Work in Product Companies vs work in Service Companies

I started my career in a product company. After being worked for 3.5 years, I decided to switch job to a service company where I experienced shocking change wrt work culture, quality of work etc. Hence I would like to write down my experience of working in a product company to that of a service company. It would be helpful for those in dilemma while switching jobs.

First of all, there is a drastic change in work culture between two kinds of business.

In a product company, there is usually a team where there is already a defined process, tools, methodologies and experienced people to provide guidance. It would be lot helpful especially for freshers. When compared to a service company, there is no defined process as such (although many might claim to be a CMM level 5 company). Team members are not very cordial as there is immense pressure on each individual to a short deadline.

In terms of quality of work, there is deeper understanding of domain, technology in a product company where as domain knowledge, understanding of tools hardly matter in a service company. The Nature of work can be very stressful in a service company where one is expected to put in extended working hours during weekdays and weekends. Creativity and innovation in work generally tend to take a back seat in a service company due to work pressure and short deadlines.

But one can expect a quick vertical growth in a service company compared to Product Company.

Working in Service Company is like investing in short term stocks where you expect to get quicker smaller returns where as working in product company is like investing in long term stocks where one can expect huge benefits after long time of many years.

But one might tend to feel stagnated and at times frustrated due to slow nature of environment in a product company especially if one doesn’t like what he does. In those scenarios, one should take a right decision to switch job based on interest rather than points like money, level of experience and designation. It’s up to an individual where he is happy working and what his priorities are…..

Recycling for a Better Tomorrow- by Modhu

Eventually small particles of plastic become part of our soil and percolates into our water bodies. But what happens to the plastic that has not found a place in the land fill or in the recycling factory? They just drift around us. Get stuck in tree branches, swept into drainages to clog them, float on lakes making them ugly and find their way into oceans only to be confused by marine life to be food. To mitigate all these problems and the impact that plastic bags have on our environment, the local municipal bodies and Government has laid some regulations on the usage and kind of plastic that is to be used in the market. But is this enough? Do we need moral policing by our governing bodies to tell us about using plastic bags and its effect on the environment?

Here's my friend who is trying to do his bit to avoid plastic.

Me: Hi, Modhu.. What is ur prayaas all about? Could you  explain?

Modhu :

We at Prayaas believe that every plastic used suffocates our environment just that much more. Prayaas is an initiative of like-minded people. We aim to make the best use of available resources and be part of the growing pool of groups building a clean and green society. We believe that plastic can just not be removed from our daily life. We can make a conscious effort to regulate the use of plastic and hence generate less plastic waste. All we need to do is say NO to Plastic Bags and carry our own bags as much as possible when we go out shopping. In this effort we at Prayaas have bags called SyUta made from old clothes.

Me : How good are these bags?

Modhu: We have ensured that the bags are sanitized before being sold to citizens. Not only are the bags recyclable, but they last longer, are durable, can be easily washed and are compact. We encourage people to give away their old clothes in exchange for these trendy bags. The exchange achieves a dual purpose: Old clothes are given a fresh lease of life and people find another reason to say No to Plastic Bags.

We also create job opportunities for the unemployed by hiring them to tailor these bags.  So every time you buy a cloth bag from us you can feel proud of the chain you are an integral part of.

Me: What are your other activities?

Modhu : Well the buck doesn’t stop here with Prayaas, we have an artisan who can convert any household waste into attractive flowers, and we call as Pushp.

The flowers are made from plastic covers, recycled paper, cloth, invitation cards, sea shells, mango pips and other waste that generally lands in the trash. The flowers are crafted beautifully and arranged in Ikebana style. It is an apt answer to your general confusion of finding an appropriate gift or for home décor. One look at Push and you will be mesmerized by the craftsmanship and the materials that have been transformed.

Me: Your message?

Modhu: Join our movement in reducing the plastic bag consumption and in recycling old clothes and house hold waste. For a better tomorrow, let's recycle.

Being Spiritual

In today's fast pace world, we hardly find time to meet out daily chores. One word heard most often I hear from my maid to drivers to friends to relatives is that there is no time. Even waiting in traffic signals has become so intolerable that there is continous honking of horns the moment signal changes from red to green.This has resulted in change in lifestyle with the food we eat to the way we socialise and handle ourselves.

 

But have we realised the impact it has caused over a time. Most often, health problems occur due to stressful life. It also results in unsatisfied relationships, lack of social health, below performance and finally TOTAL BURN OUT.

My commuting time in bus from home to office gives me ample time to think about where I m heading to?I have to thank traffic jams because this is the time I get to watch people, observe them and have self realization.

The good old practice of getting up early, eating at home and on time,and having family dinners together and sleeping early used to be stress-free. But now, working different time zones, different cultures and different technologies, and companies, have disturbed the whole fabric of a routine life.

One simple remedy can be to go spiritual.
Spirituality is not about knowing few mantras , dressing in conventional style or reciting few slokas. Its about connecting with one's innerself.It makes life more meaningful and one can understand the bigger picture instead of struggling in narrow mindedness.

Meditation provides inner strength and it rejuventes the mind.

I used to do Yoga as part of my corporate tie up. It was very relaxing and enrgising at the end of the day.This idea of having corporate tie ups is a good idea and it helps in creating a positive workforce and healthy individuals of sound physical, emotional, social, intellectual beings.

Chocolates , Chocolates, Chocolates!!!!

Its hardly rare to find someone who doesnt like chocolates. For those in the software industry , foreign chocolates are almost common. I would like to mention about a place in Cologne Germany where is a museum dedicated exclusively to Chocolates.

From cocoa cultivation to the finished chocolate, from its climatic conditions to geographical origins, to making of chocolates from Cocoa one can experience all the aspects of Chocolate at  Chocolate Museum in Cologne.

Some of the pics shared below:

That Cool Guy on Bike

Its night 1AM.

(Scene: A cop in night duty has held a guy and questions him about his late night drive)

Cop : Hey Why are you driving at this time?
Guy: Friend's birthday party.

Cop : Are u drunk?
Guy : No

Cop : Blow
Guy : Ugh Ugh ... see i havent drunk

Cop : Give me your dad's phone no
Guy : xxxxxxxx

Cop : Dialled and ringing, no one's answering..
Guy : Who will be in office at this time?( That was Dad's office number :D)

Cop : Lets go to station.
Guy : Yes Lets go

On the way,

Cop : how much money u have?
Guy : No money.I m ready to go to station

The Cop eventually gets fed up and let the guy go.

This guy keep getting caught in such situations because he goes around 70 kms in bangalore everyday just to meet his friends and keep everyone happy..!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He isnt worried abt his time or money.. All he wants are good memories of days spent together with his friends, for trying out all weird stuff so that he doesnt regret later that he didnt enjoy life as he wanted.

Sometimes I think its good to be like him-> carefree and merry go lucky guy.
After all , what will you achieve by working crazily and being perfect.. Only Stress related diseases.

 

The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment.

 As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". 

Its Appraisal Time!!!!

Its that time of the year where colleagues visit cafeteria more often. Its that time of the year for gossips, comparing and taking a tough decision of even quitting.

For those who dont know about it ,let me introduce it in a briefly.

Once a person joins an organisation, He/ she is responsible directly or indirectly forthe business and revenue of the organisation every year. At the end of the year, the organisation does share its profit based on one's contribution which is reflected as hike.People's contribution vary in different measures at different times.But who is to decide if one's contribution is significant or not? its all about doing one's job in the

 best possible way.

For engineers, its about innovating process, algorithms and technical concepts which contributes to the organisation.As an engineer , one is expected to be fundamentally sound in what one does and he executes the assigned job as expected.For leaders and management, its about providing direction to engineers. Its about giving guidance and expertise so that the goal of the organisation is met.A performance appraisal should be the opportunity for a leader in an organisation to set the development opportunities for his team .It should be an invigorating, refreshing occasion.But most of times it becomes a critizingsession and employess take extreme decisions.

Performance appraisal systems which are conducted just for routine sake , where the employee concerns arent given weightage, he/she is not provided with any direction are a failure and should be stopped for the good of the organisation.It should

 create an atmosphere where it brings out the best in them by identifying defects and providing a corrective action.A leader should posses the communicative skill to get the new joinee/experienced employee to believe his logical conclusions abt his/her performance is correct.

The forced bell curve; expecting in any group that there will be some poor employees and some great employees is a common bias.A leader should always be unbiased and supportive to the team. Most of the times, employee decides to quit not because

he isnt happy with work , but he isnt happy with his boss.

On the other hand, engineers  need to take responsibility for their work and put in efforts to improve continously. Ideas should be put forth and executed to improve the current job.Because at the end of the day, its all about engineering and we are bound

 to identify problem areas and provide solutions.

A good performance system should have structure that fits the nature of the business.Whether an employee's performance is below where it needs to be or above where we expect it to be, a leader must give immediate feedback.Not only do the leaders

should be a coach he also need to be able to take criticism from subordinates and peers and deal with it.

On the whole, both engineers and people playing leadership roles should ultimately work to meet the goals of the organisation rather than finding faults with each other and

creating a negative ambience at work.

Best of Luck for Appraisals!!!!

On a Valentine journey....

The most unique thing about human search is that it never ends and we dont realise.

 There is always a search of external (materialistic ) things or internal ( peace) things

in life and life goes on searching.

Those who are single search for a companion, those with a companion search for a

memorable moment and happiness. People often dont realise the fact that the person

who made u happy is the one who makes u sad.
When sad, people give up on relationship n search for another instead of growing

with it and the saga continues...

Ideal Friend, Ideal Relationship , Ideal person.. there's nothing like that , only thing we

all need to work on what we want constantly which is what life is all about..Its not about

the final destination , its the journey that makes complete and a companion is a person

who makes jounery all the more beautiful!!

Happy Valentine!!!