Play along with the TEAM

Management can be defined as ManageMenTactfully. So, it’s all about managing the people. If team members are happy, things will automatically be done. You take care of the team; they take care of the deliverables for you. However, the big question is how to make them happy? Moreover, how to keep them happy?

                If we look at manager as the captain of a team, team expects the captain to be around on the ground with them. They look up to the captain, when they are in trouble and want some guidance. It is not only for the guidance, but they want you to appreciate their success. A non-playing captain may not be so successful. As mentioned above, if you want to manage people, you should know them well. The only way to know is to work closely with them and listen to them. Listening is the most important skill a manager should have to be a good manager. The role of a manager should not be looked at as a role with authority. This should rather be looked at as the role with more responsibility.

No manager will get a team full of star performers. Even if you are fortunate to have the best performers in place, they may not be motivated enough to do things for you. Team should do things for you more than as a duty. You will be able to succeed only when you are able to identify their strengths and give them opportunity in those areas where they shine and make good contributions. It’s also your duty as a manager to identify the weakness and cover them and guide them to overcome those weakness. That’s where you are adding value to the team, in a way to the organization to get the best out of the resources.

We can use couple of ways to know better about the team members.

·         Have regular one to one meetings to understand their aspirations, concerns, provide constructive feedback and to hear their feedback on you. During these sessions, patience is the key. You need to have very good listening skills. You need to let them speak completely and then you should be able to articulate your response in the right tone to them back.

·         Organize team-building activities; Make sure everyone actively participate and know each other. Don’t miss those opportunities to appraise desired candidates. There will be lot of talent hidden in each of the team members. Encourage them to perform in the group. This brings a special recognition to them and they get a special place in the team after knowing them better. This gives an opportunity to know little more about the person.

·         Provide as many initiatives and responsibilities as possible to the team and see how they respond or react to them. This gives you the next level resources that you want to build as a leadership team, which is very important.

 

It is equally important to give an opportunity to the team to know about you. For that, you have to participate actively in those team-building events. This gives them comfort to come to you for any issues they may have.

Play along with the team, but don’t play with the team.

 

An Achiever

I would like to start this with a BIG THANKS to my father, who taught me these below lines in my childhood and always stands an example for me to follow in my life.

ఒకచో నేలను పవ్వళించు, నొకచో నొప్పారు ( బూసెజ్జ పై
నొకచో శాకములారగించు, నొకచో నుత్కృష్ట శాల్యోదనం  
బొకచో బొంత థరించు, నొక్కక్కతరిన్ యోగ్యాంబరి శ్రేణి, లె 
క్కకు రానీయడు కార్యసాధకుడు దుఖ్ఖంబున్ నుఖంబున్ మదిన్

Let me share what these lines mean to me. In the journey of life, you travel a lot and we get into various situations and play various roles at different stages. As life is not always a bed of roses, sometimes you don’t get the minimum things that you expect, but still you need to get going to meet and beat the goals that you have set or that are set for you. Those missing hygiene things should never become bottleneck for your achievement. You should never ever lose confidence in you, courage and vision on your ultimate goal. Your aim should only be the one, which should drive you and your work, but not the environment, facilities and other’s support. “Where there is a will there is a way”. So keep going and conquer the world.

Now let me explain what the above Telugu statements, in poem, exactly mean. Even though the above poem mentions about HE, I took the liberty to make that as (S)he, as we all know that ladies are equally capable of achieving.

It doesn’t matter to an Achiever.....

(s)he can sleep on the floor or on a most comfortable soft bed

(s)he can have very minimal food available or a most delicious and fantastic food

(s)he can wear a normal clothing or beautiful and highest value costume

Either its tough time or a smooth sail, when it comes to reach the goal,

It doesn’t matter to an Achiever....

 

So, It’s all within YOU.

Be an Achiever in any circumstances.

A Day without YOU... Oh No.....

 That's 14 March 2015; I was packing all my luggage for my London trip. All arrangements and all checks are done. However, there was something, which brought to my mind repeatedly that I was leaving you at home and you will not be with me for more than 24 hours.

 

How can I take this? You are so close to my heart. Without looking at you, I can’t think of an hour also, I can't even imagine how I can be if you are not with me. This is a BIG thing for me. Do you really think that you can't come with me and stay with me? I never left you alone. I tried my best to keep you engaged. I shared all most all my secrets with you. The first thing I see in the morning is you, as I wake up with your sweet voice. Anything in the world comes as second priority when you call me. I am always there to attend you. My ears are always open for you. I want you to be always in front of my eyes.

If you are not with me, I am like a fish without water. Finally, the time has come to leave you back home and move on. Oh my dear, until I see you again I remain calm and speechless. I see lot of others around me happily talking to their loved ones, but me, walking lonely, watching all of them, thinking about you and your sweet voice, slowly got into the flight.

As the time flies, it was already few hours that I left, I was still not able to digest that fact. When the captain announced to switch off all the electronic devices, I was searching for you. For a moment, I was worried that I lost you. Then I realized that I only left you back at home. Airhostess was anxiously looking at me, as I looked worried and seriously searching in the beginning. As I realized that, I only left you back at home; I relaxed a bit and left a smile to the airhostess. With that, she also was relaxed and moved on with a smile and my journey went on.

Onsite Assignment

      

 

It is quite common to most of the managers that they get lot of queries and requests coming from their team regarding onsite assignments. Some may be to get an opportunity and some may be to resolve a situation at client site. The manager has to place a right candidate at the client location and that person should be able to manage the situation to the maximum extent. Only (s)he should get back offshore management when some additional approvals or some additional consulting input is needed. Not in all cases managers are so fortunate to get the perfect fit candidate for these onsite assignments.

So there is a need to have some guidelines and tips to have a better control on the situation. This can be achieved only when we create and maintain a good relationship with the client personnel we are working and reporting to. It is very easy to say to maintain a good relationship with the client and manage the situation, thereby no or very less escalations from client. But How? You are altogether a new person joining a big group of people. You might be a star performer in your own domain/functional/technical areas, but how will that alone can help you in building a good relationship with the client?

            This is where you need to do some homework before you even get into the position as we do a requirement gathering and analysis before designing the solution. Here in this situation you have to spend some time understanding the environment, client organization culture, laws of the land that you are supposed to work etc., This is the very first step to draw the lines of the court and understand the basic rules of the game.

            Now as you know the boundaries, you should get into the next level of the detail as identifying the teams, sponsors, audience, and the importantly the umpires, who will be watching your play. This step provides you a better picture about the people that you will be dealing with during your stay.

 

            When you know to this level now the next action is to understand how the teams are working each other and what are their strengths & weaknesses. Then get along with the teams. There is a very old evergreen saying “Be a Roman in Rome”. This is very important to understand and implement it. You might be thinking that this is a very normal English statement, but first it is tough to understand what a roman is and secondly to be as a roman.

            Some of the IT companies are conducting cross cultural sensitivity sessions/workshops to the people who are supposed to travel. These things will surely help them to understand the basic rules of the game before they start. These sessions make you ready for the game and help in not being an odd (wo)man out. Below are some tips, but not limited to, help making you one among them and also to be a star performer, at client site, in your strong areas.

·         Know the overall political condition of the country and state.

·         Know the sports/games and teams which are popular locally.

·         Watch little bit news and follow the recently highlighted news

·         Understand the style of the working by observing your client team members closely. For example, some organizations follow their calendars very strictly. You can talk to them only when their calendar has free time.

·         Follow Email etiquettes. You should know who all should be in To/CC/BCC. I suggest a 3C rule. Complete, Concise, Clear.

o   Here is a good site I came across in net while surfing. Just check http://www.101emailetiquettetips.com/index.html

·         Don’t get into any personal level details until you have a clear understanding of the person. Generally they don’t like to talk about personal matters.

 

With these kind of things I am sure you will be able to establish a good position to operate on a daily basis without any issues. But you should not forget you are a star performer at your own strong areas. Now this is the time you should you need to showcase your specialization and make sure that is properly presented to the right people at the right time. Most of the client appreciate if you can come with any value add with your previous experience. The value add can be based on your domain/functional/technical expertise. But as I said earlier you have time it very carefully and chose the right set of people. Any small mistake in this will backfire in multiple direction. You might have heard about the “Gold Plating”. So be careful my friend!

When you have all the above in place, there is another thing that you should have in mind always is “YOU” are representing your parent organization more than an individual. Anything and everything that you do at client’s place will have an immediate and direct impact. Mind you this can be positive and negative.

There is a huge team sitting at offshore and supporting you in various ways, so you can perform well to get the success to organization and also to yourself. So you should have due respect towards the unconditional support you are getting. This is all about “Give and Take”. Without this you will not be successful even though you are a star performer individually. Ultimately it is the TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) that wins. To quote an example, in the case of F1 race the driver who is reaching the winning finish line is one individual, but there will be a big team to make that happen.

So to conclude, know the ground, game rules, teams and play well to win. Wish you a grand success in your career.   

Cheers

Arun Kiran Ponnekanti - PMP