Managing Madness

Last weekend I went calling on my relative - a jovial fortyish guy, whose first look will tell you that the guy doesn't want to miss any fun in the world. Always sporting a smile, close to his family, visits his native village every year , drives long and goes to the refuge of his Mridangam to detox himself. Now a senior project manager with a tier-1 IT major he has come a long way through sheer work and attitude and is in an enviable position for his age. During the chat, though we exchanged notes on the tough IT world he was not complaining, but his black ringed eyes told a different tale. His wife worriedly filled the rest saying that he works through the day and night hardly sleeping,  forever on calls, at times even missing his meal. He also intoned, but with a smile, that he would like to quit soon to enjoy his life. I was rather taken aback, as this was the second guy who talked about quitting the job due to pressures and stress, in that week . The other one was a management grad from a premier institution who was asking me earlier in the week as to how one could spend time after a quitting a busy IT life.

I was introspecting- whether the industry has enlarged its pound of flesh or the present day guys are unable to manage the work -life balance. But these people I interacted with are no mean guys and they understand the world around. In the context , I also remember to have read a piece on doing some work on Sundays too, for a better ensuing week- a moot point, indeed.

Current working scenario, IT or otherwise,  is indeed tough but in my opinion, not unmanageable. As they do for their work, some out of the box thinking and customized plans could go a long way in relieving one of some strain.

After some initial months, one could easily identify the pattern of his line of work- including the unexpected tasks.  I created my own ways of working around:

• I have my own customized spreadsheet detailing my day's activities. This database served as a major reference point  for progress, activities, achievements, shortcomings, trainings , contributions etc., This I found to be very useful while preparing for the annual appraisals and periodical reports
•  Like some Indian in-laws, bosses are born and meant to be tough, as their role demand some toughness. Instead of whining about them, we need to customize our work pattern so that they suit their expectations too. 
• One of my bosses has the habit of expecting weekly updates right from Saturday morning.  I used to keep filling up a template through the week on a daily basis and instead of waiting for Mondays, I used to send them as the last item before I left on Friday. Note the timing, 'last item...' and that is important !!
• Every boss has his/her own idiosyncrasies and seldom they match. Understand your boss's expectations and try to work around the same. This spares you from most of  unwanted tension and arguments.
• Heaping of work beyond one's capacity now has a new connotation akin to a stress test. If you complain, you may be slapped with this argument. So, try to prioritize and also make sure you reason out the same, which will be understood by any reasonable boss.
• Working over the weekend is a pain, but then in the changing scenario, you do not  have much choice. At least, be mentally prepared to work on Saturday. If there was no necessity, you could enjoy or clear some lesser priority items from home. If it happens, it was no more a surprise as you had already planned for it. This I learnt from a project in which I worked through all the Saturdays for more 9 months in that year !!
• Identification and grooming of the trusted next level are a key to one's success. 
• Do not try to dirty your hand with everything. Understand the intricacies and try to distribute it to your other leads. 
• Working for multiple geographies with different time zones is a real challenge. But, if you choose to distribute amongst your leads and Managers you even can be seen to be working 24 hours.
• While on planned vacation do not completely switch off from office. Keep tracking the mails periodically for continuity , but never respond unless it is of paramount business importance. Keeping track helps you to get on line quickly on your return. 
• On return from a vacation, move your vacation mails to a designated folder so that they do not impede with the fresh priorities. When you sort your vacation mails,  you will be relieved to find that many are for information only, so that you could focus on things that require your response.

Nowadays, everyone comes with almost same qualifications and skills. But then how come some are very successful and climb the ladder faster while some get stagnated. It is such customized thoughts and realignment that helps the organization to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff. Importantly, none of the above could suit your type of working. Perfect. That is why it is necessary that you identify or invent patterns that are suitable to you.

Also remember planning is no more a virtue.You may start the week with some 10 top items and end up doing 7 none which were in your original 10. If that happens, be happy that you are managing your tasks well !!

Last but not the least, never allow yourselves to be taken to the 'end of the world' situation. Nothing in the world is so irreversible. For every situation, there is a solution, a workaround and nothing to despair about. Its definitely not worth being short tempered at home mulling over the official tensions. Try not to think of official chores on Sunday and relax with your family, so that you can start the Monday with a fresh mind.

தலைப் பிரசவம்

அன்புடையீர்

வாழ்க்கையின் பல பரிமாணங்களை எதிர் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற ஆவல் என்னிடையே என்றும் இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் அதை  ஒரு மித்தமாக  நேர்க்காணும் தைரியம் எனக்குள் இன்னும் வரவில்லை. ஆகையால் , ஒரு குழந்தையைப் போல் ஒவ்வொரு படியாக ஏற முற்ச்சிக்கிறேன்.

இம்முயற்ச்சியில் முதல் படியாக என் வலைப்பூ(

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  http://kapalicanvas.blogspot.com/)  ஆரம்பித்தேன். இது தந்த உற்ச்சாகத்தில், இதற்க்குக் கிடைத்த வரவேற்ப்பில்  தமிழிலும் எழுதத் துணிந்ததில்  என் தமிழ் வலைப்பூ (

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http://chinthikkiren.blogspot.in/) மலர்ந்தது. 

எனக்குத் தோன்றும் எண்ணங்களையும், அபிப்ராயங்களையும் வலைப்பூ மட்டுமில்லாமல் சிறிது அனுபவமும் கற்பனையையும் குழைத்து ஒரு கதையாக மெருகேற்றினால் என்ன என்ற எண்ணம் தான் , என் முதல் கதைக்கு மனதளவில் வித்திட்டது. சமீப காலமாகப் படித்த பல கதைகள் என் இந்த ஆசையைத் மேலும் தூண்டி விட, விளைந்த சிறு செடி தான் , என் முதல் கதை "பரிகாரம்".

இது தமிழ் எழுத்தாளர்களை ஆதரித்து அவர்களுக்குத் தளமளிக்கும் http://www.sirukathaigal.com/. என்ற இடத்தில் என் உண்மையான  "கபாலி" என்ற பெயரில் இன்று ப்ரசுரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

காக்கைக்கும் தன் தன் குஞ்சு பொன் குஞ்சுதான்- என் கதை வடிவ முதல் கன்றை ஈன்றதில் பெருமகிழ்ச்சி அடைந்துள்ளேன்

முதலடியை எடுத்து வைத்துள்ளேன்- இன்னும் பல கல் கடக்க உள்ளேன்-  தங்கள் வாழ்த்துக்களுடன்

என்றுமே என் எண்ணங்களையும் எழுத்துக்களையும் பற்றிய உங்களின் கருத்துக்கள் என்னை உற்ச்சாகப் படுத்தியிருக்கின்றன, சிந்திக்க வைத்திருக்கின்றன. ஆகையால் தங்களின் கருத்துக்களை ஆவலுடன் எதிர் நோக்கும் :