The other day it struck me how fast my journey of over these three years with One97 has passed! And then this thought came of sharing some of the good times with you.It has been a very exciting and learning journey! Have seen the Company growing 10 times from the time I started. We were just 70 at that time, a small, cozy team…I can even recall all names and faces. Everyone used to be on the same floor: from Sales to Service Delivery.
I still remember the first day I joined. It was quite an experience to see the mix/dynamics of teams sitting together. Shortage of space never really came in the way of getting things done for One97. Sometimes I miss that small team, which was more or less like a family . A family that kept growing and so quickly! Soon we were spread across 3 floors: Devika Tower, 1st Floor to 2nd Floor to 10th Floor and then we moved only the Engineering team to another building. And as suddenly as this movement, we moved to Noida in one building, four Floors indeed.
We recently saw our annual day celebrations party 2009. I still remember our Annual Party Dec 2006. Smita, Puneet, Anupam and I had gone location-hunting only to be told that everything was filled. We had then finalized on this small banquet hall above Turquoise Cottage…Days of the Raj. The party was totally enjoyed by everybody. Since the then first grand party to welcome the year 2007, there has been no looking back, year after year, more people, more hard work, more challenges, more achievements, and not to be forgotten, more fun all the way! One97 is a young company of young generation. We believe in working hard and partying hard. Read more »
While climbing the stage at V&D Awards night in New Delhi yesterday, I could not stop the feeling I use to have in school award functions. A feeling that all of us have worked hard and someone is acknowledging that.
We have got couple of more awards but our stage of business; I would give this one as best acknowledgment of all of us. I am told that the Jury had liked our approach to market and work / business we have delivered. They expect us to emerge out as one of key companies in the space.
And we love that :- )
As always I have said, any company is worth the company it keeps, minds it has. This is truly an award to great team we have : a team that is aggressive, agile and of strong minds.
I will love to dedicate this to our mission which marks as Emerging Company in Telecom Application space : To become $100 M telecom applications and Services business in next 2 years. Markets will challenge us and wanna-be opportunist will make it tough but our purpose and principle will guide us. Read more »
The One97 Gig’08 was really something! Enjoyment was all around us: people laughing, talking and dancing, drinking, eating and what not! Once97 has a tradition of celebrating its founders’ day every year. This year we celebrated it on 24th December at Vatika in Prgati Maidan.
We started with the informal session with Vijay, our Managing Director, followed by a formal brief presentation. It is always good to listen to him. He uses simple words in his presentation and makes you understand the most complicated things with ease. He talked about the early days of One97, now and future. He spoke of Challenge Vs. Opportunities, Customers’ need – our mantra, which he has also written about on this blog.
After this, was the turn of the culmination of the efforts made this year in our Annual Rewards and Recognition programme. We believe in rewarding performers. In this programme, we receive company-wide nominations for achievers, then they go through further selection to become our Rock Stars.
We have many rafting enthusiasts aboard One97. But the suddenness of this rafting trip beat all impulsive plans we have made so far. One quick informal announcement, and in days’time I found myself asleep in the back of a car in the early morning of the last November-weekend.
I could hear faint voices as I suddenly wake up to find the car parked near a shiva statue thats several feet high from the ground. “This is Rishikesh,” said someone. The earlier night, myself and other rafting aspirants congregated at One97 Noida office and departed toward the foothills in three cars. Three cars with each of them defining their own world of fun. Car1 had people who had different interests, car2-the other, and car3 , the rest of the interests. Read more »
Taking the series started by Smita on *cult* forward, I would like to bring up the subject of “Accessibility”.
Accessibility:
This value really is a gesture… a warm and friendly gesture … which helps eliminate formality and create a bond which develops a conducive work environment. How friendly? Well, consider this: we have a ‘First Name’ culture here. It’s been ages since I greeted someone with a “Good Morning, Sir”! There is so much inter-mingling among all, that anybody can walk upto to any department and meet with the concerned person. I for one, feel that this saves up on a lot of time and leads to better understanding and co-operation between people and departments.
This is a series on values that we feel either are or should be a part of our *cult*.
1. Freedom
2. Transparency
3. Fun
People don’t have to say that they are having fun at work. If they are, it shows. Is work only work, or could it be fun too? How does work become fun? My take: Of course, we all make our choices early in our career. But even the most seemingly fun jobs have their share of pain behind them. In such a scenario, what makes it real fun is different for different people. For some, a word of appreciation works wonders, while for others it may be a reward.
