Kevin Chan is an honorary member of the Hong Kong Designers Association. His dedication to contributing his designer profession to the industry is a distinctive unselfish morale. He also engages in various charitable services to serve the community.

What is the way to success? To succeed, one must have a goal. While encountering setbacks and difficulties, many people would choose to give up. However, Kelvin Chan, the owner of “Design Information Centre” believes that as long as one belief is correct, one should not hesitate even if one had run into difficulties and pain.
The reasons of selecting Kevin Chan for an interview among others are that he possesses an outstanding belief and a rich experience in design, as well as a different set of management concepts that worth everybody to learn. Under his leadership, the “Design Information Centre” is different from the general renovation companies in that all employees have a solidarity mind. There are no shortcuts or luck to success.

──Three self-help mottoes──
Kevin Chan regularly teaches employees to collect stamps, coins, phone cards, etc., but not hate; and collect forgiveness, happiness and enjoy the pleasure in work. His way of getting along with people is indeed practical and worth to take note of.

Help yourself──overcome difficulties, reduce stress, face difficulties and improve yourself.
Help others──help others to solve the above problems.
ake care of your family──love your family members.

Different management concepts from others

The “Design Information Centre” is an industry leader and currently owns four branches in Shatin, Tsuen Wan, To Kwa Wan and Macau. The fifth branch MEGABOX in Kowloon Bay will be opened in mid-year. Besides providing a comprehensive range of renovation services to customers, it also has a set of proper logistical support services to allow many customers to be very satisfied with their professional service attitude. As the leader and Design Director of the Design Information Centre, how does Kevin Chan manage it so orderly? “My management concept is very simple,” replied Chan. “As long as I think my belief is correct, I will adhere to it persistently, or protect such belief even if other people doubted it. I’ll not have the slightest wavering until I reach the goal. Of course, employees are equally important besides personal management capabilities. The company must have a sound operating system, allowing customers to receive a complete set of services the moment they step in the “Design Information Centre.”

Pain and pleasure are Siamese twins

No pain, no happiness
Everybody will encounter difficulties in life and work. Some people may choose to give up, some choose to escape, and some even grumble, but Kevin Chan has a painful- and problem- solving approach. “People can only become mature after being honed, and further understand that bitterness and happiness are integrated. It is generally accepted that pain is the opposite of happiness, but I think happiness and pain are like twin brothers with a single body but two faces. If you don’t feel the pain, you will not be happy. It is similar to the pain suffered by pregnant women during labour, but the joy of giving birth to a new life will exceed the pain, and even totally forget about the painful process. So happiness is satisfaction after overcoming the pain. For people who have never tasted the pain before cannot appreciate the value of happiness. In real life, we must know the bitterness in joy, and experience the sweetness of joy within bitterness.

Select the righteousness and kind employees
as the company’s important figures
For a successful company, employees play a vital role besides being led by an extraordinary leader. How does Kevin Chan select the right kind of employees? “As I personally think that nature and character are very important, so I’ll only choose those with the morale of righteousness and kindness. Once they are carefully trained, they will become important figures in the company. Just like the salespeople, they are the company’s biggest driving force. Besides meeting customer requirements, they must not solely pursue business volume by simply saying yeses as these numbness replies will affect the spirit of team work. To have a happy and healthy team, we must consistent with our objectives and principles. Now the responsibilities of Design Information Centre are laid entire upon this group of salespeople. After being strenuous trained, all our employees are striving every day to accomplish our current achievements unselfishly and all-togetherness.”

Work is just like Shaolin Temple,
one needs to build up a firm foundation
Some people say that working in “Design Information Centre” is just like entering into Shaolin Temple. Do you agree with that, Kevin Chan?
“Yes, all our employees, including our high-level senior designers learned from the bottom level upward in order to comprehend their duties. Only going through such process will enable them to understand the importance of each procedure. Even our managerial personnel have to know the thoughts and attitudes of their subordinates. Naturally, each employee has to undergo different duration of training depending on individual qualification and ability, but we require that each employee must be able to stand in somebody’s shoes and think repeatedly.”

Creative design and satisfaction
In the fifteen years of design work, how does Kevin Chan demonstrate his unlimited creativity? “Design cannot be worked out like an engine as each design has to meet with customer requirements. Our company organizes outing occasionally, like the recent trip to Harbin. Besides looking at the local buildings to motivate our inspirations, we also allow our employees to make self-breakthroughs through games and challenge the difficulties. Some people think that staff management is as difficult as “making a horse work without feeding it.” Fortunately, our employees have the quality morale of self-discipline, and happy to work for the company rather than to create their own achievements. They strive for the company to make customers happy and satisfied, and they fully aware that real satisfaction can only be gained from inner creation of the heart.


Acknowledgment: Reproduced information of e-Magazine issue 450