Teams

Entitled

~ Rishi ~ 1 Comment

The clock struck 12. On a bright sunny morning, with the winter winds blowing on his face, Deepesh looked at his phone once again.

He had been walking outside the office building, not in the best of moods, after a call with one of his team members, Vipul.

Vipul was a hard worker and one of the brightest in the team. He was naturally chosen for difficult assignments and Deepesh had taken good care of him over the last couple of years.

However, today’s meeting with him had left Deepesh feeling cheated. Vipul had just announced that he was resigning because he had not got a good enough raise in the recently concluded increment cycle.

Deepesh had gone extra lengths to get him the best increment in the team. He had also discussed about putting up Vipul for a promotion in the next cycle.

After doing so much for him, the news of his resignation didn’t go down well with Deepesh. He had told as much to Vipul, sharing his unhappiness. However, Vipul strongly felt that he was entitled to much more than he had received.

As the day passed, the meeting continued to come back to Deepesh’s mind again and again. At first, he toyed with the idea of identifying how to retain Vipul. But it soon occurred to him that even if he succeeded in retaining, Vipul would not be able to shrug off the entitlement he felt he was owed.

Deepesh had to be fair to the other team members. He couldn’t afford to have other team members develop similar feelings without actually having done enough important work.

He also felt that what Vipul thought of his work was a very personal take on his own performance. And even if he tried to reason with Vipul, he wouldn’t be able to break through the barrier.

More importantly, Deepesh realised that every one, including him, had some feeling of entitlement. It was a natural feeling, based on what each individual thought his work was worth. And as a team leader, he needed to understand his team’s psyche better.

So, he decided to let go. He asked Vipul to wind up his work in the next one month. During that period, Deepesh spent time to understand the expectations and aspirations of his other team members.

He had frank conversations and gave and took feedback from each one of his team members. It not only helped him understand their thoughts but also allowed him to appreciate their feelings and chart out their growth paths.

It also allowed him to reflect about how he thought about his own performance. After all, he was entitled to do that!

We the People.

~ Rishi ~ 1 Comment

Are the backbone of everything that happens…

It is people who build up a structure that moves forward to achieve the common goals.

Whether it is nations or organisations or families or groups, everything happens either for people or with people but always with them being front and center.

Yet, very often they are neglected or not paid enough attention to. In nations, in organisations and even in groups and families.

On the personal end of the spectrum, when people don’t get the feeling of being a part of the group or the family, they move out. They seek others who would make them feel special and wanted.

That’s perhaps why we always take care of those we want to keep close to us and don’t worry much about the others in the world. And that works for us because at the end, one can only manage being close to a few people.

At the collective end of the spectrum, nations do most of the things keeping in mind their people. Wanting to keep them united at all costs. And all of us, irrespective of our political inclinations or beliefs, want our community and our nation to succeed and feel strongly for it.

But when a nation fails to keep its people’s interests in mind, it starts lagging behind others. People overthrow the regime or vote it out of power. And reassert their right to be taken care of.

However, when it comes to somewhere in between the spectrum, where organisations exist, the same principles do not always apply. For an organisation is neither personal nor a community. It is a collective which is abstract in nature and bound by loose ideas which may not be agreeable to everyone.

People come in to work in an organisation or with it for their benefit. Knowing that whatever they do will at the same time benefit the organisation. And organisations also understand that nature of association.

So even if people leave, organisations survive. They are replaced by new or existing people. All for the good, of all the parties involved.

However, organisations that flourish are those that take care of their people, despite the transactional relationship. Because that is what gives its people the feeling of being wanted.

The ones that neglect their people or take them for granted or treat them as tools to achieve objectives, almost always fold up. If not in the short term then in the long run. Because people are intelligent.

And that is why it is so important to build teams, groups, and organisations in a way we build families and nations. Through trust, transparency, and respect. To make it endure. And succeed!