Reminiscence of Consulting All Hands Meeting on 18th and 19th July 2008
Preparing the Consulting team of North America for the next giant leap – By Anurag Bahal
As we saw our turbaned colleague tethered with the fragile rope struggling to breathe and sweating profusely we were excited and thrilled, not because of the moment of doubt but on the heights he had already accomplished. We wanted him to succeed; we wanted him to ring the sound of bell at the mountain. We cheered him to continue the relentless pursuit to the top and when he made it we were all lifted to the high spirits.
At the fag ends of the Infosys Consulting N.A. rendezvous, as I saw the bodies of top brains overcoming their limitation and climbing rocks, my mind echoed the thoughts of Og Mandino ( Author and Speaker)
"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."
What happens when top consulting brains come together? Opportunities abound, sky is what we can do. Rewind a few months, there was some apprehension on the value of doing an all-hands meet, but I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our group that put all doubts to sleep. There was a wave of exhilaration, an ocean of ideas in our 2 days meet.
Day 1
When the Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI) delivered the training program on Client Interfacing skills, all the consultants were jumping right into the thick of discussions. It is such an important area of a consultant life, that enough does not seem to be enough. The lessons on Probing Skills were very well received by the group and so was the exercise on practicing various types of questions. The Relationship Tracker is a good tool to track the client affinity for Infosys. The lesson on Polite Disagreement helped us frame our next client discussion for saying “No”. My personal favorite is the instructor’s definition of a good client interaction that goes “It is a good interaction only when the Value is flowing in both directions”
The 8 hours of training including the pizza lunch just flew away. We could have done for another 8 hours but for the promise of a beautiful evening at Malee’s. As William Feather, Writer said it "Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it.", our group made sure that they not only found their fun but also had enough of it. People were amused to see Bombay curry at the Thai restaurant. Time to booze and celebrate the bonding.
Day 2
Next day started with an engrossing first half of active Business Presentation skills. It was impressive to see the creative spirits flowing when people were asked to present any topic of their interest. There was good feedback for individuals and that stays with us.
If that was not enough we had a session with Madhukar I B on future strategy and a follow up brain storming on our course of action followed by an evening of fun and excitement in the Rock Climbing. The famous part of the lunch was the compliment received by our principal Ram on his drop dead looks that made him an eligible bachelor.
To me the biggest take away of the meeting is that as a result of the all hands meeting our team members will be happier to pick up phone and talk to each other. This team spirit gives us the plank for future growth. I will leave you with another thought that epitomizes the experience –
"If you make the unconditional commitment to reach your most important goals, if the strength of your decision is sufficient, you will find the way and the power to achieve your goals." Robert Conklin Teacher, Author and Speaker
Together we surmount another rock!
