Idea for QComm Designers

 Dear QCommerce designers: Please consider adding the following delivery options:

1. Send in an hour or so.
2. Send anytime today.

There is a whole world of consumers out there that is not happy with the exploitation of workers. We would like to order from you, especially the things that are not available in stores, but cannot accept that people have to scramble because we could not do basic grocery planning.

We genuinely don't always need things in 10 minutes.

Why UrbanClap is profitable but Uber will never be.

Dear Uber: You are not brokers. You are service providers. The customer does not call Tukaram. She calls Uber. 

Your service is delivered by service partners, who are in a profit-sharing contract with you. If you do not take care of these service partners, it is not their brand that suffers. It is yours. 

Given that your customer care and central brand oversight are non-existent, your entire service delivery depends on one person - your service delivery partner. The guy you are squeezing. The guy who can share his number with the customer at any time and get into a direct arrangement, leaving you out of the loop.

If you squeeze your driver partners to a point where being with you is purely a function of your mono/duopolistic practices, you will end up with high driver and customer churn, non-stop recruitment and CACs, poor delivery, and consistent brand erosion. 

It's not a bug, it's a feature of your business model. 

And therefore, you can not hope to be profitable. You are in the business of burning up public moneys. 

Here is another story. 

Urbanclap gave social benefits to ALL their service partners. It understood their specific needs and created benefits for them. When an Urbanclap service provider comes to us, s/he does not share their number. They say that a positive rating on the app means more to them than a direct order next time. 

Urbanclap's losses have shrunk, and they turned profitable in April 2024. 

Your losses, on the other hand, have widened considerably year on year. 

Short summary: Intermediaries are not brokers. They are service providers. Asset lean model does not mean abdication of service quality responsibility.

The case for NO REMINDERS

At TCP, the news articles are written by teenagers. 

They send in content whenever they can. 

We are, and always have been, a no-reminder culture. 

You get no reminders. If you don't send in your work on time, it does not get published, that's all. 

At Esha, we are a no reminders place. If you are a summer volunteer and don't send in your work by Friday 1700 hours IST, you are rolled over to the next week. 

At both places, one is expected to note and manage their calendar and deadlines. 

Why did we decide to do this? 

Because I believe that reminders have crippled our ability to manage our own calendars. 

Also, because reminders are irritating. 

So, we decided to do away with them. 

How has that worked out? 

Phenomenally well. 

The reminder to send a reminder was weighing us down too. 

Now, there is total peace. We trust that the person will send what they have to send before the deadline. So, there are no last hour palpitations at all. 

If they don't come, we just merrily go on. 

Its all very well in non-critical roles. But what about critical roles? 

As a PM for more than a decade, I have never given reminders to any member of the team. Their deadlines were always their responsibility. 

And it worked very well. Half the stress of my team was gone. By the way, our on schedule record was over 90%. My teams rarely ran late on deliverables. There were multiple factors responsible for that (perhaps another post for that), but this also, I think, led to massive reduction in stress all around. 

That is why, when setting the culture of TCP, we started with NO REMINDERS. 

Try it. I can assure you, its very productive. 

Common Threads in Indian Business practices

Every family is unhappy in its own way, but the ones that are happy have some things in common. 

You might have read this or heard it from your seniors. 

It is true in business too.

Some common threads run through the business communities that I have studied. 

They support each other 

The BIGGEST common factor in successful business communities is that they all support each other, especially the ones who are starting out. 

They provide introductions, orders, opportunities. Even simple logistical support like a place to stay or eat inexpensively. 

It's not done at an individual level. There are community structures in place. For instance, there is a dharamshala in a city. That dharamshala is funded by the commerce association of a community. 

Employment is for families, not individuals 

You get a break if you belong to a certain family. The opposite is also true - if one member of a family commits a fraud, no one from that family then gets a break for a generation or two. This works in two ways - one, it lowers the entry barrier, and two, it raises the punishment for a wrongdoing. 

Therefore, integrity at the workplace is enforced by ensuring that everyone knows everyone's families and the reward (and punishment) of good/bad work extends to the family and the extended family. 

Big on philanthropy, but silent

Every single Indian businessperson I know, every single one, is a philanthropist. Indian religious and cultural belief systems anyway enjoin that a certain amount of one's earnings must go towards charity. But even without that guideline, I have no idea what prompts this level of individual giving. 

My father ran a small store. We did not always have enough. But every Tuesday, my mom would make packets of food that dad distributed for free at his store. 

An industrialist I know shared in a rare moment of candour that he pays for health facilities for underprivileged women, because no one thinks of the women. He never mentions it. 

Yet, if you see the CSR reports of India, they are woefully silent. Why? 

Because the other aspect of this giving is that it must be anonymous. The only way to get some punya (good karma) out of this giving is to not boast about it. So, one gives, but does not talk about it. 

Good in accounts 

Almost all these communities are found to be great at numbers. They have an inherent, innate sense of money, cash flow, and that amazing thing - profitable or not. 

Relationship with money 

Their relationship with money is positive. They do not view money as evil. But they also do not view money as an end in itself. Rarely, if ever, have I found anyone from these communities to think - How do I get more money in? 

They think about - Impact banana hai, bada banna hai. Money is a means to an end - a better life is the end. A better life might mean a more comfortable house, more prestige, better education for kids - anything else that they desire. 

Perhaps this is why they rarely flaunt wealth. The Birlas use their money to buy art, but they are found in cotton clothes. In an interview, a member of the Birla family mentioned this in as many words - "What will we do with money? It only means that we are able to buy a piece of art or do some act of charity without thinking. That is what money means to us." 

Trusted Advisors

Because they help, they have access to almost every kind of trusted expertise. Other communities that experience this also report incredible benefits of this perk. For instance, if you want, lets say, an HR issue resolved, you call up another person who is in the same line of business, and they tell you what they did. You have the template ready. This is also why so few Indian family-owned businesses respect modern management professionals.  They tell the staff what to do because they have either done it themselves, or know someone who has. I have experienced this in our Women from IIM Community, and I cannot explain the competitive advantage that it gives us. Need something in tech? Ask the tech group. Anything in HR? Ask the HR group. Its amazing how much actionable advice is available at the click of a Send button. 

**************

The communities I have studied are: Marwadis, Baniyas, Gujaratis, Punjabi trading communities. 

The communities I want to study - Shroffs, Shettys, Chettiars, and others from the South, Ahmediyas and Bohras, and the North East. 

People don't become rich. Communities do.

People don't become rich. Communities do. 

Some of you might know that I have been trying to understand the business and wealth practices of Indian communities. Then one day, someone forwarded a video where a person speaks about the wealth and business practices of the Jews. 

And that is what got me thinking. In all the Indian business communities, while there is diversity of belief system, one common thread runs - the community works actively to uplift those who are just starting out. This is one of the 2-3 parallel threads that run across all financially aware communities of India. 

The video on Jewish practices said the same thing. 

And that is when I realised - Most rich people stand on the foundation of other people who helped them in early days - a loan, an introduction, an order, even something as simple as a place to stay, which used to be the norm amongst Marwadis traveling for work to other areas.

People rarely become rich. Communities do. That is why, even self-made people immediately seek the friendship of other fabulously rich people. Success is a team sport. We need the network to help us. 

If you are looking to get successful, seek a community that will help you. It could be your family, your college alumni, or even the local networking chapter of some business association that you are a part of. This is why organisations like BNI are successful. 

If you ARE successful, invest time in BEING such a pillar of support to someone who needs it now. 

The sense of community is vital to all aspects of our well-being - spiritual pursuit, though an individual affair, is helped immensely by being a part of a likeminded group. Everything from parenting to professional excellence needs a sense of community. 

The trick, I think, is in finding that sweet spot between community support and its Whack-a-mole impact on innovation. 

More on that later. 

How to create a handover system in a sales team

If you work in sales, chances are, your CRM or funnel system is a fairy tale - stuck in the past with very little connection with the reality of the world. 

Handovers in sales teams are especially difficult. It is not the fault of organisations or individual employees. Nor is it that the sales team does not want to do handover to the new team members. 

So: 

Why are handovers in sales such a pain? 

1. Because sales is a personal thing. A client is dealing with a person, not a company. All salespeople use their personal charm and knowledge to create great solutions for clients. Sales Team member A is not replaceable with Sales Team member B. One does not write everything. Because one cannot. For instance, I know that the CIO at Firm A values cost cutting above all else. The CIO at Firm B loves Ayn Rand. These are not things that matter to a formal sales process. This is one individual interacting with another individual. 

2. A lot of communication (and commitment) in sales is oral and undocumented. Whether we like it or not, this is what it is. 

3. There is sometimes a gap between the exit of one team member and the joining of the replacement. So, the handover time is either too short or nonexistent. 

 

4. Some clients will leave with the salesperson. That is how it is. 

How to make handovers work? 

First things first, handovers and takeovers are a function of two things: 

A. Person to person (and their time and personality overlap) 

B. Documentation maturity. 

A is a function of how nice the two individuals are, how well they get along, and how much time they have with each other. 

But B is a function of organisational process maturity. An organisation with a culture of process documentation and audits at the right time will find that much of its pain of transitions and audits will vanish.  

But in sales, A is as important as B. 

What do we do then, to ensure smooth handovers in sales? 

Enter: The Magic of Shadow 

This solution requires: 

A. A camaraderie within the team 

B. A small reporting span for sales leaders - no more than 4-5 people per sales leaders. Not a pack of 15-20 sales professionals reporting to one. 

What we need to ensure is adequate information redundancy (i.e., the information should be with more than one person so that if one person is not available, another person should know whats going on). 

The format is that once a week, the sales leaders take individual calls on which the events of the week are discussed. The sales leaders are free to take notes etc. But they are the redundancy/backup. This is because in sales, it would be unfair for people to be backups of each other, given the intense competition in sales. 

Being the information back up of their team is on the KRAs of the sales leader. They are required to meet with clients and potential clients at least once every 5 visits by the team member. That is why a small span of control is vital for this model to work. 

When a team member resigns... 

If a replacement is ready, they are immediately assigned to shadow the outgoing team member. If the replacement is not ready, the sales leader can take a call and assign another colleague or act as a shadow themselves. The latter option is not the best idea but sometimes one may not have a choice. 

This shadow remains with the outgoing team member till their last working day. 

Signing off on Knowledge Transfer 

One week before exit, there is a joint meeting which includes the outgoing team member, the sales leader, and the shadow. This is the formal KT sign off meeting. In this meeting, the process is as under: 

A. The shadow goes over the list of clients being managed by the outgoing team member and specifically lists: 

    i. The Scope of work  

    ii. Important client stakeholders 

    iii. Current stage 

    iv. Other competitors in fray and their relative standing 

    v. Timeline of decision and delivery 

    vi. Internally, who are our stakeholders for delivery of order 

B. The sales leader compares this information with their own notes to ensure that: 

    i. All clients in the team member's charter are covered. 

    ii. All details are covered and are accurate. 

    iii. In case of some clients, the sales lead can ask additional questions to ensure that the shadow knows everything that they should know. 

If the sales leader is convinced that handover has happened, they can sign off on the process. 

If the shadow falters on any information, the person who is penalised is not the shadow but the outgoing employee. Their exit checklist can only begin with this handover signoff. 

Once this signoff as per the checklist is given, the outgoing employee and the sales leader cannot then question the shadow on why they did not ask the outgoing employee x or y. The responsibility for signoff therefore is with the original backup - the sales leader. 

If the Signoff fails 

If the first signoff at T-7 fails, a second sign off is scheduled anytime from T-3 to T-0 day, based on everyone's convenience. 

The second sign off is the final signoff. 

The same checklist is followed this time too. 

If the sign off is cleared, the outgoing team member can begin their exit checklist and other exit formalities. 

If the sign off is not cleared, the exit formalities cannot begin. 

No sensible employee will want their exit formalities to be delayed. This process ensures that everyone is invested in ensuring a smooth and complete handover. 

When the replacement joins

When the replacement team member joins, they then work alongside the shadow for 1 month or more, and then the sign off process with the sales leader is repeated once again. Only after the handover sign off can the team member holding additional responsibility get off. 

But, shadowing is extra work! 

Yes, and this should not be ignored. The performance management framework needs to reward employees who act as shadows while a replacement is being hired. This can be in regular KRAs, or be noted as "Exceptional Contribution" based on how frequent this is. Sales is a stressful role as it is, and any extra work deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded in a structured framework.

Other linkages with PMS 

The other linkages that need to be established with the formal performance management system are: 

A. Sales Leader - Ensuring smooth handovers should be the KRA of the sales leader. Zero tolerance for client loss due to team attrition needs to be laid out. 

B. Incoming Employee - If the replacement is a new hire,their "Time to Productivity" and rampup roadmap should be in their KRAs. If process documentation and shadowing is in place, this rampup should not exceed 40-60 days. 

 

India and the entrepreneur mindset

My son was pitching his startup to a real, live audience for the first time this weekend. The event had 10 fantastic ideas by students from all parts of the country. While the brilliance of these ideas and their bold execution took one by surprise, what really got my attention was how each speaker (each of them a stellar entrepreneur themselves) spoke about the dire need to pull our children out of the job seeker mindset and to instill in them the job creator mindset. 

"In school, don't think of how you will kill your creativity and do a course to become a job seeker. Think about how you will harness and unleash the same creativity to be a job creator by the time you graduate from college." 

- Said one of the speakers. 

Another speaker said: 

The British have worked hard to make sure our children grow up with the clerk mindset. Change what your education is telling you to become. Give up the clerk mindset and get the entrepreneur mindset. 

********** 

Obviously, these quotes make one think immediately of the Gujaratis, who traditionally look down upon jobs as a form of slavery and inspire each child to start something of their own. It is a cultural thing. 

And then, one got to thinking some more: 

From the days of Indus Valley Civilisation, India has been and continues to be, at its heart, a mercantile civilisation*. 

Agriculture does employ the most people, but trade generates the most value. 

After the Mughals, there was relative stability in Delhi and trade flourished. By 1600 AD, as many as FOUR East India companies had been incorporated in Europe because Europeans were sick of how much money they were having to pay to India for their needs - Dutch, Portugese, French, and British East India companies. 

India did not just know how to make great stuff. We also knew how to sell it profitably. 

Even today, mercantile trade in the form of family business contributes to the bulk of our secondary sector GDP. 

And that is why, Indians will find their way back to entrepreneurship. We may have eliminated it from our education, but we have it in our homes. 

I think we underestimate the importance of historical legacy when we talk about India becoming the fastest growing startup nation of the world. As soon as the ecosystem was created and favourable conditions provided, we soared. Including the 100 bright young minds who submitted their entries to this national startup contest for students. As one of the speakers said - "If this is how the young minds of today are thinking, I know that our future is in safe hands. This country will progress." 

*Trade relations of SIVC with other contemporary civilisations are well documented. My hypothesis on the seals is that these were mercantile seals with codes instead of actual text. The code would include things like source(name and location of merchant, much like brands today), type of product, grade/quality of product, and potentially, the units carried. Most of these seals can be imprinted upon another surface, much like lac seals used even today by Marwadi marchants. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0UlCatC1e4

Here is another person who shares the same hypothesis: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8qA6sSXNts

Here are some estimates: 

https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/interviews/story/family-businesses-contribute-over-70-to-india-gdp-says-farhad-forbes-of-family-business-network-225943-2019-09-09

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/india-ranks-3rd-globally-in-terms-of-number-of-family-owned-businesses/articleshow/65807479.cms

https://www.forbesindia.com/special-report/indias-family-businesses/1617/1

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041770/india-business-structure-family-businesses-by-type/

How to do Portfolio Planning for HR

 In the previous post,  we did 3 important things: 

A. Created a vision for the future. 

B. Created a portfolio of all HR services 

C. Created a linkages map to understand how HR interacts and depends on/supports other functions. 

In this post, we will understand how to take strategic discussions using this tool. 

Step One: Bases for prioritisation 

What matters to your business? 

Here are four different bases that you can use, either one by one, or in combination. 

This discussion is ideally between the CEO and the CHRO. Other stakeholders may be present, but only if necessary. This is a very strategy-led, focused discussion. 

You can either use a simple Red-Yellow-Green format, or you can get more detailed and give weightages to these items. 

The first step, of course, is to take the master portfolio and remove what does not belong or is not relevant to the organisation. This step simplifies the visuals quite a bit and is very helpful. 

For example, your portfolio, after pruning, might look like this: 

Now, of these, we have completely outsourced: 

A. BGV 

B. Payroll 

C. Claims and Benefits

D. Compliance 

So, we remove these 4 also. POSH is on autopilot and does not need day to day attention. We remove that too. 

Our portfolio now looks like this: 

Now, we are dealing with significantly less complexity :) 

Base One: Business Needs 

This is a no brainer. If we are looking to enter a new country, global employee management will need to come first. 

Likewise, anything else that is dictated by business strategy is prioritised. 

Base Two: What People Want

This is a more personal prioritisation. 

We pay attention to three main stakeholders: 

A. What the CEO wants 

B. What the CHRO wants

C. What the employees want (as per the last E Sat) 

One simple way to do this is to choose 3 colour shades - White if no one selects it as important, pale blue when one person chooses it, medium blue when two stakeholders choose it, and dark blue when all 3 choose it. 

Here is an example: 

And now, we can clearly see that Employee Information management, RnR, LTM, and Recruitment are our focus areas for this year. 

The beauty of this tool is that it is simple and visual. 

So as decisions get taken, the tool also looks cleaner. 

Base Three: The Urgency -Importance Grid 

This is a brainstorming and discussion technique. The CHRO and CEO discuss and finalise the items that go into the four grids of urgent and important. 

This base is a little confusing, and we would avoid it for the first time. 

Step Two: Fixing outcomes, timelines, and responsibility 

Let us continue with our example above. 

We want to focus on recruitment, LTM, RnR, and Employee Information this year. 

The next step is to simply write out the business outcome we expect each quarter on each of these items. Who will take ownership of these? 

The outcome is the criteria for success. 

For instance, we take a simple example like Employee Information. 

The Quarter wise targets for these in the next two quarters are: 

Q1: All employee information streamlined at a single source of truth. 

Q2: Zero duplication of information across systems. 

Q3: Information lag (the delay between an event happening and the information entering the system) is 2 days or less. 

In Q4, with this tab reaching stability, we can deprioritise it. 

Step Three: Review and Reprioritise 

The ideal is to meet once a month on the HR strategy, so that we know that actions in HR are following our strategy. 

Once a quarter, we can reprioritise. 

This is a self-sustaining mode of HR operations that keeps HR Ops aligned to strategy. 

A Portfolio Planning Approach to HR

Over the years, many HR leaders (and IT leaders) have asked: 

How do we make HR more business focused? How do we speak the language of business? 

How can we communicate better with the CEO? 

In 2016, I worked on and created something called the HR Portfolio Management. 

This is a very different approach to managing HR. 

This approach can: 

A. Help CHROs see and show the big picture to anyone who wants to learn about their work. 

B. Help CXOs communicate about people policies in a language that everyone understands. 

C. Hopefully, reduce the friction that one observes in organisations around HR plans and budgets. 

So, What is the Portfolio Approach to HR? 

In PMI, we learn project management. Several programs come together to form programs, and programs come together to form portfolios. 

In essence, portfolios are the highest level of strategic planning. 

They help us understand where the building blocks of our function lie in the grand scheme of things. 

How do we do this? 

Start by defining the pillars of the Future of Work. 

This should be based on your reading and on your discussion with other HR leaders and CXOs within your organisation. 

I believe that the pillars of the future of work are going to be: 

The Future of Work 

Your list may be different from ours. That's fine. What is important is to have a vision for the Future of Work, and how you intend to participate in it. 

Step Two: The Portfolio 

Usually, when I show CHROs and CEOs the HR portfolio, their eyes pop in surprise. CEOs more than CHROs, to be fair. They do not think that HR covers so many verticals. At most, we think of HR as Talent Acquisition - Talent Nurturing - Talent Management - Employer Branding. 

We think of HR as a Hire to Retire enabler. 

Allow me to share: The HR Portfolio 

Obviously, this list keeps changing. For instance, the Multiple Concurrent Employment node has just been added after moonlighting became a thing. 

Step Three: Understand the linkages 

The next step is to understand the most vital touchpoints of HR with other entities in the organisation. This high-level diagram is very important. 

My diagram below is indicative, but has worked for almost 70-80% of our clients. 

Next Post: How to do Portfolio Planning for HR 

11 Top Tips for New Age Tech Product Companies

 So, this is how a story unfolded: 

We use a cloud-based tech product for a specific part of our work. 

Of late, we have not been using them much. 

We started getting automated CRM messages like, "You have not visited us for a while" etc. But it really wasn't their fault. Our work had changed and our need for their product was less than it used to be. 

But last week, I needed to use the platform once again. Logged in and tried to do something I'd done hundreds of times earlier. 

There was an error message - "<field name> should be at least 30 minutes in the future." I looked for the field. It wasn't there. Which means this was a backend field that was somehow populated by some script running on the page. But I had no idea how to debug for this! 

Looked for a support channel. The only option was to initiate a callback if the knowledge base has no answer to your query. 

I did. 

The callback came. To their credit, in 15-20 minutes. 

I explained the problem. 

Support Desk: Why don't you make a new page and enter the whole information again? 

Me: I don't want to make a new page. I want to reuse this page. Why am I not able to do that? 

Support: Can you send me a screenshot or a screen recording? 

Me: I have given you the text of the error and the point at which this error is getting triggered. You have my cust id. Why do you need a screenshot to replicate the error? Take the record to your test server and do the transaction there, then debug! 

Support: Can you send me a screenshot? 

Me: No. 

But that's not all. After that, I got 2 emails a day with the following text: 

"Dear Customer: 

This is wrt the ticket that you raised. We hope that it was closed to your satisfaction. Please close the ticket if your issue is resolved" 

- with NO link to close the ticket. No email id on which to confirm whether or not the issue was resolved. Nothing. Just a plain text message from an automated sender. There is also no ticketin dashboard for me as a customer after logging in. 

With this, I got to thinking of the other reasons one has left Tech products behind. And here are some pointers 

Zero Defect Product is not an achievement. It is a MVP. 

If you want to run the marathon, make zero defect your DNA. 

************** 

Dear Tech Product Firms: 

• It is not the customer's job to help you debug your product. It is your job to ensure that a zero-bug product reaches the market. Zero tolerance for production bugs needs to be in your DNA if you are a tech product. Those tech bugs come back with big bites. Ask the graveyard of tech firms. 
• Minimise the customer's experience with the error. Have SoPs in place that tell the support person what exactly they need from the user and then get them cracking. 
• Have an accessible support. It goes a long way in increasing NPS, even from attriting customers. 
• Have a brilliant L1 support team. Half the user's issues can be solved by a well-informed L1 Helpdesk. Don't scrooge on them. 
• There are two quotes related to customers: 

                Steve Jobs: The customer doesn't know what it wants, until you show it to him. 

                David Ogilvy: The customer is not an idiot. She is your wife. 

                Trust Ogilvy. 

• Don't give the customer stupid workarounds. The customer is more ingenious than you when it comes to workarounds. You are being called to solve the problem. 
• "I am trying" means nothing to a retail customer. It means less than nothing to an enterprise customer. The correct response format is, "This will be done by <time>. If we are not able to resolve this by then, we will do <Plan B> to get your business in place." 
• Have product managers spend at least one day a month on L1 support desk. Have L1 support desks attend your sprint planning voting on stories on rotational basis. 
• If you have a wishlist, don't make it a Treasure hunt for the user. Have a simple link that takes a signed in user to the feature wishlist. That feature wishlist is your goldmine. 
• If you do have a wishlist, also add the small feature of "+1" in it, so customers who have similar needs can just upvote a story/feature ask instead of typing out the same thing over and over again. 
• Security is not an afterthought. 

How to Manage Client Scope Creep

This post is the result of a good conversation with Abhishek at a recent event. 

He asked how we managed to ensure that there was no scope creep. My projects have usually been on track and within budget, and as Abhishek mentioned, client scope creep is one of the major reasons why large IT projects go out of budget or schedule. 

So, if you are a budding project manager responsible for client management, here is the secret to building great client solution and even better client relationships. 

Most client scope creep comes from 2 areas: 

A. Complex Workflows, where more approval levels are added. 

B. Reports 

The first thing you have to remember when dealing with client scope creep is that they are not trying to trouble you. Their intention is not the squeeze the juice out of you. Their intention is to do the best that they can for their company at the least possible price. 

Surprise! That is your intention too! 

Most vendor PMs do not understand this intention and objective synergy. But when you do, you realise that you and the client PM are on the same side, trying to do the same thing. 

The only thing is, we are using two different approaches to do it. 

So, Step One:

Establish Commonality of Purpose 

Sit down with your client and establish commonality of purpose. Both of you are working towards the same thing: 

A. Create the best possible solution

B. In the least possible time 

C. At the least possible cost

Once it has been stated, it appears intuitive. Yet, until we say it out and put it on the table, it is not so apparent to the other party. In fact, if you wait at the water cooler long enough, you will definitely hear the Project Managers from both sides cribbing. The Client PM usually says one or more of the following: 

• The vendor does not want to do any work or wants to do shoddy work and get away with it. 
• They are not doing enough KT 
• Even for small change they give such a huge estimate, and change request for everything! 
• They just don't understand our business and requirements. I don't know how to explain. 

The Vendor PM will usually say one or more of the following: 

• The Client is really miserly. 
• They always underestimate the time it will take to do something. 
• They are paying us for a cow and want us to make an elephant. 
• They don't understand how the system works. 
• They have such weird requirements! Who works like this? 

So, the step of establishing commonality of purpose is the most important one. It establishes trust and ensures that you row on the same direction, not in opposite directions. 

Once commonality of purpose is established, the next thing is to understand where scope creep is coming from. 

Step Two: 

Diagnose and Guide 

Most scope creep comes from the two areas I have mentioned above. You do your own diagnosis on your projects and understand WHERE the scope creep is coming. And then ask yourself WHY. 

What problem is the client trying to solve by doing this extra work? 

Let's get straight to taming the beast. 

Step Three 

Managing Scope Creep and Making Great Friends 

Here is the most important tip anyone will ever share with you on managing scope creep. It is so important that I am going to write it in caps. 

START WITH YES. 

Whenever the client asks you whether something can be done, NEVER start the conversation with No. if you know that it can be done, start with, "Yes". If you are not sure, start with "We will try to find a way to do this." 

Managing Workflow Complications

Most clients who try to add additional approval and exception workflows are basically trying to tame one beast - Compliance. 

That is the core objective. 

Start the conversation by saying - My work ends with doing the coding. Your work starts after that and goes on forever. So, my work is the shorter one. Let's talk about how this will work after go live in your business. Let's discuss a few scenarios and understand how much additional work it will add for your users, and what you are doing about it now. 

After that, listen. Let them explain all their use cases and exceptions. Understand their compliance needs thoroughly and most importantly, understand how users manage exceptions now. A system that can be excepted by the user in an emergency will eventually be excepted as a matter of course. The user's onboarding learning curve is slow, but their bypassing learning curve for any system is amazingly steep. So, if you make it necessary for users to bypass the system for one thing, they will be bypassing it for most things sooner than you realise. 

After the client has finished putting their requirements on the table, don your product specialist hat (or get your product specialists on board) and design a solution that meets their needs without being overly complicated. I can assure you that most workflows can be simplified. 

Pro Tip: For each workflow step, ask your client: 

• How will this step increase the transaction load of the user? 

Let's understand this with a real life example: 

Let's say that the client wants all travel to go to the department head. The questions we ask then are: 

A. How many travel requests will the DH have to approve in a day? Week? Month? How much time will it take them to approve each (assume reading time). If we go with 5 a week and 5 minutes per TR, that's 25 minutes of extra work per week. For an already stretched executive. 

Next, ask them how they plan to manage situations that are definitely going to arise - the executive on leave, too busy, traveling himself, etc. 

Usually, in such cases, a thing called Delegation of Authority is used. 

Let the client think about that. And then help them understand how to balance compliance with minimum transaction load on the users. 

• What value is this step adding to your process? 

The most frequent response to this is "It gives us better control" or "Compliance." 

Do not resist. After the client says this, sit back in silence and let them think. 

If they do not appear to be making headway, ask gently, "Are you creating a better process, or are you helping someone do CYA? Think about that. If the system can be hacked, it will neither lead to better compliance nor control. Every new control element you put in there is also a hacking opportunity. Think about the real business value of every step. And its real objective." 

Always be mindful of the client's imperatives. 99% of the times, clients see the difference between business value and CYA. But some cultures are necessarily CYA cultures. In those cultures, you can only help the client by perpetuating the CYA culture. Do that. 

And most importantly, NEVER disrespect the client - neither in public with your team, nor in private in your head. A Lot of delivery managers and PMs get together to laugh at clients in private. The client does not know tech as well as you do, and you don't know business as well as they do. Further, respect cannot be faked. Come from a place of real understanding, and you will create synergy. Come from a place of negotiation, and you will create a tug of war. I am still in touch with client PMs who worked with me 15 years ago, and more. 

Managing Reports 

Report requirements are the biggest headache for most PMs. The client wants to extract every element of data being put (or not put) into the system in about 15 reports on average (that's a joke, not a statistic). 

So, how does one tame the report monster? 

There are, once again, 2 simple questions that one asks the client. 

Since I have dealt with dashboard design and report management in another post, will just quickly state the 2 questions here: 

A. Who will enter this data? 

Request the client to go through their entire data flow process (you can use a proprietary methodology I have listed elsewhere on this blog - the Data River Diagram) and have them understand how the data will flow into the system in the first place. 

Is there enough reliability of that data for us to use it in reporting? 

B. What decision will it aid / How will you use it? 

Every pixel on an executive dashboard is important. Every second of executive time is important. If a data element is making it to reporting, it must help the user do one of the following: 

A. Monitor and control 

B. Diagnose and Correct 

C. Predict and Decide 

If the report is not fulfilling one of these 3 objectives, it should not be there. 

Your clients will truly appreciate your trying to create reports and dashboards that are relevant for the long term. 

In fact, invest some time in creating a report library that you know helps other organisations create effective dashboard and reporting interfaces, then proactively share it with clients. Will significantly shorten the cycle time and will also help the client see value in your work. 

So, are there any best practices that have helped you deliver better business value to your clients? Do share! 

What i have learnt from standalone store owners

This is the duration of some of my relationships: 

Grocery store - 18 years 

Stationery Store - 18 years 

Electricals - 18 years 

Fruit vendor - 7 years 

Dry Ration - 2 years 

Cleaning supplies - 8 years 

Medical store - 6 years 

Florists - 7-8 years 

And over these years, I have learnt a few things from these wonderful people. Here are some of them: 

A. A simple board outside the store asking what they can stock. No AI needed to do inventory management and get new product ideas. 

B. Personally greet every person walking into the store. At one store, every customer gets personal attention and its a pleasure to go in there, even for a small thing. 

C. Be realistic about setting expectations. Tell them when something will be available. 

D. To the customer, you are the subject matter expert. Play that role. 

E. When a better product or offer is available, give it to the customer proactively. 

F. Indifference is the fastest way to lose a customer. A positive interaction goes a long way in retaining a customer.

What are some lessons that you have learnt from your interactions? 

The Gujarati Thali restaurant's signalling system

While watching Scam 1992, Bhatt teaches Harshad the finger signalling system. My son remarked, "That looks so complex! These signals are so subtle." 

And I remembered that the same system works in the Gujarati thali restaurants, and possibly, other Gujarati businesses too. 

What is a Thali restaurant 

Most Indian meals are multi-course by default and they are a riot of textures, spices, flavours, and aromas. 

Representative Image: A thali from Rajdhani restaurant, taken from the internet 

The Gujarati and Rajasthani thalis are the best known examples of these multi course meals. The South Indian Wedding food is another one. 

But in Gujarat and Rajasthan, these thali restaurants are very popular. 

How the system works 

If you have never been to one, here is how it works: 

When you sit down, someone brings a basin and pitcher to help you wash your hands. As soon as you're done, a server appears with the salad and starters. Once you reach main course, your thali fills up pretty quickly. As you eat, the servers move around silently, serving people near you, keeping an eye. If you finish dal on your thali, for instance, a server will appear out of nowhere and offer to refill that bowl. If you want dal, great for you. But if your heart desires something else, and you mention that to the server, the relevant person will be at your table in under two minutes. How does this work? 

My dad explained this to me. The servers don't talk or shout across the hall. They raise their free arm and gesticulate. Servers at the other end of the hall also can see this. The server with the relevant item (each server moves around with a serving tray that has 1-4 items, ready to be served) moves to the right table and person immediately and serves. There are gestures for what is needed where and by whom. 

Sometimes, two separate servers move towards a table on seeing the gesture, but on seeing a colleague has reached, the other turns back to focus on tables they have not visited for a while. 

The other thing that one notices about these restaurants is that you cannot tip an individual server. As you leave, the tip box is at the counter. You place it there. If you try to tip an individual, very likely the effort will be frustrated. 

The Thali restaurant experience is a lot like eating at a wedding. मनुहार or cajoling one to eat more is a necessary part of the service (or used to be). You feel well taken care of because someone arrives to refill even as you finish an item. Needless to add, these are all you can eat kind of service, but unlike a buffet, where you have to get up and fetch food every time, in this case, the food comes to you. 

You might think that a service like this will need a high server: guest ratio. You'll be surprised to know that most Thali restaurants I've been to managed with just the right number of serving staff. They don't appear to be an overwhelming number within the restaurant. 

Any other places where the finger signal system works? 

If you know of any other place where this finger signalling system works, please do share. (The examination hall is not a valid answer :) ) 

The Shagun of Punjabi business communities

When a business was started in a Punjabi trading community, the entire friends and family were invited. It was a celebration. Everyone came and bought something. That was mandatory. 

In addition, they also gave "Shagun" - a gift that is given for good luck, on social occasions. The start of a business is a perfect social occasion to a business community. 

Every guest was sent back with "mithai" - congratulatory sweetmeats to share the happiness with the guests. 

This was not any ordinary mithai. Most businesses start with a prayer ceremony according to the faith of the family. For the Arya Samaji Punjabis, that would be a yagya (havan). For the Sikhs, most likely an Akhand Path (a 2 day non stop reading of the Guru Granth Sahib). For other business families, it would be a prayer to their family deity (for 80% of Punjabi business families, that would be Mata Vaishno Devi), or to Goddess Lakshmi. This mithai was considered to be the prasad (blessing) of that prayer ceremony. 

In India, Shagun is given at weddings, at the start of a family, on entering a new house, etc. But a shagun and a small order at the start of the business, did two things: 

A. The moneys collected from the shagun helped ensure that operational expenses are taken care of for a short while. 

B. The initial orders, no matter how small, ensured a good first day of the business. The Punjabis believe that a good bohni (first order of the day is called a bohni), a good first day of the business, and a good final order of the day is auspicious. A business that does not do well on its opening day is, well, unheard of in close knit Punjabi communities. 

C. This initial order also gives every one a chance to sample your product. Then, when they recommend you to someone, they can say truthfully, "I have tried them and they are good." 

You might think that this is very well for B2C businesses, but as we move into services (CA, IT, etc) or B2B platforms, this practice cannot be replicated. 

Well, the Punjabis have been doing software (film production companies) and B2B (the entire construction and transport industry of the North from Jammu to Delhi) for a long time. 

So, here is how this goes: 

We give the shagun and we make a business transaction - this can be: 

A. A service rendered or resource shared. 

B. A discount if we can be a vendor to the business. We might also throw something in for free. 

C. An order 

D. An introduction to a potential client  

E. Govt and regulatory facilitation. 

Those who can provide vendor services do so at a very nominal rate for the first order. 

Those who can either buy or introduce one to potential buyers do that. 

On dealing with breach

When a company goes through an internal breach of any kind - data, corruption, ethical lapse, etc., the thought, after cleaning up the mess, is to ensure that this never happens again. 

However, the way we go about doing this is so different. Indian companies tend to ensure that they hire no one who is likely to do this ever again. 

Western companies change their processes such that no one can do it ever again. 

One tightens the process but keeps the talent tap open. The other closes the talent tap but keeps internal processes open. 

They are both valid ways. In one, every employee becomes suspect and has to go through greater scrutiny and compliance. In the other, every employee is trusted, but it becomes harder to become an employee. The company's talent pool contracts. 

What would you like to do? Why? 

Multi Currency Exchange

 We have created a world where we recognise only one currency - money.

But in the course of my work with Esha and now The Children's Post, I have become acutely aware that just as the Sun is not the only star in the world, money is not the only currency of human exchange.

Here are two others, but they are two among many.

Social Capital: "I owe you one." - Very familiar, and very pertinent. We have all experienced this. We do things for other people, and if we are in the right social construct and if they remember, we exchange in this social currency.

Strokes/Love: This is, according to my experience, the second most universal currency in the world. This is why people volunteer. This is why we make time to meet friends. This is why we smile at strangers. This is why children at home miss school and adults miss office.

If you observe your interactions more closely, you will find that beneath the surface, there are many currencies being exchanged in human interactions. Each of them is important.

But we have created a single currency narrative. The direct result of that is that we have started to measure our own progress in life on that single axis - the location of the house, the size of the car.

What are some currencies that you have observed in human interactions?

Contrarian Decisions and their results

 #1

When Topgain was started, Sanjiv Menezes and I decided that we will not do what traditional strategic advisory does. There is a huge trust deficit in Advisory and we will try to plug that. We will treat our client organisations as our own and do whatever it takes, with ownership. There won't be a sales team and a delivery team. The person who meets you across the table and says, "Let's do this" , will be the one who works on doing it.

Why was this a contrarian decision?
This is not how Advisory works. There always is a sales team and delivery team. This model strongly limits our ability to scale because every single Advisor working with us will need to reorient their mental model too.

What was the outcome?
Three years and counting, our client relationships are strong, long-lasting, and above all else, when we sit down at the end of the day, we feel a sense of professional satisfaction.

On respecting our employment

 If you have noticed, before opening the store, a shopkeeper bends down and touches the floor of the shop. A performer touches the last step of the stage before getting on the stage. An auto driver starts the day by doing a small agarbatti or pooja in the auto.

Ever wondered why that is?
The shopkeeper, performer, and auto driver get their livelihood (rozi-roti) from the shop, stage, and auto respectively. Every morning, before they start work, they are thanking the means of their livelihood for providing for their families, and praying to it to bless them with a good performance.

There are some things that don't take a lot of time and effort, but cause a massive shift in our consciousness. The practice of thanking our livelihood before starting our work day is, I think, one such.

#lessonslearnt #BusinessPracticesFromIndia