Work

All my bags are packed…

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… Well, not really. But almost there. 

When I landed in Gurgaon, in November ’05, the first reaction was – Wow!! What am I doing in this God forsaken place?? But then I got used to things. Made friends. Work became fun. Trips were made to Pilani. And truly speaking, I am hating the moving from Gurgaon experience. It sucks!! 

Tomorrow morning there will be no more familiar faces. No Pooja, no Gogo, or Sanchita, or Rahul. No more cribs by Shivangi. No funny ringtones from Manju. No lunch with the gang. No chai with Anoop and Praguna. 

Damn!!

Moments to cherish…

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Just looking back at a couple of times from the many that I will cherish forever from the last three and half years at work. There are many more, but these are the ones most prominent in memory, as I go to work for the last time, for a year, tomorrow. Thanks to all my colleagues – you guys have been legendary!!

Where were you when India won the T20 World Cup?

I remember it very clearly. Conference Room 1, Tower A. With the Chemistry team, attending a Questel webinar on optimizing the use of the MMS database. Akshat was there. So were Nachi, Bala, Bong and others. It was one awesome evening. Listening to updates on the phone, and running all the way to Don’s house for the presentation!! Thanks guys!! The Chem team rocked!!

The first ever late night for a deliverable.

I think we were barely a month into our jobs at Evalueserve. Staffed on an urgent project from a large prospect. We had completed our share of the work, when the BR half of the work came in, under prepared. A decision was made. Me and Anoop stuck with research. Nawani and Charul worked on the final deliverable. We worked till 3 in the night. And a deliverable was sent, which the client appreciated. And Nawani treated us to lunch the next day. Oh, and we also took recruitment interviews the next day. Brilliant!!

The Big B.

20 people, one client, three months. And we came out of it very strong!! This was the big project. The big client. The brilliant organization of work.  The client became a regular, and all the people who worked on it, great friends. Special thanks to Pooja. Wouldn’t have been possible without her. Gogo, Sanchita, Praguna, Namita, Ankur, Mohunta, Shivangi, Mrinal, Manju, Akanksha, and I am still missing many more. You name the person, and he would have worked on it. Thanks a ton everyone!!

PS: Cherish was also the topic for my ISB pre-interview essay!!

Better late than never…

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Update on the post below. 

Ashish held along overdue  townhall yesterday, and truth be told, he was at his best ever. He made no apologies. There was no MBA mumbo jumbo. No bullshit. Just the plain truth. He appeared sincere and gave straight answers. Loved it.

And that helped. It calmed a lot of nerves and cleared up a lot of confusion. People know that times are bad, but to hear from the management that things will get better and that they are thinking of us helps.

Just wish he had had the townhall a week earlier.

Changes at workplace!!

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Suddenly out of nowhere, we got an email yesterday about a session where we had to represent our group in a short session where we would have to speak on a common topic. Though the entire exercise seemed a lot of fun, the kind of work schedule I am facing did not make it a welcome act.

Anyway, the topic is “Work place changes that will enhance my potential“. I thought about it last night, and here is what I could come up with.

  1. IT – Suspend stupid rules, remove bottlenecks, simplify workflow, etc, etc…
  2. Engage us – Come on, a debrief of the last month to the Managers and above will create transparency and build trust.
  3. Work from home – at least 2-4 days a month.
  4. Did I say IT – Remove that stupid wallpaper, and the forced screensaver – they are insulting!!

What do you think would help you?

Honest answers…

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… are the biggest motivators and problem solvers. I have been in a meeting and a presentation in the last couple of days and now feel a lot more motivated.

The first was a presentation on communication by a person who I consider to be the “rockstar” at our company. Nice way to tell us that we do not need to go around a point, and that we should give nice and direct answers. Don’t be rude, but don’t be too polite while missing the point altogether. Clients are humans and expect a human answer (E & OE). It was frankly the most interesting presentation I have attended at Evalueserve and one of the best ever!

The next was a meeting with our Chairman, Alok Aggarwal [it is courtesy our IT team that the first Google link to the man’s name doesn’t work or redirect!]. The man gave some very direct, not-so-confusing, and even if I disagree with him on them, grown up answers. The thing I have hated for long about some top management people is that they do not treat us as grown ups and do not give us direct answers. Come on folks. We are smart people (you hired us!!) and would understand if you gave us logical answer. Whether we agree or not, I would respect such a person more. So even while I disagree with Alok on some key-points, I have immense respect for him as an individual, and I think Evaluserve has a bright future as long as he is in control. Rock on man!