Day 16 – In Chennai on a training

Study Time…

Not much of updates today, as we are having a test tomorrow in the training, and I still have to read 3 workbooks. This fear of taking tests is officially recognized at the below link:

http://www.phobialist.com/

Checkout “Testophobia”

Day 15 – In Chennai on a training

They say, “Think before you wish”
After a hectic training schedule in the previous week, we wished that the training this week be a bit relaxed. But if wishes come true, they come true in extremes. Out of 9 hours we spent in the training room, the effective training was only 2 hours. In the morning, we were asked to shift to another room for an hour so that another team can take some test. A series of time wastage incidents continued further. Sometimes, getting so much free time also creates lot of boredom.

Training skills
I have attended much training and have even taken a few trainings. Hence, I guess I have a slight amount of knowledge to be able to comment on this subject. Irrespective of the training subject, a trainer is never successful unless he/she is able to be friendly with the audience. This is one basic basic thing, which a trainer cannot ignore, even if he/she is extremely well qualified in the subject. Moreover, it is very important for a trainer to be natural and not show pseudo-professionalism. No, I am not criticizing any trainer or trainers, but am just collating my experiences so far.

Day 8 – At Chennai on a training

Start of the week

Week started well. The training was quite interesting, as it related to credit operations of a bank. I guess, it is a common tendency to feel comfortable in ‘known territory’.

We had an interesting Role-playing exercise in the training. Trainings are great when they have such interactive activities and games inbuilt.

No specific updates on food exploration today, as we went to Balaji Bhavan again.

A visit to temple

In the evening, we went to a Tirupati Balaji temple near Pondy Bazaar. The temple was wonderful, and the atmosphere was really spiritual.

Day 3 – At Chennai on a training

Not much of updates today. The training was ok. We went to Shri Balaajee Bhavan for lunch. Food was great and the prices too were very  reasonable.

I had curd rice and filter coffee. Filter coffee is now a part of my staple diet

One more realization today: Not to make assumptions too fast… Initially on the basis of first day, we assumed that the entire training would go really slow. But now, it is going on very fast. I am not saying we should not make assumptions. All I am saying is that we should not base important decisions or actions on premature assumptions or logic that is not thought through well.

Day 2 – At Chennai on a training

Great breakfast + Nice lunch + Not extraordinarily boring training = Not so bad day

If you get nice piping hot aloo parathas in breakfast, there’s not much that can make your day go bad. We had a nice filling breakfast at the guest house.

Training was Ok types. Not so much boring. And there was some new stuff to learn.

For lunch, we went to the much-hyped Sarvana Bhavan. The food was good, but the prices seemed quite high, and the options seemed quite limited. I guess, the high prices were partly attributable to the silver plates in which they served the food. The Shiv-Sagar restaurant at Aundh, Pune has much more choices in South Indian menu.

Moreover, got myself a nice filter coffee at the end of the meal.

One more thing I discovered about Chennai. The minimum auto-fare is Rs. 30. Even if we wanted to go quite nearby, we always ended up paying at least 30 bucks.

And one more thing that I felt – deciphering Marathi in Pune seems a cake-walk compared to communicating in Chennai with auto-walas, shop keepers, etc.

Day 1 – At Chennai on a training

I am at Chennai for 6-week office training. I thought I would try blogging something about it everyday. I am not sure whether this spirit would last even for a day more, but still, at least for Day 1, I am all motivated to pen down things.

Start of the day
Day started at an unearthly hour of 03:00 AM, which is just three hours after the scientific start of the day. Had to get up because we needed to catch the 5:55 flight. There are very few times when you can actually see your clock showing 3:00 am.

About the flight
If that wasn’t enough, we got the last row seat in the flight. The space available was even less than that in a BEST bus in Mumbai. Any way, we reached Chennai on time.

Skipping breakfast
Then, we had to rush to our Guest house to put our bags. Even though breakfast was available at the guest house, we thought it prudent to go for the training first, and then have breakfast there. However, nothing was available around. We finally found out a fruit vendor, and some of us had to do with fruits. I didn’t like the fruits, so dragged my survival further on chips and snack bar which I had in the flight.

Boredom + Exhaustion + Sleep deficit + Bad lunch = A really tiresome day
The training was boring. I know you would say that all trainings are usually boring. But then this one was even more boring from the rest. We ran short of a name placard, and hence I was the one who had to do without it. So used a bit of ‘innovation’ and made a placard out of the notepad page. Went out for lunch, but the only place we could find was not at all good. They just had Veg Pulav and Dal Fry as vegetarian options, and which we had to go with.

Finally back to my room
Had a nice hot shower and am penning down this blog…

A better way of doing things

Everyday we come across a lot of situations when we are supposed to solve problems, execute complicated assignments, finish complex tasks, etc. This is applicable on both work as well as personal front.

A very effective way to handle a such a complex task is to:
Start with what is required rather than what is possible.

As short as that!

Whenever we start seeing the task from the perspective of what is our current ability or what is the minimum that we can start doing, we lose track. We try to map the task with our current inclinations, and do only that part, which is the simplest and less cumbersome.

Giving an example:
John’s boss has asked him to collate some data from different sources and plot the final output in a presentation. John really detests the data collation part, as it is very difficult getting data from different people. Hence, his mind would drive him towards starting with the presentation part. He might create a format and make some place-holders for the final output. He would either not take up the data collation part, or would do it half-heartedly. Either way, he would end up not finishing his task in the given time.

A positive scenario in the above example would be:

• John lists down the data required.
• He puts name of the people against each of the data item needed.
• He calls up people, and if unsuccessful, calls up alternative contact people, or escalates, if needed. But he ensures that he receives the data.
• He complies the data.
• He places the data in the presentation in a suitable format.

You can apply this principle to some of your problems and see whether it works for you.

Lone-eaters

In a canteen, there are two categories of people: People having their food in groups and people having their food alone. The latter category, I call lone-eaters. Lone-eaters are always by choice and not by circumstances or force. That is, if you have to have food alone because you could not join your friends due to some meeting, then you are not a lone-eater.

Even though I have been in both the categories, on the inside, I am a lone-eater.

Both the options have their own positives and negatives, of which I will discuss the positives.

Positives having lunch in a group:

1. Stress-relieving gossip:
The gossip during lunch, covering a variety of topics like other office colleagues, project manager, trips, TV shows, movies, traffic, etc. acts as a great stress-reliever for many.

2. Movie reviews:
Group lunch on a Monday has this added advantage. Your friends who’ve watched a movie on the weekend are sure to share their experience. A small glitch here is that some of them may reveal the spoilers too.

3. Work-related issues:
This advantage applies when your manager is also a part of your lunch group. If there are work-related problems, which otherwise could invoke a strong reaction from your manager, you can discuss them during lunch. He is likely to respond in a more subdued manner.

Positives of having lunch alone:

1. Simple:
Eating alone is a very simple process. Get up from your desk, go to the canteen, take the food, find a nearest empty chair, finish food and back to your desk. Eating in a group involves a lot of sub-processes:

• Calling everybody to start for lunch and gathering at a place
• Deciding upon which canteen to go to (if there are conflicting views, going by the majority decision)
• Looking out for the required number of seats that can accommodate the entire group together
• Once the seats are found, shooing away others who are eyeing those ‘reserved’ seats.
• Waiting for everybody to get food
• Waiting for everybody to finish the food

2. Canteen of choice:
You can go to the canteen of your choice, keep going to different canteens every day, or even go to a nearby fast-food joint if you feel like.

3. Timing:
You can have food when you are actually hungry, and not when the majority decides that it’s time to hit the canteen.

4. Listening skills:
In a group lunch, we speak a lot; so much so that we forget to ‘listen’. Eating food alone offers a great opportunity to eavesdrop into conversations of other groups sitting around you. It gives a great insight into the issues and opinions of others – about their projects, about their managers, the company, market scenario, or even TV serials.

Edited to add:

5. Health benefits:
My Mom suggested this one after reading this post. Talking while eating is not good for health. Hence, if you are having your food alone, the talking is minimum and hence this is a ‘healthier’ option.

PS: No offence meant to the non-lone-eaters category

What they say v/s What they mean

There are certain quotes in IT industry used in daily course. I have just tried delayering the quote and looked to the underlying meaning…

What they say v/s What they mean

• “…but it was a good learning experience.”
  “All our hard efforts have gone waste… that proposal did not materialize.”
   
• “Our PM is a great person…”
  “Our PM does not have any clue about the project or deliverables… but plans parties and trips really well.”
   
• “I have reviewed the attachment…”
  “I think your attachment is an excel file and has black fonts…”
   
• “I will start your KT from tomorrow…”
  “I had been stuck up with this project since long, but seems that days of freedom are near… you are the next scapegoat.”
   
• “Ram was our outstanding achiever last month.”
  “Last month, we had to make Ram work 14 hours a day and even on Saturdays…”
   

Glossary: (For people who are not from IT industry)

PM: Project Manager

KT: Knowledge Transition

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are just in a lighter vein.

First day at a new job

About the post: I had written the below thoughts a year back on my first day of joining my present job. The writing process ended when the HR representatives entered the room for starting the joining formalities.

—–

It was a strange feeling, but not new. I had experienced this before – the first day in a new employment. While the rest of the herd moves on with their daily work, you are sitting or standing in a corner, bewildered, with anticipations – good and bad. Even though you want to avoid, subconsciously your mind keeps preparing a table of comparison; between your old job and the new. And somehow, your old job wins many points (not all, but many) .Then you realize that you had been on an irreversible path for the past certain days.

Anticipations are like those small sandstorms, per se, harmless. But if you do not remember your path properly, you will lose your way. But if you know your way well, and are not likely to get astray, they are good fun on the way. Besides, they also give you an idea which way the wind is blowing.

Coming back to the first day blues, the most important people, or better put the most popular figures for you, are the support staff – the security, the receptionist, maintenance group, junior staff, etc who guide you and (more often, than not) misguide you.

And if it is not your first job, you will be missing a very important component of your work life – WORK. You feel that suddenly out of a scene full of action, you have landed up in a still picture frame, where nothing moves. (For me, expect for the pencil with which I am jotting down these thoughts, everything else is pause-still). The two guys sitting next to me (new joinees like me) are wondering what I am writing so much. Is it a part of joining formalities? Are you supposed to be writing/preparing for something on joining???? So, now you know what I meant by ‘anticipations’. These guys are freshly made friends, although right now I don’t even know (or remember?) their names. A new herd forming to counter/merge into the old herd.

One more thought, as I am waiting here. Human mind never learns to relax. Here I am, given an hour to relax (authorized by all possible moral values, terms of termination of the previous company and terms of employment of the new company), but I am cursing my luck that I did not carry in my bag the paperback fiction that I have been reading these days. And so, when I did not find anything to read, I started to write…