When Recession Strikes...

• A slight note of displeasure from the client turns into hour long meetings at offshore.
  

• Your manager sees you leaving the office at 6, and wonders if he should assign some more work to you.
  

• People no longer want to stay on-bench.
  

• You have to fight for every pen/stapler/notepad that you need in office.
  

• The toilet paper starts vanishing slowly from the bathrooms.
  

• You put in a little something for your company, your client, the stock market, the economy in your morning prayers.
  

• You start getting a nagging feeling, that you should update your resume and update your skills, so as to be prepared.
  

• You start reading economic section of the newspaper or check your company's stock value.

Mind Your Ps And Qs

I swear I have never heard so many thank-yous, welcome and sorry in my entire life than in the last few months! I am thinking of writing a program which will automatically print out thanks at the end of every sentence in email/chat, or welcome/no problem when someone else types thanks. Just as there are smiley buttons, there should also be thanks, welcome and sorry buttons in chat applications.

It's not that I am a fan of the "No sorry, no thanks in friendship/love" rule. I think that works only in the initial honeymoon period. I have realized that it is as important to be civil to your friends and family as it is with strangers. Too many times I have given excuses for my bad behavior as a personality trait. And too many times I have excused others' bad behavior also for the same reason.

I am a firm believer of not using too many thank-yous, welcome and sorry in my day-to-day routine. I don't understand the logic behind saying these words after every sentence. I would rather not create situations where I end up having to say sorry. Or have to say thank you for small things when I don't mean it. And I would rather that people don't say sorry unless they mean it. Coz, if you hurt me and say sorry later on, I will probably forgive you the first few times. But if you hurt me again and again, then I will just interpret your sorry as "Sorry, I am going to hurt you the next time also." Politeness is a virtue which works best when it is combined with honesty; otherwise it becomes just a formality. Like having to get up and say good-morning when the teacher comes in class. Or having a "Thanks and Regards" or "Sincerely Yours" in one's signature.

But as they say; When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, I am going to limit my personal opinion to this blog and join the Romans. But, if I have to fake it, then I might as well go the whole hog! I am thinking of sending an email at the end of day which goes like this (Think of all the rest my fingers will get from typing the same words over and over again throughout the day!)

"{Name},
               Thanks for all the help, support that you extended today. Welcome, if I have been of any help to you. Sorry, if I caused any inconvenience or hurt you in any way.

Regards,
Sheba"

Five People You Meet In IT

At first I thought I should write my own version of Five People You Meet in Heaven. But I am 99.95% certain that I am not going to heaven. Then I thought I should change it to Five People You Meet in Hell. But I don't want to meet any of my friends and family in Hell. And I most definitely do not want to meet certain other people down there (I am not saying that I don't want them to be in Hell. I just want them to be in a separate section, far away from me). Plus why waste breath writing about people who bug you.So, I am writing about IT. Although the people I have met can be found in any other industry too.

The Whiner

Nothing is good enough for him. If he is in support project, then he wants to be in development. But if he is put into a development project, then he will crib about the long hours. Everyone is out to get him, his team-mates, his project leader, his manager. I agree that everyone cribs at some point or the other, but if someone has nothing else to do but crib, then there is something seriously wrong. One year in IT is enough to know that most of the times the work is menial. Copy-pasting code, preparing umpteen documents, sending status reports(this is somewhat tricky coz you need to find stuff to show for the time you were in the canteen or checking your stock's performance on sharekhan or moneycontrol) does not require a very high IQ.The project leader/manager is a b*****d (they have to, otherwise its hard to get things done from unmotivated, unhappy people).So, either you should quit IT or shut-up and adapt.

The Midnight-Oil Burner

These people take great pride in staying in office till the last cab is ready to go. And they make sure that they can let other people know about this at the slightest chance. Maybe you have heard this (If not you will have to imagine the tone: Long sigh + pride + condescension)

'Oh I missed dinner.'

'I was in office till 12.'

'It's been a long time since I have seen the sunset.'

'I can never leave at 6.'

'I was in office on the weekend'

Sadly, lots of people do get impressed by this. But what they do not understand, that only very few people have to stay back because of the work load. Free internet, photocopying, scanning, dinner in the canteen or just doing tp with friends in office may be some of the reasons for people to stay back. More often than not, it's because the person isn't strong technology wise, or his analytical skills aren't too good.

The WonderBoy/WonderGirl

Assign them a task and it's like they take put on their cape and underwear and transform into superheroes. And the reason that you don't see the cape or the underwear is becoz it's invisible. And it is visible only to others like them. Their superpowers? Excellent communication skills, sound technical skills, team player, proactive, strong domain knowledge, management skills etc etc (Just copied that from one superhero's last appraisal)

The Idiot In The Next Cubicle

This is the guy who is in IT by fluke. He didn't have any good job offers in college and accepted a job in IT as a stop-gap solution. He will probably goof around in office till he gets through CAT or GRE. Then there are others who belong to this breed ;whose ultimate aim is not MBA or MS; but who just don't believe in working. Ever had to stay back in office because someone else goofed up and didn't finish their task? That's the idiot I am talking about (Though probably everyone is an idiot at some point or the other).

The Boss From Hell

There is nothing worse than being stuck with a team-lead/project manager who doesn't appreciate you. Even worse is the boss who pretends to be listening to you and then retracts whatever he has promised you. This is the guy who keeps a tab on how long your coffee breaks are, catches you in the restroom/canteen and asks about the status of your pending tasks, nods disapprovingly when he sees you talking on the phone, whose face bobs up and down from his monitor every time you get up to take a leak.

I know it's quite wrong to categorize people like this. But there is no malice intended behind it. I have met some good people too. And I am sure that you have too. Remember the team-lead who faced the music when you screwed up the code in UAT/Production. The colleague who stayed back for moral support when you were rushing to meet the deadlines. The client/manager who sends in an appreciation mail once in a while to boost your morale (it's a different issue that you were expecting a promotion or onsite opportunity rather than just nice words).

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