04 February, 2010

What type of team are you? – Part II

Rahul Gupta asked me some interesting questions in my previous post. He also suggested that I do a Part II of the post. Here I am with part II. Part I is HERE.

Rob the Star Performer
Rob managed a group of system administrators in his previous job. He joined current organization as a QA Engineer. He tested an enterprise product and reported defects. A year later, he became a Project Lead. In subsequent year, he got promoted as a QA Manager and headed a different team (now Team B). In addition to managing team B, he also volunteered to own a couple other projects.

A QA engineer rising to the ranks of a QA Manager is not an easy thing (or so it is believed to be). Rob had achieved this in 3 years time. Many people in the organization had to believe that he was a star performer. Incidentally, Rob actually tested for less than year during his 7 years tenure.

Management Style
Rob rewarded employees who worked 60 hr work week; he reprimanded employees who worked for 8 hours a day telling them that they aren’t working hard enough. What amuses me about Rob till this moment is that he did not have the common sense to think that some employees are smart. Perhaps, he is pretending so. The smart employees stayed for more than 10 hrs a day. Some even were in office for 14 hrs a day. They did not work for the full 10 hrs or 14 hrs that they stayed at office. They were not productive enough. They were not good at time management. They were there to impress the manager, not to do good work.

On the contrary, some employees worked for exactly 8 hours a day excluding the lunch hour. They worked sincerely for 8 hours between 9 AM – 6 PM. Rob started assigning critical tasks like customer escalations to such employees. Some started staying late for fear of bad appraisals. Some wondered why these tasks are assigned to them when there are few employees who usually work late into the night. Some didn’t budge. They declined to work beyond 6 PM citing personal reasons. Rob did not like these people. He thought they were not dedicated and committed to their work and the organization.

Over a period of time, people who pretended to work for more hours by staying late in the office simply passing on some metrics to please Rob. People who believed this was not right or were incapable of doing this either moved to different teams (if Rob did not goof up their internal transfer) or eventually quit the organization.

Why wasn’t Rob stopped?
Why wasn’t Rob stopped? Why was the 360 degree feedback about Rob thrashed year after year? Why wasn’t the management interested in educating Rob about his management style? Why wasn’t HR doing anything about Rob though they had got a feeler about him from the employees who quit his team and/or the organization? Only the management can answer these questions.

You know what? The management liked Rob. The management was like Rob. It’s only obvious that they liked Rob. The organization claimed to follow a very aggressive business strategy and all it needed was many more managers like Rob who could treat employees like factory workers, make them work for several hours on weekdays and weekends, pay less and yet tell them they got the best raise in the entire team.
What impressed the management team most was the crazy metrics and the sexy graphs that Rob managed to send on a daily basis to the management. They were least bothered to know about how he was getting those metrics, what he did to get them and how he managed many more green lines compared to the red ones that other managers produced at the time. Worse, they did not even know what the green and red lines meant. All they were bothered about was more and more green lines which could be passed on to their bosses who in turn would pass on to their bosses. This passing became a routine until those metrics get projected as the ‘truth’ in the organization.

What about Scapegoats?
Some employees in Rob’s team moved to a different team thanks to a new agile team that was started. Their joy knew no bounds. Most of the sincere employees upon whom he inflicted problems quit over a period of time. Rob’s so called hard working employees threatened to quit the team after which some received a 50%-100% raise. They eventually quit after taking the raise!

When will this stop?
Some day, one smart person will walk into the organization with the courage to question and the power to bring a change. He’ll call Rob into his cabin and ask ‘Hello buddy, can you tell me what these green lines mean?’. Until then, this will not stop. You can be that smart person. Will you be one?

With a very heavy heart, let me say this once and get it off my chest to never mention it again - Rob is the fore runner for the post of the Vice President this year. God Bless!

PS: The characters in this post are true and NOT fictional except the names :D. Any resemblance to you or your friends is deeply regretted. I have no offense to Rob, his so called hard working employees or the scapegoats who gave up fighting similar situations. These are just my observations of one such environment where I FAILED to succeed, yet learned the most about my profession. I EXCELLED in many ways to say the least. My belief in team collaboration only grew stronger. In fact, I cherish working with Rob the most in my career because I now realize the value of being treated with respect and treating fellow colleagues with respect.

Let's be human first - Team Players will grow within,

Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah

14 comments:

  1. HI Parimala!!! Nice post..

    "The smart employees stayed for more than 10 hrs a day. Some even were in office for 14 hrs a day. They did not work for the full 10 hrs or 14 hrs that they stayed at office. They were not productive enough. They were not good at time management. They were there to impress the manager, not to do good work."

    The things u mentioned in your post are well known truth in Indian organizations. But most of the managers liked these things. And this frustrates an employee who worked 8hr productively.(Sorry for poor English)

    Puneet

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  3. parimala,
    thank you for sharing about the characteristics or management styles people come with.
    -Ram

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  4. @Puneet
    The things u mentioned in your post are well known truth in Indian organizations.


    Partially agree. This situation is predominant in Indian organizations, but not just limited to India per se.

    Your English is pretty good. Good enough to blog. By the way, I just discovered your blog. Good to know that you are blogging.

    Happy Blogging,

    Regards,
    Parimala Shankaraiah

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  5. Hi Parimala,

    First of all, A BIG THANKS for putting your efforts to bring out a new post on the questions I asked.
    You not only shared your experiences but also made us (at least me) realize that who all are responsible for "not so good state" of Testing.
    I feel that these managers (like Rob) pretend to add value without actually adding it. One of my past managers once told me "In QA, the term value addition is being used so badly that it has lost its true meaning". I respect this manager a lot and believed every single word of what he said. He was and still is a no nonsense guy, gave all the freedom to his subordinates and took deep interest in understanding the issues where he can contribute to solve the problems quickly and effectively. QA as a practice needs managers like the one I had. I'll soon come up with a post on his management style of a QA Team.

    Thanks again for sharing;
    have a Happy Learning!!

    Regards,
    Rahul a.k.a. BugMagnate

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  7. Pari,

    I went thru both the parts before commenting. I have had the opportunity to work with both type of managers. In fact I clearly remember my struggle with a manger like Rob for one + year.

    The team was formed 2 months before I walked into it. For the first 3 months I noticed similar stuff you had mentioned within Team B. Some of “our” Rob skills worth mentioning were – ask status update exactly at 6:30 PM, please the superiors above him even if it meant fake metrics, lie, taking credit for an individuals hard work etc, create a panicking atmosphere, always leave office only after 9pm, irrespective if there was work or not, never approved leaves even if applied 1 month in advance, etc

    Initially I used to get irritated by the team more than “our” Rob, because he always showed me his good face. In about 3 months the team gelled together, since we all loved to @#$%^ about him. By the end of Phase 1 most of us in the team had got closer and we were by then able to predict his approach to different conditions. We knew when he would be angry, we knew tricks to make him feel that he is the best; we knew how to be a good buddy with him (applying for leaves), etc. We also knew who in the team were more aggressive, soft, and moderate.

    After phase -1 though we knew we had to teach him a lesson in the subsequent phases, every member in the team wanted to deliver their best for the product, we were a bunch of passionate engineers who want to deliver a very good product to our stakeholder but also negotiate “our” Rob. Phase -2 the game begun the whole team stopped taking assignments from him, what ever he commanded we denied, we started adding the management and his immediate supervisor in any mail that could later create issues. The team would even come on a Saturday if a other team member requests, but would not stay in office after 6:30pm even if “our” Rob begs. There were many such incidents when the team showed such unity that “our” rob, stood helpless.

    By phase-3 management had enough info and had more idea who was running the show and so “our” Rob was given a warning and his boss started to head the team.

    Phew the reply grew so long...well, anyways what I wanted to say here is quitting a firm, or moving to an other project is an easy option to escape from such managers, but it will only make them grow higher, draw more salary and build a bad community. It is at these times when the team should come together and lock these managers in prisons which have huge a mirror in front of him to see his reflection everyday. At least only then they might turn into “Larry”.

    A positive take away: Managers like Rob help us learn “what not to do” when we become a manager :)

    -Sharath.B
    http://testtotester.blogspot.com/

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  9. @Rahul Gupta
    Thanks to you too!

    @Sharath Byregowda
    What a brave move? Thank you for sharing a great experience Sharath. Quitting cannot be a solution. Even if it is, right at that moment, it does no good to anyone involved including the person who quit.

    I quit one such job for the same reason. I loved working for that organization, but I loathed working for Rob.

    I still miss NOT working for that organization. The fact that Rob continues to rule and ruin people hurts me even now. I neither did anything to show Rob's tricks to the management team nor did I warn the rest about him nor was there any unity in the team. Still, I guess I was selfish and self-centered. I have grown now. I will not quit again for the same reason only to regret later.

    Like you highlighted, Unity within the team works wonders be it in releasing great products or creating excellent team. We need to ask ourselves two simple questions. Do I make a great team member? Do I make a great team? If the answer is yes, then it's great. If the answer is no, then why not work on it. Let's not forget we the people build the organization (Oh! Did I really say this? Naa!).

    Thank you once again for sharing your story,

    Regards,
    Parimala Shankaraiah

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  10. Hey Pari,

    You have posted the current truth of Managerial Style.

    Regards
    Saritha

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  11. Nice write up, Parimala

    I have been lucky enough to be with managers who were more collegues than bosses. Even though my friends had a similary experience as what you have written with the same managers whom I have worked with, for me they have always been happennings than experiances.

    My take on this is "as long as there is no takers there wont be any givers" or "as along as there is a takeer, there will be giver"

    Lets accept that fact that every human being likes to be in control of situation and people,
    the degree and magnitude is what makes one Rob or otherwise.

    In my opinoin, as long as an associate works for apprisals, his manager will treat him/her the same way.

    During my early days, the team that I worked with used to be "in office" between 12-16 hours a day and 6 days a week with very few exceptions. When I asked the question "why", they all laughed at me (literally they did) and said "thats the way we work". It had become a mindset. Reporting to the same manager, I have never sit in the office beyond 9 hours unless there is a situation (I should also admit that I have worked continuously for 15 days with 3-6 hrs of break in a day but remember that was a sitution, we were in deep soup and the team had to be pulled out at anycost)

    During the end of the year, I was rated better and got better compensation than the people who were "in office" for an average of 14 hrs a day.

    While saying that, I completely agree and understand that there are exceptions.

    Everyone of us is an employee and also a manager with few exceptions) not just at work but every walk of like. If I want to be trusted, I better trust and if I want to work/think free, I better let work/think free.

    There is no oneway!

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  12. My take on this is "as long as there is no takers there wont be any givers" or "as along as there is a takeer, there will be giver"
    Thanks for sharing your side of the story Parthi. You know what, you earned it. There are some managers who ill treat their sub-ordinates to be in power and control of things, but there are some who take care of employees as much as they deserve – like in your case, you had the luxury of being in the good books of the manager while some of your friends did not. The dedication and commitment shown by the employees also matters. Again, it is very subjective. No problem is the same and no one solution fits all.
    In my opinoin, as long as an associate works for apprisals, his manager will treat him/her the same way.
    Well said.

    Everyone of us is an employee and also a manager with few exceptions) not just at work but every walk of like. If I want to be trusted, I better trust and if I want to work/think free, I better let work/think free.
    I have made some mistakes in the past as well by being a not so good team member. The good part was those mistakes were fixable and I was brave enough to see my mistakes. In general, we need to lead by example and not by force. We still may face problems, at least there will be some employees who are inspired to follow.

    Regards,
    Parimala Shankaraiah

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  13. @Parimala,
    I loved your both posts Part I and Part II. Some employees who are under Rob might even become same as him when they become managers. Rob is setting an bad example for his employees under him and until and unless these kind of damagers (Argh! I am sorry for the mistake "managers") are uprooted nothing is going to CHANGE. I have few questions to employees who are working under damagers (managers) like Rob,

    - Why don't you question the process?
    - Why do you nod your head just because he/she is a manager?
    - Why don't you ask on what basis did you give the employee a promotion or star performer award or whatever?
    - A lot more questions can bring little change in managers like Rob. If it doesn't then I don't know what should I say :P.

    @Parimala, Once again great post. You are rocking. I am a regular follower of your blog now and you keep be engaged with your writings hehe. Cool!

    Thanks,
    Santhosh Shivanand Tuppad

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  14. @Santhosh
    Once again great post. You are rocking. I am a regular follower of your blog now and you keep me engaged with your writings hehe. Cool!


    Thank you very much. Glad to hear that you follow my blog regularly :-).

    Congratulations on being the 'uTester in the Spotlight' at uTest. Weekend Testing team is proud of you! Keep Rocking!

    Regards,
    Parimala Shankaraiah

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