Micepad: A Quick Peek into The Barefoot Office
From humble beginnings at NTU to winning the Ideas Inc Most Innovative Startup award in 2013, we have come a long way since we started 5 years ago in Singapore as a small startup renting iPads. As we celebrate our milestones, we would also like to showcase what the company culture is like in Micepad. We do our best to embody what it truly means to be a startup and over the years, we have adapted to include some aspects which are unique to Micepad.
Happy Feet
“Please remove your shoes!” shouts Jasmine, our resident administrative queen.
Yeah, you might want to read the line above again.
And no, you did not read that wrongly. Micepad has a no-footwear culture where we bare our soles (and, our soul?) at work. It is a part of the casual dress code that the founders have decided on.
“We wanted to have a company where everyone comes in what feels comfortable to them.”
Open Concept
With the elegant white space and the Apple products, this office looks straight out of an Apple Store package. Neat, sleek and clean, just like how we want our apps to be. Inspired by the workspace, we have seen greater camaraderie among everyone in the team and witnessed hierarchies broken down. More than that, communication is at its peak and ideas flow like an endless stream in the vast mountains. In fact, we often joke that anything we need is just a shout across the room. While the benefits of an open concept are debatable to some, it has certainly been extremely beneficial for us.
Tech Arsenal
You will be hard-pressed to find a more advent Apple product supporter than Micepad. The entire office is outfitted with iMac, Macbooks across different generations, and of course, iPads upon iPads. When I first stepped into the office, I felt like I was in a huge tech Candy Empire, with the finest Apple products on display. Or you can think of it as out of a James Bond movie, being able to pick your weapon of choice from the armoury.
Green Comfort
The minimalist white office space is dotted with little spots of green potted plants. Even though taking care of these plants take little or no effort on our part, it gives us an outlet to expend our green energy. Some of these little plants even have names given to them, courtesy of accounts executive, Eunice.
A study has found that just having some plants can improve productivity by 15%.
Lunch Together
Everyday at around 12.30pm, the lunch bell will be rung (yes, we have a lunch bell) to signal that the whole office will go out for lunch together. In the spirit of togetherness, we will find tables near each other so that while it might be impossible to eat together at the same table, it will still be possible to eat together in close proximity. This sense of camaraderie is felt the moment you first enter the company so that you would not fall too behind in the friendship snake-and-ladder-game.
Freedom to Shine or Pick up New Skills
As a smaller company, there are plenty of learning opportunities to try your hand at tasks that you would not otherwise be able to do. You get to learn from your mistakes and try again until you perfect your skill.
It doesn’t matter even if you are not a Jack of all trades, so long as you are a master of something. You can examine what you are good at, and expand on it.
“You don’t have to be good at everything. Just find that one thing and be really good at it.” said Micepad CEO, Jiehao, during my job interview.
We emphasize on a great company culture because we believe that it’ll give results. You know what they say, a happy employee equals great results at work.
