Buddy up - Back Office business

Most of us would have come across 'On the Job Training' on our professional front, BPO is no exception. The first phase when in a BPO was the class room training with ultimate fun and visuals to enhance the skills required to meet the work standards. As part of the OJT, new hires are made to under-go a cost effective method to gain a real-time experience known as the 'Buddy-up' process wherein each one of the trainees are allocated to an experienced personnel aimed at shortening the 'learning curve cycle'.

There I was, allocated to an experienced agent who was taking a call at ease. The Buddy training started off with a formal introduction between us, whilst on a call guiding one of her clients to resolve a technical fault with the Internet connection.  I saw her typing notes on to a tracking tool to log in the incident and the resolution provided as and when possible, every 5 minutes. This activity is a part of the call handling as there is no intervening time between two calls especially when there is heavy traffic. The calls are lined up in a queue and allocated based on the availability of an agent. We would have personally experienced it when we call the Customer service agents and we hear really nice calm music on wait, but the work floor on the other end is not how we think it really is.

On the work floor, I could see agents talking over the phone who differed in attitude, some were cool and poised, few agents were stressful trying hard to please the clients, others had a careless attitude. I had the script in hand and was verifying every step to  follow the process, to my dismay the agent did not use any of these and followed her own style. She then explained I could even use my own format, but only after gaining proficiency in call handling which depends on the Customer satisfaction survey taken once the call is done. I could see the agents were multi-tasking, for instance playing (throwing a ball at each other), messaging (done to get info from others who had experienced the same issue before) and sharing a 'munch' (help a buddy eat when on long call) to avoid boredom at the work place. I was also enjoying the atmosphere of the work floor where we were allowed to decorate our own bay colourful enough to keep the spirits high.

When time permitted, my mentor was giving me tips on using the phone effectively, to save time by transferring calls internally to respective departments when the calls are out of our scope. I still remember the time when I was taking notes that she stopped the lecture abruptly as there was a call flashing on the monitor. The mentor started off greeting the customer cheerfully, verified the personal information, then proceeded with the issue. In the midst of the process, she was pissed off and started using the 'F' word, I was startled hearing it, I have only seen people using it in the movies but none by the side of me. I was frightened, looked up at her, she continued using the word with different sentences, I was scared to even look at her. She turned towards me, smiled and asked me to look at the mute button which was 'ON', I let a sigh of relief.

I then learned, almost every one in the floor used the 'F' word  to release the accumulating tension, some even crossing the limits. I was wondering what was I doing there, I had learned values when in the class room training but the 'Buddy-up' process only taught me how to use profane languages on the very first day. The next couple of days went fine as the guy who I buddied up with was cool, composed and comfortable to work with. I still wonder, why people use words that are gross to express their disappointment and anger. I have taken so many calls on my own but have never used the word even once. Its upto an individual to say it or not say it, I decided not to say it ever.

Trust - need of the hour

I trust my friends more than my own instinct. Many a time, i get through fine but sometimes i just make a blunder, a real one.

During the onsite term (London), on one cheerful day, i had a discussion with my friend about how soon the onsite term is going to end in a few weeks. My friend suggested me to put forward the request to my Manager(who was at offshore, India) for extending the term for maybe a couple of months. I had no experience of pleading with the managers, I am certainly not good at that. I always wanted the management to be fair and judgemental, which never happened. 

I was too distracted to work, so wanted to write a letter to my Manager first and then continue with what i was doing. I typed in a few lines without much thought and sent it to my friend for a review so he could pour in some ideas before sending the request. Few seconds passed by and there it was, the reviewed email. I read it once, added my signature and then pressed the SEND button. I was not concentrating and was still lost in thought. I wondered what my Manager was doing out there without even replying to my email (LOL).

I am not sure if i had worked after sending the email but eagerly awaited a reply from her. I forwarded that email to my friend and told him that she was yet to reply. I got back a mail, not from the Manager but from my friend sitting in the same office (guy who reviewed the email), stating that he was not that dumb to believe that i had sent that email. That email came as a puzzle to me, wondering what he was trying to say. Was he kidding me or was it about the onsite term? With a low energy, I replied back to him asking, what was wrong with that email.

My friend rushed to my seat agitated and asked me again, i showed him the email from the sent items, he could not believe his eyes and you should have seen the expression in his face, it was like £$%^^$$$%&&****(( . He made me recall the message and I was trying to get her on the phone as I was scared that she would have been pissed off seeing the email. After an hour's try, I got her on the phone and she was talking to me with a pleasant tone after coming back from a meeting. She had a very good attitude and smiled saying that she will delete the email without even reading it. 

The email i sent was

"I was expecting an extension of 3 (or 4 or whatever number you want to say) 

months atleast. I have got a promotion only after 3.5 years and getting a

decent salary (I guess there is no better phrase) only now."

Only later I realised that I was supposed to modify the text in brackets with an exact number. I wondered what would have she thought if she had read the text in braces especially, that goes like this, "

"I guess there is no better phrase"  ; "whatever number you want to say"  ROFL :)))

Can you now understand how I trusted him blindly. Fact is, he never reviews my email from then on ;o)

Take Away:

Stay vigilant, you never know what's in store for you if you aren't paying attention!!! 

The unspoken Bond

Ever wondered why the companies especially BPOs force people to sign up bonds. I personally have one such experience where I was left with no other choice but to break it.


The companies that were into this business spend lots to train people who do not have any idea about a BPO until they get into it. Not that blaming it, I have personally seen people from various walks of life into the profession by compulsion, others by choice.


The criteria set for entering into the profession is liberal. Anyone who can handle a computer, has any bachelor's degree and who has a good fluency in English are welcome. I knew one person who had her bachelors in 'Nutrition and Dietetics', a widow with an adopted son to look after, a married woman who was away from her home for work, a new married lady, a rich girl who had a boy friend (they were sneaking because of her father who spied on them), so many others like me who just completed their college and waiting for a break through.


Good part about being in a BPO is that you get a job instantly, provided you fulfil the eligibility criteria. We learn neutral accent and get to know English better, we are taught how to put correct english in use. Gain confidence, when we communicate full time and when that was our profession. Good social recognition as people really can't distinguish between a BPO and an IT job though you explain to them, ultimately it is the company with which people recognize you. Learn american accent at the cost of the company and good perks to keep you going.


Let's look at the other side of the coin. I was very comfortable in the general shifts but when I had my evening shifts, I started deviating from the normal life. I wanted to sleep during the day but I had to break up for breakfast, lunch and that's it my sleep is disrupted and the next day starts from the very  evening. I go on like this with a disrupted sleep everyday and the routine goes on, finally one day I was totally fed up with what I was doing. I was depressed, easily irritated and wanted the normal life badly. I made up my mind to quit what I was doing, I wanted to get into a job just like every one else that does not demand me to work late hours. There was one thing that stopped me from quitting, yes it was the 'Bond' that I had signed with them.


Though I broke the bond and reasoned that I cannot be forced into shifts just because I attend a walk-in one fine day and they offer me a letter which stated a thousand rules, then asked me sign so as to not break the rules for one full year? They got to be kidding me, I was strong at my point and did not give up, I called it quits, it was hardly 2 months that made me realise I should have got into an IT profession. It is still a nightmare when I recall about the BPO, I joined first. I know so many who quitted sooner than they have really thought.


I have been into the IT profession for more than 6 years and there have never been a bond in the place I work. When people get really comfortable with the work culture, there is nothing stopping them. Its up to the individual who makes a choice between money and a balanced life. I am happy that I have an unspoken bond with my current employer and there has been no compulsion ever. 

Learning - comes with a hefty package

We learn from our mistakes. I have had so many learnings, some were out of embarrassment, few out of sympathy and others might have been due to the experience of it. 

I love to travel in the City buses, the most important reason being safety and it comes very cheap. On one such day after a hectic schedule at office, i was on my way back home. I got into the bus at Mount Road with one of my friend. As you are aware, Mount road is at the center of the city and the bus was heavily crowded. My friend and I managed to get some space in the bus, it is a known fact that if you manage to travel in a city bus (never mind how you get some breathing space, push others here and there, stamp their feet intentionally or unintentionally, be so rude to people standing next to you, this will scare the hell out of them and they will keep a safe distance) and get used to it, you have already learned to adapt to the city life.

We did not try any of stunts stated above, but still managed to get into the bus and got two tickets to 'parrys corner'. Trust me it was only 2 rupees to travel from Mount Road to Parrys corner, didn't i say safety and travel comes with a very cheap package. We were chatting and smiling about something, that i was totally lost in the conversation when suddenly I  remembered that i had promised to get a book my sister had requested. So I told my friend that I had to get down at the Central bus stop, that being my top priority the other day. Before getting down I handed over one of the tickets to my friend instructing her to keep it safe. Before I got down she thanked me for being with the 'presence of mind', if not she would have been in real trouble. 

I got down from the bus and headed towards the Central Station where there were numerous shops with all sorts of books ranging from kinder garden to competitive examinations at a very cheap price. I was walking really fast to get there before it becomes too late, I have heard that place was not so safe to hang around in the evening especially when there is no company. I was hurrying towards one book shop when I heard someone shouting. I turned back and saw my bus was still held up and was puzzled, later I figured out that the 'Checker' (auditor for transport) was calling me. He asked me for the ticket and I found that I did not have it. I told them I threw it away just a couple of seconds before even they called me.  I was searching it among the tickets that were torn at the bus stop, but in vain. 

The bus had already left by the time I came, so nobody came to my rescue except for a few audiences who enjoyed watching the scene. I was not surprised that they did not believe me, I thought maybe they would have come across so many real fraudsters. They had a suspicious look and whenever I gave a reason, they gave a nod of rejection. I had to wind it up soon because I was so embarrassed being questioned like an accused. I did not want to waste my time and energy and then went straight to the point, 'How much is the fine?'. They did not expect this question from me and was quite astonished. If truth be known, I was almost in the verge of crying, but did ensure that I was quite bold before them. I took out a '500' rupee note and gave it straight to the team and they gave me another ticket for 100 which was supposed to be the fine. 

This was a learning at the cost of my dignity. I still love to travel in the buses and I make it a point to keep the ticket safe, not until I get down from the bus, but for a few minutes until the bus leaves and ensuring that there are no one to check it. After all, I can't face such an embarrassment again.

Opportunity - how well could you say it

"Opportunity knocks the door only once" - someone said

Guess we are very well aware of all possible proverbs, idioms and phrases on Opportunity. 

There are certain situations or circumstances that reminds us of good or bad experiences from our memories past. Though we try to avoid it, our subconscious mind constantly tries to pull these memories back. I have experiences of memories flashing whenever I encounter specific scenarios, words, sentences and even food. It might seem strange but I have always wondered how could the brain process so much data and retrieve it when it finds a correlation.

We know we were all practising Brits way of living life right from our childhood days, be it the education system, car driving rules, water tap design or the way how the lights hung from the ceiling, I had learned that there were differences between the Brits and the Americans only when I was in a BPO. 'Lift' is what we say because the Brits 'said so', Americans wanted their own style and called them 'elevators' while technically they were the same. 

Whilst in the BPO, we were asked to pretend like the Americans well at least over the phone. We had pseudo names and I had an alias name that sounded like my name, Susan Morris. The Clients whoever was calling always thought we were an american (while greeting) and we had a common script to use during the initial days. We tried really hard to bring on the accent, however if at any point they realise we had a fake accent (sometimes people mess it up), they used to enquire about the location. We were advised not to reveal the location or any other information unless we were compelled to. We had a lots of protocols to follow that were fed to us right from the day we joined the process.

Training schedule included 50% of technical stuff and the remaining 50% amounted to the communication and most importantly the American accent. On one such accent training class, we were taught about syllables and the stress given to them. The meaning of a sentence differs based on the stress given to the words underlying. My trainer was explaining the types of syllables and gave us samples of words and taught us how the americans pronounce it rolling the 'R' and 'L' out of every other alphabet.

'Opportunity' is not just a word as i remember but something flashes in my mind every time i encounter it. We were asked to repeat the word 'Opportunity' in an american way until we get it correct. The trainer was noticing how perfect we were when delivering the sound and was correcting whenever someone made a mistake. We were to repeat the word until everyone pronounces with no flaw and we were trying hard to impress her. When we were repeating this exercise, she stopped us and looked at everyone, we in turn looked at each other anticipating who would get the next correction. But the trainer seemed confused and asked us to repeat it again. A few minutes passed by, when she asked someone to stand up and told that she heard what he had said. We were all puzzled while he was shocked. She then broke the silence and laughed in a loud voice, saying the guy was simply repeating:

'AAPPA CHUTNEY' for opportunity without the trainer's knowledge, however she had heard it. What made us wonder was that the guy seemed very quiet and was not one of those mischievous types. He was made to repeat the word, oh not 'opportunity' but 'Aappa chutney' 20 times at the stretch as a little penalty. We were laughing  insanely with the trainer when this guy was repeating the word 'appachutney' continously.


Note: For those of you who do not know about 'Aappa chutney', here is a little explanation. Aapam+Chutney is a part of the famous south-indian food items.  APPAM belongs to the Dosa family and Chutney is the spicy sauce :o)

Pick up point

Way back in 2004, i was fresh out of college and was desperate to get into a job (IT was prestigious those days). I however cracked most of the BPO interviews with no great effort, seemed it was my cup of tea. We were out on training for about 45 days and it all started very well. New friends, new office experiences, an awesome feeling of being one of them. Why not, it felt great to be a part of an IT giant.


Fun part about training was playing all sorts of interesting games that enabled us to communicate with each other, movies to grasp the accent as part of 'Voice and accent' training, we were totally on the so-called 'honeymoon period', well that's how they actually call a training period.  I thought i was going to be way too far in the industry. I was wrong, though i had all qualities to get in to the BPO sector i was not used to the grave yard shifts. I was put into shifts whilst in training to get used to it. I leave at 6 pm for work and come back by 4 am in the morning, it was exciting at first but gradually i realised that all nice things were nice only for a few days. 


I am not going to explain what happened in the BPO or how well the training went on etc (I can hear you already mumbling), this blog isn't about that. Just when the training in the evening shifts were about to start from the very next day, one of the trainers came into the room and started calling out the employee ids asking for details of where each one of us stay and where are we comfortable getting into a cab.


I was staying in the heart of the city, Royapettah. As you know, it is the place where you have Satyam Cinemas, Government hospital, the post office and especially Mount road just around the corner. We had access to everything and our favourite places were the famous Ponnusamy hotel and the beach nearby.


Ok, back to the point where was i? ok the cab thing. My turn came and i was rehearsing it in my mind for a few times so as to not mess it up, you know it was about 3 in the morning. I was not sleepy but kind of drowsy, imagine the time of the night, i was totally out of control, just wanted to sleep right off. My id was called out and i said in a not so loud voice, but everyone could hear me. Suddenly there was a roar of laughter that i was totally shocked and felt embarrassed. The trainer himself was laughing and i was beginning to smile realizing what would have made them laugh.


I had uttered 'Royapettah Police Station' :)


Guys, i was serious i stayed close to a school but i do have to get a bus only from the 'not just any bus stop' but the police station bus stop. 

My first blog

I have just figured out that i could create blogs... this in itself seems very exciting... miles to go... see you soon in the next blog...