It was a Friday morning. Many people woke up with the enthusiasm that they only had to get through the day for their weekend to begin, but not me. I was nervous. I had to present the idea of my initiative to my manager and get his approval. The initiative was to bypass a significant unwanted block in an algorithm which could save about an hour each time the process was done. The idea was foolproof. It would be a boon for the team. They would get to spend one extra hour in the real world if the initiative went through. Even when the initiative had its benefits, convincing my manager takes more than that. He was the kind of guy who was happy with things the way they were. He was not easily susceptible to change.
I had the feeling that I lacked something, or maybe I was just overthinking. I was not sure. The same thought occupied my mind until I dressed up and saw that person. He was looking right at me with an air of confidence. And suddenly the uneasiness was gone. It was me looking at my reflection in the mirror. What cleared the state of my mind was my professional look in the Van Heusen suit. Although it was a mere piece of clothing, it attributed to my demeanor nonetheless. As you all might have guessed by now, the initiative went through, and I am thankful to Aditya Brila group for bringing in Van Heusen into my country.
As time went on, I was shouldering more responsibilities and facing more challenges than ever. That’s when I was assigned with a government-mandated project by my client. In spite of the severe complexity, the expectation was set that the project should be completed in six weeks, and three associate engineers were placed under my lead for the support.
Planning went smoothly. The challenge began during the execution phase. In the first three weeks of execution, more than 50% of the time was lost due to blocking defects. It is usual for a project to lose time due to blocking defects, but it was three times severe for this project, in comparison to normal ones owing to its complexity.
I knew that I had an option of negotiating for extra time, but I was confident that the project could be completed within time. I also knew that the frequency of the defects may increase but will not decrease in any case. Calculating that the current pace will not be sufficient, I wanted someone to constantly follow up on the defects with development teams round the clock. It would ensure seamless execution by the other three in the morning, thereby giving us the edge back.
I inspired my teammates to work in night shift where we took turns. By ensuring that someone was working on the fix continuously optimized the downtime caused due to defects. For the next three weeks, the routine was considered sacrosanct by all of us. Working as a team without slacking off, we completed the project within the stipulated time.
