Turning discovery into decisions
You’ve read how People Driven Workplaces need to embrace empathy, purpose and a culture of experimentation. Find out how our Thailand client, Food Passion, quickly and effectively adapted these solutions into their existing office, informed by findings from our Workplace Adaptation II research.
Learn more about the Paperspace x Food Passion story in this video.
Recognizing huge shifts
Food Passion is one of the leading brands in Thailand’s Food and Beverage industry since 2015, with over 30 years of business experience under their belt. They aim to create experiences through food and dining.
For many years, the business thrived on a fixed structure with traditional company values that have solidified their growth and success. As the F&B landscape continued to evolve, the management became acutely aware of organizational silos and how the implementation of traditional values needed to resonate with the new generation in the workforce. Collaboration had become too formal, impacting efficiencies in terms of speed, knowledge and communication.
When COVID-19 hit, the need to reinvent was thrust to the spotlight. All Food Passion employees had no choice but to work from home for 2 months, and this uncovered surprising discoveries within the organization. The teams’ timid and more introverted members were observed to begin to participate more in virtual meetings and activities, and some even became the main source of creative input as they practiced the Scrum methodology. This egalitarian communication that virtual working provided was not to be missed. It was time to leave old ways behind and embrace new patterns and realities.
Another interesting observation that emerged from the lockdown is that employees organically moved towards adopting Agile and Scrum methodologies to get their work done. They divided themselves into smaller teams, taking ownership of the various moving parts to launch new products and services as quickly as possible. Going agile allowed processes to be iterative and versatile, breaking down silos and traditional work processes that limited efficiencies. However, the well-being of employees were impacted, with some indicating higher stress levels, longer working hours and the blurring of work and personal lives.
As leadership paused to reflect on these discoveries and the impact of COVID-19 on the business, they recognized that the workforce had found its new, natural agile state and is now equipped with powerful tools. The workplace needed to step up if they were to embrace this new practice. Maintaining momentum and agility became the business’s new purpose, which began the conversation for an office redesign.
“I don’t want the company to be like a big, fat organization that moves slowly and clumsily… We want to have informality, which will bring creativity and speed eventually,”
Chataya Supanpong, CEO of Food Passion
Embodying the scrum spirit
Sombat Ngamchalermsak, Co-Founder of Paperspace, took to Chataya’s challenge in Paperspace’s research, “Workplace Adaptation Part II.” The research involved all 4 Paperspace offices in the region (Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, & India), collaborating with the collective to share openly and brainstorm with findings from the research. Design Dept from Paperspace Thailand collaborated closely with Sombat and Food Passion, proposing fresh possibilities from a design perspective. This created a much more customized experience that amalgamated both strategy and design in the 3-Phase recommended approach.
“In order to cut down on costs and expenses, many applicable design features from the previous workplace were retained in the final concept to make the best use of resources.”
Worawat Musikapan, Co-Founder of Design Dept
Reinventions for the future
Post-lockdown, Food Passion employees streamed back to the office and continued their Scrum practices. Small groups organically sprung up in the reconfigured spaces, putting behind their previous ways of working. Meeting rooms hosted quick huddles and open collaboration areas became a place to meet and have spontaneous conversations. The culture was shifted from within, and working life took on a livelier flux of its own.
“Working life will have to move forward dynamically; including workplace design and layout, way of working, and the work itself. We’ll have to be ready for adaptations, or changes in order to be able to compete and survive,” says Chataya.
