Passionately building strong brands - Community Coach is a verb

Jasper Ramaut supports and coaches the Upoffiz coachteam that consists of two Hospitality coaches, a Community coach, a Multimedia coach and a Facility coach. We talk to him about his role, the importance of quality management and success factors in connecting people. 

You are ultimately responsible for all the coaches at Upkot and Upliving. That’s now joined by a brand new coachteam team for the Upoffiz brand. Are there any parallels to be drawn?

JASPER: Upkot is a well-oiled machine in which the student coach has acquired a valuable role. Upliving as a brand is more recent and Upoffiz is brand new. The five coach profiles are different, but again they are the glue between people. We reinvented the functions, starting from what works well with the Upkot and Upliving brands. Working with coaches there has proven to be an absolute success for the functioning and dynamics of the community in a building. They are different profiles, but there are similarities in working with a large group of people.

At Upkot, they are students having the time of their lives, at Upliving, they are young potentials discovering themselves after their student days, and at Upoffiz, they are tenants’ employees who are completely unburdened by enjoying optimal building management. The basics are the same with all brands. From my Upkot experience, I learned that you can form a fine community if the basic management is right. People pay for those fundamentals. Having hot water, residents having easy access to the building, getting rid of frictions and technical concerns. That has to run well first. Then you can bring tenants together and connect them with each other in a participatory way. That means listening to people and their needs. What do they want? We do that in our Upkot and Upliving buildings by surveying tenants. We do the same here. 

How do you approach this within Upoffiz?

JASPER: It’s a professional target audience, but there still remains a lot of common ground with Upkot and Upliving. After basic management is in place, we build a relationship with the people who live and work on the campus. During the first few months, our Community coach gauges the needs of the companies and their employees. Identifying mutual expectations is important. As Upoffiz tenants, what do you expect from us and what can you expect from our coaching team? What do we expect from you? Then we try to connect the companies with each other which will undoubtedly create great collaborations. There is also room for meeting and personal development.

What is different within Upoffiz compared to the other brands Upkot and Upliving?

JASPER: We are not renting rooms and studios here. That’s a big difference. Here we have professional tenants who rent for the long term, are working on their own story and, at the same time, are part of the Upoffiz community. The diversity of profiles creates endless opportunities to grow our community. At the same time, I also see a lot of young professionals walking around here.

What is the secret to quality management, both at Upkot, Upliving and Upoffiz?

JAPSER: For me, it’s clear and transparent communication, but also using humor. Making sure you are always one step ahead and anticipating possible frictions in management. That’s why the Upoffiz Campus app is such an important channel for our tenants.

You have years of experience as an Upkot coach yourself. Should you be allowed to choose a coaching role at Upoffiz, which would it be and why?

JASPER: Community coach, because I currently embody that role a bit at Upoffiz as well. I do see myself as someone who visits the companies to listen, having conversations with people in the corridors to find out what’s going on and where the management challenges are at the site.