Yesterday, we had invited a wonderful guest, Hammad to talk about his work as a Product Group Expert (PGX in short), today we shall continue to learn about how he motivate his peers and perhaps you can be inspired to do the same with your coworkers!
You mentioned before that you help out the existing employees with their work; do you see the difference in attitude between the new and the existing employees? How do you orientate the new employees into your company’s culture?
Let me answer the second part here first. In my company, the culture is definitely out of the box, if we compare it other Pakistani companies in same industry as my company. Frankly speaking, I don’t do much to orientate new employees in my company’s culture. Heck, no one else does anything about it. The moment they become part of our company, they see how things work differently here than other companies. We have our own set of values which are friendly, caring and trust worthy. So new team members don’t find much difficulty in adjusting themselves in. We organize different recreational events from time to time in which everyone is invited to participate.
Regarding first part, the attitude difference is definitely present and it differs with the passage of time. The senior employee sees things differently than the new one because of having much exposure to our line of work. But once the new employee starts to race along, things become clear to him/her also about how to achieve more targets in the same amount of time which seemed difficult earlier.
You also mentioned that you do a little customer support as well. It must be tough, having to juggle so many roles at the same time. So how do you motivate yourself?
Yes, that customer support is indeed little as I actually don’t engage directly with customers. There is a customer support department which handles out queries from all our customers. You can picture it like a giant mail room where letters and parcels arrive from everywhere. Now those working in that room must sort out which mail goes where. Once that mail lands in my inbox, then it’s up to me to cater customer’s need.
Describe a particularly bad day at work for you. What is it like? So what action will you take?
I try my level best to avoid any bad day at work, which is something we all want. But they happen no matter how much cautions we take. For me, a bad day can be like a day when my routine work changes track abruptly.
Like last year in March, all PGXs were engaged in a new project which was totally new for everyone. Deadline was very short and we worked so hectically on it. Because of that, our routine work of support/training suffered badly. Then back in November, I worked on solely on another project with a tight deadline. I finished about 60% of it in less than 2 weeks but the remaining 40% went till end of December.
Taking one step at a time is my action. Now this doesn’t mean that I can’t do multi-tasking. What I meant is that rushing up things that are already messed up always creates problems. My action would be giving more room to me if I talk about my own cases.
Tell us, what is passion to you? Do you think it can be found in your line of work? Share a story where you have witnessed passion portrayed by your colleagues.
Passion to me is all about doing your very best. If your job is what you desired for, then you definitely are one of the luckiest persons in the world. But if that’s not the case, there is no reason to dishearten. At least, give it your best shot and look for things you love in an environment you may find uncomfortable.
Those who love to know about new technologies, about how things work, the latest technology behind any upcoming gadget are in for a treat in my line of work. If you really consider yourself a tech savvy person and want to share your knowledge by helping out others, then this is what you were looking for.
Many times, due to high requirements of customers, our entire department took a couple of extra steps to ensure what we committed upon, is delivered. Whether it’s about sitting late or working on weekends, we work as a team to achieve our goals.
Last but not least, any last words to share with our readers?
I saw rough times after I passed college. Didn’t received much job offers and those times gave me some really valuable lessons. But I kept paddling because once you are out in the field; there is no stopping or turning back. You have to move forward to that destination where you have set earlier.
Hope for best, prepare for worst. These 6 words helped me out in those days and they still help me out whenever I find myself in trouble. Whether it’s related to the work I do in my office or in my personal life, I know things will get better. All I have to do is keep trying and stay focused.
Thank you, Hammad once again for granting us this chance to collabrate on this interview. It has been such a pleasure to work with you. So folks, if you wish to know more about Hammad, join him at his blog.
And if you enjoyed the interview and wish to contribute the same way, contact me through kally@MiddleMe.net.
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