Around 9 months ago, Collective - the creative and technology business we founded 21 years ago - was buzzing. We had recently created a stunning campaign for EE using Unreal Engine and we had started having conversations with Unilever (THE Unilever!) about working together. We were investing in (and finding success with) new technology such as Unreal Engine (including a partnership with the IPA) and Digital Twins.

We were all on a high, and the future looked impossibly rosy. Then we received a bombshell. Our superstar MD, Carolyn Laing, an indomitable spirit who gave us the belief that anything was possible, told us she had cancer.

It was a gut punch and, like I imagine many companies, we had never contemplated what would happen in a situation like this. We’re delighted to say that Carolyn is now fighting fit and spinning plates like only she can at her desk, but the experience has nevertheless proved to be life-changing.

You can plan as much as you like but 'life' can suddenly decide to get involved

As an SME, there’s always an element of working within your means, and adapting to such a revelation is definitely a challenge. It’s easy to assume that legislation is in place to ensure everyone is looked after automatically, but the reality is quite different. There’s a very human side that is far more important than anything else to address. First and foremost, it’s about ensuring your colleague feels supported for the short, medium and long term. We felt quite powerless. The unknown is the most difficult thing. You’re working in a vacuum, just ‘managing’ the situation. In terms of financial support, take that off the table -  don’t let anyone worry about how they'll pay their rent; that’s the last thing they need to be worrying about.

Mitigating the business impact and setting out the ground rules for your team

In practical terms, we dealt with Carolyn’s absence by simply dividing up her role amongst the rest of the team. We all took a bit of the job and got stuck in. The MD role is often a strange, invisible role - part finance, part business and then the business core, but the skill is about the overarching ownership in one person. It’s easy for everything to become very disconnected.

Our head of strategy and new business was very vocal about wanting to step in and take the role in the short term, stepping up for a period of time. The fact that we were able to promote from within as an interim measure was crucial and demonstrates how spending time with your team and encouraging them pays dividends.

We were lucky because although we are co-founders of the company, we’ve always been omnipresent, wanting to get stuck in. We have quite a flat culture at Collective rather than a pyramid - this is a perfect example of why working in a pyramidal structure isn’t good.

Communication

After we had been told what was happening, we announced it to the rest of the team in a company meeting in consultation with Carolyn. Once the immediate shock and horror of the situation has sunk in, you’re into phase two - realising you’re in stasis. You need energy and therefore need a focal individual.

Our duty of care has always been to support the team. Clarity was very important as to what was going to happen, both for Carolyn, ourselves, and the rest of the team. We had an implicit trust that the team would support each other.

Keeping in touch effectively

Not everyone is like Carolyn. If anyone was going to beat it, it was her. We have only to look at the reaction of the team and our clients (past and present) to see how pivotal to the business she is, and how much she is respected and loved. You really do reap what you sow.

It’s a particularly tough part of the process to get right for everyone involved, but especially important for us was that the balance was right for Carolyn. As much as Carolyn didn’t want to be kept out of the loop as to what was happening at work and wanted projects to keep her mind busy, you ultimately can’t have someone who is fundamentally unwell operating day to day. You have to separate church from state

We tried to keep her influence ‘light touch’ - conversational but not operational. We wanted to keep checking on her and how she was coping but ultimately tried not to contact her for any other reason. The reasons are two-fold - you can’t be half-pregnant. Work is not the right distraction, however superhuman you might be!

Preparing the return to work

Carolyn’s reintroduction was treated carefully and with a great deal of consideration. It’s not like for like. Someone hasn’t just been on an 8-month holiday - their life has changed. The position she has stepped back into is not the same role she left - it has been reconfigured so
the ‘new’ stuff was owned by someone else, and she could settle into familiar tasks.

A business like ours, which regularly pivots dramatically to embrace new technologies and ways of working, had changed dramatically even in the initial period of her being away. Her MD role now is quite different from what it was before - it has to be. Bringing them back up to speed has to be a carefully considered, gradual process so as not to overwhelm them. Having the ability to be flexible is key - start them on a couple of days back in the business, then three. Each step can then be evaluated so that changes are enacted at the right pace.

We changed too

You see the best in yourself and people. You’re not faced with the nonsense of work but the reality of people’s lives. You learn what’s important in life. How everyone reacted reflected the best of who you are. At the heart of it, you learn that people care about each other.