There are a few customs that seem common across the world - today, I read that the Japanese first couple are expecting a child and they just performed a ceremony for the safe birth in the 9th month of pregnancy (akin to the western baby showers ?)
There is an exact equivalent in India (in Karnataka - it is called Shreemantha) - which is performed only in odd months of pregnancy ...(why only odd is a topic for another post !)
Now, what is striking is that while there is so much of commonality (from even before birth), our attitude seems to be very different. As an example, we in the IT industry, face an a-typical problem. When a person goes onsite (out of India), then, the person becomes a lone warrior. All conquests are his own - all failures are that of the "Offshore team" !
So much so, I've heard of instances where the person (from the same team) goes onsite to be-little the effort of his / her own team-mates back home.
Is this only to do with taking credit ? Or are we as a nation pre-disposed to politicking and being taken advantage off by the lack of cohesiveness ?
Maybe there is something core to our system / values that allows a 3rd party to effectively implement the doctrine of "Divide and rule" ?
I wonder...
PS - He / She, His / Her are all interchangable and I'm not just being politically correct
What did I learn today ?
The synaptic trigger (transmittal) for reproduction in the virus for dengue fever and the like (Aegyptis Mosquito if you need reference) at a RNA level happens when the ends touch each other (I think of this as a centipede folding to form a circle upon touch).
So, my thought is - what if we think of a protein that comes in-between this "touch" - would we have a vaccine ?
Well yes we have been through 'The Raj' for over 150 years and was a result of the Divide and Rule Policy employed by the Brits. What worked to their advantage is the fact that amongst us there is no trust, respect for each other and thought of one-ness. This again can be applied as an anology to the ever present Onsite-Offshore tussle in our IT industry. There is definitely something in the abroad waters which makes the person thinks he/she is much superior to the folks sitting in the homeland. Folks that are at the client site always think that they need to be given the 'benefit of the doubt' very much like batsmen in Cricket.
ReplyDeleteI got to agree with you on this. Just because a consultant is working at onsite, he/she doesn’t become superior. I guess the main point is Coordination. Onsite consultant always has the benefit of direct communication with the users. Hence they should pass maximum information to offshore guys and make them comfortable rather than blaming.
ReplyDelete-Sreekumar
KK,
ReplyDeleteI think the whole Raj bit is a red-herring / bogey. It is akin to the infamous "Foreign Hand" during IG days.
To be fair, on the other hand, I've also sensed the following
"Oh, the person is enjoying onsite, let him / her feel some heat"
I think the whole issue starts with a me.vs.them angle. Could it be that our education system (where we are super-competitive is building this ?)
What I'd really be interested in, would be to think of some solutions / ways to break the cycle
On the issue Onsite-Offshore tussle.... I believe the whole issue lies in the perceptions of individuals to the work the hand.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I see, if both the onsite-offshore consultants understand and appreciate that they are working for a larger good (the completion of the project itself), things can run more smoothly.
Thats where the calls for DEDICATED PROJECT TEAMS become louder...... (promoting PROJECT TEAMS more)
A group of individuals working full time on a Project from start to completion can be a solution.The MY TEAM and MY PROJECT perception can probably work wonders....
Very simple remedy if you look at it, but very difficult to implement considering the dynamic times we live in....
However thats not ruling out other alternatives..Sure there would be many .....
As the saying goes "If you can't climb over a wall, build a wall right through it"
Regards
Rohan
Rohan,
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The big challenge, and, this has been a challenge for even nations is "how does one get the greater good higher than the personal angle" ?
In most eastern languages one always finds the words to the Hindi equivalent of "Haar mey bhi Jeet Hai"
Powerful words - only when followed...
I think it has a lot to do with team management (both from the person onsite and the managment offshore).
ReplyDeleteI feel all of us tend to give more importance to the person who is onsite which in a way is justified as working in a clients office is harder than woking in our own cozy offshore offices.
The key here is to have the offshore teams motivated. Every member of the team should feel involved in the process and should develop a sense of ownership. We should make concious efforts to send individiual appreciation notes both from clients side and offshore managment to the offshore teams. We can also try and have some clients interaction directly with the offshore teams.
Though I have not worked a lot in onsite-offshore setup but these were a few things i think may be useful.
I believe it has more to do with interpersonals and got a lot to do with keeping your mirrors off you.
ReplyDeleteEverything goes fine when we start acknowledging others honestly and express the same.
The responsibility is on both sides, and the answer is we dont inherit respects we do earn them. I Think that is another key to it.
Sreekumar, I completely agree with you, but let us not forget that even the person offshore need to get credits for his/her achievements which I am not sure how much of this happens.
ReplyDeleteSometimes onsite people also need to know that how the offshore model works as most of the time the offshore resources are working on various projects at the same time, probably evaluation by the onsite person if made shall solve a lot of problem.
Mukesh
Mukesh, et all,
ReplyDeleteSo, what we are stating in short is that - there needs to be mutual respect ?
What would we do to preserve the level ? Does it mean my respect for an individual is dependent on proximity ?
Somehow, it does not seem right ?
If you folks are game, let us try some experiment shall we ?
Sreekumar can talk to an individual he has not met at all ?
KK / Mukesh - if you were to introduce a new collegue, what would you do so that Sree gets a direct feel for the individual ?
What I'm trying to identify is the effect of communication on the process ? We'd need to be brutal in comments if you are going to go ahead with this experiment ...
Who is game ?