Thyagarajan

“I quiT” – Episode @35

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 3 Comments

(12:22 PM)

Ishwarya took a deep breath when she heard those lines from Meher. After few seconds, “Look Meher, here, you should not be sticking to one single technology or process. You should be ready to work on any technology and process.”

Before Meher replied to that question, “Then, why each one of us were trained in specific technology Ishwarya?” asked Indu very aggressively.

For just one moment, Ishwarya had no answer. After few seconds, “That is to gain specialization in that particular area or technology. It doesn’t mean that you have to stick with that.You have to keep learning other technologies and should explore things as well” replied Ishwarya.

She noticed that Meher and Indu are silent when she said those lines. “See Indu and Meher, you are still juniors; you don’t know the bigger picture. Things are changing day by day rapidly. Technology keeps changing and the market requirement keeps changing. We have to mould ourselves and adapt those changes. Or else you cannot survive in this highly competitive world. That is why you have to keep learning other technologies and processes also. Hope you understand what I am trying to explain.” said Ishwarya trying to make them understand the need to adapt to things and keep ourselves ready in this rapidly changing world.

These particular lines injected little thought in both of them. They started thinking on those lines and also set about understanding the need to change and accept things.

“Thank you Ishwarya for making us understand the need of multi-tasking.” Indu replied raising her head above and showing her confidence.

“Yes Ishwarya, Indu is right. What you said is true. We will start putting more efforts in this and will bring out the best of us” said Meher.

“Good. Try to learn as many techniques as you can. It can be technology or process or domain. Whatever it may be, learn and improve your knowledge. There is nothing wrong in gaining knowledge on cross domains and process. Got it?”

“Yes Ishwarya. Sure, we will do that” replied Indu and Meher with a great confidence in their articulation.

Three of them discussed about the next steps and various other things.In between, Ishwarya gave them little tips and motivated them to bring out better productivity and to encourage their performance.

Indu and Meher became close with each other and used to collectively complete all the tasks assigned by Ishwarya. Indu now became part of Ishanth and Meher gang. Slowly she started taking Uthrani’s place in the pack.As Indu and Meher used to work combine at office, the same thing carried out of office. She used to be very friendly with both Ishanth and Meher. But, with Meher, she used to be little closer and more friendly. Sometimes, Ishanth used to tease Meher with her name.

As days went on, work performance of Indu and Meher raised above the level. It also created a few of competitiveness between them. But, they never took it personally. They used to serve each other whenever someone gets struck in their workplace.

Whenever Ishwarya used to notice that they are getting de-motivated or their performance is going down, she used to motivate them through her talks.

(02:18 PM – 3 weeks later)

One day, Ishwarya called Indu and Meher to her cabin.

“Hey guys, I feel so proud to tell you that you guys are doing extremely well. In the last two weeks, there is no single process which failed the QA phase. Keep it going!Keep up your spirit and motivation levels. If at all you need anything, just come to me and I will be ready to help you out.Okay” said Ishwarya appreciating both of them for the splendid work they were doing for the last two weeks.

Indu and Meher felt extremely happy for that and they decided to celebrate that little success during the coming weekend. They communicated this to each other by simply exchanging their looks.

“One more thing guys, you can improve your project completion period by setting up targets at hourly level and putting your complete efforts to achieve that.This way, you can easily separate your tasks and also you can know what time of the day your efficiency is more.”

“Sure Ishwarya” said both of them.

“Indu and Meher, I want to say you one thing, this is a highly competitive world, if you relax for just one day, then you will go back ages old. Be alert, be confident and adapt changes.”

Indu and Meher nodded their head saying “Yes.”

“Okay guys; get back to your work. I have a meeting scheduled at 02:30.I will get back to you sometime next week. Thank you” said Ishwarya.

“Okay Ishwarya. Thank you” said Indu and Meher and left the cabin.

(02:30 PM)

Ishwarya and Quadhar got assembled in a video conference room and are waiting for Mr. Thyagarajan to get connected through video.

After a few minutes, Thyagarajan got connected and wished both of them “Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon Thyagarajan” said Ishwarya and then Quadhar followed her.

When the welcoming greetings are over, “Thanks for joining Ishwarya and Quadhar. I called you both to discuss about the changes that we are trying to incorporate in the structure and process. I already gave you an insight on these two weeks back. I hope you remember.”

“Yes Thyagarajan” replied Ishwarya and Quadhar.

“Good. As I told you, our Senior Vice President Mr. Andrew asked us to form a team who will work on process and productivity improvement. He is mainly concentrating on productivity. During our last quarterly meet, he raised concerns on the productivity of each individual employee which will jointly determine the productivity of the team and so on.He decided to organize a team called the Productivity Indexing (PI) team.This exceptional team will examine and interpret the works done by each single employee for a period of 4 weeks and will submit a report. Andrew and other leadership team will drill down through that report to come up with a higher level doc.When that is done, we may get a bunch of changes in the structure and process.”Said Mr. Thyagarajan. He gave a complete picture of what the PI team will be doing.

He took approximately 15 minutes to explain in detail about the program and how they will be enforcing it. After all that is done, “Ishwarya, from our team you will be part of this PI team. In 2 to 3 days we will get further updates on the plan.”

“Sure Thyagarajan” replied Ishwarya.

Even though Quadhar sat in the discussion, he dint open out much. It was more like a discussion between Thyagarajan and Ishwarya.

(03:10 PM)

When that discussion was over, “Quadhar.Did you complete all the procedures?”

“Yes Thyagarajan, I completed all these formalities.”

“Good” said Thyagarajan and then “Ishwarya, please schedule a meeting sometime next week with the whole squad.”

@Send-Off

Guess the story: What may be those changes?

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“I quiT” – Episode @33

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 6 Comments

(12:22 PM)

Quadhar paused for a few seconds, he want to tell the truth to Ishanth which is the main reason he invited him to lunch. But, he is confused whether or not to explain him and also how to explain him. He then took a deep breath and said “Ishanth, I have to tell you one thing.”

“What is that Quadhar?”

“Ishanth, sit down. I will explain you.”

Ishanth and Quadhar sat on a bench under a tree shade at the garden park which is located in the boundary of Quadhar’s apartments.

After relaxing for few seconds, “Quadhar, please tell me Quadhar. I could not understand anything” asked Ishanth to Quadhar. He is very eager to know in detail about what Quadhar is trying to impart to him.

“Ishanth, I am moving out of the company.”

“What?”

“Yes Ishanth. I have submitted my resignation 10 days back and in another 3to4 weeks I will be moving out.”

Ishanth got completely shocked when he heard that from Quadhar.He immediately rose from the bench and stood on his legs.“Quadhar, is it true?”asked Ishanth. Even after seeing the luggage packed in Quadhar’s flat, Ishanth is still not able to believe in what Quadhar told him.

“Ishanth, sit down and listen. I know it’s hard to believe.”

Ishanth sat on the bench. For two minutes, he dint speak out anything.After that, “Quadhar, why did you decide to move out? What happened?” asked Ishanth.

“Ishanth.I received an offer in Hyderabad and so I have submitted my resignation.”

“Why you dint tell me all these days Quadhar?”

“Thyagarajan told me to not to tell anyone until the last day as he doesn’t want to disturb the team. Uthrani moved out recently, and now I am also moving out.This may create a little panic situation in the team and then he told me to not to tell anyone until the last day. But, you and Uthrani are my first team members and then Meher joined after that. And also I dint invite you to my house in the last two years. That’s why I decided to invite you and Meher. As the academic year started, my wife and daughter will go first. After filling out my notice period and other formalities, I will leave.”

Ishanth is not able to understand how to react to what Quadhar said. “Okay Quadhar. It is your home town. One or the other day you have to go back and that time came today. That’s all I can say.”

“Yes Ishanth. My mom and dad are staying alone there. They are becoming old day by day. I cannot leave them and stick around here anymore. That’s why I decided to move back.”

“Where did you work before moving to this company?”

“I worked in a media company at Hyderabad.”

“Then, why did you come here Quadhar?”

“Ishanth, that’s a big story. I will explain you, listen. I worked in Hyderabad for a media company. Considering the expenditure and other matters, I decided to seek a job in a large organization so that I can earn more. Two years back when I got this offer, I was told that they will transfer me to the Hyderabad locationafter a year. But, they dint do that. I waited for one more year and still there is no action taken. That’s why I looked for a job in Hyderabad and now moving back to my home town so that I can stay with my mom and dad.”

“Why they dint transfer you Quadhar?”

“They said they will prepare a team in Hyderabad and that I will lead them.But, recently I came to recognize that those plans are dropped out and so I took this decision Ishanth.”

Ishanth just replied “Okay Quadhar.”

As they both were discussing about Quadhar’s resignation and other things, Quadhar received a call to his mobile. He took it out from the pocket and answered the call.

“Hello.”

“Hello Quadhar, this is Meher. I reached main gate – A.”

“Okay. Just wait there Meher. I and Ishanth are just nearby. We will come to that entrance main gate – A.”

“Okay Quadhar. I will wait here” said Meher and disconnected the call.

(12:52 PM)

Quadhar and Ishanth walked till the gate to receive Meher. After reaching there, Quadhar welcomed Meher and then three of them walked to Quadhar’s flat. Ishanth and Meher had lunch along with Quadhar’s family.

After the lunch, Ishanth spent some time with Parveen. Quadhar, Ishanth, Meher and Shamina spent the time knowing about each other.

(11:00 AM – Monday)

Meher is working at his desk on the maintenance project assigned to him. He got a ping from Quadhar asking him to go and meet Ishwarya in the next 5 minutes.

Meher, who is basically tensed for everything, started getting tensed when Quadhar said that Ishwarya is calling him. He got up from the seat and walked slowly towards Ishwarya’s cabin.

After arriving at the cabin, “May I come in?” asked Meher to Ishwarya.

“Yes Meher, come in” replied Ishwarya.

Ishwarya is in a discussion with a young lady who is sitting in her cabin.After Meher stepped inside, she called for him to take a seat and be seated.

“So Meher, how is your work going on?” asked Ishwarya.

“Ya fine Ishwarya.”

“Meher, you know Indu right. She is presently working on the AIO project and now she will also work on the maintenance project along with you.Is that ok for you?” asked Ishwarya typing something on her laptop.

Meher thought for a few moments and then replied saying “Yes Ishwarya.”

“Ok. Good. Now listen both of you.There are many changes that we are bringing in the team and the projects. As part of those changes, as a first thing, in a very short period we will extend this support 24/5 which means 24 hours, 5 days. So, you may need to work in shifts. I will also on-board one more resource so that three of you can share the time working in three different shifts. Remember, this is a support program and we should not fail at any cost. If we fail to support for one minute, that may lead to a heavy loss. So, I want you to take this process efficiently so that the support will run smooth. Okay.”

Both Meher and Indu remained silent. They do not know how to react to what Ishwarya said.

@Lunch

Guess the story: Is Meher the next guy to resign?

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“I quiT” – Episode @31

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 4 Comments

(01:07 PM)

“May be because she is manager right and so he wants her to take decisions and give directions.”

“Not just that Meher. He is not being interactive as like before. He is just coming and going. Half of the day he will be in meeting with Ishwarya or Thyagarajan. He is not even asking the status of the tasks.”

“Yes even I am noticing it from few days. I dint speak to him from last few days. Let me talk to him.”

“Okay Ishanth.”

After that discussion, they both discussed for few minutes regarding some other things and then left for lunch.

(04:30 PM)

That day evening, Ishanth pinged Quadhar and said that he want to talk to him.Quadhar replied him saying that he can come to his cabin after 05:00 PM.

(05:02 PM)

Ishanth saw that the time crossed 05:00 PM, he walked towards Quadhar’s cabin. After reaching there, he noticed that Quadhar is not in his cabin. He waited for him at his cabin.

After few minutes, Quadhar and Ishwarya stepped out of the meeting room. Ishwarya walked away to her cabin and Quadhar slowly moved towards his cabin. As he is walking, he got a phone call from Thyagarajan.

“Hi Thyagarajan. Good evening.”

“Good evening Quadhar. How did the meeting go on?”

“It went on fine Thyagarajan. I officially transferred everything to Ishwarya. May be we can start the reverse transfer process from Monday.”

“That’s very good. So, Quadhar..” said Thyagarajan who is trying to ask Quadhar something.

“Yes Thyagarajan.”

“There is no change in your decision?”

“No Thyagarajan. Sorry for that. I cannot be here anymore.”

“Okay thanks for the time Quadhar.” said Thyagarajan and disconnected the call.

After disconnecting the call, Quadhar stepped in to his cabin. As he is stepping in, he saw Ishanth sitting in the chair. He just stopped for few seconds as he is afraid whether Ishanth heard the conversation happened between Quadhar and Thyagarajan.

“Hello Ishanth. I am sorry for keeping you waiting. Meeting got extended by a few minutes.”

“That’s okay Quadhar.Is it Thyagarajan on the call?”

“Yes, it’s Thyagarajan.”

“You were telling something like you will not change your decision. What is that Quadhar?”

The moment Ishanth asked that question, Quadhar’s face expressions turned different.“That is regarding the new project Ishanth. He actually asked me to take over that. But, I said I cannot handle so many projects and so rejected that”replied Quadhar to make sure that he doesn’t leave any clue to Ishanth.

“Okay” said Ishanth and then immediately “Quadhar. Can I ask you something?”

“Yes Ishanth.”

“From last week onwards, there are regular meetings happening between you and Ishwarya. And also you are directing everyone to go and talk to Ishwarya if they need any information or if they have any kind of concerns.”

“She is new to our company and team right. That’s why Thyagarajan gave me the responsibility to help her during the initial days until she gets tuned completely. That’s it Ishanth.”

Ishanth is actually not convinced with Quadhar’s answer. “You are also not assigning tasks to us and also not asking us updates on any of the project” asked Ishanth.

“Hey Ishanth, it’s now Ishwarya’s responsibility to take care of all those things and so I am not involving much.”

“I don’t know Quadhar. I somehow feel that something is going wrong. After Uthrani resigned, it all became silent. There is no one who talks well in the team. And now even you are not involving much with us.”

“Ishanth.Don’t worry, you are missing Uthrani and so you are feeling like that. Once the new project starts, you will become very busy with that and then everything will be fine.”

Ishanth is still not convinced. He still feels that there is something going unusual in the project. When Quadhar noticed that Ishanth is still in confused state, he thought of doing something to make him come out of that.

“Hey Ishanth, what are your plans this weekend?”

“No plans as of now Quadhar. When Uthrani was there, me, Uthrani and Meher used to hangout for a lunch or a movie. After she left, I dint go out anywhere.”

“Meher is still here right. Why can’t you both go out?”

“Who?Meher? If we call him for lunch, he will come by dinner time. When Uthrani is there, he used to listen to her and come on time.”

Quadhar smiled when Ishanth said like that. “Okay. Then why don’t you come to my home this weekend?”

“Your home?” asked Ishanth with a question mark on his face.

“Yes Ishanth. My home.This Sunday, you and Meher, for lunch.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We are working in this team from almost 14 months and I never invited you to my home. So, please do come along with Meher.”

Ishanth slowly came out that confused mood and gave a little smile on his face. “Okay Quadhar. Sure, thank you so much” replied Ishanth.

“You know my house right?”

“I know the address. But, I don’t know the flat number.”

“It is 14F, second block. I will talk to Meher and will invite him officially.”

“Quadhar. Invite him for breakfast. Then he will come by lunch time.” Said Ishanth, with a smile.

When Quadhar heard that, even he started laughing out loud.

(12:11 PM – Quadhar’s Flat)

Quadhar and Shamina were busy in the kitchen making preparations for the lunch. Meanwhile, Quadhar’s phone started ringing in the living room. Parveen is busy playing games in that mobile. When she saw the call, she immediately swiped the green button and answered the call.

“Hello”

“Hello Quadhar” said Ishanth without even listening to the person who answered the call. When he noticed that a small girl is talking, he gave a look at the mobile screen to make sure whether he dialed the correct number. After getting confirmed that it is Quadhar’s number, “Can I speak to Quadhar?” asked Ishanth.

“What is your name?” asked Parveen with her cute little voice.

“My name is Ishanth.”

Parveen went running into the kitchen room and handed over the phone to Quadhar saying “Dad, your phone.”

Quadhar took the phone from her and saw the screen. When he noticed that it is Ishanth, “Hey Ishanth. Where are you? Did you reach the place?”

“Yes Quadhar. I am waiting down.”

“Okay. Just come up taking the lift. Flat no is 14F. If the security guard asks you, tell him the flat number.”

@Flat

Guess the story: Why did Quadhar invite Ishanth and Meher for lunch?

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“I quiT” – Episode @30

/ Mr. Venky Bond / Leave a comment

“Oh. Welcome. I am Quadhar. We all are waiting for you.”

“Oh. I am so sorry to keep you all waiting. Good evening to all of you here. I am Ishwarya. I will be your new manager for this location.”

“Welcome Ishwarya.” Said Quadhar clapping his hands. Everyone else joined him, welcoming Ishawarya into the squad.

Ishwarya moved a few steps forward making sure that she is visible by everyone and then started talking to the team.

“Hi team. I thank you so much for your warm welcome.I look forward for a great experience working with all of you. I hope for the same from you.Before I take over the complete responsibility, let me formally introduce myself. I am Ishwarya, I am married and having a 4-year-old kid. I am basically from Mumbai and recently moved to Bengaluru. I have nearly 9 years of experience in the field of IT. This is my third company. I worked under various verticals like banking, retail and now working on mobile projects from last 3 years. Now, I am pulled in to take care of the mobile projects wing, especially the new project that was said OK by the clients. I should thank Quadhar and the team for working on the demo, presenting it to the clients and finally winning the pot.We will be working on this for the next 8 to 12 months.That’s all about myself. Now, each one of you can you introduce yourself, please.”Asked Ishwarya to the team.

When she asked everyone to introduce, each one of them started introducing themselves to Ishwarya one by one detailing their name, home town and the project in which they are operating.It took about 17 minutes for all of them to introduce them to her. When everybody completed, Quadhar reminded Ishwarya that Thyagarajan asked them to call to his mobile once Ishwarya steps into the meeting room.

Quadhar immediately took the phone and dialed to Thyagarajan.

“Hello.”

“Hi Thyagarajan. This is Quadhar.”

“Hi Quadhar. Good evening. Did you guys assemble?”

“Yes Thyagarajan. We have the entire team along with Ishwarya.”

“Oh. That’s great. Hi Ishwarya. Welcome to the team.”Said Thyagarajan.

“Hi Thyagarajan. Good evening. Thank you so much.”

“Team, Ishwarya is your new manager. She will be taking care of the entire Bengaluru team and also the new project that is coming up.I guess she finished her introduction.”

“Yes Thyagarajan. Just now we all introduced ourselves to one another.”

“Oh. That’s great. So, team.She will be your primary point of contact for everything you need. She is not even a technical manager; she also worked as people manager for 2 years.So, hope that will be an added advantage.”Said Thyagarajan welcoming Ishwarya into the team and detailing her role with the team.After that, he said “Quadhar.”

“Yes Thyagarajan.”

“Please help her in detailing the process and also the team structure.”

“Sure Thyagarajan.”

“For few days, you have to support her in understanding everything.”

“Okay Thyagarajan. I will definitely do that.”

“Thanks.”

Meeting went on with the detailing of her roles and responsibilities.

After Thyagarajan disconnected, some of them started asking Ishwarya some questions regarding technical and non-technical. When Ishanth’s turn came, he asked her a question related to management.

“Ishwarya. Can I ask you a question.”

“Sure. Ish..” Ishwarya is trying to remember his name and when she confirmed herself that she cannot recollect, she asked “Sorry, what’s your name?”

“I am Ishanth.”

“Sorry, this is the first day right. After a few days, I will start getting used with the names and people.”

“That’s okay Ishwarya.”

“Yeah. Continue. You want to ask something.”

“What is your management strategy?”

“Management strategy? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you are 9 years experienced right. What is the strategy that you have learned that will best suit thissector.”

“That’s a very beautiful question Ishanth. But, I don’t think strategy is something that can be defined in words. It is how we work or react upon situations. May be you can know based on how I deal with people and things as the days move forward.”

“Okay.” Said Ishanth. He is basically attempting to understand her management and so posted such a question. But, she gave a dynamic answer to his question.

After the meeting, Ishanth and Meher were walking out of the meeting room. Meher asked Ishanth “Hey Ishanth. Why did you ask that to Ishwarya?”

“I just asked it very randomly Meher. Frankly speaking I want to know whether she is like Thyagarajan or not. That’s it.”

“Okay.” Said Meher and they both went back to their desks. Quadhar and Ishwarya walked towards Quadhar’s cabin.

For the next two weeks, Quadhar got busy with Ishwarya detailing her about the team and the process. And also explaining her about the projects the team is working and the roles and responsibilities of each individual member in the team.

Slowly Ishwarya started taking over responsibilities from Quadhar. When someone used to approach Quadhar for any information, he used to divert them to Ishwarya. After a few days, it turned out like people started going to Ishwarya directly. Quadhar’s work at office used to come down day by day. Ishwarya is very quick at understanding the process and so used to handle things quickly and efficiently.

As this is going this way, one day Meher came to Ishanth’s desk for some information.

“Hey Ishanth. What are you doing?”

“I am just going through the QA report Meher.”

“I need a small info Ishanth.”

“Yes, tell me Meher. Regarding what?”

“This is regarding the maintenance project Ishanth.”

“I am not aware of anything in that project Meher. Why don’t you talk to Quadhar?”

“I don’t know Ishanth, from last few days, he is directing to Ishwarya whenever I go and ask something. Not just me, whoever is approaching him for anything, he is asking them to go and talk to Ishwarya.”

“May be because she is manager right and so he wants her to take decisions and give directions.”

“Not just that Meher. He is not being interactive as like before. He is just coming and going. Half of the day he will be in meeting with Ishwarya or Thyagarajan. He is not even asking the status of the tasks.”

@Strategy

Guess the story: How will Ishwarya manage the team?

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“I quiT” – Episode @29

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 6 Comments

I would have stayed for some more days if I am happy at my work. But, I don’t think a day like that will ever come. These people will never see people as people. And they don’t even have a little concern even though we are women’s.

(07:17 PM, Bangalore City Rly Station)

After hearing the reason from Uthrani, both Ramya and Ishanth turned silent. Even though it is a rush railway platform, the entire environment appeared silent for three of them. For a moment, Ishanth and Ramya started thinking about their own personal life’s and the job they are doing.

When Uthrani noticed that they both are running deep into their own thoughts, she started speaking out to break the silence.

“Hey Ishanth and Ramya, please don’t think much about this. I am now happy with my decision. I can support mom being at home and my dad also need not worry much about me as I will be right before them at home. I am also happy that I came till her. I never imagined I could even finish my graduation. I did that and also I was able to run for 2 years. Even though there is a slight annoyance that I am not able to continue, I am happy with my journey till now. The other thing that makes me so happy is that I don’t need to run late nights from office, I don’t need to wake up early morning. I don’t need to wait for weekends to unwind. And especially I don’t need to get scolding’s from those idiots.” said Uthrani and started smiling a little.

Even though she is not getting smile, she tried hard to put a little smile on her face so that Ishanth and Ramya will come back to normal.

When they saw Uthrani smiling, Ramya also started smiling saying “Yeah. Yes Uthrani. You are a free bird. Be happy and keep smiling.”

“Sure Ramya, you also take care of your health and eat on time. Now I will not be there to wake you up and remember you every time to eat. Ishanth, you also go for lunch on time and also don’t become serious about people. Take care of Meher. Now, Quadhar and Thyagarajan’s focus will be shifted on Meher.” Uthrani gave them all the instructions and spoke about all the memories she had with Ramya and Ishanth.

(07:28 PM)

Even Ramya and Ishanth started smiling and laughing remembering the moments they spent with her. As they were talking happily, Ishanth heard the train sound and then immediately looked at his watch.

“Hey Uthrani, get inside. It’s time for the train to start. “ Said Ishanth and made her get in the train. Even he got inside and accompanied her till her seat. When Uthrani heard the train horn for the second time, she forced Ishanth to get down.

After he got off, the train started moving slowly. Uthrani started waving her hands at Ishanth and Ramya. And they both did the same thing. As the train started moving, the smile on Uthrani’s face started fading away and slowly tears started rolling down from her eyes. And the same thing happened with Ramya. She stopped waving her hands and staring at Uthrani, even she started weeping like a baby.

Ishanth observed Ramya and when the train left the platform, he said “Hey Ramya. She is just crossing two states that’s it. Don’t cry like a little child. See how everyone is looking at you. Come, wipe your tears. Let’s go. I will drop you at your flat. Okay.”

(11:00 AM, Monday)

By the time Ishanth reached office, Meher got himself busy with his work. Meher used to have a little tougher time in office without Uthrani. When Uthrani was there, she used to help him a lot clearing all his doubts. And so when she is not there, he started depending on Ishanth and other team mates whenever he got stuck with anything in his oeuvre.

Even though Ishanth and Uthrani don’t talk much in the office during work hours, they both regularly go for the evening tea break. During the initial days, he used to take Meher and go for the tea break in the evenings. As Meher got busy, sometimes he used to say NO when Ishanth asked him to come out for breaks and so slowly Ishanth stopped going for breaks in the evenings.

As Quadhar also got busy with his new project docs preparation and also his job hunt, he also stopped interacting much with Ishanth and Meher. If there is anything to inform them, he used to just send them a mail detailing the information.

The office environment turned little silent after Uthrani resigned and also everyone got busy with their own projects.

(11:00 AM, After 1 week)

As it was going that way, a new resource is on-boarded into the project. Quadhar setup a small meeting and called the entire team to introduce her to the team mates. Everyone gathered in the meeting room.

Quadhar started the meeting with his words. “Hi all, Good Evening.”

“Good evening Quadhar. why did you call us all of a sudden.” Asked Meher very eagerly. That was the first official meeting after 2 weeks. The last time the entire team met on the last day of Thyagarajan’s Bengaluru official trip.

“A new manager will be joining our team. This meeting is to introduce her to the entire team.”

“What? New Manager? Thyagarajan is our manager right?” one of them questioned Quadhar.

“Thyagarajan will remain as our Senior Manager. As he is working out of Pune, he appointed a new manager who will work from Bengaluru location. We worked on a demo project last month right. Clients accepted that officially and very shortly we will be receiving the first phase requirements.”

“Quadhar, why all of a sudden a new manager for us?” asked Ishanth.

“I don’t know all that Ishanth. Thyagarajan informed me that she will be taking the entire responsibility of Bengaluru location and also the project which got approved by the clients.”

“She? You mean a lady manager?”

As they were discussing about the new manager, one lady started knocking the meeting room door. When Quadhar heard that, he turned back and opened the door.

“Hi, I was invited to this meeting room. I am the new manager who will work for Thyagarajan’s Bengaluru team.”

“Oh. Welcome. I am Quadhar. We all are waiting for you.”

“Oh. I am so sorry for keeping you all waiting. Good evening all of you. I am Ishwarya. I will be your new manager for this location.”

@Manager

Guess the story: Is she the next person in the story who is going to resign?

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“I quiT” – Episode @28

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 2 Comments

And, when I had to stay back for one extra day as my brothers engagement was fixed all of a sudden, I called Quadhar and informed. He listened to me and said ok. I felt good for that.

That day afternoon, I got a message to my mobile from an unknown number.”

(06:45 PM, Bangalore City Rly Station)

“Please call me back”.

I actually received that message one hour before. But, as I was busy with the function at home, I dint check it right away. And when I saw that, I immediately called back to that number.

“Hello. Who is this?”  – Uthrani

“Uthrani. This is Thyagarajan.”

“Hi Thyagarajan. Sorry. I don’t have your number and so couldn’t recognize you. Sorry.”

“That’s alright. Where are you?”

“Thyagarajan, I am in my home town.”

“Are you not coming to the office today?”

“No Thyagarajan. I have informed Quadhar of this in the morning.”

“Whom are you reporting to?” Thyagarajan asked me with a very strong tone. I was not able to understand with what intentions he asked me such a question. I did not know what to answer him.

After waiting for a few seconds and preparing myself, I replied “Thyagarajan. I am reporting to you.”

“Then whom should you inform regarding your leave request?”

I started getting tense with this second question. But, as I have to answer him, I did. “You Thyagarajan.”

“Then why are you saying that you informed Quadhar.”

“Thyagarajan. Quadhar is our team lead and he is the one who is allocating tasks to us and so I informed him.”

“Uthrani. You are not a junior to teach everything. Team leader is different from the person whom you are reporting. The team leader is the person who will allocate your tasks. That’s it. But, all other things you have to get in touch with your reporting manager. I don’t think I should teach you all these things. And the other most important thing is that. We are in a crucial period. We have to demo to our clients next week and now if the team goes for a vacation, how do you think we can go ahead as per the schedule.”

I was completely silent with that kind of response from him. I never expected such a response from him. I applied for leave one month earlier and that too I planned a vacation for just 3 days after 4 months gap. And yet he reacted that way. I was totally upset with his answer. Just to keep the conversation up, I replied him “Thyagarajan. 2 months back when you visited Bengaluru, you said that Quadhar will be our team lead and will take care of all of us. And so I informed him.”

“Yes, Take care I meant project related activities. Remember that I am your official reporting manager.”

Every reply from him is making me more and more sad and angry at him. I wanted to fight back with answers. But, considering the kind of replies he is giving, I decided to pull it down at some point before I break out completely. “Sorry Thyagarajan. As he is our Team Lead, I thought I should inform him and so called him and informed.”

“Uthrani, it doesn’t look good if you go for leave during a crucial period like this. I never thought you would be so irresponsible. I hope this will not be repeated next time. You have to plan your vacations not in these kinds of periods. I heard that you just submitted your code to the QA without performing Unit Testing. That is a very unhealthy practice. It will give way to lots of bugs from the testing team which will ultimately result in the decrease of the QA ratings. You are not at a stage to learn all these now. You crossed 2 years. You should be mindful of all these things.”

The whole conversation went on the same path. He is trying to dominate with just two points. And so I just remained silent without replying him back. The conversation went on for almost 15 minutes. And at the end, he said that “Hope I can see you back in the office by Wednesday morning” and disconnected the call.

After the call, I locked myself in the room and sat idle for about 30 minutes and was crying incessantly. I do not know what to do. I cannot share this with anyone. I saved this for myself and was crying like a child. Every word he spoke hurt me very badly. He was the one who said that Quadhar will be our team lead and we have to reach Quadhar for any kind of information and so I informed him. I also said Quadhar to inform Thyagarajan. He said that Thyagarajan approved. I did not understand whom to blame. That was not the first time either. He scolded many times. But, that day I can never forget. And especially the way he talked. For one moment I felt like why I am working baring all his words. From last four months I dint take any leave. I worked late nights many days and also almost 3 to 4 weekends I spent my time at the office working on the project. In the last 8 months, all my code was 95% QA average. I was the one who completes the task even before the time. Even when my mom came, I used to stay late nights because I am committed to the work I do.

When things go fine, he won’t say anything and when something goes wrong little bit, he fires back. I don’t know what rights he has to scold the employees.

All these thoughts, I kept within myself. I’ve never really shared it with anyone. If my family members will know this; they will immediately stop me from doing my job. I dint even share with my mom because she is the only one who supports me for doing a job and now if she saw me feeling bad, she will also turn against my decision. And so I was not yet in a position to deal with anyone. I kept everything within myself. It was so incredibly painful. Every word, every question, every answer from him disturbed me a lot.”

Uthrani explained her pain to Ishanth and Ramya. Both of them had no words to reply to Uthrani. They were just staring at her. After a minute, Ishanth replied.

“So Uthrani that is the reason you took this decision?” – Ishanth.

“Not exactly Ishanth. After that day, the next day I started from home. As I got tickets for break journey, I had to travel till Mumbai and then from there I had to catch another train to Pune. My mom and my brother accompanied me till Mumbai. After we reached Mumbai, we were waiting in the waiting hall for my next train. I and mom were talking about my family. All of a sudden, my mom raised topic about my job.”

“Uthrani beti, you are happy with your job right?”

“Why are you asking like that mom?”

“Uthrani, you know right. None of our family members agreed when you said you will go for job. Even dad dint agree. But, I made them agree for this. After you joined, many times discussion came in home regarding the same.  In situations like that, it was very tough for me to make them calm down. I used to make them calm so that they won’t discuss that with you over the phone or when you come home. It was all going fine Uthrani. But from recent times, it is getting tougher and tougher especially from the time of your marriage discussion. But, I don’t think I can stop it anymore Uthrani. Some or the other day you have to get married and when that day comes, I cannot make your husband’s family agree for this. Hope you understand. I thought of telling you all these when I came to Bengaluru. But, you were getting late at office and so I dint trouble you. Apart from all these, when I was in Bengaluru, one day you came from office at midnight. You looked very much afraid and tensed. You were continuously looking back till you came inside the home and even after coming inside, you were frequently looking out through the window. I thought of asking you what happened. But, I know that you will share with me if there is anything and also I thought not to disturb you more as you were already tired at office. The next day when I had casual talks with neighbors, I came to know that the area is not so good for women, especially at midnight. And also many incidents happened in that area.”

My mom explained everything that is happening at home. She never spoke about all those in these 2 years. When I noticed that she came to know about the area we are living, I tried to convince her saying that there is nothing like that.

“Mom, there is nothing like that. Everything is fine. Long back few incidents happened. But, now it’s all fine.”

“Uthrani. I trust you and so I dint discuss that with you till now. But, I am only afraid that if something goes wrong, I cannot answer our family as I was the only one who supported you when you said that you are interested in going for job. Even though you worked late nights, you never looked much tired and used to go back early morning the next day. So, I understood that you are dedicated and also very much interested in what you are doing. Beta, I am fine as long as you are happy with your life. I will do my best to stop our family as long as possible.”

When she said those words, she almost cried hugging me. And, even I was not able to control myself. Tears came down running. When the train arrived, I got inside. The only thing that was running in my mind is the discussion happened between me and my mom. To be frank, my mom is pushing my family members so hard. She is doing it, right from my graduation. I thought it’s not fair for me to make her face those situations just because of me. And, on the other side, even I was not happy at my job because of these guys who always cares about their projects, deadlines and clients. They are never concerned about the person who is completing the task. They are worried only about the task. All they need is the completion of task and are never bothered about the person behind it. The whole thing was running in my mind continuously for 4 hours. And then finally I took this decision. My family is not happy with my job; my mom had to face tough situations at home. And even I am not happy working and so I took this decision.

I dint share this with anyone because I don’t want people to start giving me suggestions or advices saying that be strong, problems will come, you have to face them being bold and all those things to lift my confidence levels. But, this is nothing like that. This is a pain which only I know how much it is hurting and how much it is disturbing. Yes, there are so many people who are working despite of the situations like this. But, I can say only one thing. Only that person will know how much it hurts when you are facing problems like this. I would have continued for some more days if I am happy at my work. But, I don’t think a day like that will ever come. These people will never see people as people. And they don’t even have a little concern even though we are women’s.

@Twist

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“I quiT” – Episode @23

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 10 Comments

Uthrani made sure that she dint drag it as she wants to keep all the words reserved for the last day where she will be bidding adieu to her team and the company when she will be moving out.

(04:35 PM)

After Uthrani spoke few words thanking him and Quadhar, Thyagarajan continued talking “So, team. How is it all going? I knew that we are running through tough times from last 2 weeks. Quadhar said that you were working late nights and working during weekends. I really appreciate all of you for your dedication and support. We have a demo with our clients next week.” He explained about the project little deeper and also why is the demo so important for the team. “This particular project is so prestigious. This will determine our next assignments by that client and so we have to give our 100% and do our best so that the demo runs smooth and that the clients will accept our product.”

During his speech, some of them interrupted him shooting him some questions related to the project. Thyagarajan answered some of them and then transferred some questions to Quadhar.Both of them took almost 20 minutes to complete the discussion on the project.

“So, team this is what I have with me to explain you regarding the projects we are handling and also about the preparations we are making for the demo to the clients.” Said Thyagarajan trying to inject confidence into the team and lifting up their commitment levels.“Quadhar, I hope you will take utmost care during the QA phase and make sure that this will come out with 100% clearance from them. We cannot take even 1% chance when we go for the demo with the clients.”

“Sure Thyagarajan, we will make sure that this will come out 100% bug free”replied Quadhar expressing his confidence over the team.

“Thanks Quadhar and team. Apart from this, I have one more update. Two new resources will be joining our team from this location. According to initial plan, they should join after 2 weeks. But, as Uthrani will be moving out, I will talk with the academy so that one of them will join us by Monday. Uthrani will give KT (Knowledge Transfer) to her since Monday.” Said Thyagarajan and then looking at Uthrani, he said “Uthrani, please share your KT plan with me and Quadhar by tomorrow.”

“Sure Thyagarajan. I will mail it first in the morning, tomorrow.” Replied Uthrani.

The whole meeting went on for about 1 hour.

(05:15 PM)

After Thyagarajanmade sure that he talked about everything he planned to speak, “Okay team. Keep up the wonderful work. I will be flying back to Pune. If the demo goes well and if the clients say OK, then we will be working on that project from Bengaluru location. And I may need to visit this location if everything goes fine.”Said Thyagarajanclosing his speech.

“Quadhar, you may need to fly to Pune for the demo. I spoke with the sales team and they said that the demo will be arranged at Pune location.”

“Sure Thyagarajan.” Replied Quadhar.

“I will be sending you the dates once I receive updates.”

“Okay Thyagarajan.”

That was the last discussion that happened during that meet. After that, everyone went back to their desks.

(10:25 PM)

Quadhar went back to home bit early that day. He had his dinner along with Shamina and also spent time with his Angel till she went to bed. After that, Quadhar came out of the room and picked up his mobile. He dialed into one of his allies.

“Hello Quadhar. What a pleasant surprise? You called me?”

“Hello Prem. How are you?”

“I am fine Quadhar. How about you? What’s up?”

“I am also fine Prem. How is your work going?”

“Yeah. Everything is going fine Quadhar. What’s the matter; you called me after many months.”

“Prem, I called you to talk about something really important.”

“What is it Quadhar? Tell me? What happened?”

“I am planning to come back to Hyderabad.”

“Wow. So cool man! You got your transfer orders?”

“No Prem. Not transfer. I am planning to change the company and look for a job in Hyderabad.”

“Why so Quadhar?You said the company you are working for will transfer you to their Hyderabad office.”

“Yes Prem, that was the initial plan. But, things are not going well here. They initially promised that they will be transferring me in one year. Now it’s almost two years and there is no positive response from them. I don’t want to live here anymore leaving mom and dad alone there.”

“Oh. Okay. Fine Quadhar.Good decision. What do you want from me now?”

“I will send you my resume. Can you forward that to your HR team and ask if there are any openings?”

“Sure Quadhar. I definitely will do that. Forward me your resume, I will speak with HR first in the morning.But, Quadhar.”

“Yes Prem.”

“You are aware about the pay right.”

“Yes Prem, I am completely aware of that.When you compare the expenditure, there will be no conflict. And also the main thing is that Mom and Dad are alone there.”

“Yes Quadhar. They are feeling very lonely here. I saw them last week when I moved that direction. You made a good decision Quadhar. Don’t worry I will definitely look out for an opening and will update you.”

“Thank you so much Prem. I really mean.”

“Hey, it’s okay Quadhar. In fact I should be thankful for you for all that you have done while I have looked out for the job.We are friends, we have to watch out for each other.”

Quadhar felt very happy when he heard that reply from Prem. After that discussion, both of them talked for some time and then hanged up the phone. After the call, Quadhar went straight to the kitchen searching for Shamina.

“Hey Shami darling.”

“Yes dear. What happened? You seem so happy.”

“Yes Shami. I started searching for some job in Hyderabad. In next one or two months, we will go back to our home town.”

“Wow. Wonderful news Quadhar.I am so happy for you and your decision.I am really missing the beautiful days and especially your mom and dad.”

@Resume

Guess the story: Will Quadhar get a job in Hyderabad?

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“I quiT” – Episode @22

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 8 Comments

As Thyagarajan is explaining, Quadhar interrupted him. “Thyagarajan.”

“Yes Quadhar” replied Thyagarajan starring at him why did he stop him in the middle.

“I want to talk to you regarding one more important thing.”

“What is that Quadhar?”

“I don’t know how you will react. But I want to have this discussion one more time and close this. And so I am bringing up the issue again.”

“Speak out Quadhar.”

“As of today there is not even 1% chance that I will be transferred to Hyderabad?” asked Quadhar to Thyagarajan in a very humble and polite voice. He wanted to raise the topic for one more time before he gets some serious decision in his life history. After the discussion he had the previous day where Quadhar was completely down by the kind of answer Thyagarajan gave, the discussion almost gave a confirmation that he cannot move to Hyderabad in the coming months. Even though he knew that Thyagarajan’s reply would be NO, he tried to open the discussion as he doesn’t want to take a risk by presenting his resignation.

Quadhar is a married guy with a daughter who is ready to step into her schooling phase of life. He very well understands how costly the education has become these days. And also that he is the one who is looking after his aged parents, all those expenses add-on him. Now if he goes back, he is afraid that he may not do justice to all the responsibilities he is having on him then gave a second thought in his resignation.

As soon as he heard that question from Quadhar, Thyagarajan turned out his face into an act of serious mood and replied, “Quadhar. We just had this discussion yesterday. I guess not even 24 hrs got completed. I gave a direct update during the Quarterly meet right in front of Mr. Andrew that we dropped the plans of setting up a team in Hyderabad. And now you are again asking the same question.”

Quadhar knows very well that this is what he had to hear from Thyagarajan and so there is no much reaction on his face. “Thyagarajan, I understand that very well. I am sorry and I ask for your forgiveness. I just wanted to confirm that and so asked. I hope you don’t mind.” Said Quadhar to calm down Thyagarajan before it comes out into another hot discussion as like the before day.

At that time, Thyagarajan had no idea that Quadhar asked that question to get a confirmation before he starts looking out for jobs in Hyderabad.

Quadhar was actually really upset with the news he heard regarding dropping of plan to set up a team in Hyderabad. And the other main thing is the kind of explanation Thyagarajan gave him when he inquired why he was not informed earlier on that.

After that question, Quadhar and Thyagarajan continued their discussion for some more time on some very important things and also about the plan and next actions. Thyagarajan took some extra time off Quadhar as he wants to put everything before he fly back to Pune the next day morning.

After the discussion, Quadhar went back to his desk and resumed his works. Thyagarajan kept himself looking at the plan drafted by Quadhar.

(04:11 PM)

After about an hour, Quadhar received a call from Thyagarajan. He picked up the call and “Hello Thyagarajan.”

“Quadhar, can you ask the team to set up in the meeting room no 2 now, immediately in the next 10 minutes.” Said Thyagarajan with a very strong voice.

“Okay Thyagarajan” replied Quadhar without even asking the reason for this emergency meeting. After hanging up the call, he sent a meeting request to all the team members asking them to get together in the meeting room by 04:20 PM.

(04:19 PM)

Thyagarajan had been already in the meeting room before a minute. All others started getting in one by one and it took 10 minutes for the meeting room to be filled with the people who belong to Thyagarajan’s team.

When he discovered that everyone is in, Thyagarajan wished every one “Good evening”.

“Good evening” replied some of them.

“First of all thanks for assembling up so quickly on such a short notice despite your busy tasks. I appreciate that” said Mr. Thyagarajan trying to bring in people into the meeting mood from their project moods.

“Guys, I hope most of you are aware that Uthrani will move out of the project and the company. Even though she submitted her resignation yesterday night, she will be getting released by next Friday. I barely talked to the HR team and told them that this is an emergency and that she needs to move out in less than two weeks. It is very shocking that she will be out. But, I am glad that she is getting married and going to step into the next stage of life. I am also wishing her all the best and congratulations for the marriage getting fixed. All of you please join your hands with me.” Said Thyagarajan during his last encounter with the Bengaluru team in this two-week stay here.

“Thank you so much. I am still not able to believe that I am moving out of this team. Very special thanks to Mr. Thyagarajan for making this happen. It is not even 24 hours that I submitted my resignation. But, you have helped me a lot by pushing things so quick. May be I am favorable that you are here and so things went on apace. I am also very thankful to Quadhar” replied Uthrani thanking her manager, lead and also all other team mates who supported her during tough times. Even though it is the first day of her notice period, Thyagarajan converted this into a send off meeting by calling everyone and raising this topic.

Uthrani made sure that she dint drag it as she wants to keep all the words reserved for the final day where she will be bidding adieu to her team and the company when she will be moving out.

@Adieu

Guess the story: Did Quadhar submit his resignation?

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“I quiT” – Episode @21

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 15 Comments

(01:47 PM)

After the lunch, everyone returned to their desks and resumed their work. When Ishanth turned on his monitor, he saw Quadhar’s message on his inter-office communicator. When he saw that, he immediately went to Quadhar’s desk.

“Hello Quadhar” said Ishanth and sat in the chair.

“Hi Ishanth.”

“I saw your message and so came here running. What happened Quadhar?”

“I guess you heard the info that Uthrani submitted her resignation.”

“Yes Quadhar, she explained us just now during lunch time.”

“All right. She will be moving out in max 7 to 10 days. I am working on my plan to release her as fast as we can. Few minutes back, me and Thyagarajan had a discussion on that.”

“Okay.”

“As part of that, you may need to take up Uthrani’s tasks.”

“What? I should take up Uthrani’s tasks?”

“Yes Ishanth. Meher is a junior, he cannot handle and so Thyagarajan decided to assign them to you.”

“But Quadhar, look at the load of work I am currently handling. I am working late nights which you know I don’t like at all. But, I am doing it just to avoid working on weekends. Or else I would not have done even that.”

“Ishanth, I know about you. But, here you have to understand that this is Thyagarajan’s decision.”

“Whatever it may be, I cannot take it up Quadhar. I am telling you this right from day 1, I don’t like taking up that project. I am not interested in that maintenance activity. I am sorry. If you want, I can talk to Thyagarajan and settle this down.”

“Okay Ishanth. Better do that now, he is forcing me to assign additional tasks to you and I am not left with any other choice.”

“It’s okay Qudhar. Don’t worry about it, I will speak with him.”

“Okay Ishanth. And, the other important news is that we will be on-boarding two additional junior resources into our team.They will operate from Bengaluru location. And regarding assigning tasks to you, if you deny, then maybe we have to assign this project to one of them. You may have to speak with Thyagarajan.”

“Okay Thanks Quadhar. I will speak with him” said Ishanth and started moving out from Quadhar’s cabin.

When he just started moving out, Quadhar called Ishanth back and “Hey Ishanth. Wait for some time; let me talk to Thyagarajan for one more time. If he is still not intending to change plans, then you can talk to him directly.”

“Okay Quadhar” said Ishanth and went back to his work desk.

Quadhar had some thoughts running in his mind and so he stopped Ishanth from speaking with Thyagarajan.

(02:57 PM)

After Ishanth left of his cabin, Quadhar worked for sometime and then went to Thyagarajan’s cabin to discuss about the next steps.

“Hi Thyagarajan. Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon Quadhar. Sit down.”

“Thyagarajan. I have devised a plan.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Shall I start explaining?”

“Yeah sure Quadhar.”

Quadhar started explaining about the plan he prepared for the next steps to be followed in the project as Uthrani is moving out. They are also in the plan to on-board two new fresher’s into the project who will be working from Bengaluru location.He clearly drafted out the plan on who will be working on which project, who will be taking up Uthrani’s project and also the revised timelines. It took about 55 minutes for him to discharge the entire explanation to Thyagarajan.

After going through the complete plan, Thyagarajan started shooting questions at Quadhar on the plan and Quadhar answered them politely.

“Quadhar. Why don’t you assign this project to Meher and let him share the work with one of the new joiner. I think that will be a better idea.”

“Thyagarajan, even Meher is a new recruit into the project who joined few months back. So, I don’t think he can handle this out and also he is completely from a different background. This is what I have told you right from the beginning.”

“I understand Quadhar, but we are left with no choice. Ishanth straight away rejected when we assigned this project a few months back. I think he will deny it even this time if we try to assign it to him. Uthrani is the only girl who used to work on this and now even she is leaving all of a sudden. We cannot accept the risk of attributing this to fresher’s. I am not able to understand what to do. This is bumping my brain. Quadhar, Why are we not able to allocate the tasks in a proper way?” asked Thyagarajan with a very low voice for the first time in the last three days trying to figure out a way to break this problem.

“Thyagarajan, can I say one thing if you don’t mind?”

“Yes Quadhar, go ahead.”

“We are actually running out of resources. For the count of projects we have, the number of resources with which we are handling these two projects are not enough; we have to pull more resources to run this project in a smooth way.”

“We cannot do that Quadhar, we are already on-boarding two fresher’s into our project. We cannot go for more resources. For sure I cannot consider that option. Anyway, let’s leave that for now. So, now, this is the entire plan and revised timelines? ”

“Yes Thyagarajan.”

“All right. I will look deeper into this and will get back to you. Meanwhile, please summarize the tasks on that project and submit me a report in the next 24 hours. And also give me an update on the project which we need to demo next week. We will sit for sometime tomorrow morning and will discuss on those two things.”

“Sure Thyagarajan. I will do that soon. As of today, I will assign those tasks to Uthrani and will ask Meher to learn the process from Uthrani.”

“That’s wonderful. We have to keep going Quadhar. Our progress rate is down when compared to the reports from last quarter. We need to work on that and see where we are lagging and refine that. I don’t want to see the same kind of results in the next quarter. I want you to focus more on the productivity so that you can produce more results from the team by effectively managing the resources. Now that Uthrani is leaving, we will have some pressure, we have to handle that well and see that it is not doing much damage to the timelines and the smooth functioning of the process.”

As Thyagarajan is explaining, Quadhar interrupted him. “Thyagarajan.”

“Yes Quadhar” replied Thyagarajan staring at him why did he stop him in the middle.

“I want to speak to you about one more important thing.”

“What is that Quadhar?”

@Plan

Guess the story: What will Quadhar say to Thyagarajan?

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“I quiT” – Episode @15

/ Mr. Venky Bond / 10 Comments

“I already told him Ishanth. He said let him learn.”

“Then you have to give him sufficient time to learn.”

“Hey Ishanth. Can we discuss later on this?I am running out of time now. I have a conference to attend at 02:00 PM.”

“Okay Quadhar.”

(02:10 PM)

Quadhar, Thyagarajan and few others gathered in the video conference room for the Quarterly meet.It is a large room with lot of colored high quality paper posters on both sides of the wall. Those represent the current statistics, vision and mission with which the organization is running from many years.

Meeting started with update from Andrew who is the Sr. Vice Presidents of Mobile account of the company. He has been in this role from last 7 years. He takes care of all client interactions and travels around the world to meet upon various clients both to get new deals and also to update clients on the currently assigned deals. He is a guy who is always into business. If you say have an hour with you, for the first 10 minutes he talks about how to do business and in the next 50 minutes, he makes u do it. That doesn’t mean he is 24/7 and 365 days in business. He is the guy who takes one week vacation every quarter. And he schedules the Quarterly meeting once he is back from his vacation. Even though he looks serious outside, he is well known for his sense of humor.

(02:20 PM)

He finished his welcome speech in the first 10 minutes and gave window for each project manager from each division to give updates on their respective project. From every project, one senior manager and one senior employee will be invited to this meeting every time. Each manager will be given 15 minutes for their updates and then it is followed by questionnaire by Andrew. He takes 10 mins to shoot his questions and get answers from the managers.

The meeting went on for 90 mins. And now it’s Mr. Thyagarajan’s turn to speak out. Thyagarajan started his project updates by starting his presentation deck which Quadhar had prepared.

“Good evening every one. I will now start with the updates on the TNX mobile application which we started 6 months back. It is in healthy status as we are completing on time and as of today, the team is working on the 2nd release and hopefully we will go live by the end of next month. We have planned for a demo on the first week of next month. And if the clients give a green signal, we will launch it by month end.”

Thyagarajan gave a complete update on the project along with the number of resources who are working on that. He took about 5 minutes to complete the update on the first project.

“Wow. That’s wonderful.” One of the mangers replied clapping his hands and then few others joined him.

“Thank you. And now when it comes to our next project, it is in progress and going good. The progress is little slow when compared to the TNX mobile project because we are concentratingmore on the TNX first as we have demo next week. Once we will finish working on it, we will resume our work on that allocating 50% of our resource time.”

“Thyagarajan, wait. I guess we talked about this before I have been to vacation. Last time when I met them, they said that they are planning to launch the first version to their customers in the next month. And so maybe you have to speed that up. Don’t wait for the TNX to get completed. Resume this and try to finish it off as per the latest schedule. And also try to share the revised timelines by tomorrow noon.

“Okay Andrew. Sure” replied Thyagarajan and continued giving updates.“During the last quarterly meet, we discussed about the cross location team set up to manage the project by setting up teams at different locations. As of now we are dropping that plan due to the logistical and financial issues. We will be continuing our work on that project from Bangalore location.”

The moment Quadhar heard this; he felt surprised and ran into deep shock. He is requesting Thyagarajan regarding transfer to Hyderabad from almost a year. And Thyagarajan kept him silent saying that very soon he will be setting up a team in Hyderabad and Quadhar will be leading that team from that location. And so when he heard the news from Thyagarajan that they dropped the plan of setting up a team in Hyderabad, he is completely depressed.

(04:45 PM)

Meeting almost came to an end. The entire project managers finished giving updates about all the projects they are handling. And now it’s again Mr. Andrew’s turn to wind up the meeting.

“Thanks a lot guys for all the updates. I am so happy that almost all the projects are on GREEN. And here and there I have noticed some projects which are still in YELLOW. We have to push ourselves and try to bring them into GREEN. By the next quarterly meet, I have to see all the projects in GREEN. And the next most important thing I wanna discuss is regarding the 100% productivity. We have enough resources in all our projects. But, I don’t think we are making proper utilization of our resources. If you take a project X with 5 resources, each resource working for 8 hours for 5 days,and thenour productive hours should be 120 hours. Which is very well enough to complete a module? But I am not seeing that kind of stats in most of the projects. I guess hardly we are achieving 60 to 70% of that and the remaining 30% we are simply losing it. I don’t want these kinds of gaps anywhere. The world is growing so fast and the customers are demanding a faster delivery of their products. The competition is so high that each customer is so working their part to release their products with uniqueness and high quality.Apart from our regular project activities, we also need to work on the innovation. Customers are looking for an innovative solution these days. They are in greed for products that can be developed in little time innovatively. The days of traditional waterfall models and other models are gone. Software engineering is being redefined every day. Hope you are on track on what I am trying to say.Any questions?”

All of them who are seated in the meeting room are just thinking about what Mr. Andrew just said. None of them had any questions.

(04:59 PM)

“Okay guys as you all don’t have any questions, and also the time is closing up, I am winding this meeting. Thank you guys. Thank you

@Quarterly-Meet

Guess the story: Why is Quadhar shocked after hearing updates from Thyagarajan?

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