New York City PR agency SolComms allowed its 53 employees to work from anywhere in the world during August. The company usually requires staff to be in the office four days a week, but it switched to a fully remote setup for one month.
Founder and CEO Bruno Solari told CNBC Make It that he spent the entire month in Spain and felt it would be hypocritical to ask his team to stay in the office while he was working abroad. He said that led him to extend the same flexibility to the whole agency.
Founded in 2023, SolComms has kept what Solari describes as a more traditional workplace model, with an emphasis on building company culture through in-person interaction. Staff normally work from home on Fridays, with the workday ending at 3 p.m. most weeks and often at 12 p.m. during the summer.
The leadership team developed the idea in January, announced it to employees in February and then spent six months setting ground rules for the trial. Those included working 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST, keeping cameras on for all meetings, dressing for calls as if going into the office, updating Slack statuses frequently and avoiding sensitive calls or screens in public places.
Initial results from the experiment suggest the bet paid off: employee surveys showed stronger productivity, better work-life balance and higher happiness levels. The business also recorded a modest increase in revenue, according to the report.
