Production support work, something i hesitantly took up during June of last year. Rather say I was made to take up, or could say was pushed to :D. Had a mindset that it would be a routine kind of work, which would not help me improve in any ways. It should be boring. I should stick to my seat during my shift and so on. The guy whom i had to replace had grown beard, looked sick and when asked didn't really give me any good reasons to take it up. Only thing he could say was with time you would figure out and it would be entirely based on what kind of work you may get. As there was no other go i took it up with a positive approach. Thought would see for few days how it works, if it is as i think i shall find a way out.
The day my actual transition had to start, the guy who was supposed to give me a transition had come clean shaved. It made all my feelings more strong :). I went and said to him "Getting me into this, you finally found a way out uh!!. Got yourself clean shaven just to prove the same is it :P. I can't even grow beard to show people how sick i feel to work in this ;)". Yeah i said him exactly the same when he had laughed aloud.
Transition was given for two weeks after which he left to India. Its around 10 months now and today was my last day in Production support. Got a severity one ticket just an hour before my shift completion to make it happening :). Handed over all the documents i had made during my tenure, closed all my tickets and bid adieu. Strange but true ( a common one liner of mine ) i felt bad that this was end of it. You may be wondering, rather than being happy what makes me feel so ?. I could say not one thing there were lots of things i learnt during this period which made me grow personally and professionally, which i feel would not be the case if i was not in production support.
I was planning to go visit my home place and thats when all of this started. My managers agreed to get me a replacement and asked me to give minimum five week of transition. I was shocked " Five weeks !!". I had always expected this day to come so had prepared documents briefing out every other work i do, whichever i felt would come handy and can reduce my effort as well of others down the line. I had to take up the other girls work and continue with the same once i came back. It was time to say bye to Tickets and say hello to Requests, offshore. First thing which came to my mind was calls during night :D. Oops my sleep!!. I am someone who hates to be disturbed while asleep. As i have done this for the first 8 months at onsite and had already learnt a couple of lessons, this time i knew where to draw lines and how to define things. Hope to stick to it :). Last friday got to know that i had to pick up a request which needs to be staged in SIT on May 9th as a part of transition, starting work on it this thursday, and to add to it i need to patch-up for around 20 - 30 hrs of work. I kept thinking in my mind Sat and Sun, total 16 hrs i could patch up even if i worked for the whole of my weekend. I know no matter how many talks that needs to accomplished within given duration. You need 20 hours for 40 hrs estimate is what my higher up said. I agreed to put in my best possible effort but made sure not to set any expectations. Maximum i could fight out was for getting comp-offs for the additional hours.
Things started flashing in my mind "Its 2+ yrs after i have done any sort of COBOL coding, had been into SAS at offshore for more than a yr and at onsite was mainly review work and stuff. Last 10 months i have hardly done any coding. But one thing positive which came in my mind was last 10 months i have learnt how to make things work in the last minute, how to analyze stuff, how to find the root cause, working smartly and effectively in the given short duration and keeping client happy. This thought of mine drove away every other how's off my mind. "
I was waiting to get the documents so i could go thru them and plan on how should i execute it to completion. I got a grab on the documents, only today afternoon, just before i left for my day from office. I am yet to go thru it and see what big a mountain stands in front of me :D. No matter how big i know i need to climb :P .
Keeping aside what's in front i would rather want to speak about what i left and what i accomplished during the last months which makes me write this blog.
Effective communication...
I could definitely say my communication skills, accent, tone of speech everything has dramatically improved. I was a very moody person, may talk or may not talk at all. In support that does not work. You are bound to pick the call, make calls, answer people who drop by your desk irrespective of what mood you are in.
Based on whom you are conversing with, what you are conversing about, the tone needs to be changed. You need to be demanding ( to get things done ), polite ( to keep the client satisfying), aggressive ( to get things done from someone who is not willing to) and so on ... Overall you need to be a good judge of the situation and need to act in the righteous way instantly.
Made me learn " Same line mean different when said in different situations, tone and to different people. Use the right one in the right manner at the right time. "
Man...I would miss saying " Hi!! This is Kavitha from Support group calling w.r.t magic ticket i am working on... blah blah blah. Please get back to me at extension number 43785 once you receive this voice mail. Wish you have a nice evening" or saying something like " Hiii this is Kavitha here, how may i help you..... Have a nice evening. .... Call me back in case you figure out something later" .... goes on :)
Written communication....
It helped me improve, day in and day out, my writing skills. Putting what is in my mind in a crisp and clear way. Filtering stuffs and pulling out what adds value to whomever i am shooting it to ( Business, Tech lead.. ) and putting it down the best possible way. What?. How?. Whom?. My typing speed as improved as well i guess.
My favorite one liners which you may find on 99% of my mails, which i guess i could type in my dreams as well "Please let me know in case anything mentioned above is not clear... Please let me know in case any more information is needed ... Please let me know in case of any issues or concerns.... Please let me know in case anything needs to be done from my side..." .... :)
Made me learn to use Please, Sorry, Thank you, Welcome in the most liberal and right way.
Working under pressure....
Yeah this was the best part. If something important gets screwed up then everyones eyes and ears are towards you. There are few calling, few mailing, few at your desk. No matter what you need to work towards a solution, need to keep your mind cool, answer the phone calls in the coolest possible way and boost the clients confidence saying things would be straightened out. Figure out the time, effort, help needed, act accordingly to get them. Send instant replies to mails, not allowing people to panic. Portraying your best to people at your desk so they get convinced that things would be bought back to normal in the fastest and smartest way. You are a Multi-tasker, entirely multitasking;). You go poof when such things happen.
But I say this is the best possible situation when you tend to become a cool dude. No matter what, personal or professional, you learn to deal with things with a lot of patience and with with a smile ;)
Prioritizing....
There may be n things which would come up. You need to judge with your best possible knowledge, prioritize and execute. If you don't learn prioritizing you land up getting screwed.
Decision making....
You are the best judge. Decide and execute. Most of the times you wont have anybody to let you know what needs to be done. You need to figure out the best, be sure of what you are doing and not wasting time doing the same. It increases your confidence level dramatically. You need to reason out to yourself your action and bare in mind that you are sole responsible for its result.
.... i could keep adding to this list.... but let me not :)
I had a different working technique before i moved to production support. I know what's my work and work my best and longest when in my best possible mood. So when i am out of mood i could skip from working as i have already done and kept things a bit more than needed. In production support it was entirely different. Everyday i get up in the morning without knowing what lies ahead for me. From start of my day till it ends, its stays unpredictable. This was the biggest change demanded from me. "Working when needed not when i am willing :) ". It was a bit difficult in the start but with time i learnt it. Now i lead my life as well in an unpredictable way ;).
Before hand i used to take a hell lot of coffee breaks or go for a walk once in a while and used to feel without a break i can never work. But in support have learnt working without breaks, coffee, having my lunch at desk as the work is time critical. I happened to change a lot of my habits which i once felt where unchangeable :).
" Time is ultimate definer. Time demands you need to change. More you resist more it hurts but you have to one or the other day. So instead of resisting i learnt to change for good and bring out my best. "
Wrapping up i would like to say "Every thing in life happens for a reason, every end has a new beginning and i am sure this end is a mark of a new beginning. Curiously i wait today to explore what is that life as in stake for me. When life says " Ha ha ha"... have i learnt to say it back "He he he" ? ( No mater what ... when... where ) ".
No comments:
Post a Comment