Shivang Shah is the co-founder of Django Digital, an integrated solutions agency that has been in operation since almost two years. In a day and age where the digital space is scattered with content, Django Digital is creating clutter-breaking solutions. It has transformed into one of the most promising agencies which is successfully bridging the gap between brands and ‘the right communication’. Shivang has been fortunate enough to merge his passion and career into a single path. His passion has always been about solving real world problems as well as business problems at scale. Having witnessed the immaculate shift in the influencer industry since its onset, it has been instrumental in the insights he has today. He started out my career working for larger agencies like Ogilvy & Mather where he managed critical accounts and then at Chttrbox, where he led the business development function.
There has been a fast-paced evolution of startups, especially since the onset of the pandemic. We have seen businesses dipping across industries; however, we have noticed how startups on the other hand are booming. Startups are a lot more flexible when it comes to adapting to the norms, which is why even with a dynamic workplace scenario, they are growing. This flexibility is playing a pivotal role in the evolution of startups today. In addition to that, the industry we see is highly cluttered; if one wants to grow, they need to cut through the noise and harp on their speciality. When the lockdown struck the country, I saw several companies have taken this challenge in their stride and evolved.
As someone who has been running his own startup with a great team for almost 2 years, I understand the challenges that lie in growing as a company with your clients as well as your employees. I strongly believe in digital awakening, which is something I have even inculcated in my own agency. A hybridwork model is one where companies combine office as well as remote working. In my opinion, a hybrid work model is the future of workplaces across the world and I have been one of the early adopters of the same. While a hybrid culture could bring about challenges for most companies across industries, this has in fact been fruitful for startups. Another insight that I found is extremely important to share is that hiring professionals that are a unique combination of young + experienced can do wonders in turning the workplace into a seamless productive system. With a young workforce, startup workplaces haven’t had that many challenges when it comes to adopting technology and evolving because their retention is very strong. In fact, we’ve seen a lot of inputs and suggestions from our younger team members on how to streamline our everyday work.
Another challenge most startups face is maintaining that employer-employee relationship and the office culture that we worked hard on creating. Culture is the holistic force that guides actions and interactions in the workplace. We have witnessed that while it is difficult to maintain the same level of enthusiasm that companies have had in a pre-Covid world, it is also integral to evolve the culture to accommodate the post-Covid mandates. Clear and transparent communication is key as well as positively reinforcing the holistic culture in a workplace. with the hybrid model of work, this will only get better. The hybrid model is helping startups utilise our workforce in an efficient manner and maximise our output as well. And at the end of the day, it’s not just about the startup but also the people that work there; their comfort and safety is of utmost importance. This hybrid model allows that freedom to them.
To maintain workplace harmony, taking up initiatives that bring employees closer together are important in the evolution of such workspaces. Additionally, workplace design also has a significant effect on employee performance and engagement. How I feel workplaces can evolve in the coming months is by improving efficiency, keeping employees motivated and fuelling creativity and innovation. As startups are slowly emerging from the pandemic, the industry has an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent itself along with its workforce and workplace. Choosing how to rebuild and executing it accurately is half the battle won already.