Manager's Cabin

Hot & Spicy from Pink City

There are managers & there are managers. Every manager has his own ideas which gives individualistic touch to his cabin. Some will keep the door closed & some will not. Some managers will keep the window covered with blinds or curtains & some will not do so. Some managers have their table clean & organised & some have their table cluttered with pens, loose papers, files, diaries, note books & other nick-knack items.

I prefer to keep the table top as free of luggage as possible. Somehow this helps me in keeping the thought process focused. A diary, a pen & a mobile seem to me enough of equipment to run an office. Most of the clients & members of staff appreciate this but not my boss The Baldy.  Whenever he visits & looks at the clean table he sarcastically remarks ‘no paper on your table not even audit report?’

If the space inside the cabin permits I always go for an aquarium with small colourful fish swimming around in it. They move around gracefully & inside there is no traffic jam for them. At times I wish I could keep a whale in the aquarium only to check the auditor & / or my boss The Baldy!

I always keep the door of the cabin open for visitors with the idea that all clients as well as staff members are welcome for discussion any time. They generally feel comfortable this way & the feedback is positive. Once in a while though there is a likelihood of unwanted people barging in or somebody coming in at a point when things are at delicate stage or a meeting with VIP is on. In such cases it has been suggested to the management that cabins should have three doors: front door for clients, side door for staff & back door for The Great Escape to street outside!

As regards glass pane window in the cabin, I keep it free of curtains or blinds. This helps in looking out in the hall & for keeping an eye on things so to say. This is of great help in ensuring that nobody crosses the LoC & the peace is maintained.  There is a simple law of nature which is applicable here that if there is peace outside the cabin then there is peace inside the cabin & then everybody can plan to go home in time!

Some managers keep printouts or photos of their gurus or Gods under the glass on the table. First thing in the morning as soon as they enter the cabin is to bow to photos & pay respects. Some managers keep small statues or calendars depicting temples etc in cabins. And yet some of these managers accept under the table items as well!

Another very important item is the chair in the cabin. General belief is that the larger chair carries larger impression. Some HRD people have a theory that a manager or a member of interview board should sit on larger & higher chair than the visitor or the candidate to impress upon him the power vested in you. Perhaps this is derived from the historical chairs used by kings & rajas. HRD & their views blah blah blah!

This reminds of a story narrated by my fb friend. Yamraj said ‘manager HRD now that you are here please proceed to hell for 24 hrs then to heaven for 24 hrs. Come back, discuss & we shall place you accordingly. In hell the reception was warm; offers of food, drinks, movies, games & friendship were many. In heaven it was much more beautiful but nobody talked & nobody listened to him. He told Yamraj that he now preferred hell due to nice friendly guys there. Yamraj promptly placed him there. To his horror the ladies & gents who met him earlier were all ugly skeletons now & the scene was of junkyard full of rubbish. On enquiry he was told by the skeletons that “earlier we were recruiting you & now you are an employee!”  

Cool & Sweet