To bond is to win

BONDING is a difficult proposition where humans are involved. Especially in a business environment. Achieve bonding among humans and you make quantum jumps as a successful organisation. In other words, once employees have a sense of ownership with a product or a concept, it's half the job done. The time and effort needed to sell a concept internally can be used to sell it outside!

The Chennai-based Polaris Software Labs has developed a model to ensure the active participation of all employees in its growth initiative, thus increasing their level of bonding with the organisation.

In response to our invitation to readers to send in their experience in trying something novel in their own companies, Polaris communicated to us its Lakshya initiative.

A note from the organisation said, ``Inspired by the Sanskrit equivalent of goal-setting, Lakshya has been developed into a three-phased exercise that draws on the inputs of each and every one of the 2000+ associates that go into furthering the Polaris Vision. Simply put, Lakshya is a practical model for inculcating the high levels of team play.''

Here's how the initiative is meant to work: The first stage of Lakshya, called Pre-Lakshya, brings together all the associates in the company onto a single platform, where, in groups of 6-8, over a full day, they debate on what they perceive to be the road ahead for the organisation, keeping in mind the overall vision. They also identify speedbreakers that lie in the organisation's road to growth and suggest solutions.

The second phase is Lakshya, where the Konarks carry forward the thoughts generated by the associates during the pre-Lakshya phase, and weave it into a blueprint for strategies that can be implemented. (Konark refers to the mythological Wheel of Excellence and here refers to individuals the company identifies as leaders of tomorrow and whose performance is in line with the company's vision.) Lakshya is a three-day activity that is usually conducted in an offsite location, and is replete with numerous brainstorming sessions.

Here are a few samples among ideas that have been thrown up by the exercise:

* Even as Indian software firms made a bug beeline to capitalise on the Y2K opportunity, it was at Lakshya-1998 that the Konarks collectively decided that the company would not step down on its focus area of Banking and Financial Services and would not, therefore, move into the Y2K segment. This, the company feels, was a key strategic decision that ultimately reinforced Polaris focus on its niche segment.

* A product that company had developed, ENTITY (Extended Technology Facility), had to be christened. This took place during a session at the 1997 Pre-Lakshya! Right from the concept of ENTITY to its crisp branding, everything came from a bunch of associates who sat as a team and saw their company's future.

* Once all the brainstorming is done, the next logical step is to bring everybody in the organisation onto the same wavelength. And it is this end that the post-Lakshya fulfills. This is the session where all associates once again come together to hear how their inputs have been crafted into strategies.

Contributed by eWorld team

(Do you use innovative tools in managing your company? Do write to us at eworld@thehindu.co.in)