The Good Side !!!!

It always amazed me when people say that I learned a lesson and the inspiration behind the lesson would be a fall inside the toilet, burns from a cooking experiment etc. The reason behind the same would be that when something unexpected happens, we mortals think, that's when the mind takes a break for a moment and checks "hey what the hell am I doing". Any experience in life is worth it, I spoke about the good side of being in tech support, these are the ones :

Being good to people :

Being a people manager in a BPO is like being Manmohan Singh, you are caught between the ruling party, allies, the opposition and your own conscience (Most politicians are saved from the last excuse.) Anyways imagine managing a team of 100 people, with an average age of 23, the average would have increased because of some retired army man who thought picking calls is better than being alone in front of an ATM. Who would take leaves because of a fight with the girlfriend, cause dog passed away and a new movie of their favorite star has released. With attendance being a key metric and if you are not a peoples person, only way you would know that you are hurt is by seeing the blood stain.

A sample exit interview would tell you the horrors of a people manager :

Manager: So decided to quit, why, what happened ??
Agent: Nothing sir, I have got enough money to buy an electrical guitar.
Manager: What??
Agent: Yes, I did not have enough money to buy one and this is the only way I could earn it.
Manager: Can I give you flexible staffing hours so that you could learn guitar??
Agent: No I have a band and I want to be full time into music.
Manager: Then why did you join us??
Agent: I told you, Guitar!!!.
Manager: Could I give you leaves for three months??
Agent: For what, I do not want to end up like these morons.
Manager: Thanks.

Now the manager goes in for his review and the conversation goes like this :

Manager's Boss: That's the third resignation this month, You're a loser.
Manager: Sir, the guy quit because he had amassed enough money for a guitar, how could I have stopped him.
Manager's Boss: You must have distracted him from his hobby and got him focus on his career.
Manager: Is that possible.
Manager's Boss: I am here because one smart ass did that with me, other wise I would have pursued an MBA and worked in a investment bank.

Patience, strength to take bull shit, skin thicker than Yak will be a part of your achievements list if you could cling on for a span of four years. The above conversations would tell you how.

Management:

In a BPO everything is measured and management is purely based on these measured outcomes. Everything that you do, your team does is colored into red, amber and green. Though perceptions play a huge role, in most of the processes numbers speak, lobbying, "sleep with me campaigns" can get promotions but still the fact remains that everything is measured.

Any amount of analysis, drill down, data modeling is possible in a BPO. If you want to play with data, know how to do presentations, strike a chord with anyone in click, this industry is your best teacher. Being measured and being reviewed on performance day in day out can drive anyone to their best, you will pushed to the wall, dragged and beaten to pulp and the only way you could prove yourself is by performing.

Growth :

If promotions in any industry happens by age and experience, this is a place where intelligence could give experience a run for the money. With young men at the helm of affairs, there is much lesser politics and back stabbing. It's mostly a fun filled collaborative culture. Decisions are made in a flash it means that your hind side would not grow roots into the chair you've been seated for a life time, provided you're good at what you do.

Though the journey is not flamboyant and charismatic, these are some of the pros of working in a BPO, apart from cabs, food, chicks which could be considered as the by products of an effervescent work force. So if you're joining the bandwagon it's not as bad as your Father thinks or your Geeky elder brother imagines.