Loïc Thomas: another way to do my job

What is your background?
I am an engineer-architect, I studied in Lyon, at the INSA and the ENSA.
I was project manager for 4 years at GSE. Then I joined a design office, Bétom Ingénierie, with which I experimented with project management for all trades. In January 2017, I was recruited by OpenBox Co Design&Build as project manager.
 
How did you get to OpenBox?
I was looking for another way to do my job after these first professional experiences. Our job is to be an orchestra conductor, a project organiser, but I longed to do it differently: I thought that we could have a privileged relationship with the project owners, in confidence.
 
Meeting Bertrand Chabanne coincided with my desire to manage projects differently. The Co Design&Build proposal really struck a chord with me: Knowing that we can, as project owner and contractor, have the same interests and work together for the benefit of the project. To be side by side and not face to face...
 
What are your missions today?
Today, I am the operations manager.
I'm involved from the study phase of the bid by providing my expertise on the technical choices, carrying out the risk analysis and monitoring the submission of the bid. I organise the progress of the project and the workload of the teams, and I support the project managers on the operations. I ensure the consistency of the operations and guarantee their profitability.
I also participate in the development of the company's short and medium-term strategy to ensure that we remain focused on our guidelines and values.
Customer relations are also important and I ensure that transparency and dialogue are respected at all stages of the project.
I'm one of the oldest at OpenBox, I've seen the company being built: I have a bit of hindsight on what we've put in place, on our working methods that I can share, with the Co Design&Build guideline.
 
What do you appreciate at OpenBox?
The way this company works, which gives everyone a place. The Co Design&Build principle is also applied internally. We can propose ideas, to question choices, for the projects and also for the way the company operates, which allows us to be agile, to test, to change.
The decision chain is short, we talk about it, we think together and test.
 
 
A key word?
Trust: initiating new ideas, questioning the way things work, all this can be done because trust is established and cultivated. Your approach will immediately be well perceived, listened to, and considered in a positive and benevolent way.
Trust is the ideal framework for initiative, creativity, and the involvement of everyone.
 
An anecdote about OpenBox and its team?
I like our Friday morning meeting: everyone brings the croissants in turn, and we have a real moment together. Some of us are on video from a construction site. Then we have a weekly meeting where all useful information can be shared and discussed, about the projects, commercial leads, but also about internal operations and communication. We exchange and organise ourselves to move forward.
 
Do you have a passion?
I practice judo. I did it as a child until high school and I took it up again a few years ago. I have a black belt and I'm preparing my second dan.
Some people tell me that the way I am at work reflects my judo practice. It probably helps me to take things in perspective, step by step: in judo, you are sensitive to your environment, you listen to your opponent, and you adapt your attitude accordingly.
One of the founding principles of judo is Jita Yuwa Kyoei: Mutual aid and prosperity.  It is the idea that a whole is more than the sum of its parts and it is a philosophy that I try to apply in my work.