Too much Work, Too Little Sleep
April 27th, 2009
The client site is located in Shang-di district. This is almost like the software export zone in India or a Research Technology park in the US. Both sides of the road are lined with one software company after another with familiar names like Neusoft and Oracle. Driving along the main road, you see these massive power grid towers marching down the left, and right in the middle of it, is this odd structure. Someone called it the ‘Flying Saucer’ or better still ‘the Weird Thingy’. It’s definitely a thingy. Probably a cell tower – who knows? See pic attached.
The client offices are in a glass and concrete structure, very modern, with fountains in the garden, and uniformed guards – hats, gloves, et al. The room we sit in is a big conference room with tables along three sides. People sit on either side of the tables, grabbing whichever work area is empty.
I didn’t realize this, but I was told later that men don’t shake hands with women, until the woman sticks out her hand first. Since I was completely unaware of this, I stuck my hand out at everybody. Limp handshakes! I thought. Well, turns out that was one more thing I was unaware of. Now, I start to feel like I am in a foreign country, where I must respect the customs and traditions of what is a very traditional society.
After a quick confab, we decided to pull all the team into a conference room for a briefing/introduction session. Kevin had warned me about the language issues, and I decided that if I was to make myself understood white-boarding it was the way to go. It’s really difficult to communicate without a common language, and it makes you wonder what else you are missing. At points in the meeting, the entire conversation would be in Mandarin, with Kevin and me basically looking on, trying hard to understand what the heck was being said. Suddenly, the conversation would stop and they’d go ‘Ok’. Okay! And we’d move on. I had to try and pace myself to make myself more understood, and I try and pronounce words more clearly and precisely and with far less Americanisms than I would use while talking to the others.
There is a smoking room on our floor. The entire floor is built around a four-storey atrium. Kevin showed me the smoking room, and it sort of became the place where we went to have private conversations. Two of our Chinese team mates came in and were surprised to see me standing there with a cigarette in my hand. Now all smokers know this, but smoking is a great networking tool. Smokers bond. I got to know a little bit of these guys on our team. Nice young men and both were rather chuffed when I expressed an interest in learning how to speak certain words in Chinese. So we were off to a good start.
Did I mention we actually watched the change of guards at the office? Yep. They actually have a little ceremony where they do hand offs!
Work piled up. We were up to necks in work, and it was slowly rising over our heads.
But come lunchtime, suddenly everyone is out of the office. They really like their lunch hour! But this we later discovered was due to the fact that the cafeterias basically opened between around 11:30 and 1/1:30 – so everyone disappears to take advantage of that time. Kevin took me to a little cafeteria/coffee shop for lunch. We didn’t feel adventurous enough to venture into the cafeteria. I had my first Chinese pizza. Pretty good!
Keeping in mind the rush-hour traffic and the fact that we were all fast fading from the previous day’s (two days?) travel, we decided to leave around 5:30. On the way back, I was told not to take a cab that was not a real cab i.e. it didn’t have the word Taxi on the top and markings on the side. Good to know. The cab rides are usually around 35-40 yuan – something like 6 or 7 dollars. The almost 8-mile drive takes anything between half-an-hour and an hour depending on traffic and the route du jour picked by the driver du jour. Some things reminded me of home. The fact that cabs facing one way in the traffic will not go in a particular direction. Those facing North would not take us back to the hotel. So it was a sprint across the street and into a cab facing South! To me, it was like being back in India. Chalna hai?
Back at the hotel, we changed and went down to the Brazilian steak house in the hotel – go figure!! Awesome chorizos!! Need I say more?
We have a 10 pm conference call, so Eric, Kevin and I decided to take it in Kevin’s room. Became a sort of pajama party – with me on the floor on cushions, and Kevin stretched out on the sofa, and Eric basically squatting on a chair.
It soon became a pattern. Breakfast around 7/7:30 – coffee to go. At work, rush around, fight fires, answer questions, find solutions, run interference, learn Chinese, and generally be a busybody. Back to the hotel, find a place to eat dinner, maybe a drink. Take the 9 pm call, take the 10 pm call. Work some more, usually until or past midnight, sleep, wake up at 6 and repeat pattern.
It was taking a toll on us. But we had to deal with it. And everyone on the team dealt with it.
It’s a brilliant team. I have never seen a collection of such smart people in one project, bar none! Each one brings something to the table, and there is really little or no ego clashes at all!
But I have to mention the two people who I work most closely with.
The first is Eric – our PM – the devilishly handsome guy in my last post. (see Eric? I did give you props!) Eric landed into a project that is in crisis mode, and his ability to grasp situations and take pressure off us is pretty amazing. I’m glad he’s on the team. And more importantly, I’m glad he’s a team player. But most of all, I enjoy the fact that he can be humorous – sometimes at the most inopportune times – in an incredibly ridiculous way, and release the tension. He’s also been there, when I need to rant and rave, and totally (yes, Eric, TOTALLY) understood my need to vent.
The other is Kevin. What would I do without him? Kevin is an instinctive leader. He leads from the front and keeps a cool head even when under pressure. He bonds with people so well, that I sometimes envy his ability to do that. I think he has our team eating out of his hands. I believe if he asked them to lie down on a bed of nail for him – they probably would – except me. I kinda don’t like that kind of physical torture – seeing as I’m a comfort loving person myself. His best quality is his ability to see things in an analytical manner and articulate it very clearly and concisely. I am learning so much from him. His worst? STOP APOLOGISING already!!
So here we are – in a little pressure cooker – and the pressure is building. So we needed to find a way to vent the steam. Bring on the safety valve!
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