Thursday, January 25, 2007

Customer as Partner

I was just talking to a friend of mine today when we came across a point of customer as business partner.
My take on the point is, it makes a lot of sense to consider the customer as a business partner to increase customer satisfaction. There are a number of reasons why a customer can be directly compared to business partner:

1. Customer's benefit is organisation's benefit.
2. Customer's loss is organisation loss.
The above points are reasons why a customer should be treated equivalent to a
business partner, but the same points can also be used to understand the effects of considering the customer equivalent to a business partner.

1. Increased customer confidence in organisation will result into smoother running of deals and hence will result into operational efficiency as lesser roadblocks will be faced.
2. Better confidence will result into more customer satisfaction.
3. Better customer satisfaction will result into positive word of mouth.

Hence better business prospects.
But i think this proposition will stand water in a B2B scenario and B2C segment might have to be looked from a different perspective.

Analysis on B2C some other time!!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

WOW!

I press the button outside the lift in my hotel.
We are three guys standing outside the lift, feelng a little sleepy as we have been
working quite hard through out the day and its past 10 in the evening now.

The door opens and there are 2 girls inside the lift, really beautiful!!

And yes did i hear that right, one girl looked at us and said, wow!!(before we even enter the lift).

3 of us once again get life back in us like we are going to work in the morning.

Vikram asked them, Russian?? - pat comes the reply , yes!!

This happened last evening but the WOW is rolling here and there in my mind, ears, eyes!!

wowww!!!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

The 09:30 - 17:30 Strategy

This is just one more attempt of mine to improve efficieny at work.

Start with the list of work that you need to finish for the given day before you leave for work. This work needs to be finished between 9:30 and 17:30.
I know that looks like saying there you can see everest just throw your anchor up there and climb it.

Let's break it down into smaller parts so that while climbing the everest we know what all equipments we need and which all intermediate stations we would reach and what kind of hailstorms we will have to face.

When you get to work obviously your boss will have an additional list of tasks for you, and this might be totally exclusive of your list. If you are lucky then there might be some tasks in the intersection of your list and your boss' list.

Now is the time to spend a few minutes and prioritize work keeping both the lists in mind. Breaking this into parts again, prioritize the two lists independently, then compare and merge the two. While merging the two remember - in case there are tasks from the two lists with equal importance then the common list must have task from boss above your's(because at the end u are answerable to your boss).
The list of task might have already gone on to page no. 2. Never mind!! Draw a line under the task that you think is realistically possible to finish by 5:30 PM.

Do not spend more than 15 minutes on this small thing of organising tasks.

Now attack the work. Keep in mind 17:30 is only a few hours away. Initailly it will be possible that you will be slow, in such cases even if it means that you have to skip 11'OClock or 4'Oclock wala coffee break or may be even lunch, let that happen for a few days. It is only a matter of few days after which you will not have to do that.

Bell goes off!! It's 17:30, stop it now!!

I know there will be times when your work will not be finished but, if your really want to finish your work by 17:30 regularly then stop it here, right now!

The assumption for this whole thing is that you dont like non-performance and especially hearing this word from your boss for you. So when you will hear this for the first time from your boss you will not be able to tolerate it, right ?
But that does not mean after hearing this you go back to your seat and sit down to re-start the day from 18:00 to some late night show.

Either go to the canteen or may be just stay back in the office and chat around with people. You might as well leave the office to chill out at your own place or may be some other outing.
But now you know the agenda for day 2(next day).

Let's start again but i assume we would have found the reason why we did not complete the expected work yesterday.
There can be following reasons:

1. We drew the line at wrong place. The expectation we had set of ourselves was too much and it can be termed as over committment. Hence this time it is expected of you that this experience and failure both help you commit what is more practical and feasible.

2. Tasks involved had dependencies which were out of your hands. Like you require
information from somebody else and this somebody else dose not gives you that or may be your boss pops suddenly out of nowhere at 4 in the evening and says there is this new task which is most important. This is genuine and can happen anytime with anybody. This is something that you will have to specifically mention to your boss when he uses the word non-performance. Of-course he will not agree(thats ususal, if he agrees then it is un-usual). But remember often managers dont do so intentionally but because they have their own deadlines.

3. You were slow and still did not compromise on tea,coffee breaks so the schedule slipped. This is what we are trying to improve.

4. Work given was really too much(i know this does not happens more than once in a month, more on this a little later).
There can be other such reasons and one will have to find out them.

The reasons can be identified after 17:30.

I am hopeful this can ensure atleast some improvement in the efficiency of work and time spent at work.

Even if your boss does not likes the site of you walking out at 18:00. Stick back doing things other than work.

Of-course the above story does not mean that work should suffer. There will days when not going back from workplace at all will also not result into anything great. But that happens only once in a blue moon and in such cases stretching beyond normal or even beyond not so normal is OK(only if you do so occassinally). If you do that everyday then iti not work but you who needs to change.

Working late is not any sign of higher productivity but only a sign of Bad management!!

Monday, January 01, 2007

An Year on Airport

31-Dec-2006 18:00
I am sitting in the office working like morons since there is no holday here even on this sunday, in this chinese office(Just because they will give a holiday on Monday for new year). I dont even know what will i do and where will I be at midnight.

18:05
My chinese colleague(David) says. shall we ask the customer for a leave of three days and go to beijing?

18:20
Customer has rejected our request of going away and wants us to support the system.

18:30
We three decide(Me, Vikram and davdi), "hell with the customer", lets get out of this place, we will go to beijing now and come back on 2nd morning.

18:50
We get out of the office saying to the customer that we will leave early today so that we can have nice dinner since we are not going anywhere. Customer smiles as if he is very generous and has granted us freedom for life.

19:10
I am back in hotel and ask the receptionist for a check out. In the meanwhile David has booked tickets for beijing.

19:45
David calls me to check if i am leaving soon from my hotel to pick him up and then go to airport.

20:15
I am still moving my luggage and David has called me 4 times asking if i have left my hotel. He is worried we will miss the flight since we are late.

20:30
I leave my hotel to go to David's place.

20:40
David is impatiently waiting at his place and this Taxi driver is driving as if i am on some sight seeing. But, it is not his fault, the road is layered with snow so he has to drive slow.

20:45
I reach david's hotel, pick him up. He is so upset with me that he is not even talking to me. I know he will not talk to me as long as we dont board the flight.

21:10
We reach Airport bang on time.

21:20
David has collected the boarding pass and he is finally smiling. But the flight is late due to fog and so we need to sit on the airport for some time.

21:45
This is when the right is suppose to take-off, but this flight is suppose to come from beijing to hohhot(this is where i am) and then go from hohhot to beijing. The flight has still not left from beijing, so we expect to leave around 11:00.

22:15
We decide to go through security check-in to avoid any last minute hassles.

22:45
I am feeling hungary so i get some cup noodles and somehow manage to eat them.

23:15
We see a number of people arriving on airport. Hurray!! we think the flight has come and its time we would depart soon and would spend the new year on the air.

23:25
We discover this flight is coming from another city and since it could not go to beijing due to fog so it had to land here.


23:45
I once again have no idea where i am i going to end up.

00:00
We guys hug each other and cheerup for the new year. We have been on the Airport since 2006 and now it is 2007.

00:05
There is an announcement, since the flight that was to arrive here has not left beijing till now, flight is cancelled!!!

00:15
The only possibilty is to cancel the tickets and re-chedule them to morning. We three are in split minds. David has to go anyways as he has some work in beijing and he has his family there. I dont want to go anymore as i have to return to work on 2nd morining and i dont want to go for less that 24 hours. But Vikram wants to go because he is afraid that he will not get another chance to go to Beijing.

00:30
I decide that i will not go but David and Vikram will go.So David can book two tickets for the morning but cancel my ticket.

00:45
I come to know David has booked only one ticket and Vikram also decided he will not go(achha dost hai).

01:00
We are in the shuttle bus to get back to the hotel.

01-Jan-2007 01:30
We reach back to our hotel. Hotel sweet hotel.

02:30
I am thinking i went to the airport last year with sparkles in my eyes and beijing in my mind and i have come back from the airport without going to beijing with smiles on my face and sleep on in my eyes. Since I and david had checked out, so we are left with only one room.
I will be sleeping on the floor. After more than a month i will sleep on floor so i am feeling like i am in banglaore at my place!!

Happy New year!!