The Most Important (yet ignored) Asset

I learnt this lesson during my management course and it immediately struck a chord and has always stuck on. The course was called "Services Management" and our professor used a simulation game to explain a very simple point about the services industry. In the simulation game we began with a set budget and the players had to invest that amount in various components like Marketing, Sales, Research & Development, Operations, Human Resources, etc so that the overall business could flourish. The traditional mindset is to create a stellar product and market it well, this should settle you as the winner. However, in a services-oriented business the players who invested smartly in their Human resources (a.k.a People) would end up on the winning side since happy and empowered employees will provide the clinching customer experience. In other words, "people" are the most important asset for a service-oriented business and how you invest in recruiting, training, rewarding, and empowering your employees will have a direct impact on your bottom & top line.

I know that this may not be a eureka moment for most of the readers and they would have read/heard this before, some may even argue that we are already following this, haven't you seen our Mission/Vision statement we have mentioned "employee satisfaction" in bold and even our tax friendly benefits structure should tell you how much we value our employees. Some others may also point out that they have a dedicated human resources department and also provide free cola and snacks in the pantry. What else do you want!!?

While doing the above is important, in today's workplace they are merely hygiene factors. On a day-to-day basis your people interact with their peers, managers and customers, and it is this environment that generally lacks the "people" focus it needs. Therefore, it's imperative that we continue to avoid the following pitfalls and foster the kind of environment that might end up being your USP.

Before we begin this, the underlying assumption is that as an organization you have spent a considerable amount of time in hiring the "right" people i.e. people who possess the raw (or finished) ingredients suited for your business, and not just another "body" to fill the manpower targets.

Stop treating people like a resource - Technically, people are resources but are very different from the other resources that you would encounter in a traditional manufacturing scenario. They have ambitions, moods, personal issues, quirks etc. and all this needs to figure in our thinking especially when we take calls on planning their career paths and while staffing them on assignments. Moving people from one project to another cannot be played out like it does with machines on the shop floor of a manufacturing unit. Do that more often than once and you are playing with fire. Remember, if the person isn't happy or convinced about what he/she is getting into then it is more than likely that this will impact the manner in which they service the client. At ThoughtWorks, in order to ensure that we are addressing people's interests, we take inputs from people about the kind of software projects we should be targeting. This helps ensure that we atleast have a buy-in from (majority of) folks on the ground and moving across projects is not a big deal since each project has something unique to offer.

"Empowerment" is the word - Interacting with clients and across internal teams, employees need to feel empowered and trusted to bring out the best in them. Managers constantly feel the need to micro-manage people to fulfill the needs of the demanding customer, this creates further distrust and frustration in the team. If you have hired the right people then have the guts to trust and back them, and they will deliver whatever is within the realm of "possible" or maybe even beyond that. Yes, they might make the occasional mistake but the value of an employee that feels that he/she can take ownership will soon surpass any losses. The practice of constantly pushing people by offering superficial rewards might only work temporarily, in my experience the employees who feel trusted and empowered will get the job done and still be satisfied.

The World is "Flat" - Flat hierarchies are not a new concept but even though a lot of companies have been able to move towards a flatter hierarchical structure and realize the benefits, there still are tons out there that enforce the almost military-like command and control structure. The only people who can actually change this are the senior level managers, but I guess if you have worked hard for so many years to climb the corporate ladder you want to feel privileged and you want to have your own office and you want people to address you as 'sir' (atleast on your face). No sir, sorry to have to tell you this but get your priceless *** out of that closed door office and sit where the rest of your folks sit. This one move in itself will send a very strong message to your people and further enforce the feeling of trust and empowerment that is key. It will also help you sense the pulse of the people without having to do meaningless point based employee satisfaction surveys every year. Use a meeting room for all the "closed" door discussions that you want to have.

Why are people leaving?  - Don't fool yourself to think that people are leaving just because they want to start their own venture or because you just couldn't offer a higher salary package. Bad managers and short-sighted people practices are still a big reason for people quitting, whereas compensation is the last reason most people leave. Is that true for your firm too?

EXTREME ANALYSIS - Pairing for Business Analysts

Extreme Analysis in action

Pair programming has been used by software developers in most progressive software companies to help churn out quality products and to ensure that context is shared across the teams. For the uninitiated, traditional pair programming (in short) is a practice where 2 programmers work on developing a piece of software functionality in tandem. 
This practice helps improve code quality since you have 2 sets of eyes and brains trying to solve the problem and as one person writes the code, the other continuously reviews it, thereby eliminating the need to have separate code review sessions. Also, if the pair has worked efficiently then any mistakes in design have been caught upfront, thereby eliminating any waste caused by defects which would have been discovered at a later stage. This concept has mostly been applied to the working of software developers and other roles have not quite adapted it, as yet.

Why is this important? - Business Analysts (in general) are used to working in an individual capacity since most team's have a single BA, and a lot of analysts find it hard to work with other analysts in an amicable manner. My guess is that since there is a dearth of opportunities to work with other's, the skills to work with others does not get the opportunity to blossom.

“Business Analysts, User Experience (UX) Analysts, Project Managers, and (to  a lesser degree) Quality Analysts are used to working alone, and may need to work out how to deal with situations where they too need to collaborate among the community, and deliver.”

My primary role is of a Business Analyst, and I had wanted to share my experiences on the projects that I executed at ThoughtWorks, where I was able to pair with the other BAs with some level of success. This piece is my attempt to not only share some of those lessons and experiences, but hopefully also generate some healthy debate/discussions.

The Basics

Before we go into any specifics of how to pair as Business Analysts we need to first get some basics right. 

Any successful working relationship needs to have these elements at the core, the absence of these will render any attempt at pairing to be futile.

• Commitment to work from the individuals in question
• Mutual Respect
• Equal sharing of tasks and responsibilities
• Leverage on each others strengths and work around the rough edges.
• Willingness to take feedback from each other and work towards improvement
• Helping each other through personal time-offs by temporarily taking ownership of tasks
• Ability to share a laugh and work through stressful situations
• Personal Hygiene, since the expectation is for both to sit in reasonably close proximity to each other, personal hygiene will be an important factor. :-P

Pairing Practices

When we look at Business analysis in an agile project the following tasks would generally have to be undertaken on a day-to-day basis. I hope to tie the practices we used and make my case for "EXTREME ANALYSIS".

Daily Sign-ups - The day generally starts with a stand-up where the entire team participates and thereafter programmers, quality analyst and Business analysts sign-up for their tasks. Its important that the BAs get together and list down the tasks that they intend to pick during the course of the day and sign-up for them based on an equal distribution.

This activity is important since there can be multiple things (other than story detailing) that need to be addressed during the day like responding to emails sent by the customer, escalating blockers, reviewing analysed stories etc. And these tasks need to be identified and responded to as a team.

Tools/Practices: When the BAs are co-located then it makes sense to sit next to each other and list the tasks on a notebook or stickies and striking them off as they get done. However, when the BAs are working in different timezones (or geographies) then apart from a 15-30 min daily catch-up the sign-ups can be managed via a lightweight task list manager like Trello. Its web-based, free to use, and simple as hell.

Story Detailing - This is the most significant task that BAs undertake and pairing here can help to set a mutually agreed direction that the BA detailing the story can take. 

Tools/Practices: The tool being used here is the most effective one i.e. conversations. The BA who has taken the ownership of a feature will explain in brief the approach that he/she plans to take and solicit inputs from the other BAs. This ensures that context is shared and also helps build a better story right upfront (fail fast).

Story Review (Internal) - In Extreme Programming, programmers use peer review to ensure that the coding practices are being followed. Keeping in mind the same principles, Business Analysts should get their stories reviewed by another set of eyes just to make sure that all the bases are covered.

Tools/Practices: Ensuring that all stories (especially the complex ones) are peer reviewed by atleast one Business Analyst to capture any obvious omissions/errors.

Story Review (with Customer) - Stories need to be signed-off by customers before they can be picked up by programmers and these meetings can be managed better if you work as a team. If the BAs have followed the earlier steps they will take a uniform message and present a unified voice to the customer.  

Tools/Practices: Having feature kick-offs, where as a team you present the outline of the requirement and get inputs from the customer.

Iteration Planning - The stories that need to be picked in the forthcoming iterations need to be planned and communicated to the customer. Its important that this activity takes into account the dependencies and priorities that are associated with the stories and features.

Tools/Practices: Rotate the responsibility of creating the iteration plan among the BAs and then review the plan that has been set forth as a team. Again this helps get inputs from a larger group and in the absence of one of the BAs the others can take over the Iteration planning meeting with the team and/or customer.

Difficult conversations - When we talk about scope and prioritization with customers there is always the possibility of conversations turning hostile, especially if the team is set-up in the onsite-offshore model. Added to this is the fact that customers can be very direct, demanding and (sometimes) just plain uncooperative. All this could lead to frustrating conversations which can test the BA's patience, communication, and negotiation skills.

Tools/Practices: If one of the BA's is feeling particularly frustrated and bogged down by the conversations and not able to respond in a calm and composed manner, which is a perfectly natural feeling to have in such tense situations (Maybe it's just not their day). The other BA should have the ability to sense this and attempt to bring the calmness and logic back into the conversations. This obviously means that the BA who is not able to respond in a calm manner should back-off and let the other BA lead the discussion this time around. Good teamwork requires people to understand the personality (and mood) of their colleagues and support them adequately.

Women Empowerment: Moving Beyond Lip Service

Almost all progressive new age organisations and their leaders would publicly support higher participation from women in their workplace, some even boasting how women have occupied senior management positions in their company. 

Generally this boils down to a 3 month paid leave on maternity, additional security during late night drops, and a few "women groups/forums". Although all this is welcome and much needed, there still is a need to up the ante when it comes to actual Women Empowerment.

In my view ThoughtWorks has tried to change the game through the following initiatives and as we try to continuously improve and innovate I am sure there will be more such attempts in the future.

Target 50% women hires during campus placements - ThoughtWorks has set itself a target of fulfilling 50% of their annual campus hires with women. This is done without compromising quality and without ignoring an equally capable male candidate. How? By targeting women only colleges and holding focused recruitment drives.
There is no doubt that this is challenging and a tough ask from all involved, especially if you consider the dwindling number of women in software. But the intent (to enable 50% of the population) is there and the team has worked really hard to attain this goal.

In-office day care - A very significant number of women are forced to give up their careers to support and raise their children. Mostly this is due to lack of a support system (nuclear families), lack of good quality and reliable day care options, or the overwhelming feeling of guilt about leaving your child in their most vulnerable and cute phase. In my opinion it is this guilt which either comes from the family or is self-inflicted, that leads to most women choosing to stay at home.
In an attempt to enable its employees (men or women) and quell the guilt, ThoughtWorks Bangalore office offers in office day care facilities to employees. I'll let the expert let you know more about this (click the link).
Although other offices don't have a dedicated day care facility (as yet) they have always allowed parents to bring in their young ones along with a nanny if they are very young. The offices also have a small children room to help parents. Personally I am rooting for a day care facility to be set-up in my home office of Gurgaon as well, so that I can spend more time with my daughter (guilt free!). 

Must read about another initiative "Vapasi" being run at ThoughtWorks to bring technical women back to work.

The Roy effect

I have been with ThoughtWorks for a little over 2 years and in the many conversations and introspections surrounding the "secret ingredient" of ThoughtWorks, we have concluded that it has been the people who work at ThoughtWorks that have been the driving force. This obviously is true (why would I disagree with this appreciation which also includes me) and the pain and sacrifices that we make in hiring the "right" folks and the efforts we put in to give our best to our customers has played a very important role in making ThoughtWorks what it is. However, there is another element in the mix that deserves a lot of credit for making ThoughtWorks a truly unique organization, an organization that we all are proud to be part of, and that is our founder and chairman Roy Singham. 

Roy Singham

It is again obvious that he in his role as founder and chairman has been instrumental in shaping this organization but I truly appreciated his contributions when I reflected back on what he shared during his recent visit to the Gurgaon office. Mind you, I am not a person who gets swayed very easily and the thoughts that follow have accumulated over the last couple of years hearing and observing Roy.

Roy's ability to articulate his thoughts and beliefs and his passion and energy are enough to stir the human inside you. It's quite difficult to walk out from one of his sessions and not question your own thoughts and beliefs (some of which you may have nurtured for many years).
Roy has always been very passionate and vocal about our contributions to the underprivileged across the globe and has been actively involved in helping out on issues ranging from women and children health in the African subcontinent to the systematic oppression from the power hungry politicians and capitalists across the globe. 

Most of us within ThoughtWorks have heard him on these issues, the interesting part for me is that I have recently realized the vision that he brings to the business and operations of ThoughtWorks. To share a few examples, during his talk where he also shared the roadmap for the coming year he talked about the following:

• Diversify - Diversifying the business (geographically) is by no means a radical thought but one that has been around for a long time and practiced by many organizations. However, in the context of ThoughtWorks and how we hire and engage with our customers (a separate subject on its own) it takes courage to diversify into new territories especially if the new locations are in underdeveloped/developing nations of Africa, Asia and South America.
• Write-offs are not bad - Majority of businesses would target zero write-offs, its natural to expect payment for your services and avoid any form of losses like the plague. As an organization we strive to deliver our best and fulfill our commitments to our customers but we also want to make sure that every once in a while we make a bet on a customer who has an ambitious idea and help it take shape. Its a bet that we need to take and till the time we are able to control our losses we would have gained a lesson that success can never impart.
• Tackle incompetence not the ability to generate numbers - Businesses are run and measured on the Monthly/quarterly/annual revenues and profits they are able to generate. We at ThoughtWorks also care about how we are performing and whether we are running a healthy and sustainable business, but do we only need numbers to measure that? If we hire the right people and are able to motivate and engage them then numbers tend to loose their significance.

Roy Singham

The examples that I shared above are just a few of many that underline Roy's role in making ThoughtWorks what it is. Also, I do realize that most of these points are debatable and we can't be sure of their long-term effectiveness, but what I do realize is that I feel privileged to have been a part of this journey, whatever the end result.

Now, considering that ThoughtWorks aims to be a 100 year organization the one part that does bother me a bit and was the original motivation about writing this piece, is the future. Do we have someone who can uphold the same principles and bring a similar vision, passion, energy and clarity of thought?

The 10 Traits of a Bad Manager

The "Bad Manager" strikes again!!!

Its like the flu, we all have experienced it and no matter how hard you try you can never be totally immune.

The Bad Manager award is given away to individuals in managerial/leadership positions displaying the traits discussed below and not to any particular designation. So you can be a project manager, product manager, general manager, division manager, delivery manager etc. and well, sir/madam you are a disease if you:

1. Avoid transparency - Some managers avoid transparency like the plague, they will hold back information or even mis-inform as an attempt to hide their incompetence.

2. Make false promises - Not much to be said here, I guess we all have been sold an assignment by such managers which turns out to be quite different once you get on the ground or interact with the customer and by then its too late.

3. Think MBA'S are ppt factories - This unfortunately is a trait I have noticed and experienced even in managers who are generally good. In my view a presentation has a two fold purpose, it is used to highlight the key points of the idea being conveyed and to also serve as a electronic cue card for the presenter. To ensure the flow and delivery of the presentation is consistent and engaging the person who is actually supposed to deliver the message should actually create it. The most compelling or convincing presentations that I have delivered have been the ones that I have created on my own. The reason being that I owned the content and the flow of the presentation and was able to visualize what can be said to support the text.

4. Make and push suggestions without understanding the problem - Well making suggestions is fine but pushing them is definitely not, especially when you don't understand or have not experienced the problems being faced by the team or the individual.

5. Are too conservative while appreciating a job well done - In my view managers tend to display this trait since they think that if I appreciate his/her efforts that will mean that I directly or indirectly raise their salary expectations as well. Money is not the only thing that people work for, some of us actually believe or atleast take pride in whatever we do and a unhindered appreciation goes a long way in motivating an individual even if in your view the person had just "met expectations".

6. Push all the hard decisions and conversations to subordinates - Don't get me wrong here I do believe that the team should be involved in any hard decisions that need to me made. What makes me uncomfortable is that most of these hard discussions are due to the faulty decisions that were taken by managers even before the team was formed and in the end the team is usually left to defend these decisions on their own.

7. Have an unpleasant or unstable personality - A manager is looked upon in a lot of situations as a leader who will guide you and motivate you through his/her actions. Someone who you can approach with your problems and not return from that meeting with 10 other problems. Therefore its very important that a manager has a personality that exuberates pleasant and (mentally) stable vibes.

8. Lack clarity of thought - The "brain wave" from lousy managers tends to be devoid in clarity and detail. A presentation needs to be made and you are shoved a vague and usually bad idea which even after multiple efforts from your end never seems to match his/her "genius".

9. Expect more than you yourself are willing or capable of doing - As a manager/leader you need to lead by example if you want to stand any chance of earning your subordinates respect. Anything lesser is unacceptable.

10. Ignore inputs from the team on the ground - As a manager/leader your people are your asset with their ears closely to the ground and if they are feeding you information based on their day to day interactions and observations, then its your responsibility as a leader to understand the concerns and communicate more closely with the team to reach a solution. More often than not bad leaders will ignore these suggestions and form their opinions on their pre-conceived notions.

These have been some of my observations over the last few years working with some good and mostly terrible managers. Also, this takes into consideration that managers most often than not are faced with tough decisions and as all humans are bound to falter. I guess the challenge for a manager lies in being able to identify and avoid these symptoms, and personally speaking the even bigger challenge lies in being able to avoid these symptoms whenever I am cursed to be a Manager.