpected high priority task comes in.
- Prioritise regular tasks such as a monthly newsletter which can easily get pushed to the back of the queue otherwise. We can help by managing the schedule, taking a lead on creating content and making sure it’s delivered on time, without the distractions a busy communications office faces every day.
- Liaise with designers (either ours or yours) to proof, amend and approve artwork and ensure a finished document that meets your brief.
- Research and write website copy and even update your website by logging in remotely.
- Write speeches, put presentation slides together and ghost write blog posts – tasks we do regularly for clients from both the public and private sectors.
While it’s natural to want to keep your busy team close, our clients have the reassurance of knowing we’re available on the end of an email or phone call whenever they want us. They don’t need to fill a full day with work for a freelancer in their office, and they don’t need to book specific days or weeks in advance.
Between us we have more than 30 years’ experience of working in busy communications offices, so we understand the challenges. This flexible, remote style of working means we can relieve pressure and take entire projects off the hands of stressed-out communications managers – and off their list of worries.
So the next time you’re wondering how to juggle all your pressing priorities, just let us know and we can take some of the workload off your hands.