Osotspa Uses Analytics 365 to Underpin Flexible Working Strategy

Osotspa was established in 1891 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in October 2018.

Today, it is a leading Thailand-based consumer products manufacturer and distributor with brand presence in 39 countries.

Other than its manufacturing sites, the company began working remotely two years ago due to the pandemic. They have around 700 people using Microsoft Teams with 300 currently using Analytics 365.

With Analytics 365, Osotspa is able to understand the impact of remote working on their people and help guide the introduction of new processes to ensure their wellbeing whilst maintaining high levels of productivity.

Establishing the business viability of remote working

Pajaree Saengcum, Head of Digitalization at Osotspa, is leading the ground-breaking project to understand if remote working is a viable business strategy for the company.

“With everyone no longer in the office, specifically the back-office functions, we couldn’t see how everyone was performing and  how they manage their work.

Pajaree manages a 40-strong team delivering internal IT projects, the IT service desk and support, as well governance and compliance for the company.

“Our IT ticketing system for customer support provides a small level of insight into productivity and how well everyone was working. However, this focuses on technical assistance requests and showed us that only one per cent of our people had network quality issues whilst everyone else was fine.

“The technical assistance requests generated little factual evidence. Without real data, there was a danger that this could lead us to introducing a policy for everyone to return to the office which normally causes higher costs to the organisation and our people.

“When the CEO asked my opinion on whether we should return to the office, I didn’t want to use guesswork. Their fear was that productivity would drop.  I needed an accurate response, so I searched the Microsoft ecosystem, including Microsoft Appsource, for answers and found Analytics 365.”

Using Analytics 365 to gain insight into Microsoft Teams working practices

Analytics 365 provides valuable insights into how Osotspa’s people are working within Microsoft Teams; the foundation of their working environment. It also provides senior managers with the visibility needed to improve their own management skills to deliver the outcomes they need for the business.

“When equipping the management team with Analytics 365, I provided guidance on how to apply the insights to determine best practice, and understand which activities to encourage, to make a project successful. Strong performance and productivity are the by-products, not the drivers, of good communication and collaboration. Collaboration needs to be encouraged and reviewed.

“Effective remote working requires a level of education to mentor managers on how to coach their people to leverage the functionality within Microsoft Teams to improve engagement, motivation, and productivity. Individual working practices and styles will vary depending on the people managers and this is where HR needs to focus their attention.”

Management dashboards to help improve communication and collaboration

Analytics 365 adds an intelligence layer to activity profiles, resulting in management insights that deliver clarity on communication and collaboration.

“Managers can review the dashboards to understand current habits, encourage communication and stimulate useful and effective collaboration. This helps them to improve their management and leadership skills.

“The one-to-one dashboard is really useful to see a manager’s focus on one-to-one meetings. These types of meetings are an opportunity for valuable feedback and are key to driving improvements over time.

“In my case, the chart shows that 37.5% of my time has been spent in one-to-one meetings. It points out that I spend the most one-to-one engagement with my direct report, which is how it should be. It also identifies the individual with whom I have the least engagement which I can now improve upon.

“So, if a manager finds they have little contact with a particular person, they can engage more to understand their needs and ensure they have what they need. The data helps the manager to see where to focus their time and coaching skills.

“I also like the management style dashboard. For me, it shows that I have high levels of interaction with my lead team. I expect my managers to have the same level of one-to-ones with their teams.  For example, we have appointed a new management in our team, and since this is a new role, I expect him to have a high level of communication and collaboration across his team as well as with the wider business.

“The chat comparison board shows me how well people interact with others. When I see a lot of activity and communication, it demonstrates that a project is in good shape. The key is to ensure a best practice approach when scheduling meetings within Microsoft Teams, so that all activity can be captured on the charts.

“The network quality report is another useful tool. This enables my IT support team to help individuals affected by poor connectivity before it impacts their work.

Changing behaviours and reducing bias

Analytics 365 is helping Osotspa to change and re-evaluate behaviours and expectations.

“As an example, I was informed  that my IT support person was not available. Without the data, my initial reaction was to ask what had gone wrong. However, when I reviewed Analytics 365, I could see that the person had received a customer request at the end of the previous day, and then worked into the night with the customer to resolve the issue. The Analytics 365 dashboard showed all the one-to-one communication involved to service the customer. The support person had then taken time-out to recover and was uncontactable.

“The end result is that we have now shifted the IT support role into the evenings and added more people to receive customer support calls during the daytime. It has given the IT support person the flexibility to work when she needs to. Most importantly, it has removed any bias from what we cannot see and prevented us from making a wrong decision.”

Invaluable insights with Analytics 365

“Analytics 365 has been invaluable. It has helped us to enhance our collaboration and communication which in turn positively impacts our performance and productivity.

“Using Analytics 365, we can see that managers working on the most successful projects are also those that have a high level of communication and collaboration, involving one-on-ones within their team, across different teams and with end customers.  I can share these insights with managers in other parts of the organisation to establish best practice and help to further improve their management and leadership skills.

“Ultimately, Analytics 365 has provided Osotspa with the insights needed to confirm that flexible working is a viable business strategy, and to ensure it stays that way. I can show the CEO and the senior management team that with everyone online, we can gain an accurate view of how everyone is working within Microsoft Teams. This will help us to both continually improve processes and enhance the well-being of our people for the future.