Article#33: The ‘Insider’

How many of you heard the role, IDM in our IT Industry? Do you know its full form? Infrastructure Development Manager. To brief about the role, it includes handling the entire infrastructure setup starting from basic desktops, laptops to servers located in Data Center, patch management, antivirus, etc. Before you assume that I am going little technical, let me confess that I am the solo IDM for my account. This article is about how my insider reacts to certain situations in my role.

Early in the morning with sleepy eyes I pick up my phone without even looking properly who calls me. To my surprise, I hear
“Giridhar, Internet is not working in office”.
I would respond saying, “Please check with network team”.
But there’s another version to this response.
The insider says, “How can you call me early in the morning? It’s not even 9 AM”.

I get ready and reach to office. I start searching for a place to park my vehicle.
Ms. A comes to me and says, “Giridhar, I have a serious issue with my laptop. Dropped you an email, please look into it ASAP”.
I would respond saying sure.
But the insider says, “Madam, we are in the parking zone. You cannot bring in the work related stuff at this place”.

Finally I park my vehicle and wait for the lift to arrive.
Suddenly, Mr. B comes keeping his face full of sweat just a few meters away from me and says, “Giridhar, I have raised a CR for software installation. When will you do it?”
I would respond saying as soon as I reach the place, I will do.
But the insider says, “Don’t you feel the heat outside? I hardly got a chance to stand in front of the fan after a long time. You will not leave me even here?”

Finally I reach my zone and swipe the door. Till then, I don’t know people do their work silently, but all of sudden on looking at me, they start remembering their issues. “Giridhar, Giridhar, Giridhar”
I would say Hi with a smile.
But the insider says, “Oh no! Why did I come to office today? Why don’t you guys leave me until I sit at my place, take a deep breath and look into your emails?”

Time passes by and I leave to have a sip of water along with my bottle. I start filling it, Mr. C comes and start filling my ears with his issues.
I would say, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”.
But the insider says, “Please man, allow me to drink some water. Already I did enough work inside the zone”.

With all this headache, I reach washroom for face wash.
Mr. D pitches in and says, “Giridhar, My account is locked”.
I would respond, “Sure, let’s unlock it”.
But the insider says, “Do you have common sense? Can you recognize where we are? This is washroom for God’s sake, leave me here”.

Feeling hungry, I go to canteen and take a single table. Someone joins me with a smile and says, “Giridhar, wifi is not working in my laptop”.
This time I would give a smile, only smile. No response.
My insider wants to take advantage of this situation and tries to come out along with his words, “What can I do if you have an issue with your wife or wifi? Before your IDM, I am a human first. This is not the right place to discuss such things”.
But I console my insider saying, “It’s okay. You should have patience. All is well”.

I reach to another floor in the building, start chatting with my friends to relax and come out of all this for a while. All of sudden a message pops up in Whatsapp, “Giridhar, this is Mr. F I need your help in resolving an issue. I am searching for you in your place”.
All I could do is just ensure that the other person could see the blue ticks in whatsapp.
My insider says, “Block them. It’s your phone, personal whatsapp. Not for official purpose”.

The point I would like to drive home through this speech is that every one of us have an insider. Don’t try to let the insider in others come out in a negative way. We need to show some care and love towards our colleagues. Give them some space, respect their privacy outside the work zones. If you want to communicate with them, ask them, “How are you doing today?” “Have you had lunch?” “What are your plans for the weekend?” Ultimately, we are all humans with emotions, not machines to think and feel about work every minute. It’s our responsibility to care for the people around us. Anything should start with us. #I am the change.