Work environment in Zyxware

At Zyxware Technologies, we believe that a key enabler in the pursuit of our
mission would be to create an environment which facilitates independent thinking, encourages initiative and systematic effort, builds capability, promotes collaborative effort and values fairness. The value and success of any initiative in Zyxware would be measured against these objectives. The following section attempts to explain this further.

Encouraging Independent thinking:

Here the thought is that all members of Zyxware Technologies will have an independent point of view on matters concerning their job responsibilities, work culture and other matters pertaining to their experience of Zyxware. This point of view should factor in the vision, mission and strategic objectives of Zyxware as well as their own personal vision and objectives. As an example, the person is expected to have a point of view on how his or her present responsibilities can be discharged better, how better value can be delivered to the customer, how management processes can be improved to increase productivity, what is the general direction of his or her team and operations etc. Not only must they have a point of view, they should also express it at the appropriate forums. The responsibility of the senior management and the HR in this would be ensure that appropriate forums are created and maintained and opportunities for reflection and learning are provided to its employees.

Facilitates Initiative and Systematic Effort:

Any organisation requires its members to be constantly alert to opportunities to make significant progress towards its vision. The members should take the initiative to realise these opportunities. It is often seen that many good initiatives are taken by individuals in organisations but many die out for various reasons. It is expected that valuable initiatives are supported and nurtured and systematic effort is put to take the initiative to fruition. Adequate support is to be provided by the management to institutionalise these initiatives where required. Again the criteria for selecting which initiatives to support would be mission alignment.

Building Capability:

Working in Zyxware Technologies should be a strong learning experience for its members. The expectation is that the organisation of work is done in such a way that it presents the person with the opportunity to acquire skill sets that are personally satisfying and meaningful. The markers of a learning environment is the opportunity for careful thought, systematic experimentation and a questioning culture among colleagues. Apart from this, systematic, well designed training and education opportunities are also important in building capability in members of the organisation.

Promoting Collaborative Effort:

The advantages of collaborative efforts are widely understood and accepted. We are looking to promote collaboration amongst employees. The major values of collaborative efforts from our point of view are as follows:

Unearthing the assumptions:

When an idea is discussed amongst potential collaborators, the hidden assumptions behind the idea are examined. For this to happen, we need to develop a culture of openness, a questioning culture and an atmosphere of trust.

Finding synergy:

Often the execution of a task requires an ensemble of skill sets, all of which may not be available with one person. This naturally necessitates collaborative effort.

Institutionalisation of ideas:

The spread of ideas across a larger number of people through the involvement of a larger number of people in developing and implementing ideas leads to institutionalisation of ideas.

The role of the senior management and HR in this is to promote collaborative efforts through

• Creating communication channels betweem employees including newsletters, internal wiki, cross team meeting opportunities etc.
• Providing incentive systems for collaborative efforts by members
• Cross functional trainings to generate appreciation of other functions
• Valuing fairness

Zyxware Technologies has primarily been driven by its values. It values freedom for individuals, honesty and fairness in relationships. These are non negotiables in our organisation. It is recognised that these may not be universally acceptable to all members of Zyxware and that interpretation of what constitutes fairness, honesty and what are the limits of freedom would not be the same for all. However, by emphasising on these aspects and constantly factoring in these aspects in decisions we propose to promote a culture where such issues are deliberated upon when arriving at decisions. Here the role of senior management and HR is restricted to striving to be moral exemplars. Also, frequent discussions on ethics and philosophical premises will be encouraged in Zyxware.

Implications for Managers in Zyxware

In building a culture of the kind described above, it is important an appropriate Management Style be created. Therefore, in Zyxware, the following characteristics are important for all Managers. There is no particular order of importance implied by the listing.

• Deeply reflective
• Expertise in chosen domain
• Sensitive to the context
• Focused on the vision and mission
• Value oriented