Greetings from the home office - Episode 1: Peter Brönnimann, Publicis

Peter Brönnimann is Creative Director at Publicis Communications. The father of two is president of Ad School Switzerland and a board member of the Art Directors Club Switzerland. Brönnimann was "Advertiser of the Year" in 2013.

Werbewoche.ch: How long have you been in a home office?

Peter Brönnimann: Publicis has already decided last Friday afternoon that starting Monday the whole agency will do home office for several weeks.

Did you face any technical issues while setting up your workstation?

At most with back problems. Neither the chair nor the office desk at home were made for sitting for hours. So I quickly drove to the agency on Sunday and took my office chair home. And to make the table a little higher, I put four thick ADC Switzerland books under the table legs.

Where have you set up?

We have a TV and office room where I work, and I have written "Publicis Stäfa" on it. Not just as a joke, but so that I can better separate working time and free time. Work is done here, reading is done in other places.

What all do you need to be able to do your job?

Above all, I need good connections to Publicis Höngg, Publicis Wollishofen, Publicis Turnerstrasse and many other Publicis home offices. At the moment, this is made possible primarily by Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp and Sunrise.

Is it difficult to separate yourself enough when the children are at home?

We are lucky that our children are 18 and 15 years old and therefore independent. Nevertheless, it's a whole new situation when suddenly all four family members are constantly in the same household 24 hours a day. We therefore practice "social distancing" during work and school hours - because of the family blessing. So far, we all still like each other.

Do you have home office experience or is this a first?

Decades ago, when I was studying for exams at home, I regularly went to the refrigerator, kept eating chocolate yogurt, and gained weight accordingly. As a result, I switched to the university library. Now I can't. I hope that - when things get going again - I don't show up at Publicis 30 kilos heavier.

Based on initial experience: Which processes are difficult compared to the normal daily routine at the agency?

In creation, people often come together semi-randomly, talk a bit about nothing, from which an idea suddenly emerges. These quick and often unplanned interactions are now missing. What is really difficult at the moment, however, is of course the situation in and of itself. This Corona epidemic is a once-in-a-century event and will have cruel consequences in many areas. In addition, as creatives we have to think months ahead. It's difficult at the moment to imagine, for example, how people will feel in June.

Which jobs go smoothly?

Actually most of it, we have all the tools and therefore all the possibilities. Quite spontaneously after day 1, as a creative, I especially like the peace and quiet when working. Not always being interrupted by meeting here and meeting there. The short video calls instead of meetings are very efficient.

Should the home office phase last longer: What do they do to prevent the ceiling from falling on your head?

I've resolved to provide an artificial commute in the mornings and evenings, so I've been doing a bit of walking.

What do you miss most about the physical day-to-day life at the agency?

The Jans and Daves, the Pablos and Priskas, the Thomas' and Anninas and many others with whom you work every day. Plus the busy bee atmosphere in the creation department. Here in the home office it's wonderfully quiet, but also terribly quiet.

As we all know, everything has its positive sides. What is it in your current home office situation?

Home office is incredibly easy. This experience will probably change the service society for the better in the long term and make it much more flexible. I also believe that such extraordinary situations weld you together as a team, probably even the whole society.