Survey on SCRUM Project success factors

Survey on SCRUM Project success factors: SCRUM project success analyses

Learnings @IMT

What does one actually learn at a B-School? Yes –we are introduced to the fundamentals of Marketing, HR, Finance, Economics, the importance of IT and learn that it is best to keep track of the daily news, but the real learning is much more than these. Learning goes beyond the syllabus. If I were to list what I have learnt here at IMT,the items may seem surprising. But these indeed are the biggest take-aways for me –those that will help me for the rest of my life.

1. Age/experience is no measure of maturity.

2. Behavioral etiquette and good communication skills can’t be taught –they have to be learnt.

3. Evaluation is always subjective unless a machine is involved –whether intentional or not.

4. Everyone thinks that the work they do is the toughest, most important and that they are doing their best.

5. People will always find things to criticize and complain about in the most perfectly executed functions, in the best-delivered lectures, in the nicest, fairest behavior exhibited.

6. Losing your temper and pushing someone to work may bring us results today but losses in the long run.

7. There will be free-riders in every group/team –sometimes, it takes you a long time to recognize them.

8. Even professors are sometimes wrong –not in what they teach, but in what they choose to teach.

9. It sometimes takes a long time for people to realize the worth of something/someone –and some, unfortunately, never do.

10. Though many people deserve a dose of plain speaking, one needs to be careful while doing this –it may sometimes backfire.

11. Accepting your mistake and saying sorry solves most problems –if not, it at least helps repair relationships.

12. It is a myth that people actually learn from mistakes or advice.

13. You can convince someone with an open mind but never someone who is so convinced of his own righteousness that he shuts his mind to yours’.

14. You don’t have to like someone to be able to work with them –understanding why they are what they are is enough.

15. Hatred and pessimism sap your energy and leave you emotionally exhausted.

16. Managers resort to using jargon and long-winded explanations (read beating about the bush) when they don’t have concrete answers or solutions.

17. All women have a little femininity, a little love for pink, chocolates, teddy bears, new clothes or mushy movies tucked away somewhere.

18. Knowing things is one thing –actually doing them is the difficult part.

19. There is always a way out –if we want to find one. The hypochondriacs, the fuss-pots, the wet-ducks and the complaint-boxes of the world just don’t want to find it.

20. Nobody is really interested in anybody else’s story, unless it satisfies some inner need that they themselves may be unaware of.

That’s a lot of learning, I guess .May be I’ll become a wise, wise person by the time I graduate.

A WeekDay Trip

All of a sudden ,under distress of the increasing daily pressure in work , I decided to go with the decision of my friends and said yes to puja.

A trip on a weekday is very unusual for me and hence caused a lot of dilemma that whether I ll get the permission to go or not, but at last I went for the trip.

Rising early in the morning ,I was in full of energy thinking of “no office” on that day .Hastily I got myself ready and went for Puja’s home where Chandreyee and Partho were there to join the trip.

At sharp 7 we bid adios to the fast moving city life which was ascending from the long winter nights. Our white ambassador was passing through the unprepared markets, by lanes, crossing the beeping yellow signals, amidst the morning joggers, to the highway in search of holiness and sanctity leaving behind all day common pressure striving out from the artificial metro smiles and perishing bottles of wines.

The small villages that we passed by, numerous milestones indicating and showing the limitations of the never ending roads, grazing cattle ,scantily dressed young boys playing and running around the fields with joy and hunger for the day, some running and following and chasing our car, honking sound of our ambassador were adding to our chummy discussions we were having after long days. Discussions were well knitted among the past college life we spent when suddenly my spooky and ghostly stories overtook everybody’s attentions. I narrated the experiences I had when many long days back I visited a natives place situated in the northern part of Midnapur. But scaring people at 10 ‘o clock in the morning was obviously difficult a task and I surrendered joyfully when I failed to do that.

Soon our car reached to the haven area of Kakdeep. Our driver parked the car on an empty field and we set sail to the sacred delta of west Bengal called Gangasagar.

The vessel took us to the next shore in around half an hour and we unloaded ourshelf in a frolicsome manner and rushed to our next car, a White Tata Sumo. Loading our back packs onto the car we were all anticipating the fringeless sea of the place. The milestone indicating 30 Kms was taking our toll . In the meantime puja was affected with seasickness . But soon as we reached and settled down ourselves in the Guesthouse, she was all in good state and every one of us were lightheartedly greeted by the guesthouse people. Anon they served us with the breakfast and then we headed to dip ourselves in the water of the shrine and sacred Ganges.

Trouble arise when I announced that I forgot to bring a spare dress. At first, every body busted me that how can forget after hundred reminders they gave to me. But in my own I knew that I deliberately did this because I presumed it to be a back water and hence will be knee deep. But when I reached to the beach I wondered with the idea I was carrying myself from kolkata.

On contrary It was an excellent sea with a very few people surrounding (due to off season) and under the glowing sun and hot sand our naked feet were thrusting our body to run and drench ourselves with the cold water. At first I was bit reluctant and prevented my knee high portion from the water. But next happened when every one started splashing water on each other and then I could help to protect only my chest high portion. Then suddenly from back Partho came and crisscrossed his leg under mine and then I was not able to survive from this imbalance and fallen down on the water completely drenched and thereafter standing bombed !

But this helped me in getting overcome from the fear of getting douse and left myself loose to the mother nature and to my good friend.

As time was limited so we quickened ourselves and left the sea to our next nearby destination – The temple of holy saint Kapil muni .It was a mesmerizing temple but greatly affected by the temple vendors selling flowers, pictures and various offerings to the holy god and goddess. We settled with one and after giving our prayers we headed again towards our guesthouse.

Trouble arise when I have left with no clothing options and needed to dry myself as well. I managed my T-shirt to dry in the balcony of the guesthouse. And left rest of the clothing to get dried by them selves.

Hastily we got ready and went straight to satiate our hunger. The food arrangement were excellent consisting of all delicacies and was actually very savory.

The heavy lunch was inviting me to have a nap in the winter afternoon but it was only a day trip plan and we have to rush ourselves to reach the to the port .On the way the hanged my T-shirt out my window to get it dried .The glistening evening sun was a miracle for me and dried my T-shirt completely.

We boarded our vessel in time and headed straight to occupy seats at our earliest. Then again I got my seating in such a way that our we were sun faced. Again this journey to the next shore helped me to revive my soaked jeans.

Soonest we were in our ambassador and started to leave the shrine of Gangasagar. The evening with the hint of darkness were bidding farewell.

The difference existed in contrary with the milestones showing in reverse order, the fields and villages were galloping back from our speeding car. The dim headlights were vaguely indicating the distant lights appearing under the shrimp view of city, soon passerby started increasing and markets were full of men trading their day over.

We all reached to our respective places and when I was entering my home I noticed that my clothes were completely dry with marks of arid sands which recapitalized each of the happenings of the day and turned into memoirs of our life as a sudden “Weekday Trip”.


















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THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE KINGS OF KULLU

NAGGAR, which is about 20 km from Manali is now a very popular tourist spot. Naggar has been an old capital of the Kings of Kullu. The little town of Naggar, is situated high above the left bank of River Beas.

The Naggar Castle, built about 100 years back by an Indian King, was taken over by the Britishers and was used as the residence for Viceroys. The surviving old castle is a marvellous medieval mansion. It is made of alternate rows of stone and wooden beams. A temple, small yet beautiful, is located in the centre of the castle.



Now, this historic monument, is used as a hotel for accommodating tourists. It is maintained by HPTDC. A bird’s eye view from here of the valley is memorable. It has a lovely restaurant which serves various dishes starting from delicious Chinese to the delectable Continental cuisine. People who are interested in orthodox Indian architecture, this is the right place for them to visit, as the castle is adorned by beautiful stone and wood carvings which are about a century old. The castle also has an art museum in its complex.

Just a few minutes from the castle is Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery. This was the residence of Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist, who after spending a lifetime travelling mountains, settled in Naggar. The gallery has rare portraits of the Himalayas, which Roerich had painted in canvas while living there.

Home of Bollywood

Little boxes, people on people, concrete humanity. A city where it all works, a city within which people strive for excellence or they could not stand the pace of desperate living here.Mumbai is where the intrepid traveler sees yet another face of India...the catterpillar during chrysalis...the strange transition from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first.Bright lights, neon signs, fast cars, beautiful people, the city never sleeps. Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, the home of Bollywood that churns fantasies and dreams and unreality.Throbbing with the vitality of dreams and the will to realise them, of reaching for the stars, it is a city of instant changes, constant changes, a city of opportunities, a city of fortune. It is where tomorrow stands today. If you have the guts and the gall to live in Mumbai and survive, you have arrived. Welcome to the real world.

People travel by the Central line and by the Western line everyday. And it seems all people always want to get into the same blooming train as you. When the train pulls in at the station the commuters seem to pile in half a mile before the train stops. They have to, if they want space to fit both their legs. I've never figured out how there are guys who manage to get a place to sit. It seems the only way you can get a place to sit in the train from Goregaon to Churchgate in the morning, is if you catch the train at Churchgate opposite the direction of the rush and sit and wait till it reaches Goregaon. Then don't get up. On the way back, you can have the pleasure of sneering at the five guys standing on your toes.And the worst part is, the railway department actually fines you if you do a good deed and create a little more space for everyone by not buying a ticket. How the hell do they expect you to fit a railway pass into those compartments?If you think I'm exaggerating come and help me look for my pen which I lost getting off at Andheri

A Drive Along the Beach

Howrah-Mechheda-Norghat-Contai-Ramnagar-Digha. A 187 kms drive from Calcutta along the well paved highways didn't seem to take long. We would be lodging in Palm Resort, a hotel embellished by well matted gardens surrounded by a moat and a swimming-pool for a few people like me ready to take a swim in the middle of winter.

I was fancying a drive along the beach but to my utter dismay such an ostentatious ride was no longer welcome. The beach is facing the problem of erosion for which it had to be completely cemented.

My dad, sis and I ventured a dip in the swimming pool only to see ourselves tremble with cold. We had to grin and bare it, and once we stopped fighting the cold everything fell into place and we had a good time. The evening turned out to be very cold, quite unlike the conditions expected in Digha. As we walked along the beach with the zephyr gushing against our faces we observed the sea side dotted with people, some taking a dip in the placid ocean, some on a shopping spree and some like us just taking a stroll down the beach.

It was the 25th and our hotel had arranged for live performances by a local band. As the performance got started, the guests at the hotel joined in, I too tried out a few dance steps. A bonfire and the super-hit song - 'just chill chill chill...' was all that it took for my parents to get into groove. It seemed as if they were having the best time in their life. The revelry came to a halt by midnight. And I had my fill.

Next day - Talsari, famous for it's back water. We took the unpleasant undulated road unaware of the shortcut along the sea beach via Udaipur. On our way we came across the Chandaneshwar temple where we took blessings from lord Shiva. On reaching Talsari I was thrilled to bits. The sea is blue and without fury, the beach silent. Waves roll lazily, as if bored of going through the same

motions again and again. Yes, we were far far away from the crowded beaches of Digha.

It was low tide and finally we would have our drive on the hard beach of Talsari. It was a breath-taking ride with ornate display of caesarian groves on one side and on the other the majestic sea. we drove all the way from Talsari to Udaipur, a 1.5 kilometer's ride, the momories of which I'll always cherish. On our way back to the hotel we also visited the Amarabati park. Do take the boat ride there as we did, ofcourse if you have time to spare.

Two nights went by quicker than I had expected. On our way back home we thought of visiting the Shankarpur known for it's harbour. But that day our CM had to deliver a speech to the bereaved at Nandigram. This forced us to cancel our trip to Shankarpur as we kad to travel a longer way via Kharagpur to get home. It was a fantastic trip but next time if I make a trip towards Digha Shankarpur and Mondarmoni in my mind.

The Missing Link

Italy ,the once centre of the Roman empire, a kingdom that spread across Europe and West-Asian, bordered the Indian empire of the time.
There did exist interaction between these two greats, which led to the assimilation of each others culture. The empire to the west of the
Indus constituted India's immediate neighbour.

Along side is the city of Italy captured from a helepad.








This elliptical amphitheatre now in a delapidated condition, has long been the iconic symbol of
Imperial Rome, much like the peacock throne in
India. My mom had been there recently. We have
often seen the colosseum from outside, what we see
here is the interior of the colosseum.






Geographically, the two countries Italy and India, have a similarity in being protected to the north by a range of mountains, the Alps for
Italy and the Himalayas for India. Along side is
the magificent towering mountains seen from
Nainital.


Let me finish off with a delectable, mouth-watering, pizza with tandoori chicken topping.