Customer Care Challenges

With competition rapidly increasing in the market place, the “product” is no longer a sole winner for any company. Customer Support has gathered importance like never before and every organization today has an increased focus towards the support function. The movie Rocket Singh which came a couple of years back, clearly portrayed the shift in the customer’s preferences.

Thus 24 x 7 Customer Care Centres have become a norm today. Even the smallest and insignificant company today boasts of a Toll Free Number. Major companies are now also resorting to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to engage with customers. No doubt there has been a tremendous improvement in the way customers get support as compared to the situation earlier. But there still is a long way to go when it comes to the “care” aspect of it or in terms of providing real support.

Firstly, the customer care executives, who answer your phone call / chat, are trained with Standard Operating Procedures on how to handle queries. When you mail a query, they just copy and paste an answer which is already a part of the FAQ they have been equipped with. The moment your query is different from the normal and frequently asked ones, comes the real test of the support system. Most of the times, the response I have received to a query I have asked is something that I already know.

Secondly, the response time to queries is a key indicator. The time taken to answer a call, the time it takes for you to navigate through the IVRS and get to what you are actually looking at, the time it takes to talk to a Customer Support Executive from the time you have dialed the number is pretty long on an average for most of the Indian companies.

Third is the question of empowerment. Most of these executives are hardly empowered to take decisions. As a result the call keeps escalating on and on till it reaches the right person. By that time, the caller usually loses patience. Imagine a situation when you are talking to an executive, have taken a long time to explain him your problem, and he is not in a position to solve it for you and you have to go through the same thing explaining it all over again to someone else. Alternately, you have explained everything to someone and you call gets disconnected for some reason. You do not know how to get in touch with the person you have already discussed the matter with!

What is important to be remembered is that a person calls the customer care only as a last resort. He usually calls only when he has tried and explored other means and methods to solve his problems. In such an instance, the quicker he gets a solution, or a direction towards it, the better. This requires people in such positions to be competent enough to answer any kind of queries that might arise. They need to be street smart and handle each and every query that comes their way. And most importantly, it requires a lot of patience to listen to frustrated and angry customers throughout the day and still manage to smile at the end of it all.

It is simply like this. Till the time it was not there, it really did not matter. But now that it has started, and now that people have been made to taste it, the demands will only increase. What started as a luxury, is today a necessity. What started as a “good to have” quality, has today become a “must have” quality of service delivery.

Aspiring Managers..... Time to be mentally strong!!

A hot topic which brewed quite a strong storm a couple of months back, I have been wondering whether I should comment on it or not. I am referring to the first barrier for entry to B Schools – the entrance tests - and all the wrong reasons for which different tests have come under the scanner.

CAT – the single largest test taken by the highest number of people who aspire a career in the business world – went online a couple of years back. And ever since that happened, it has only been marred in controversies. This year, the controversy cake was taken by SNAP – for faulty question paper setting and also to have some questions directly picked from preparation material provided by “Coaching Centers”

Having closely been involved in work related to Admissions of a B School for two years, I have a couple of observations to make. Referring to the SNAP fiasco, there apparently were some questions where none of the options given were right. There apparently were some questions which had multiple correct answers. There might have been major mistakes in the question paper and the authorities conducting the test need to be meticulous and have due diligence when you are conducting something at such a large scale which has such a large impact. But let us park that thought here.

It is true that a lot at stake in these exams. Candidates prepare for months and go through a lot to crack these tests in order to get a call from B Schools of their choice. It’s the pinnacle of months of waiting and sacrifice and the probability of succeeding at times is lesser than 0.01%. The pressure is tremendous because it stems out of expectations – your own and your folks, and also because if you don’t succeed this time, the wait continues for another year!

Mistakes in the questions set however doesn’t give the test takers a license to take on the test conducting authority. It was hard to digest B School aspirants vent out their anger in public, on news channels, on online forums, creating videos and viral campaigns trying to fight against the so called mishaps. I think such an action is unjustified and uncalled for, for the simple reason that indulging in something of that magnitude is not going to reverse whatever has happened. Public demonstrations, showing mob mentality, displaying traits of netagiri while responding to situations under frustration, anger and disgust is not going to solve or simplify the issue in any way.

Figure this. What if those few incorrect questions were intentionally put in the question paper? Everyone who takes the test gets to answer the same question paper. So there is absolutely no point in sitting and complaining about it. Different tests assess you on different aspects. Some test your knowledge, some your speed, some your agility, and some a combination of all of these in various proportions. There are certain tests in which you are required to mark all the options that are right. And there are some, which might not have a right answer at all. This might just have been one of those that test your ability to spot potholes on your path and how you navigate through them! Why do we always need to go to a test – that too a competitive one at it - with a certain preconceived notions?

Life is full of surprises. Everything in life doesn’t come with loud announcements. Not all situations can be addressed with fixed algorithms. As a manager, not everything that you face in the business world comes with a definite solution. A lot of occasions arise, where one has to take a decision with limited resources. That time, you cannot sit and complain about it, for you will be branded as incompetent. And to handle all these, the most basic requirement is a calm mind that thinks rather than an impulsive aggression that speaks!

At the end of the day, the B Schools are looking at selecting the people who show characteristics and potential to lead businesses tomorrow. Further rounds of selections anyways make use of different tools and criteria to evaluate the candidates and filter the pool so that only the best survive. So what’s wrong if some of those is built in the first phase of filtering?

Simply put, MBA is just a journey, not the destination in itself. Entrance tests are some of those milestones you pass on the way. If one cannot handle simple hurdles, how would he gear up for bigger challenges?

The difficult part of being on the other side of "Six Feet"

Year 1997.

As a school going young kid, I was very happy. Along with toughly fought academics, I was now on records a topper in one more aspect in my class. At five and a half inches over five feet, I was the tallest!

Fast Forward to year 2012. Surely and certainly at the end of my vertical growth, I am a tad under Six feet four inches. Am I still as happy? Ummmm… Well…..

Being tall is undoubtedly cool. It gives you that towering personality which in first look can give a great inferiority complex to a lot of people. But without going into all that, let me try to draw your attention towards the other side of being tall.

The most basic disadvantage is that almost all the products that are mass produced come in standard sizes. The taller you are, the farther away you are from the standard. Be it the clothes you wear, the footwear you use, the mattresses/cots and bed sheets you use your choice gets limited. You might really like a particular design or a colour combination, but it might not be available in the size that you are looking at. Many a times, you will be forced to go for customized orders, which take their own sweet time not to mention the additional burden it’ll put on your wallets.

Next comes the comfort while you are travelling. Be it air, rail or bus travel, you are never at ease! The leg rooms available in the buses and aircrafts are so meager that you will simply be waiting for the journey to get over and run out of the place. You’ll start cursing your height when people start brushing against your feet every second minute when you are attempting to catch on long lost sleep on a long distance train journey. Travelling is one of the biggest nightmares I personally have. That’s not all. You sit on a two wheeler, and appear as if you are riding a bicycle. Your knees at times get locked with the handle bars when you try taking a deep turn. Four wheelers are no different. A height as big as that, drastically reduces the alternatives you have!

Then, as a tall person, you are easy to be spotted from a distance even in a thick crowd. It’s difficult to hide from others (read people you want to avoid). You need to take extra care about yourself when you go to new places. When I go to my hometown, where most of the houses are still of the ancestral days, I need to be very careful when moving between rooms as the doors are very short. Additionally the ceilings too are pretty low, which necessitates me to have a watch on my hand movements!

You are tall, will require you to bend a lot. If you weigh disproportionately, the whole weight falls on your ankle and that goes for a toss. Wrong postures can lead to major problems on the spinal cord! Though everyone can be prey to problems stated here, the tall ones are slightly more vulnerable!

So yeah, being tall is not easy! It comes with its own, unique, unavoidable problems. And the bigger challenge is you can’t do anything about it and you just have to live with it! :)

Co-existence and NOT the survival of the fittest!

“The road belongs to others as much as it does to you!” shouted my uncle seated next to me. A few years back I had just got my driving license and was driving on the highway when someone tried to overtake me. Seeing this, I too accelerated denying him enough room to clear me and move on. Had it not been for the skill of the driver and of the vehicle coming from the opposite direction, I would have probably been witness to, and perhaps even the reason behind one of the most horrible road accidents! The learning still remains.

Think about it. I am sure you would be seeing it every day in and around you. People behaving as if they are the kings! Breaking traffic signals at will, entering no entry zones, riding on the wrong side of the road, parking randomly etc are things we have all seen happening. Some of us probably even do it every day! These people hardly think about the inconvenience it causes to the others around them, be it fellow motorists, be it pedestrians or the society in general. Today, it is all about I, Me, Myself! It’s true that basic human instincts might be the reason that propels one to remaining ahead. That maybe the reason why one starts honking at a signal even when it is 10 seconds to turn green. That maybe the reason why one doesn’t even consider stopping and instead accelerate further when he sees the light turning yellow from a distance. It is hard to even think about the risk everyone is being exposed to. Consider the amount of anxiety and stress it causes! Consider the poor pedestrians, who have to suffer all these, be doubly (perhaps even more) careful and always be attentive and watchful. One momentary lapse of concentration could mean disaster.

Driving is not about survival of the fittest. It is more about coexistence! You are not responsible for your safety alone, but also of the safety of everyone else who is driving around you! My driving license shouts “Driving is a privilege, not a right”

A friend of mine who used to drive eccentrically fast used to say “Driving is all about taking decisions in a split second, and I am able to do it! So there should not be a cause to worry!” But the question isn’t about your ability alone to take split second decisions. Safety on the road is also a function of the ability of everyone else to take decisions in the same split second as you do! And most of them may not have the same kind of a response time as you have!

It is true that today, vehicles have become more and more affordable. Infrastructure in terms of roads, parking facilities etc have not grown in proportion to the growth of vehicles on the road. Not everyone has good traffic sense. And that creates more problems for everyone! When I say traffic sense, I am referring to that City Bus driver who stops right in the middle of the road to pick up and drop passengers. I am referring to that SUV driver who has to take a right at the junction, but sees that there is a green to go straight and goes till the junction and blocks the traffic heading straight! I am referring to those lorry drivers who occupy the three lanes on the Mumbai Pune Expressway on the Khandala section, each travelling at 9.42 kmph, 9.81 kmph and 10.27 kmph respectively! I am referring to those fickle minded people who keep changing lanes just because the other lane ‘appears to be moving faster’!

Education is an important part to develop this traffic sense in a society. These basic things have to be imbibed in everyone right from childhood. Punishment for the guilty also needs to be severe. If educated and reasonable people like us tweak rules here and there for the sake of convenience, what do we tell others? How will the country prosper? Most of us sit and curse the traffic which is a major cause of our worries, especially in big cities. But it is we, who have to start doing something about it. Instead of jumping a signal to make sure you reach your destination early, you can very well start five minutes early. Travelling through a no entry in the pretext of reducing the distance by a few kms and reduce on fuel consumption, should in no way be acceptable when you compare the kind of misery you are going to inflict upon a lot others.

As they say, charity begins at home!

In Hindsight...

Have you realized that doing something new for the first time might be difficult, but doing the same thing again will not be as difficult as it was earlier? Have you ever been in a situation when you are in doubt about which way to go, confused and baffled about the road ahead and then when you are actually through, you sit back and reflect on it to realize that it was all so simple? You are often encountered with instances where you have different alternatives to select from, you end up spending a lot of time on it to make sure that you select the right one, and then once it is done in totality, you look back and think it was so obvious on how you should have dealt with it and wonder if it was worth the time and effort!

Usually, when you face something fundamentally new about which you may not have a clue, you really don’t know how to go about it. You try to gather your thoughts from your past experience, from popular wisdom, by consulting people who might have been through something similar and try to manage it. Whatever you do, you are never sure if it’s the right way or not, but you think that it’s the best way out. You try to speculate on how things are going to unfold based on your actions and other reactions and take that stand, which you feel is the best suited for that circumstance.

However, after that moment has passed by, when you begin reflecting on it, you may realize that you could have done something else, or something you did could have been done in a different manner, something could have been avoided and so on. This usually happens because the moment has already unfolded. The time has already elapsed. You already know the outcome of your actions and what repercussions they have had. You know how people have reacted and what they opine about the same. All these parameters now become inputs for your thoughts when you begin reflecting back on it. That’s when you begin feeling certain things were so obvious and you can’t believe you actually missed out on them.

It is not necessarily about instances and situations in particular. It happens in everyday life. Lots of things keep happening in and around you on a daily basis. You do not necessarily give heed to it because you think that is how it is meant to be normally. You do not try to read too much between the lines about minor changes that you see happening around you regularly. But when you realize that something has happened which you had not expected (and more so when it might have done you more harm than good), you go back and probe in detail. When you start doing it, you will find it much easier to connect the dots. You will start remembering small incidents which you never thought were part of a big story. All loose ends get tied up and you can see a clear picture in front of your eyes.

In a way, it’s important not to worry too much about what people say about something once it has already happened. People will keep talking because whatever they have to say doesn’t have any consequence whatsoever on what has already happened. They have no liabilities whatsoever whereas you had to think about everything when you had to decide on what to do. You did something because with all your commitment, you thought what you did was the best thing to do at that point under those given circumstances. Given a choice, or a second opportunity, you too would perhaps handle things differently.

Because, in hindsight, everything can be done better!

Patriotism

It was 26th January just about a week back and we Indians celebrated Republic Day.

An interesting conversation I overheard in office.

A senior colleague inching towards retirement to a freshly graduated engineer: “Hey how was Republic Day? I did not see you in office for the flag hoisting ceremony. Another holiday and you would have partied all night long and slept all day through, huh? God alone knows what where has all the patriotism gone and what will happen to this country!”

My first reaction on hearing this was, “???”. The young chap was wise enough not to drive the debate further and cleverly giggle his way out of it. But think about it.

Does patriotism only mean hoisting the national flag twice a year and saluting it? Standing in the movie halls when the national anthem is being played is patriotism? Singing out or humming Vande Mataram, Ae Mere Vatan ke logon and some Manoj Kumar starrer songs on I Day and R Day alone is patriotism? Exchanging messages and mails talking about patriotic things on R Day and I Day is patriotic? Waving plastic flags and wearing clothes with the shades of the national flag on those days is patriotism? Only those who die on the front, protecting the country against the external enemy or those who injure themselves seriously protecting the civilians against internal enemy are patriotic?

I would beg to differ. No doubt our soldiers are patriotic. But to say they alone are patriotic would be wrong. Patriotism need not necessarily be seen or heard. According to me, anyone who does anything which benefits the nation directly or indirectly is patriotic. Someone who makes sure he discharges all his duties towards the nation like voting during elections, paying taxes on time etc is also patriotic. Someone who follows the laws of the land say at the traffic signals which directly helps the society and its inhabitants is also patriotic. One who makes sure that he doesn’t litter the place and ensures that his country/state/city/village remains clean is also patriotic. One who works selflessly to educate fellow people from his society and help them stand on their feet is also patriotic.

“Patriotism is not short and frenzied outbursts of emotion, but a steady and tranquil dedication of a lifetime”, remarked Adlai Stevenson, a US politician and statesman of the 19th century. I had heard it as a kid. And I still remember it, word to word! With a change in generations, only the perspectives might have changed.

Once when in school, I didn’t attend the R Day function at school because I had never watched the Republic Day parade in Delhi and desperately wanted to watch the same. And I clearly remember how my principal had ridiculed me in front of the entire school assembly about how I was not patriotic! The conversation between my two colleagues reminded me that very incident!

Of Strong Opinions and the need to let go at times...

Have you ever been a part of a heated debate or a discussion that fails to neither die nor reach a conclusion? If not, have you at least been a witness to such a discussion, either in private or public? Can you recollect how some people get so involved in the discussion, that they totally forget the surroundings? The volume goes up. Hands start moving. Temperatures rise. And sadly, no quantifiable conclusion at the end of it all.

Just trying to analyze, one of my major observations is that when someone is involved with something so passionately, you find it really hard to let things go. Then you tend to get a bit more aggressive without even realizing it. More often than not, you fall in love with your ideas and opinions. This usually blinds you to other points of view and perspectives.

Now, this can get compounded when you realize that there exists a difference of opinion and fail to acknowledge that there is one. So why does this happen? Probably it has got something to do with the way we are brought up. We grow up learning to take pride in what we have, what is ours. It can be anything, an inanimate object, an out of the blue idea, a person in your life, an abstract concept, an accidental discovery or even an award or recognition. We feel proud when we achieve something and it’s natural to become possessive about that. Now when you are overly possessive about something, it becomes difficult to let that go especially when it has taken a lot of efforts to achieve that.

But if you look at the bigger picture, it is very important to let go of certain things at times. If you expect your opinion to be accepted or considered, you should be equally open to other opinions. A difference in opinions may always be a blessing in disguise, as it allows you to get into the detail and evaluate options in a much better way. No doubt, too many opinions may get you confused about which way is right and which way to go. But it is always better than having only one opinion when you are never sure if it’s the right one. Diversity in thoughts only gives you different perspectives, which eventually might make you consider something which you might have otherwise totally ignored.

It is as simple as these two small lessons I got as a kid. First one being, all these things are like a heap of sand in your fist. The harder you try to clench your fist, the more the sand flows out. And the second one being, unless you let go of things in your hand, you cannot grab newer and perhaps better things that are coming your way.

So the next question that arises is how! How do you make changes to the way you are conditioned, to let go of anything as and when required. The older you grow, more difficult it gets to change your ways. Any thoughts?

Because, the heart still bleeds blue....

Remember that towering six over long on, by MS Dhoni in the Wankhede around nine months back? Moment of the year. It’s not easy for anyone from my generation, to forget that moment and those that followed - the plain reaction on MSDs face, running back to grab the stumps, hugging Yuvraj at the other end, Gary Kirsten erupting in the Dressing Room, followed by others in tandem and then a wild rush on to the ground, the broad smile on Sachin’s face and the aggression in Bhajji’s body language. All that came after a long wait and after a lot of pain. Surrendering meekly after being close to the top in 1996, performing below average in 1999, being closer and stumbling at the final hurdle in 2003, shocking first round exit in 2007, we had seen it all.

The World Cup victory of 2011 came with a lot of efforts, from a lot of people. It was a classic case of team work, where every member of the team made significant contributions throughout the tournament to ensure we emerged as champions. Behind the screens as well, a lot went into it. From the coach to the support staff, from the families of the players to the players themselves, a lot of hard work, single minded dedication, unwavering focus and sacrifice. If you want to know the magnitude of it all, dig into the archives of Cricinfo and you’ll get loads of them. This team has shown that they have it in them, the character to win consistently, the hunger to achieve, and the passion to scale new heights.

Yes, we’ve lost 7 tests abroad, in a row. We’ve failed as a team. Our team hasn’t lived up to the expectations of this huge country, where a billion people come up with as many opinions. Yes, the batting has failed, when the bowling clicked. The bowling did not complement when the batsmen made hay. The leadership has been anything but inspiring, unlike in the past. And there is no doubt about it.

But hey! It’s alright! What’s so unforgivable about it? It’s not the end of the world. It might just be the opportunity, the missing piece, which could motivate them to come back hard. Remember 2007, when similar emotions flowed through the entire nation, following our early exit from the World Cup? Did we not win the T20 World Cup within 6 months? We did right? When we are ready to accept that positive change, we must also be ready to take defeat in our stride positively. The problem with us is that we take things to the heart and react way too spontaneously when it comes to cricket. The team wins, and they are honored like Gods. They lose and they should go to the gallows! Isn’t it a bit too extreme on the cricketers? After all, they are humans!

Yes, we may not have dominated the cricket world for as long as Australians did in the previous decade or the mighty West Indians did in the 70s and early 80s. But to me, it only means that things are not one sided. That the level of competition has improved. And in a way, it’s good for the game of cricket as a whole! A world of see-sawing and a world of ups and downs would only make the game even more exciting. Did anyone really enjoy Formula One when Michael Schumacher used to win races singlehandedly? The matter of interest only used to be who else finished on the podium. Or tennis, when say a Martina Navratilova or Pete Sampras won slam after slam after slam. Sportspeople like them glorified the sport, the game, because of which it has become so competitive and interesting these days.

Yes, a lot may be needed to be done about our cricket. A lot of mistakes might have happened and unless we learn from them and correct ourselves, things may not change soon. But, it’s just a game at the end of the day! Nothing has been lost other than the rankings. There is absolutely no need to lose respect for the team. As someone said, form is temporary, class is permanent. At this point, the team is down on morale, on motivation. And it is precisely at this time, that the team needs its fans to stand behind them even more. Give them that assurance that we will support them, come what may!

Yes, we may have fallen, and it might have been a really mighty fall. But it’s not about how hard you fall, it’s about how high you bounce back. And I firmly believe this team, to bounce back and do so strongly!

Because, this heart did not stop bleeding blue after 2^nd April 2011. It still bleeds blue….

What's ailing Indian Cricket?

Six consecutive Test losses abroad for a team that was No. 1 in Tests not so long back. Obviously it is a bit difficult to chew. Sad as it may seem, however much one may wish to write each passing loss as a bad dream to start fresh, the ghosts of defeat come back to haunt again. And some of these losses have come where the team has struggled to take the match to the 5th day!

Perhaps the best batting line up in the world, where the top order has probably the greatest experience than any other team as a whole, currently playing anywhere in the world. This line up has failed consistently to post a 300 in a test match? Sounds ridiculous. The captain, who till not so long back couldn’t have done anything wrong, seems to be not doing anything right of late! The joy of conquering the world in the Limited Overs edition in April, is definitely short lived, if you cannot sustain the performance in the more challenging longer format of the game. So what exactly is ailing the World Champions?

For starters, we have become too heavily dependent on the Laxman, Dravid and Sachin trio with Sehwag to lay the foundation in the recent years. But somewhere down the line, we seem to have missed a trick. We probably have taken too long to realize that they are not going to be around forever. We do not have a second line of players who will step into their shoes when they retire, and that is bound to happen sooner or later. Yuvraj, Raina, Kohli, Gambhir, Rohit who have all been a part of the One Day team for quite some time now, have failed miserably in the longer format. But wait, who is responsible? I wouldn’t blame them entirely. Whenever they have got an opportunity, it has been because some of the big four has been injured or rested! There has never been an assurance that one would get a run for a while to play irrespective of his performance. Someone playing at that level is always under a great amount of pressure! And I think he deserves a good run at it! But then, when you are playing for your country, you need to make the best of every opportunity that comes your way!

Secondly, how often do we play for the team? Have you ever seen Sehwag play as per what the game demands ? Yes, aggression is great, but hey, everyday is not Sunday! Sehwag would have singlehandedly won us a lot of matches, but we have also lost a lot of matches, when he just throws away his wicket, when it is absolutely not required, exposing the middle order! The Indian team is so heavily dependent on Sehwag to chase targets in the 4th innings that the moment he gets out, the team is immediately on the back foot, allowing the opposition to come right on top, even if you are chasing something like a 270! Come on, a great batting line up cannot chase a modest 270 in two and a half sessions??? Sehwag is just an example. Many more can be cited.

Brings me to another point – are we putting the future of Indian cricket at stake by persisting a bit too much with Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar? Yes, their contribution to Indian cricket in the past has been unmatchable. They have been (and are still) the backbone of the side for a long time. But that doesn’t mean you live in the past! You are not going to ask Sunil Gavaskar to play for the country just because he has 10000 Test runs against his name. We are a country, where idols mean more to us than the game. Don’t be surprised if the country celebrates Sachin’s 100th Ton even if India loses that match. Conversely, many would be disappointed about Sachin not reaching to that landmark of an achievement, than about us losing a game. We have made mistakes earlier too. In order to help Kapil Dev break Richard Hadlee’s record, we kept persisting with him for matches together, where towards the end, all he used to get was one or two wickets every match, thereby reducing Kapil Dev of all the glory he had earned in his prime and also directly cut short the careers of upcoming bowlers like Srinath and Prasad.

As a long term strategy, I think we should have an exit plan for the senior players, in the process building a strong bench strength which is sorely missing today! No matter how great a player is, how much he has accomplished individually or for the team, the needs of the team are paramount at any point of time. Honestly, careers spanning more than 10-12 years sound stupid to me! Player management is very important. Talent should be identified at an early age, trained in all aspects, made fit for the big scene, and should enter the picture only when he is fully prepared to take up the challenges. What happens in our context? A couple of good domestic seasons, a great run in the IPL and you are a part of the National Team! Players should come in at the right time and leave at the right time. Identifying this timing is also very important! 20 years at the international level, simply undigestable! Have you ever seen top performing Olympians like say Ian Thorpe or Michael Phelps or Carl Lewis or Marion Jones participating in more than 2 Olympics? At the maximum it is 3!

Yes, you might not have a Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid. But cricket is a team game. It doesn’t run by one or two individuals. Indian team played and won even before they arrived at the scene and will play and win even after they leave!

Next comes our over reliance on spin! Our wickets are built to suit spin and we are arguably the best players of spin in the world. Outsiders struggle when they come here against the turning ball. But wait, what happens when we go abroad? We struggle ever more with the swinging and seaming ball, don’t we? What efforts have we taken to counter that? We can atleast simulate conditions at 2-3 locations in the country, which are similar to wickets across the world, bouncy, juicy green tops and make our players get enough practice before embarking on difficult tours. Isn’t difficult at all. Just a little bit of a vision and a will is required to implement it!

Another important aspect of Player Management is to manage the fitness of the players. Consider the Indian team calendar for 2011. January – South Africa, Feb & March – World Cup, April & May – IPL, June & July – West Indies tour, July through September – England Tour, Sept & Oct – Champions League, Oct end – England comes to India, November – West Indians come home, December onwards – Tour of Austraila! With such a heavily packed schedule, injuries were bound to happen as they happened in England. The manner in which replacements were announced every day till the team left for Australia shows the sad state of affairs! There must be a cap on the number of games a player plays every year. X Tests, Y ODIs and Z T20s, with a few practice matches here and there! The pool should be rotated! Every condition requires different skills and talents, and you should only play your best bet in such conditions.

Next, specialists are meant to be specialists. Don’t make an Irfan Pathan out of R Ashwin. Just because he is doing well with the bat, please don’t start promoting him as the all rounder you always wanted! Whatever comes from his bat is an icing on the cake, an addition to the total! But don’t count him in your scheme of things! He is in the team to bowl, let him do that well! It really doesn’t make sense to have Sehwag bowl as many overs as any other front line bowler does!

Finally, the people who run cricket make a lot of difference, if things have to be changed. Certain things like what I have mentioned above, can be conceived, understood and appreciated only by someone who has been close to the game or been a part of it. Politicians at the top would guarantee commercial success no doubt, but we need to take a call on what do we really want out of the game we love the most!

I know I have written a lot of radical things in here, things which are totally different from how they are being done today. A lot of you may completely disagree with me. But think about it with an open mind. We are talking about Indian cricket as a whole, not about any particular player! If we are concerned about how we bounce back to the top, and remain there consistently, we need to do things differently. And this might just be the first step!

Lessons from the 'Top of the heART'

2011 has set into the pages of history and a new dawn has arrived in 2012. Personally, 2011 was a year of great learnings. The early part of 2011 marked the culmination of an exciting chapter of my life, as a student of MBA, and everything that came with it. Intending to summarize some of the lessons I have learnt being at the top of a team, an opportunity I had, to work with some great people.

• The carrot is usually more effective than the stick, in a professional set up. When you are leading a group of people, you should be a good motivator. Different things motivate different people. Some are motivated by rewards and awards; some by recognition and limelight. Some are motivated just by the time you spend with them and some by the work itself and the prospects it has in it for them. Some people motivate themselves, while for others, a little bit of pushing is required. Identify what motivates whom, and do just that. You can make a big difference just by your words and actions.

• It is very important to have a proper plan for the future. The performance of the successor he leaves behind is an important parameter on which a leader’s tenure will be assessed. Whatever be the means, towards your end, you need to ensure that the one who succeeds you is groomed well enough to take on the responsibility and prepared for it. You should want him to be better than you and take your legacy to newer heights. As a leader, you also should wish that your people and team succeed. Waiting for them to make mistakes and pounce on them is a very bad idea. You can never be a winner, as long as each and every member of your team doesn’t win!

• You may be used to doing things a certain way, but you have to be open to different ways of doing it. There may be better ways of doing things, and you need to realize that. When you entrust someone to do something, trust that person fully. Encourage making and learning from mistakes. The moment, the fear of failure and its consequences is out of the mind, one can work wonders!

• As a leader or a manager, your job is not to do things, but to get things done. You might be capable and competent to work single handedly, but that is not what a team is there for. By taking things on yourself, you are making two big mistakes. You are forcing your way of working and thinking on others and curtailing creativity. Secondly, you are keeping people ill prepared for the bigger picture, when you will no longer be there.

• A thing is done, only when it is completely done and you see it! Lots of equations keep changing every now and then. Dark horses come out of places least expected. It’s like those magic birthday candles that keep lighting up themselves when you blow them off. Your job is over only when you see all the candles are blown off and none of them is lighting up again!

• Talking to the other person is the best mode of communication. Face to face or otherwise, it helps you to gauge how the person is reacting to whatever you say and enables you to change if need be. Emails and SMSs may leave a long trail of messages and a proof of your communication, but if you need proof of something like this, it only means that you do not trust your people. If your intention is to make a safe passage out for yourself first, you will never be a good ‘leader’

• The most important however, is to be prepared to take the blame of failure on oneself and not passing anything on. When someone from your team is in the line of fire, in front of the larger community you will have to protect him/her. You are also significantly responsible for the failure, because somewhere, you have not led well. It is important to admonish your team / members in private, but it is more important that you appreciate them in public. It is after all, your team! You need to be very sensitive about what people have to say about your people! You can be a good leader only when you are possessive about your team!