Managers are from Mars, subordinates are from hell

In the good old days, when I started my career, I was $hit scared of what my superiors in the office would think of me. Even when all and sundry used to browse or have a vetti time in general, I never abused any of these "perks" lest someone say something. This, despite the fact that my boss at that time, was one super cool dude. He would be the vettiest guy to interact with at the personal level. Sometimes his jokes would be so 'nasty' that i felt like calling him 'annna'.... but when it came to work, he was quite the opposite.

In a way I have tried to model myself on his lines. I make a lot of jokes with them when not concentrating on work and always pull them up when there is slack.

But an incident on Friday has made me seriously reconsider my modus operandi.

There is this kid who thinks his only job is not to do any work. On the 22nd of this month - the same Friday I referred previously - I found him having a long conversation with two of his friends. Points to be considered:
1. He had a lot of work assignment pending by default
2. He has already taken a few extra days of leave
3. The entire team is slogging
4. Even the cleaning staff know that we are behind schedule
5. The friends he is talking to, are not from my project
6. They are basically guys who speak his language (its a language spoken in the Eastern parts of the country)
7. The whole discussion lasted for a whopping 40 minutes

Initially, I thought of letting the conversation go on for 5-10 minutes. But then I got sucked into some other work, but noticed that these guys were going strong. Finally I barged into his cubicle and told him 'XYZ, I am stepping out for tea. When I come back, if you are done with this conversation do come over to my desk'.

I came back after my tea break of 15 minutes. The kid walked in a couple of minutes later.

I asked him about his tasks - what was pending, what was completed etc. He gave me airy answers which made no sense. I then called up his lead also and started cross checking things.

It was very evident that the kid was having his own sweet time. So I started my 'dose'. I don't shout that much, but somehow that day, my performance was quite good. This guy is a godsend for those who want to let out some steam for the right reasons. i went on and on for some 15 minutes. Pulled up his cubicle mates as well for wasting time in following the cricket scores the previous day. So all in all, it was a good session between 4.30 and 5.00 PM.

But to no goddamn effect. At 5.20 the kid whom I shouted at, simply shut down his system and went home like every other day. Either I am phenomenally bad when it comes to scolding or the guy is the ultimate bone head or he just doesn't give a damn about work as long he gets some money in his bank account from my employer.

See, I don't expect people to be loyal to the company or have visions of taking the company to a higher lever or any such Utopian goals. All that I ask is that one works with an aim to do the best.

Unfortunately, for most of the youngsters, "doing their best" is left behind in the bus used to travel to work.