IST… Indian Standard Time? Or is it Indian Stretchable Time?

No offence to anybody…What I state here is my experience and views. You are free to express yours…

I was one hell of a time conscious and organized person and though I handle situations diplomatically, the truth is that I use to get irritated with anybody and everybody who messed up my plans by not keeping their time.

Years back, I use to walk out of interviews and appointments as well if they did not stick to the committed time. Well, life was really frustrating then, because very rarely is anything in India ever done on time. And very few people truly know the value of time here.

After working for few corporate companies in India as a permanent staff, I decided to work as a freelancer. Apart from the many benefits such as harassment issues (which backfires if you raise your concerns), office politics, ‘chamcha-giri’ and ofcourse the monitory perks, the corporate companies did not have much to offer me unlike freelancing where I’m required to be more committed, disciplined and organized and is only as good as my current performance. I handle a similar profile, work for and with numerous corporate companies and get the job satisfaction that I did not get in a permanent employment. The only disadvantages are the perks like insurance, PF, Gratuity etc and job security.

Wondering what is the relationship with punctuality and my decision to be a freelancer? Well, the true reason that I prefer to freelance is that I do not have to wait on tables like I had to when I was an in-house staff. How many times will you follow up and ask your boss about the leave application? How many times will you ask your boss to clarify a doubt? How many times will you ask you colleagues to do their work on time so that you can complete your work? The worst thing is, if you raise such concerns, they will say that you are not able to get your work done or is a bad team player. I’ve worked for many years abroad but never felt this way…

I’ve worked around these issues and got my work done and was good at the Job I did but was never happy or satisfied because, I felt I was working for companies that did not sport good work culture or did not understand the meaning or the word ‘process’. The amazing fact is that, these companies are ISO certified. I’m sure ISO certification does not demand that one must be made to wait or constantly request to the extend of pleading for any kind of relevant information / work that is part of the communication chain.

If you have contacts and is aligned to your manager or your managers manager, you will be given the opportunity to climb the stairs in your career in the same company. Many a times I’ve seen that one person does the work and the other walks away with the credit. I too have taken credit this way (that is part of corporate politics). No wonder they say, hard workers are donkeys while smart workers are talented people with immense potential to succeed!

I do not believe that any school of Management teaches that one must make their internal or external customers wait in order to throw ones weight / value of designation / value of the company around. I believe, its done because, we, here in India does not like accountability and loves to play the blame game. We believe, men of few words and commanding tone make good leaders and managers. We believe that only if we pretend to be busy and make people wait will we be respected and thought highly off. The truth is that this is the sign of inefficiency and poor time management skills.

This country has many leaders who’ve led by example and were chosen as leaders. Today, our education system, home and external influences forget to teach us the very basics of life that is essential for our growth and our country’s growth. Its not only that we do not value our time or others, but lack the basic skill of time management.

Well, I still go on time or at least five minutes before time when I’ve confirmed an appointment. I still believe in meeting deadlines without asking if its ‘stretchable’ and I still believe in keeping promises. I still make it a point to inform in advance of any change of plans or delay (s). However, I’ve given up on expecting everyone else to be like me and always plan a plan B.

Some great person said that the only thing constant in life is change and the only person whom you can change is YOU. I took some time to accept and imbibe this quality in self but I finally did.

If each one of us put in individual effort, we’ll all find a home and work life balance which we yearn for; We’ll notice a remarkable increase in productivity and efficiency rate in both, our personal and professional life. And last but not the least, we can prove to the world that IST is Indian Standard Time and not Indian Stretchable Time!

Remember…together it’s a win-win situation but divided we are certain to fail!