A Better Way to Work: Rome Ntukogu of Far-I-Rome Productions

“We prefer to not have an office building. We are selling intellectual services! There is no need for an office building!” says always-smiling Rome, founder of Far-I-Rome Productions.[/caption] As part of our ongoing series “A Better Way to Work,” we’ve interviewed Rome Ntukogu, the Director and Chief Creative Director of Far-I-Rome Productions. Far-I-Rome is a multi-disciplinary creative services company built around helping brands break out in a new era of consumer-centric communications. Far-I-Rome is a group of pop- and sub-culture junkies with an eye towards what was then, what is happening now, while developing what is next. They are well-known in the Cincinnati region for bringing some of the best music to the area, including the Heights Music Festival, among many other festivals. Visit Far-I-Rome’s website or find them on Facebook. What’s your current location? Cincinnati, Ohio. And what about your team? Our team is in Denver, Indianapolis, New York, and in Cincinnati. You are an office-less creative services company. How do you explain this to people? I just say we don’t have an office! Anywhere my phone is at, is where my office is! My phone is in my pocket, so this is my mobile office… People will ask me, “Where is your company’s office?” I tell them, “Standing right next to you!” We are in the middle of a huge shift in how we work, so [we, as office-free companies] understand it, we get a sense of what was before, the old model, but we are able to see the future. Do you ever feel like there is a bit of a stigma attached to being office-less—really somewhat of a lack of understanding about not having a bricks and mortar building for your business? Yes! Just the other day I met with someone at a Starbucks and they asked the question: “So where do you work?” It was just one example of how we were very much different in our bearing, as well as how we approached business, and even the idea of a company in general. Another example: I dress business casual [Rome is well-known for always wearing his black baseball cap]. They were all in suits—so there is a difference in how we approach work to some degree. That’s not to say I have a problem with that way, either. They were joking that I didn’t want an office—but it was almost hard for them to understand at first that we did not need a physical office. It does have the potential to hurt our credibility, in some ways. But once I talk to people—just like those people—they are impressed and intrigued. I explain to them, hey, yes, I can get my staff on the phone or on video conference right now, right here if you want to talk to them! How does your team collaborate right now? Tell us what your routine might look like on any given day. We will usually have a video conference with all the staff, depending on the work flow and depending on who has deadlines approaching, or what kind of new business we have. Generally if we just got a new client, I present it to the whole staff through a Google Hangout, and open it open for ideation to the team at that point. We do all our conferencing via Google Hangouts or Skype. Then we will chat about it, and whoever is the best fit for the project, gets to be a co-project manager with me, and we start working! Do you also end up handing over deliverables to clients the same way? Yes, we will use Google Hangouts or Skype as well with clients. We check in at least once or twice a week depending on the timeline. We also hand over deliverables via Dropbox and then they have about two days to review them on their end. Then, typically, we do another video chat and then we make revisions if they need to be made at that point. What happens if they haven’t used video chat for meetings before? Actually, a couple of clients were initially a bit of skeptical on the idea and they had to be sold on it to a certain degree. Sometimes with other agencies, whch can be what a client is more accustomed to, the process would begin with a face-to-face pitch meeting, one where they get to feel your physical presence. Occasionally we’ve had clients that would need to overcome no longer having that. But once we had one or two video chats with those clients, they saw that we were very attentive to their needs, we deliver a great product, and we are going to deliver it on time to them. Speaking of using technology, what technology are you using right now? Generally it is just an iPhone and laptop. That’s all I need to do everything I do. The apps we use as a company are mainly Adobe Creative Suite and everything related to design. Of course for social media, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and whatever is right for clients. Are you someone who likes to have some of the more cutting-edge gadgets? I do have an I’m Watch [a smart watch], and I do like the latest gadgets. I program my smart watch for different functions: once is personal, and one is more for business. I don’t wear it everyday, it depends what my get-up is that day! Being that you love music, and your that your company puts on so many music festivals, which do you prefer: Spotify or Pandora? I use both. Spotify first, Pandora second. Spotify has more complete albums, a better algorithm for what’s good, and the user interface is better; it’s much smoother. They even tell you when your favorite artist is in town. I’m doing research all day long, so this helps me do that. I’m listening to music, seeing what’s in town, I constantly read a lot of online magazines, I’m watching TV, listening to internet radio…I just consume a lot of information—and my whole staff is the same way. You have to know your stuff. I feel like I am analog in a digital world. I like the idea of an RSS reader, but then it cramps me a little. I like going to 5 shows a week, discovering new music… it’s like how I like walking from place to place so much. I like the exploration factor. You described some of what makes someone a right fit for your company culture-wise. What are some other characteristics of someone who would succeed in an office-less environment? Self-starters, and someone who is able to hold themselves accountable. Again for us, you have to have a good attitude—we can be in a high stress environment. We also look for someone who is willing to express herself. Some of my ideas aren’t great, so I need a team that can tell me that! And how important is the ability to communicate through writing specifically for you and your current team? Writing is a huge form of our communication. When you talking or giving feedback to someone, you don’t have the luxury you have when you are sitting face-to-face in some ways. I will text and make sure to follow up so people really understand what you were talking about. I know that if you leave something ambiguous, I have seen it really misinterpreted, especially when it comes to creative services. It is very important in remotely operated businesses to be able to communicate on the same “level” as your partner or a team member, whoever it may be—there is not one approach to communicating with everyone across the board. You have to try to speak their language. For me, that is with our designers on our team—they each have to be treated differently. Part of that is leadership. Flexibility working with people is important. You are really an advocate for flexible work. Are there any downsides? No. Let your staff work how they want to work—how they work best! There isn’t an accountability problem. The only thing, maybe, is you don’t get the feeling of, “Oh, I’m leaving work.” When you are enjoying work, that’s not a major factor anymore. Time zones are the only thing that can be tricky. In that way, you sometimes have to meet with someone on their time in order to get something done, but as long as there is overlap, or you are willing to wake up early every once in awhile, that works out, too.]]>