It was late November 2008 and confused soul was walking around the Sona Towers building wondering what should be his next step. Yes, it was me who was just then given a choice of heading a team in Technical Line 2 Support. Prior to this I had taken up a few responsibilities and probably lived up to the expectations of whoever was observing me. Finally I decided to plung into the offer and accepted the role to lead a team of 5 members. I agree I was a little lucky to have been offered such a role at the begining of my career. My then manager probably liked to take calculated risks and tough decisions.
Initially it was a 5 member team of all guys. It is equally easy and difficult to manage an all guys team! There was a lot of learning which had to take place as I had not formally lead a team before. Also, there was a requirement of a sixth member in the team as five people managing the show was pretty difficult at the initial stages. Hence I decided to be a part of one of the small teams. So it was now a dual role for me where I had to perform and also see the bigger picture of things and also be responsible enough so that the team can look up to me as a lead.
It was always a belief for me to develop a team informally. Things had to be professional wherever required; but at the same time, it had to be working in a mode where the team members do not have any barriers while operating. To take out this barrier, the environment created in the team is very important. I was lucky enough to have 5 good folks with me who knew each other from before. This informality had to be brought between me and the team as well since the environment was dependant on me also. Since I had worked with a few of them and knew the others, it did not take too much of a time for me to bring this in the team. Also the fact that I had decided to operate in a mode where I was working along with them did make a difference here as they felt me as one among them. The next hurdle was the knowledge in the team. Though we had worked on one of the systems under us, we as a team did not have so much of an in-depth knowledge for operating as a full fludge Level 2 support team. We had to build this knowledge with the help of the relevant people and ofcourse through self-analysis. This lead us to a very long journey where every single ticket was a new discovery. I should thank my team and the onshore co-ordinators for having patience to really learn through the job. It was a very good team effort displayed!
There were many more challenges ahead for us. The hierarchial structure of support operations changed at this point of time and we had to report to a new manager. The entire setup had to be changed. For me as a lead, it was important to make sure that the work is not affected and things went on as they were. At this point of time, I decided to be the face of the team to the manager so that atleast micro-management need not be done. It worked out this way and the new manager was encouraging enough to let us operate in the way we wanted. After this re-structuring, I took a whole new role. Though I continued with whatever I was doing before, I started to operate as a contributor to the entire support operational team apart from my own team. Here again I need to thank my team as my involvement within the team had reduced to some extent as I was concentrating more on setting up processes, operations and other essentials of a bigger team. I along with a few others really went off the way to setup things in the new team. It was more like setting up operations for a mini-organization where we had to consider all the parameters involved in operating as an organization.
I, at this point of time had moved into a role of an on the job learner and I sincerely thank my manager for having given me oppurtunities where I was able to implement the ideas which I had in mind. It was a point of time where we were working in a India and UK shift. So it was almost 5 extra hours put in work every single day. We did not mind doing it as the work was so exciting that we were self-driven. Then came the challenge of attrition in the team. It was a big challenge for we as a team to handle it as we did not want the routine to be affected due to this. To minimize the risk I had to negotiate for a new resource in the team who had already had the system knowledge. I felt it was more proper that way as itsaved us a lot of time and we can get into a BAU mode very quickly. Luckily for me, there were people available with the pre-requisites I had. Also, the other team members responded positively. So, the business went on as usual again!
At this point of time, the hierarchial structure changed again and I wanted to operate in the same way (again it was my concern that the team should not be affected by whoever there manager is). It was for a simple reason that if they feel the difference, the deliverables may be affected. Also due to this change in hierarchy, I had to take a larger role to manage 13 people now. It was a call which I had to make as I had to again enter into areas where I do not have a clue about. I finally decided to take it up. Afterall 'Spiderman bhi toh risk leta hai!' :) ...
A new journey of learning started for me. By this time, the processes were almost in place for the entire operations. So, I did not have to bother so much about it. Hence I started concentrating more on the team. With the bigger team on hand, I realised the importance of a few behavioral factors to be present in the team. With a support kind of a setup, Trust plays a very important role in the team. Since, the interaction to some extent happens directly to the customers, one needs to just trust the team members. This is not so important when one leads a technical team. Team dynamics play a very important role here. I did fail at places where technical solutions had to be given, but I felt there were people who can do that in a better way. But yes, it would have been better if I had the technical competancy to a good level as well! I don't really have to concentrate on that. Hence I started concentrating on grooming the people in the team where they can grow to a level where they can handle issues and people by themselves. My belief had now shifted to a team of high performers. Also, I had my own selfishness of my career path in it as I had to move out of the team for realising my dreams else where. (I am being frank with you all today, so please don't take it the other way :) ... ). So, if the team is self-reliant, it does not make much of a difference if the lead is present or not. My belief at this point of time had shifted to a mode which said "A team is performing at its best when a lead is not required!"
To my luck again, I had to move onshore for a short assignment. I did not want a replacement for me now as I had decided to groom the team. I spread my responsibilities to the team members and again, I thank my manager for letting me take this risk and ofcourse my team who accepted it as a challenge and took it up very positively. I also had another challenge at onshore. Apart from my normal work, I had quite a few tasks. So, I was not able to concentrate much on the team. Kudos to each of them in the team for having displayed a great show at this point of time! After my return from onshore, things were as usual and I returned to my role. But at this point of time, I had decided to move out of my role. It was more of a personal aspiration which I had decided to run behind. After a good round of KT to the new lead, I moved out of the team. There were few more things which were pending from my end as well. There were a few on-going issues in the team which had to be dealt. But, I decided to move-on as issues will always be there and one needs to just tackle it as and how they come :).
It was a very good journey of learning for 16 months for me. Thanks to all the people who were a part of my journey and gave me confidence, encouragement and space to explore.
Cheers,
Shreyas
