The impact a work environment has on the quality of work can’t be overstated — how much could you really get done if your office was chaotic and disorganized?
Office management is a crucial part of having a healthy work environment and Managed by Q — acquired by The We Company earlier this year — is helping companies simplify the process.
Can’t keep track of all your employee requests? Managed by Q can collect and organize them.
Need help finding a new cleaning vendor? Managed by Q can provide local recommendations.
Want someone to redesign your entire office? Yep — Managed by Q can even find someone to do that.
We sat down with Managed by Q’s team to learn how they manage their own work environment so that they can help other businesses with theirs.
FOUNDED: 2014
EMPLOYEES: 180, 160 local
WHAT THEY DO: Managed by Q builds tools for workplace teams. By organizing their work in a single place, workplace teams are able to be more productive and create a better office experience for their employees.
WHERE THEY DO IT: New York City
LIFELONG LEARNING: To ensure that team members are always learning and get a chance to show off their own expertise, Managed by Q hosts the Q Academy, an internal training program where team members teach each other.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY: Managed by Q employs a culture where team members are supported when they share their thoughts and opinions to make improvements.
Mansi Kothari, Senior Director of Expansion Strategy and Operations
Mansi leads the team that brings Managed by Q to new markets. Just this summer, she helped the company launch in Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas and Austin.
SPICING THINGS UP: Mansi likes to spend her free time looking around farmer’s markets for cool new ingredients to use when she cooks for guests. Other than that, she enjoys taking on the New York Times crossword puzzle.
You’ve quickly risen through the ranks at Managed by Q and been given more responsibility and ownership roles. How important is it to you to be part of a company that offers a variety of opportunities and upward mobility?
It’s very important to me to be at a company where there is always opportunity to take on new challenges and employees are rewarded based on merit. The best piece of career advice I’ve gotten is to put myself in situations and positions where I’m constantly challenged, and I tend to get restless when work starts feeling routine.
I create new challenges for myself by constantly questioning what my team can do better, raising my hand to work on cross-functional projects where I learn more about how other teams operate, and finding ways to develop new skills.
I strive to create an environment where people like working with each other and aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. ”
In your own words, could you explain what psychological safety is and why it’s a benefit to Managed by Q’s overall culture?
To me, psychological safety is an environment in which people from diverse backgrounds feel like they belong and have a voice at the company, without fear of negative reaction from the team for speaking their mind. In my role, it means encouraging my team and my peers to express their point of view and creating space for different opinions. As the Google study articulates well, psychological safety is beneficial to any culture because it promotes more close-knit, effective and productive teams.
What would you say to those who are interested in applying to come and work on your team?
My goal is to help everyone on the team achieve their maximum potential. I hold my team to high standards and push them to produce work that they’re proud of. At the same time, I’m also invested in their long-term personal and career development. I strive to create an environment where people like working with each other and aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.
Chris Schilling, Senior Product Manager
Chris is responsible for understanding Managed by Q’s users and identifying the most important problems they’re facing. This means he works closely with designers and engineers to deliver software solutions customers love.
COMMUNICATING THROUGH SONG: After growing up playing guitar in a band, it wasn’t long before Chris learned that the best musicians are the best communicators. Today, he uses that lesson to empathize with the people he works with.
How do you apply the “be a founder” mentality that Managed by Q tries to instill in the team in your day to day?
Being a founder means taking responsibility for both successes and failures. I think it’s an especially important principle for our product managers to keep in mind since we’re always trying to improve our customers' experience and things don’t always go as planned. But how we respond to those situations is what matters most.
I try to own the outcomes of the products I work on by seeking early feedback from my colleagues, talking to our customers a few times a week and delivering regular updates to the entire company so everyone can stay in the loop about how certain features are performing — good or bad — and what we plan to do next.
How have you seen Managed by Q’s leadership embrace the change that occurs and steer the company in the right direction?
As a company, we’ve experienced all kinds of changes — fast changes, gradual changes, late-night epiphany changes — you name it. To help us navigate it all as a team, Managed by Q’s leadership has always defaulted to openness and transparency. This has gotten harder as we’ve grown, but our leadership still makes it a top priority to collect and listen to feedback from everyone in the company through culture surveys and making plans to improve.
To help us navigate it all as a team, Managed by Q’s leadership has always defaulted to openness and transparency.”
Managed by Q is in the business of office spaces, so how would you describe its office environment?
Since we’re in the business of empowering workplace teams to create amazing office environments, our space has become a place to experiment with best practices and a proving ground for the software tools we create. Much like our product experience, our own workplace team is constantly iterating on the office — planning for new conference rooms, figuring out how to get the temperature in our phone booths just right, and optimizing a bar cart for in-office happy hours — the space is always getting better and that brings a lot of energy into our surroundings.
Lily Piyathaisere, Lead Brand Designer
Lily develops the visual identity for Managed by Q that is used in all of its marketing materials, websites and products. She essentially helps shape the users’ experience with the brand.
GETTING CRAFTY: Outside of being a graphic designer, Lily has used her talents as a textile and ceramic artist. That is, at least, until her hands found another way to stay busy — taking care of her 1-year-old daughter!
You’ve gathered a lot of freelance experience in your career thus far. What was it about Managed by Q that made you want to join the team in a larger capacity?
While Managed by Q was originally a freelance gig, the more time I worked with them, I realized they had checked all the boxes I wanted from work, people and flexibility. They always treated me as part of the team and never like “another freelancer.” I was ready to commit to them and wanted to be part of what they’re building. The process was organic, and I was well aware there were opportunities for me there so it was more on my end to make that decision. I was never pressured and came to it on my own terms, which I am grateful for.
Being comfortable in your work environment is key to being able to create impactful work but also overall happiness! ”
Creatives in the tech space often speak about the challenge to finding an environment that allows them to express themselves. How do you feel Managed by Q has done when it comes to offering you the freedom and resources to do well?
Being comfortable in your work environment is key to being able to create impactful work but also overall happiness! Autonomy and transparency are rooted in our culture, which I believe are key principles that allow individuals to be themselves, but also gives people the room to fail, which is so important in our field. But along with that, we have the resources to help employees grow and nurture their skills and/or relationships, such as continued learning events and speaker series.
What would you say to those who are interested in applying to come and work on your team?
I try to lead and manage my team based on how I preferred to be managed. I create a framework and boundaries and then let them be autonomous within that. But I’ve learned that it doesn’t work for everyone. It’s more about being in tune with your team members and understanding what works best for each individual to find that balance that works in your organization. Especially with creatives, I want to encourage experimentation, but also need to create boundaries so that we’re meeting our goals and needs for the teams we work with in a timely manner. It’s a real balancing act!
