New Office, New Changes
Honestly, when I left work yesterday, I had the complacent thought that the vote would be finished by tonight.
After all, the debate was already over, and I had said I would leave the final result to the majority.
But TA Medical’s group chat would not calm down, right up until the moment just before 9 a.m.
Fortunately, instead of going straight to sign the contract at 9, I chose to meet the team first.
As I looked over everyone’s PPTs and arguments yesterday, it struck me that it would be a waste to wrap all of this up with a simple majority vote.
“Everyone, it’s 9 o’clock, so please stop typing in the chat.”
I opened the door to the Club Room right on the hour.
Everyone had been staring at their laptops with insane focus, and at my words, their hands all dropped away at once.
“Let’s all go to the conference room first. And no typing.”
People with disappointed faces and people who looked relieved all filed after me into the conference room.
I could hear them whispering back and forth, but I didn’t stop that separately.
Everyone was tense all the way until they sat down.
“First of all, thank you all for thinking so seriously about our next office.”
I began the meeting with a brief greeting.
“For now, it looks like we’ll be moving to the shared office, the third option. That’s what the vote came out to.”
At my words, I saw a few members make disappointed faces.
Still, no one complained out loud.
They had chosen by majority vote; there was no real way to argue against it.
“But instead of just taking one big office, we’re planning to lease two smaller offices first.”
Now a few people looked at me in surprise.
“Why?”
Seo Jeongwon raised a hand and asked before he could stop himself.
I gave him the answer I had prepared right away.
“Actually, this discussion wasn’t limited to just the office itself. Everyone spoke in detail about the kind of work environment they wanted.”
No one looked confused; they just nodded.
So there had been a reason everyone was this serious about finding an office after all.
“Everyone who had option five in mind emphasized separation. They said departments that need to collaborate often should be grouped together, so when something urgent comes up, active discussion can happen right at the desk without worrying about departments unrelated to the work.”
I listed the strengths I had identified in option five.
Then I talked about how much of those strengths could be realized through option three.
“Rather than just ending the decision with a majority vote, I want to keep trying to apply as many people’s opinions as possible.”
“Then can I raise one suggestion? It’s not about the office itself, but about company culture.”
Fortunately, the team understood what I was trying to do, and they naturally opened the floor to a discussion about internal culture as well.
I wrote down everything they said.
Luckily, perhaps because all of us had such similar temperaments, the conversation about company culture reached consensus quickly, with a lot of shared opinions.
“During the semester, I’d like us to come into the office two days a week from 1 to 4 p.m. It would be better if we could set one fixed day each week, too.”
“Would it be okay to decide that day after the department schedules come out?”
“Yes. Is that fine with everyone else?”
“I think that’s fine.”
Really, all I had to do was nod and write things down.
It was possible only because not a single person was lacking in enthusiasm for TA Medical.
“I’ll organize today’s discussion and post it later. I think it would be good to refine this and put it up on the recruitment page as well.”
“Sounds good.”
It felt like, as a bonus, we were checking our own condition before a new beginning.
“I’m going to go sign the lease for the new office.”
I only found it strange that an office lease, which had been nothing but a hassle in my previous life, could make me this excited now.
***
The office contract went through very quickly.
Because it wasn’t in the middle of Gangnam, we could move in right away starting the following week.
Since we were leasing two offices, we even got a small discount.
“We’ll leave the Club Room as-is to use as a satellite space during the semester, and we’ll bring in new furniture. If you have any preferences, let me know~”
Fortunately, no one had any particular preferences about the furniture.
So I could choose reasonably priced recommended products and place the orders quickly.
“It’s a relief that the shared office already has a conference room.”
“And it’s a relief that they give free coffee in the lounge.”
Even the people who had opposed the shared office were now paying attention to its advantages with the move approaching.
I was grateful that no one stayed bitter or disappointed to the end.
“So starting next Wednesday, we’ll be commuting to the new office?”
“Yes. Just sit according to the office layout, and when you open the plastic wrap, please check your equipment yourselves to make sure nothing’s defective.”
“Can we have our personal things delivered to the office?”
“Of course.”
By the time we finished ironing out the little details, Wednesday arrived before long.
I’d been so excited that I came in at 8:30, and more people than I expected were already at work.
“You all came really early.”
“Ah, I woke up early, so I thought I’d come in early.”
“Me too.”
Well, they had been more serious about this office than I was.
“Director Son Boyoon is coming in today too, right?”
“Yes. From now on, please call her Boyoon.”
“Wow, I know she’s the director of a big hospital, but calling her just Boyoon feels weird.”
“By rights, you’d be the CEO, too, Siwon.”
One reason I’d hurried the office move was to coordinate Director Son Boyoon’s start date.
No matter how much we knew the company had begun in a university club room, actually walking into a university club room could still be a shock.
If she had spent all her time in a clean, spacious hospital, then seeing a college club room might be enough to stun her.
And because there were plenty of cases where people broke their contracts over that sort of thing, I couldn’t help but worry.
“Is Boyoon coming at 9 today?”
“I told her she could come at 10, since we wanted to finish getting everything in order first.”
So I wanted to show Director Son Boyoon the cleanest possible office.
But of course, that didn’t go the way I wanted either.
“Hello~ I came a little early~”
As soon as it hit 9, Director Son Boyoon swung open the office door and walked in.
“Are the four of you here the entire TA Medical team?”
“No, the office right next door is ours too.”
“Oh, so you divided them up.”
“Yes. We’ll show you your desk, and once we finish the basic setup, we’re planning to gather everyone and introduce ourselves. Would that be all right?”
“Of course!”
Thankfully, Director Son Boyoon also had her arms full of things.
Little decorative items to make her own desk feel like hers.
“We’ll all gather in Conference Room B across the hall at 10.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll get my desk in order, too~”
The people sharing the office with Director Son Boyoon kept sneaking glances her way.
They had greeted her as a group, but it seemed they were unsure whether they should introduce themselves or speak first.
Even people who had already finished arranging their desks were sitting there without taking a seat, still looking toward Director Son Boyoon.
“Boyoon, we’ll introduce ourselves properly at 10, but since we’re sharing the same office, should we at least greet each other briefly?”
“Right. I’ve just been organizing my desk too much. I’m Son Boyoon. I’m a doctor in respiratory medicine, and I’m here as both team lead and team member for the MA Team. Haha.”
At Director Son Boyoon’s cool introduction, the people who had been hovering awkwardly all brightened and introduced themselves in turn.
“Hello, I’m Choi Yeonghun from the research team.”
“Hello, I’m Jeong Hyeonwoo from the development team.”
“Hello, I’m Seo Jeongwon from the development team.”
Even though she had no background in development, Director Son Boyoon took an interest in the developers.
“Oh, if you’re developers, are you front-end or back-end?”
“Ah, uh, we do both.”
The developers broke instantly under the sudden attention.
“I see. Let’s talk more properly at 10.”
Apparently finding the rattled developers amusing, Director Son Boyoon smiled, nodded, and went back to organizing her desk.
After the awkward greetings were over, the existing members finished tidying up their desks and immediately got to work, connecting their laptops to their monitors.
I held back a laugh at the keyboard sounds bursting out urgently into the silence.
“I’ll show you the next office, the conference room, and the pantry after we finish introductions at 10.”
“Okay~”
Everyone pretended to focus only on work, but kept glancing toward the lower-right corner of their monitors.
It looked like they were waiting for 10 a.m. to arrive.
“I’m going to sit in the conference room first. Anyone who wants to come can join me.”
The moment I finished speaking, everyone who had been seated sprang up.
You should have said so earlier.
“Then please bring your laptops too~ Boyoon’s laptop will be brought over at 10 by the person helping with support work.”
But when we reached the conference room, the people from the next office were already all sitting there too.
“Ah, well, we’d finished organizing early.”
We all burst out laughing once we were seated in the conference room.
It felt like we had quietly confirmed that everyone had been thinking the same thing.
“Then, should we have TA Medical’s whole team introduce themselves briefly first? Professor Shin Dongjin will have a separate seat arranged with Boyoon.”
“Yes. Ahem. Then should I start?”
“Yes, yes.”
At my words, Director Son Boyoon got to her feet and cleared her throat shyly.
“Hello, I’m Son Boyoon. I’m a doctor in respiratory medicine, and I also run a hospital nearby under my own name. I may not be able to come to the office every day, but if you need anything, please feel free to message me.”
In the comfortable conference room with the air conditioner running, a new person was introducing herself to us.
It hit me all over again that we were making a new start in an unfamiliar place.
“Hello, I’m Park Jaeyun. I’m mainly handling business support right now, but I’m gradually learning sales as well. In every way, I’ll do my best to support TA Medical!”
A few introductions, a few rounds of applause.
Before long, it was my turn to introduce myself to everyone as well.
“Hello, I’m Kim Siwon, the CEO of TA Medical. Our product will soon receive approval and launch officially, and I’ll do everything I can to guide us through this stage properly so we can start generating sales.”
At my greeting, everyone applauded a little louder.
In that applause, I could clearly feel everyone’s expectations and enthusiasm.
Just as I had said, the product launch date was right around the corner.
Now the time had really come to see revenue and run forward again.