First day at Manugistics

I joined Manugistics on Friday, 21 April 2006. At the end of the day, a colleague wanted to know my feedback. I wasn't ready with it at that moment. So, now that I am ready, I thought I might share it here.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. The first thing that happened to me was the best thing. Probably, Manugistics has the tradition of welcoming their employees on their first day by putting up a welcome message, right in the front of the elevators. As the elevator door opened for me, I read the message " Manugistics welcomes Mohd Qais Mujeeb". It was so nice to find my name there as I stepped in to start my first day.

The joining formalities were completed in an hour. Fortunately, the personal data form wasn't very long and tedious. I was helped by my team members and support team to have everything I needed in a record time. In about 90 minutes, I was sitting on my workstation, already having something to do. I was introduced to other team members and they were quick enough to offer me some good companionship and some tips required for work.

In short, I would say: Good Infrastructure, Friendly atmosphere and a cohesive team is all what is needed and I seem to have got it now.

Serving a Notice Period

Disclaimer: Whatever I am going to write is an analysis derived from discussion with several people about their thoughts on serving notice period at their organization of work. This analysis is of generic nature and it doesn't relate to any person or organization in specific.

On Thursday, 20th April, I served my last day at VisualSoft Technologies. It was an end to my 27 month stay at Visualsoft. My experiences at Visualsoft have been fulfilling but last two months were particularly different from the previous 25 months. Quite apparent, last two months were my notice period.

The experience of serving a notice period is altogether different from working as a regular employee. The state of mind of employees serving a notice period works in a different fashion from others. As I have gone through it just recently, I wouldn't want to miss out on this opportunity to write on this topic.

Let me try to discuss this openly though this is an area most people wouldn't want to delve into. Most Notice Period Employees (NPE) think:

• Why should they be compelled to work when they aren't interested in the job?
• Why should they contribute towards something which doesn't fall in the line of their aspirations?
• How can anyone work without any motivation?

One thing is for sure that the creativity and performance levels certainly go down after a person decides to quit an organization. NPE are more worried about their future job and employer. They are busy preparing themselves for future challenges. Surely, any kind of change needs some amount of convincing and readiness.

There could be some NPE who might also want to finish their work and transfer the responsibilities as soon as possible while some others might be reluctant to do so. In this situation, their managers have a mammoth task on their shoulders. To get some work from an employee who doesn't bother about it anymore is a tricky situation. There are several ways in which the managers behave. Some managers use their personal relationship to get the work accomplished while some of them try to use the authority and power to get it. Both methods have their own results. If the manager tries to be considerate, he might not get all the work but in most cases, will be successful in getting the critical tasks completed. In other case, if the manager tries to be bossy, then NPE can become malicious too. They might try to settle scores. One wouldn't know the damage they did until someone else takes charge of affairs and by that time, the NPE are safely out of their reach.

Adding a little more on whatNPE should do in their notice period:

• They should try and complete the pending jobs as soon as possible. This will ease-off the pressure on the last working day when they need time for formalities of relieving process.
• They should not take initiatives for new tasks or assignments as it will only add up to their liabilities.
• They shouldn't invite troubles and deal with patience if they are dragged into some kind of unpleasant discussion.
• Keeping their cool will help them being in a state of well being which will be required when starting new assignments.
• They should try to be the perfect guests if their organization chooses them to be.
• They should be polite to one and all as things wouldn't be the same in future and at least they can carry pleasant memories while they quit.
• Sometimes, leaving people with lasting last-impression is far-fetching too.
• They can choose to update their knowledge in the areas they expect to work in their future organizations.
• They can use their spare time in building up good relationships with their colleagues and buddies.
• They can also catch up with their old friends with whom they haven't been in touch for so long because of work pressures.

From the management POV, some organizations lay stress on relieving as quickly as possible. They believe that once a person has decided to quit, he wouldn't be useful to the organization. Their cost benefit analysis says that:

• Such an employee will become a liability
• Misuse of company assets and resources
• He/she might breach security and loss of information
• His/her prolonged presence may de-motivate other people and their efficiency might go down.

On the contrast, some organizations have strict exit policies where every employee has to serve the stipulated notice period, come what may. Their reasons could be:

• Finding a replacement through recruitment needs time.
• A long notice period may help in cutting down attrition rate.

Many a times, the Management may use its discretion to take the decisions. However, having a flexible exit policy may be the best option in both employees' and the organization's interest.

Why do people commit suicide?

Recently, Medha Patkar's health became critical because she was on Hunger strike for the cause of Narmada farmers. She was forcibly sent to hospital and was charged with a crime of attempting a suicide which is a punishable crime under Section 309 of IPC.

There have been uncountable instances of suicide in debt-ridden farmers of Andhra Pradesh, India. It was almost impossible for them to pay their debts and earn livelihood for their families, at the same time. The government reacted by paying compensations to families of people who committed suicide. The result came as an increase in the numbers as poor farmers started thinking that if they committed suicide then at least their families will get some compensation. If they couldn't do any good while alive then they chose to die for their families.

Whenever I come across a story about people committing suicide, I try to figure what goes on in their minds that takes them to the Dead-end Street of life. Do these suicidal tendencies exist in people right from their birth, are a part of their personality traits or they are acquired right here in this world? Sometimes, when people are not able to achieve something they have desperately wanted and tried for, they think of suicide as the only option. Sometimes, they do it because of their own failure while sometimes they do it on others' failures. Sometimes, it happens when their close associates, friends or relatives, do not fall into their expectations and fall down from their standards. Talking about factors which are considered worth-dying-for, I can list some of them as:

• One's Honour and Freedom
• Failed or Strained Relationships
• Nobody to live for
• Lost purpose of life
• Financial loss and bankruptcy
• Social Cause

I guess that more of people who attempt a suicide are one of the most impulsive thinkers. Highly emotional and hypersensitive people are more prone to such tendencies. Often suicides are attempted in a spurt of emotions but there are instances when the victims have been contemplating the idea for a reasonably long time. They keep debating upon it within themselves. Due to some incident which adds to the problem, they get convinced and go for it.

Well, to sum it all, it needs the knowledge of an evil to eradicate it from the society. This post was just aimed at understanding the tendency of those who commit suicide. Yes, I have lost a childhood friend who committed suicide. Needless to say, I went into utter shock and disbelief when I got that news. I couldn't believe that a friend who was good at studies and seemed happy with things around, took that step. What would have been her state of mind?

I keep asking myself "How can I stop someone from wasting his/her precious life?" Do you do that as well? Think about it...

Dearest one on Earth

Well, I do not know if this goes well with the theme of the blog, but this is one poetry I composed long back and always cherish to recall and recite.

But yes, to some extent, it does seek to analyze the role of an important ingredient of our lives. The irony is that this ingredient is the basis of our existence; however, it is slickly forgotten in our everyday lives. If I still sound indistinct, read this:

When the world turned to a rough end;

When clouds of fear belowed the den;

When the "he" within me trembled;

When with its might the world gambled;

When the scorch of sun had its hand;

And I had yet not learnt to stand;

An ocean of love wiped the clouds away;

A tranquil warmth mitigated the day;

It is she, it is she, it is she...

She secluded the clouds of trepidation;

And taught the world of actualization;

She is the unexcidable essence of Eternity;

Her love the sole upkeeper of humanity;

Behold! The world salutes to her worth;

Yes, MOTHER is the dearest one on Earth.