Carte blanche. That's what OTA's brief to their interior designer looked like when they were going to redesign their office. Because why the hell would you install a ball pit and what are the benefits of an in-house gym? Find out all about it in our Office Insights series.

Pieter-Jan, thank you for allowing us to come and visit your office here in the heart of Ghent, the office of OTA Insight. What exactly are you doing here?

OTA is mainly active in the hospitality sector. So we work with hotels and hotel chains as a fairly young and very fast-growing software company. We help these companies to be able to set the right price for their products, i.e. classic hotel rooms, every day. But also to be able to offer them on the right channels. From B&B in the Ardennes to the Hilton in Paris and New York. All of that is discussed here.

The hospitality sector - super interesting! What exactly is your role here in the office?

I have the office manager here. In Ghent I am the jack-of-all-trades. From a new toilet brush that needs to be ordered to the contact with the owners of the buildings or our investors who come to visit and whom we have to welcome, arrange that meeting, order food and drinks, ...

It seems like a super varied job to me. If we take you on a very random day in the love. What can your day look like?

My week is really divided between practical and organizational work and then some administration. On Mondays and Fridays it is mainly practical - starting or closing the week, preparing for the next week. Filling fridges, making sure the suppliers are on time for the food and drinks and so on. But also agree with the cleaning lady that we have this event this week or that we have people visiting. On the other hand, there is also administration.

It seems like a super varied job to me. If we take you on a very random day in the love. What can your day look like?

That fluctuates a lot. On a Monday it is still quite busy because we offer pastries. On Fridays it's already a bit quieter. But we really go for full flexibility, so everyone can come here four or five days a week. Or if you agree with your lead that three days a week is enough, none of that is a problem. On average, there are between 40 and 80 employees per day. With peaks, that's above 100 and they all need to have food and drink.

I can imagine that that can be intense. What is the importance of the role of an office manager for such a group? How important is that role and what would happen if, for example, you were not there?

They would be lonely and they would have less food and water. But office management is one of those things that means something different for one company than for another. Traditionally, this is more of an HR role, an administrative role. Here, it's really more of a role of practically arranging the office, taking care of the people and making sure everything runs smoothly. I try to take away all practical concerns or solve them quickly so that the others can do their job properly.

Blessed, that seems like a really cool job to me. But I don't think you really have a 'normal' office either. I've been peeping around behind corners here every now and then and I've seen a few crazy things pass by. But I'll leave the honor to you - What crazy features does your office have here?

Crazy features, we mainly want to keep the office fun. From the swings there to the ball pool here, we have VR Rooms that we are installing, but also a decent kitchen, refectory and dining area where everyone can sit quietly. Nice corners, like we are here, to be able to work or do meet-ups. Suppose you want to sit quietly with your headphones, then you can isolate yourself a bit. You name it.

We are installing a secret meeting room where when you pull a book, a wall opens. We have a music meeting room full of instruments. There are agreements about it - they are not allowed to start jamming in the middle of the day. It is before the hours, during the afternoon or after the hours. Because otherwise, yes. In addition, meeting rooms and meeting and working are of course the priority here.

But the key question we really have is - why the hell are you investing in a ball pit in the office?

The classic answer, of course, is productivity and creativity. That comes entirely from the team itself. That was like: "Oh yes, Matthias, PJ, when we have that new wing, we have to put a ball pit in it!" So that's what we did, of course.

And is it being used? Meetings organized?

Yes, definitely! And also catch ups with three, for example. But also, for example, if you have a call with someone from the US at 4 p.m., you can put yourself there.

Blessed! So you can actually have a meeting here with someone from OTA and they just record online from the ball pool?

Yes it is! No embarrassment.

Fantastic. And what is the whole office like, how did the whole idea come about? How did it get this far at this office?

We started on the other side of the building on this floor. But before that we were still on the other side, much smaller, and before that they were still in Dok Noord. But, of course, that continues to evolve. We are already laughing with each other about: when are we going to take another floor? The office grows with his team. The more people, the more workplaces and the more meeting rooms you need. I prefer that they just say, "oh hey, I've been thinking about that – aren't we going to do that?" You have to have that.

We are already actively talking to the building to see where we can go in the structure of the building where we can make holes in the concrete slabs to be able to put a slide down to end up in the ball pool. So one day it will definitely all be there. Just give us time.

So I can imagine: you come from a different place and you have to completely redesign this place. You go to an interior designer, I imagine, and what do you ask them? How is that process going up to this point?

That wing, the old wing as we say, was actually already there. Matthias and our bosses mainly worked together with Buro Project from Aalst. they were really very satisfied with that because as soon as there was talk of a second wing, they actually came directly to me and we got in the car together and went to the people of Buro Project.

When we arrived, Matthias said: "Look, we're going to take another floor. Go wild. The budget is this and that and do your thing. And this is the team's list of wishes." Something completely different from what those interior architects are used to. And then the second message was: "From now on, this man next to me will care about all that and you shouldn't bother me too much anymore."

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"We are already actively talking to the building to see where we can make holes in the structure to put a slide down that ends up in our ball pool. Just give us time."

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So you've been given full responsibility?

Yes, of course, but of course you have to check out when it comes to money. But other than that, he let me do it completely. He was like: go ahead man, I trust it.

That seems to me to be a project that has probably caused the necessary stress, but also with an end result that you can be very proud of?

True, but also got a lot of fun out of it. Now we are in the new part that is completely decorated the way we wanted it, but there used to be another company here with really sterile, white cube-shaped and closed meeting rooms. And last year in September, we organized a recruitment day, an event, here. Then we organized a laser shooting here. We turned all those desks upside down, turned cabinets upside down, stretched nets with the bins under the desks, really built stairs. That was really crazy. Just what can we do here, just trash.

We sat here on a Friday night at two o'clock spraying graffiti on the wall. But with the plan: "yes, that wall is going to go, you can spray it full of graffiti."

So there are really no limits to what can and may be done?

No, if it works and you say that this is really something fun, then we can completely immerse ourselves in it. Ideas are there to pitch.