Bring Your Dreams

What makes Fresh Engineers Star Performers at MindTree

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2008 2009 MindTree MindTree Consulting Limited

The Sample Group

600

Campus Minds

were recruited in 2006 from different socio-economic and regional background

2 years down the line 18 of them stood out

the best of the best

The Cream of the Batch

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Identifying the cream - The Process

5% of MindTree Minds were identified as the Cream through MindTree' s extensive Appraisal Methodology

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What the Project Managers and Supervisors Say?

Rajesh Lanka
Test Lead

Madhavi Mylavarapu
Associate Director - CIS

Jayaraj O
Senior Consultant

Proactive action Swami has spent his leisure time - often late nights - to develop automation in the project out of his own interest. This saved a lot of time for the team.

Understanding Customer Needs Senthil stands out in many ways; some times more than some of his seniors in some areas, especially in his approach to a problem and understanding of customers requirement.

Persistence I need to tell Kalai about an activity just once, then she follows up with me .

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What the Project Managers and Supervisors Say?

Suryakant Rath
Test Manager

Shashidhara S G
Technical Manager

Vimal Pillai
Consultant

Commitment & Dedication

During the production support for a recent project in eBay, there was an unexpected p1 over the weekend. As the lead was on leave, Giri took the complete ownership of the issue and coordinated with the client single handedly till the completion of the task. He was highly appreciated by the onsite team and client for his commitment and dedication.
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Shweta seeks continuous feedback from me.

Ownership

Githen quickly gained the trust of the customer and was the go-to person for the customer team when he was posted at the customer location.

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To Know the Story of the Stars we went on an outbound

Left to Right (Standing) : Senthil KS; Giridhar Jaded; Arokia Raju; Swaminath Haridas; Subroto Bagchi; Amit Kumar; Balasubramani D; Sindhu S ; Susmita Bagchi Left to Right (Sitting) : Anupam Mishra (Observer); Kalaiselvi P; Shravya Prabhakar; Meera K; Varun Kumar; Githen Ronney; Shwetambari Bahadur; Amit Kumar
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Who are they?

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What are they made of?

Apart from my close friends, nobody knew that I worked as an office boy with a medical distributor for 7 days. I met with an accident when my 12th exams were just round the corner. Financially, I was not in a position to even apply for a graduation course. At that time the owner of the shop, asked me to continue with my education & funded the same. I will always remember those days in my life which have taught me a lot of lessons. I take every task with gratitude towards the people who helped me in my tough times Swaminath Haridas

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What are they made of?

I wasnt sure about the decision that I had taken. I approached my PM and asked him to hand over a complex module to me. The TechLead for that module was to move out of the project. Being brave is not a good idea always, but I backed my instincts. My PM, having seen my earlier work assigned the module to me. I took help from the Lead and successfully delivered the module. Now, I firmly believe in my ability to take brave decisions and perform accordingly. Amit Kumar

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What are they made of?

There was tension in the entire team because the customer had asked for a change in the design, just 7 days before the release. It wouldnt be an easy task to complete the changes in such a short time and chances of failure haunted us. I decided to investigate the customers problem and analyzed the design in detail. What I came across was something unbelievable. I found out a way to implement the latest requirements without changing the design. When I presented my idea to the team in the next meeting, I could see the pride and relief in their eyes. Githen Ronney

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What are they made of?

In the absence of my lead, I successfully delivered a project playing his role. Once you gain momentum, even the wind starts pushing you towards your destination. I was on cloud 9 when my manager told me that I will be handling a critical project that would make or break the business in eBay's Australian site. I had to sync-up with a team in another organization (PayPal,Chennai) in order to meet the testing needs. The project was delivered successfully. My teams belief and pride in me motivates me to try and make my dreams a reality. My MBA studies do not hamper my march towards the goals I set for myself.- Giridhar Jaded

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What are they made of?

My first real challenge came in the form of the task to steer a change in one of the mainframe transactions. This had high business implications and the release was to happen in January. Being the only tester for this change and my MBA semester exams in January, I was feeling the heat already. I analyzed the work and put up a plan in place which helped me complete my task on time and many a times ahead of time. I completed the release as well as performed well in MBA exams. I now understand the importance of planning in everything that I do. Shravya Prabhakar

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What are they made of?

I would have been a farmer working in the fields of Jairampur village in Bihar, if not for this incident that changed my life. I did not share my low exam scores with my parents due to fear. However they heard about it from a teacher and I could sense their disappointment. Thats when, I decided that I need to prove myself in studies and I aspired to become an engineer. I worked hard with a lot of determination and today I find myself at the place where I always wanted to be. I ensure that I dont forget my roots and go back to my village every year to have a career counseling session with the youngsters back in the village. This is my way of giving back to my village. Amit Kumar

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What are they made of?

My interests have always driven me. I didnt hesitate to say No to a RDS project because it didnt match with my future aspirations. I had to be on bench for a month due to this. When I finally got an opportunity to step into an ITS project, I found out that the ride is never going to be easy. I accepted that, this was the test, I needed to give, in order to chase my goals. My tasks apart from testing involved a BAs task, providing estimates, devising plans to name a few. I also organized events for MAG which included conducting auditions for teams. All this in addition to my MBA studies. Well, I have learned to step into different shoes at different times to fit the varied needs of IT industry. Varun A Kumar

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What are they made of?

In the initial phase of my career, I was entrusted with the responsibility of mentoring new campus minds who joined our project. I had to be patient in answering all their questions and had to ensure that they were assimilated to take up tasks independently. Managing the learning sessions for campus minds was a very enriching experience, helped me in learning the art of mentoring and multi-tasking. Meera K

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What are they made of?

The anger and frustration in me was unexplainable. A minor mistake took precedence over all the hard work, I had put in over the last 2 months. It would be easy to get carried away by emotions and get into a depressed frame of mind due to this incident. But I was determined to prove myself. I started focusing harder from that moment and the wonderful results came out for everyone to see. Sometimes bad incidents pave way for bringing out the best out from all of us. I perfected the art of anger channelization. Balasubramani D

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What are they made of?

It was 12.30 in the night and my PG mates were sound asleep. I tried to wake-up the owner but she wouldnt budge. Here I was, stranded on the streets with a whole night ahead. I managed to climb and jump the compound, despite getting few bruises on my hand. It wasnt a late night movie at a multiplex that made me return at 12:30, it was the task of fixing a critical bug. Half way home, I realized I had forgotten to save some important files which could create major problems for the client. I went back to office and ensured the problem is fixed. Next day everything seemed perfect. This incident helped me understand the importance of commitment and responsibility at work.- Shwetambari Bahadur

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What are they made of?

When challenges come in the way of personal aspirations, its difficult to choose the way ahead. I aspired to be a good developer all my life, but I was offered to lead a team of 5 minds in a project. After an hour of counseling by my PM, I finally agreed to go ahead as a Lead for the project. Now, I feel proud to have taken that decision. I learnt the art of persuasion, team work and helping others. I had to mentor the juniors and help them to perform better all the time. I have learnt that its good to come out of our comfort zones and try out new things.-Kalaiselvi P

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What are they made of?

My mind went numb when my manager asked me to design, code and implement an entire application in just 3 days!! The question that crossed my mind was what about the quality of the deliverable? At the same time I did not want to brush aside such a challenge. I was confident that I can deliver if I take up the challenge. This attitude helped me ever since. I have been accepting and delivering challenges, because something inside me says I cant disappoint the people who have faith in my abilities. Senthil KS

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Key personal traits and work strategies

Team effectiveness (treat your team as your village) Knowledge building through network & Googling

Self aware

Being proactive

Willing to be led

Seek continuous feedback

Knowledge sharing mentoring peers & juniors

Dont report only problems, go with solutions

Handling rejection

Understanding customer needs

Positive communication

Going beyond boundaries

Grab opportunities

Continuous learning

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The findings can help in

Recruitment Train the Recruiter to identify these characteristics during interview

Competency Building Develop learning programs based on these traits

Awareness among Key Stakeholders

Campus Minds, Faculty, Institute

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On the path of competency building

Making a Commitment to Star Performance
In 2008-09 MindTree is expected to bring in 1000 new fresh engineers (referred as Campus Minds @ MindTree). We wanted the learning experience of the 2006 batch to be available to these campus minds.

A one day session facilitated this. The learning was shared as an experiential process through 6 case studies which depicted critical events from the star minds work life. The campus minds were huddled into smaller groups with 2 star minds assigned to each group as mentors. The mentors shared their case studies with their respective groups and had in-depth discussion on the case.
The session enabled the campus minds to: Interact with their Role Models Learn the work strategies and key traits of the Role Models Share their learning with the larger group- here again innovation was at is best! None of them used a formal PPT; they used unusual modes skits, role plays, charts, mimics to get the point across

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Imagination Action Joy

www.mindtree.com
CONFIDENTIAL: For limited circulation only 2008 2009 MindTree MindTree Consulting Limited