Here is everything you need to know to create an efficient workspace. Server logins, webmail, etc… Not the most exciting bedtime story but you gotta go through it.
Office Map
Here is a little map of our office (click to see full screen).
Arriving at the Office
If you’re the first one in the office, there are a couple of steps to take to ensure the smooth running of the day :
1 - Disarm the security system. The key pad will have a red light and indicated that it is armed and ready. Key in the code within 15 seconds, or the alarm will sound and call the police. Please ask for the door code! 🚨🚨🚨
If ARMED is green, no one is in the office. You must key in the door code to disarm the system within 15 seconds!
If READY is green, someone is already in the office. You’re safe, no need to enter the code.
If you fail to disarm the system and proceed to your desk, the security company will be alerted of the presence of an intruder, and will call the police. Make sure admin gives you the door code, and you are personally briefed on all security procedures.
2 - Turn on all the lights. The light switches can be found near the keypad for the door, by the printers, and across from the conference room.
3 - Unlock the windows
4 - If it’s hot, turn on the aircon system
Leaving the Office
If you’re last person to leave the office, please do the same steps as arriving in the office but in reverse.
1 - Turn off your computer
2 - Turn off all aircon
3 - Close and lock all the windows, including the one in the bathroom!
4 - Enable the security system. This can be done by keying in the code, after which you should leave or the alarm will sound and call the police. Don’t forget to ask for the door code!! 🚨🚨🚨
WiFi & Internet
We have wifi in the office. If you haven’t already connected your personal devices to the internet, we recommend to join network.
📶 Workspace
Wifi name - SSID: Marc-Chantal
Password: marcchantal401
Your desktop computer has Ethernet, so there is no need to connect it to the Wifi network. :)
Phone
You will have a direct line at your desk. Don’t forget to ask admin for your phone number.
To call someone in the office, just dial the desk number (Admin will give you a yellow list showing each desk’s direct line number).
To call someone outside of the office, press COL then dial the number.
To transfer a call to someone in the office press TRAN, then the desk number.
To call an international number dial COL 0080
Server
We use a server to store everything we work on. It works like a dropbox basically.
It’s easy to get lost in it. Please refer to the server guide to learn how to organize and navigate the folders, or how to name your files.
Microsoft Outlook Email
You can read your mail on the Outlook app of your computer, which has already been set up for you, as well as on the Outlook browser.
By default, your email has a maximum capacity. If you don’t log in often to clear your mailbox, you can ask Admin or the IT team to help you set an automatic cleaning so your mailbox does not get full.
Microsoft Outlook Calendar
The M&C Calendar has everyone’s schedule on it. It’s a good way to know the whereabouts of your colleagues (who has a meeting when and where, who is on leave, who is working from home, etc…). As a PM you should make sure to add your meetings on it. You will find the calendar on the Outlook browser.
💥Troubleshooting? Admin office is here to help (and don’t forget to ask about the Alarm protocol!)
In this chapter, you will get to understand how we keep our work environment as nice and efficient as possible.
We try to create a positive & balanced environment. As you will probably soon hear Marc say, “No babysitting, talk straight, have fun”. Along with that autonomy comes responsibility: a responsibility to your work, your clients, and the rest of the team.
Schedule and Work Hours
Our work days begin from 9:00am.
We work 8 hour days & we have an hour’s lunch break, from 13:00 to 14:00.
However, at M&C we offer flexible working hours, and we generally start from 9:00 - 10:00, and leave when we have worked 8 hours and completed the days’ work. If one day you need to run to the restaurant at 12h40 to make sure you get the Lamb dumplings, notify your manager before so they are not looking for you everywhere.
It should be noted that although we are flexible, you must manage your time. We are a small company, so many of us work on projects together and concurrently.
Working remotely
If you are on a business trip, or in case of typhoon*, Covid 56, protests, Godzilla attack … you will need to be able to access the working tools.
You can control your office computer remotely with Teamviewer. You should download the software on your private and office device and link them together.
You can also access the server remotely with the software CyberDuck 🦆.
You will need the FTP address and the password.
If you don’t feel well, out of respect for your co-workers, you should take sick leave or work from home.
*Typhoon - Work arrangement:
a) Before working hours
If typhoon signal no.8 or above is hoisted before working hours, employees shall stay at home until the warning is lowered or traffic conditions have improved. When the signal is lowered or cancelled before 1:00pm, employees are expected to report for duty within 2 hours.
b) During working hours
If pre-no.8 special announcement is broadcasted during office hours, employees are released subject to Admin Department’s arrangement notice.
Clock in
The digital door lock outside of the office helps us keep track of who’s in the office.
For security and management reasons, you should tap your card when you arrive the office.
“Work In Progress”
On Fridays afternoon, we do a WIP meeting with Europe and Japan team. The purpose of this is to ensure everyone knows the status of the projects what they are doing for the coming week.
Meeting between project managers on the status of each project: what are the upcoming deadlines, when are the presentations, and what are the next steps?
On Mondays morning, managers and designers discuss their workload for the week, delegated by the project managers. This way if one designer is really busy one week, another designer can pitch in to help out.
If you are a Designer, while the project managers meet, you should go through your own workload and prepare the upcoming schedule meeting with the managers.
Over-time
We value the work/life balance of our team. Make sure to manage your time efficiently and ask for help when you need it, so you can enjoy nice evenings!
But sometimes you might still have a lot to do for the next day.
If you stay after 8pm and you have to eat at the office to work late, you can claim up to 100HKD for dinner.
If you stay after 10pm, you can also claim your cab fee to get home. Don’t forget to ask the taxi driver for a receipt!
Keep all receipts and so we can compute it in the expenses claim forms.
Working on Weekends
We sometimes (but very rarely) have tight deadlines that involve working on weekends.
If you are working on a weekend day, you claim back the leave through the compensation leave form.
If you are a designer, you should discuss ahead with your manager about working on a weekend. So make sure to talk with your manager early enough in the week - perhaps you will figure out a way to reorganize the workload instead.
Compute your hours
We compute our hours in order to keep track of how many hours we spend on each contract, and to know if the projects are well managed or if we are spending too much time and money on something.
Everyday, you should write down how many hours you spent on each task and compute that on the pilot.
Please go to the Chapter 6 - Pilot for more details.
Annual Reviews
We have an annual review with Marc. We review and assess the year together, see what’s been working great and what needs improving.
You will need to complete the questions and give it to HR a week before the reviews.
If you need to address any issue or ask anything, that’s the time!
Outside of the review, if you feel like you need to talk to management, don't hesitate to set up a meeting with Marc.
Admin forms
We use different forms for :
Medical expense claim
Expenses claim
Sick leaves
Annual leave applications
Overtime work compensation
If you help, ask anyone in the admin office and they will explain you how to use them.
Going on holiday ?
Every one’s holidays are pinned on a board in Admin’s office.
When you want to take a leave, check the board at Admin’s office to see if other people are not on holiday at the same time. Everyone’s holidays can also be checked online on the M&C calendar.
Pick your date and fill on the Annual Leave form. Don’t forget to give it to management and HR. So they can check if the dates are OK and confirm your leave.
You should wait for your leave to be confirmed before buying tickets!
Giving a hand to the admin
The admin team has a lot to do and sometimes, they might not be here to open the door or answer the phone.
NEW RULE: If you hear the doorbell ring twice, than means Admin is busy and it’s up to you to welcome our visitors and couriers. Have them wait in the pantry while you notify the appropriate manager.
If the phone keeps ringing at someone’s desk, please answer it. Here are a few examples of how to greet a call:
« Marc & Chantal’s Office, this is _____ speaking, how can I help you ? »
« Marc & Chantal’s Office, Hello »
Lunch time 😋
Everyone goes for lunch at 1PM. You are free to go outside or bring your own lunchbox and eat in the pantry. But let’s keep it a “stinky tofu / durian / smelly fish” free-zone.
If you don’t know the area, here are a few good spots:
1/F Queen Street Cooked Food Market for Dumplings, or Indian Food, or Italian food at ABC kitchen
84 Jervois St, at Kuma Ramen
2 Mee Lun Street, at Sing Heung Yuen for tomato soup
7 Wa Lane, for chicken curry or fried rice
200 Hollywood road, at For Kee Restaurant for pork ribs rice/noodle set lunch
208 Hollywood road, for Italian
91 Jervois St, French food at Monsieur Chatté
Company updates and happy hour
On some Friday evenings we pop the Prosecco and we all meet for a company update (new people, new jobs, finished jobs, people leaving etc). Admin usually sends an email to let the team know in advance. Don’t miss it!
Yoga afternoon, tea time
We have a weekly 🙏 Yoga session 🙏 at the office. Everyone is welcome to join. Ask around to know the day and time, and ask to be added to the Yoga teams group. And bring your mat !
A few times a week we all take a small break in the afternoon to enjoy some snacks (usually Siu Mai ). We also have a Teams group for that - be sure to ask to be added.
Good habits
A few things that tend to be forgotten:
Save the files you receive by email and teams in the right server folders - don’t store files on teams 🗂🗂🗂
Remove people from group chats once their work is done 📭
Input your hours regularly
Keep your working space tidy
Use recycled paper as much as possible ♻️
Put the paper samples and pantone books back on their shelves once you are done using them
Don’t cut out pantone chips out of the book if you are not sure to use them 🟥 🟧 🟨
🤒 Wash you hands before diving deep in the chips bag
For managers, create a task for the designers as soon as they work on a job - so that they can input their hours
Internal communication
Teams
Our main communication tool. We use it everyday for internal communication.
Make sure you have it on your phone as well as your computer. That way we can stay in touch when you are visiting clients.
You should also make sure that you added all your colleagues‘ contacts. It’s a good opportunity to say Hi to your new colleagues.
Don’t forget to add the Conference room contact. That way you can send files directly to the conference room.
As mentioned before, we have a few Chats Groups: Yoga, Fika, afternoon snacks, Cool design stuff, Hotel related articles. Ask people around you to add you to those groups so you don’t miss out.
Direct phone line
You can call a desk in the office with your direct line.You just need to dial the desk number (Admin will give you a small yellow list showing each desk’s direct line number).
Mail
Admin sends an email to everyone when we have company events or updates (someone sick, a birthday, the schedule for annual reviews, etc…). If you need to address the whole office, you can do it by mail as well.
Communication with clients
In-person meetings
Be punctual & dress appropriately. If you are going to a construction site, don’t forget the M&C orange protection helmet!
You can claim taxi reimbursement for travel to and from the location (don’t forget the receipt).
After a meeting, always send an email to the client to quickly summaries what has been agreed on and place the meeting reports in the server.
Teams / Zoom / & others
We generally use the software that our clients use for meetings.
Refer to the next section to see how to set up a call call in the conference room.
After a meeting, always send an email to the client to quickly summaries what has been agreed on and place the meeting reports in the server.
Direct phone line
You will have a direct line at your desk.
To call someone in the office, just dial the desk number (Admin will give you a yellow list showing each desk’s direct line number).
To call someone outside of the office, press COL then dial the number.
To transfer a call to someone in the office press TRAN, then the desk number.
To call an international number dial COL 0080
After a call, always send an email to the client to quickly summaries what has been agreed on and place the a meeting report in the server.
Mail
We use emails every time we need to keep a written trace.
Don’t forget to place the meeting reports in the server.
Whatsapp and Wechat
That’s a no no.
We 👏 don’t 👏 give 👏 our 👏 whats 👏app 👏 to 👏 clients 👏.
In case of conflicts with the client on what has been agreed on, we need the emails to protect ourselves. If the client had been sending back and forth WhatsApp, it become very tricky.
Furthermore, we don’t want clients to casually ask the designers to do some “quick designs” that were not agreed on a contract.
So You can use “Us” as an excuse and say that “you are sorry but your company forbids to share your private details, but here is your Desk Direct Phone Line :) …”.
Setting up the conference room
There are a few steps to setting up a call in the conference room:
turn on the computer
turn on the projector
check the input image source if needed
turn on the microphone & check the audio input
check that the mouse and keyboard are connected
The computer password is the same as yours
✨You are good to go! ✨
The server is our archive, library, and working space. It can be pretty tricky to navigate, so we’ve made a little guide to help you. Naming files and folders, finding assets, saving the right files… it’s all in there :
Pilot is the platform we use to manage our resources, such as the number of hours spent per project, our schedule, the workload, etc… Find more about how to use it here:
I can’t find this Hotel project in the server !?
That’s because we use client’s name, not projects name (because usually we are the one proposing names). Look for MARRIOTT, not RYSE!
There are no links in the presentation i just opened on InDesign !?
There is only one “link folder” so just re-link one image and all the other links will follow.
Where do I find the lasts templates for presentations ?
On this website, in the “documents” menu section…
or on the server, in the “Resource” folder :
Server File/M&C RESOURCES/M&C PRESENTATION TEMPLATE
Do we have “ready made” benchmark ?
Yes we do ! Along with other useful resources. Check the “Management” folder:
Server File/MANAGEMENT
I’m creating a new project, how do i make sure to have the right folders and hierarchy ?
There is a blank “template project folder” that you should use. It also reminds you how to name files. It’s on the “Server guide” page (WIP FOLDER section).