How Industry Can Help Improve IT Education in India
India is on the move. While, a number of other sectors are growing quickly, the IT sector the main driver of growth for past decade or more, continues to retain the potential to lead India for another couple of decades at the very least. However, there is just one small hitch. Facing a talent crunch, India does not have enough trained manpower.
Indeed, though difficult it may be to believe a country with a billion-plus population people, faces a future of stunted growth due to a manpower shortage, nonetheless it is true. While, the higher education sector i.e. BTech, BE, MCA, MSc, etc., and not the training industry like NIIT, produces almost 3-lakh graduates each year, only 1-lakh are employable by IT-industry. And even the 1-lakh employed by the IT industry, need to be imparted additional training. With no other option, the IT industry does hire beyond this 1-lakh; however the training costs are huge.
As a result of this huge mismatch between demand and supply of good quality engineers, the salary costs have gone through the roof, steadily eroding the country's lower cost advantage. Continuing to grow on the basis of quality work, however, if we still retained lower cost advantage, the growth would continue to be spectacular, as in the past.
An in-depth analysis throws up a question we need to ask of ourselves: "Why is the quality of our graduates so poor?" Quite simple, good-quality graduates are produced due to three factors and they are:
1. Good faculty.
2. Good students.
3. Good infrastructure.
Very few if any of our colleges provide decent infrastructure for IT education, even though one needs very little compared to other engineering streams. While, the quality of students produced by our school system may not be very poor, most certainly, it could be better. This mean, the blame for poor graduate quality is due to a lack of good quality faculty in most IT/CS departments across the country.
Again, we need to ask why we do not have enough good quality faculty in IT / CS departments in our engineering colleges. One could argue that we are not producing enough Ph.Ds, or even MTechs, and hence the pool is small. However, the truth is most colleges end up hiring BTechs, or MCAs, which is not a bad idea, as one batch of graduates could be hired to teach the next batch, till such time they find a suitable job in the IT industry. Again, one could ask whether there are insufficient research students. But, to come back the main point, the reason our faculty is not top grade is because:
End the Licence Raj. Paying faculty peanuts means we only get the monkeys.
One only has to compare the salary levels of industry and academia to notice that even in the IITs, inarguably the best institutions in the country, the salary of a faculty member is some times lower than the salary the IT industry offers its graduates. Highly demoralizing, little wonder then many faculty members leave their teaching posts for greener pastures. In any case, only a few people who really value the academic freedom, or have a keen interest in teaching and research, join the faculty.
Thus, it is obvious that the biggest obstacle to growth of quality education in IT / CSE is the compensation package given to faculty members. The government will not do anything in this regard, as surviving on the crutches provided by communists, it cannot even think of providing a differential (market-linked) compensation package in the education sector. Increasing salaries of all college faculty members would be just too expensive, and would lead to others demanding higher wages, as well.
While, we have been talking about government run colleges, even the wages offered in private colleges, are effectively controlled by the government indirectly. Theoretically, the government may only determine the lower ceiling on salaries, in reality it tightly controls the number of seats the tuition a college can charge from each student, which means the government has ensured the private sector is also unable to pay lucrative salary packages to their faculty.
A prime example of government interference is The Indian School of Business (ISB). For the first time, a prestigious foreign business daily ranked an Indian institution amongst the top 20 in a list of the world’s top 100-business schools. Considered illegal, the ISB has not taken accreditation from All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) because ISB officials fear interference, saying “they will decide our courses, our student intake, and even the size of our buildings.” But, ISB is being punished for rebelling against the Licence Raj. Admitting 120-students in 1992, it got approval for only 45. In 2001, it applied for 180, but didn’t get approval for six years. In 2004, AICTE rejected its unique dual degree programme with a reputed foreign university, whereby the latter would have flown its faculty to India. Its innovative programme for family-run businesses was also rejected. Last year, it seriously contemplated closing down. Instead, it has started campuses in Dubai and Singapore - far beyond AICTE's reach.
Coming back to the main issue of good faculty, it is interesting to note 2000 engineering colleges in the country are in sore need of about 25,000 IT / CSE faculty members. The number of PhDs in these colleges is not even five percent of it. In any economy sector, a 95% shortage would spell disaster. It would mean a massive crisis, salaries would go through the roof, there would be talk of hiring people from abroad. But, because of the tight control the government has on the education sector, nothing of the sort is happening.
How the Indian IT Industry Can Help Improve Education Quality
In such a scenario, the IT industry can help improve the quality of education by giving software at very low cost, offer more discounts on hardware, other organize training sessions for teachers, provide course material, etc. No doubt, all this will help.
What is really needed at this time is to find ways to improve the compensation packages of faculty members in these areas. The government isn't going to do it in the government colleges, and it won't deregulate education sector to let market forces play a role in salary. So, to some extent, the it is up to the industry to solve this problem.
Perhaps, the industry should plough back some of its profits into colleges to increase faculty compensation packages. Question remains which college out of the 2000-to support? It’s quite simple, support a college in proportion to the benefit a company gets from a college. For example:
• Pay back for every student hired. For every student hired, send a thank you note, and a cheque equivalent to one month salary of your new employee to the college the employee graduated from. Specify a good percentage of the amount should be distributed to faculty of IT / CSE department(s). This will also encourage the colleges to teach their students the importance of stability and not changing jobs frequently, since they get some cash only for graduates who stay in their first job for at least a year.
• Match donations by employees. Match the donation an employee makes to his / her alma mater. Usually there are limits on the matching grant, since no company would want an unlimited liability on this count.
• Set up Chairs and Awards. You may simply want to support good-quality departments or good-quality faculty members only. Setting up chairs involves giving large sums of money upfront (say, Rs. 50 lakhs). You could provide certain guidelines on selection of a faculty member who will benefit from such a chair.
In summary, to beat the talent crunch, it is important for the government to stop running universities and colleges. All institutions should be autonomous. The money the government saves should be ploughed back in the form of scholarships. Competition will take care of the rest. Students will be able to make informed choices. Good institutions will thrive and poor ones will close.
There should be no promotion of learning by rote, incompetent faculty and mediocrity, as is the case at present. Original thinking should be encouraged not punished, so that employable graduates can be created. Institutional courses should be intensified and meritocracy based. Equal emphasis should be placed on practical and theoretical learning. Companies should hire students for the summer to give them exposure to corporate culture. Last but not least, while Hindi is our mother tongue and it is important we are equally proficient in it as we are in English, all students should be taught English, stressing on correct pronunciation and grammar, whether it is a child studying in a government school or one attending a convent school.
Then and then only, will India beat the shortage of talent that has begun to loom over its head. Drastic measures will need to be taken, if we are to hang on to our outsourcing crown.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Game To Work From Home
There was a time when the workplace comprised of only one thing i.e. work, work and work! You signed in at a particular time and left at a given time. Coming late to work was a major faux pas, taking half a day off was like committing a grave sin, and taking a whole day off during the week could was even worse.
That was in the dark ages, however today things have changed with workplaces becoming relatively chilled out places. Employers have turned relatively humane giving up their Neanderthal personalities and way of thinking. No longer do they believe that work can only supposed be done at the office, or that flexi-timings are a curse and fun and workplaces do not go together.
Times are a changing and working from home is considered to be one of the best concepts to be implemented, as the workplace becomes more virtual than ever before.
However, the question is, is a virtual workplace better than a personal workspace?
Disappearing act?
Workplaces have become more virtual than one could imagine. Organisations are incorporating new trends like tele-commuting, flexi-hours, work from home etc. etc. to make their employees feel more comfortable with work.
While, physical presence at work is always considered to be a positive sign, according to experts employees are becoming more ‘virtual’ to the workplace.
Vineet Aggarwal, Executive Director, Transport Corporation of India, says, “The virtual workplace is a reality today, owing to the Internet and high-speed, instant access to messaging and information. More and more employees are working from home, as companies downsize the work area and cut overheads. Employees benefit by being able to avoid the daily commute to work and the time and trouble it takes to prepare for work, too.”
While, the idea of working from home is till in a nascent stage, organisations are opening up to the idea of incorporating these methods to help their employees. Experts are of the opinion that giving an employee his / her own space helps him / her get comfortable with their job.
Subodh Mishra, HR- Head, Department-Asian Heart Institute adds: "If, an employee is working in his / her own surrounding either from home or is tele-commuting, it helps him / her work in a relaxed environment with the family. Also, there are possibilities that an employee working from home could be more effective in his / her performance due to external distractions”.
Sanjay Khendry, Vice President Marketing & Business Development Sierra Atlantic adds, allowing employees to tele-commute helps reduce employee stress levels, including allowing them to have a life outside work.
“It also allows employers to make more space in an office for their new employees,” he states.
Against The Tide?
While, experts and organisations are accepting the concept of a virtual workplace, most of them believe employees work better in an office environment, since it offers them more ‘contact’ with work and business clients.
Concurring, experts prefer employees to work from office, as they believe tele-communting only works for a short span of time.
“A virtual workplace may lead to a sense of isolation, especially from corporate culture and you have a danger of being forgotten when it comes to some of the juicy assignments. The lack of inter-action with colleagues, not taking coffee breaks with them and not getting involved in office gossip can all become serious impediments to integrating with a team.
The most obvious fall out of such a situation is that your ability to work with a team gets reduced, and you are critically never invited to celebrate team achievements,” explains Sharad Heda, COO, Microland.
Apart from missing out on the corporate culture, an employee’s presence in office helps him / her clear any doubts he / she may have with immediate managers or other team members.
As well, the physical presence of an employee in a workplace acts a psychological comfort to the employer / team head rather than a necessity and most of the employer’s say that they prefer having their employees in the office rather than have them sign in at work virtually.
Debasis Chatterji, Director, NetXcell explains: “A personalised workplace is always preferred as all the employees can work together as a team by helping each other.
It also helps with communication with the team members and helps the employee to clear questions that run through his/her mind during various projects. Employees will be more disciplined, as they would be accountable about their work and time in office.”
Unequal Equation
While, the debate regarding a virtual workplace or a personalised workplace rages on, experts believe in the long run, neither of them will go out of fashion, with more and more organizations becoming virtual in the in the near future.
They add that even if an employee is not at his / her desk during work hours, work would carry on without getting affected.
“We are going to see an ‘in-between’ model of work that offers a balance between the two extremes of virtual workplace and formal office. Work will be farmed out (out-sourced) to clusters of people working from remote locations.
I believe that ‘clustering’ is one model that works well, small teams or clusters typically tend to perform better and stay more motivated, they easily produce a sense of camaraderie and a cluster is in a flexible, self-correcting environment, so work does not suffer,” says Heda.
While it’s obvious what works for one industry might not work for another, both formats have been accepted. Employers feel comfortable allowing their employees to be non- existent from the work place, as they feel giving them their space is important so they feel comfortable with their work and deliver on the trust reposed in them.
On the other hand, they prefer nothing better than having their employees present in office, right under their nose where they can keep an eye on them.
So, while employers are prepared to pamper their employees to extract the best out of them, it is possible that those employees, who have opted for working from home, may soon miss the daily routine of getting dressed to go to work, gossiping at the water fountain or catching up for coffee. It may feel good to work from home for a while, but sooner or later, coming to office on a regular basis is what 98% will opt for. It is women with young children, who will benefit the most from being able to work from home.
This option comes at an opportune time for India, as it too could have found itself in the same dilemma many western countries are beginning to face i.e. an aging population and not enough youngsters to replace them. This is a situation that is the direct outcome of women joining the workforce, only to sacrifice marriage and children for a career and higher incomes. Though India could do without adding to its population, yet if outsourcing to India continues to grow, it is these same numbers who will ensure India remains the favourite outsourcing destination.
That was in the dark ages, however today things have changed with workplaces becoming relatively chilled out places. Employers have turned relatively humane giving up their Neanderthal personalities and way of thinking. No longer do they believe that work can only supposed be done at the office, or that flexi-timings are a curse and fun and workplaces do not go together.
Times are a changing and working from home is considered to be one of the best concepts to be implemented, as the workplace becomes more virtual than ever before.
However, the question is, is a virtual workplace better than a personal workspace?
Disappearing act?
Workplaces have become more virtual than one could imagine. Organisations are incorporating new trends like tele-commuting, flexi-hours, work from home etc. etc. to make their employees feel more comfortable with work.
While, physical presence at work is always considered to be a positive sign, according to experts employees are becoming more ‘virtual’ to the workplace.
Vineet Aggarwal, Executive Director, Transport Corporation of India, says, “The virtual workplace is a reality today, owing to the Internet and high-speed, instant access to messaging and information. More and more employees are working from home, as companies downsize the work area and cut overheads. Employees benefit by being able to avoid the daily commute to work and the time and trouble it takes to prepare for work, too.”
While, the idea of working from home is till in a nascent stage, organisations are opening up to the idea of incorporating these methods to help their employees. Experts are of the opinion that giving an employee his / her own space helps him / her get comfortable with their job.
Subodh Mishra, HR- Head, Department-Asian Heart Institute adds: "If, an employee is working in his / her own surrounding either from home or is tele-commuting, it helps him / her work in a relaxed environment with the family. Also, there are possibilities that an employee working from home could be more effective in his / her performance due to external distractions”.
Sanjay Khendry, Vice President Marketing & Business Development Sierra Atlantic adds, allowing employees to tele-commute helps reduce employee stress levels, including allowing them to have a life outside work.
“It also allows employers to make more space in an office for their new employees,” he states.
Against The Tide?
While, experts and organisations are accepting the concept of a virtual workplace, most of them believe employees work better in an office environment, since it offers them more ‘contact’ with work and business clients.
Concurring, experts prefer employees to work from office, as they believe tele-communting only works for a short span of time.
“A virtual workplace may lead to a sense of isolation, especially from corporate culture and you have a danger of being forgotten when it comes to some of the juicy assignments. The lack of inter-action with colleagues, not taking coffee breaks with them and not getting involved in office gossip can all become serious impediments to integrating with a team.
The most obvious fall out of such a situation is that your ability to work with a team gets reduced, and you are critically never invited to celebrate team achievements,” explains Sharad Heda, COO, Microland.
Apart from missing out on the corporate culture, an employee’s presence in office helps him / her clear any doubts he / she may have with immediate managers or other team members.
As well, the physical presence of an employee in a workplace acts a psychological comfort to the employer / team head rather than a necessity and most of the employer’s say that they prefer having their employees in the office rather than have them sign in at work virtually.
Debasis Chatterji, Director, NetXcell explains: “A personalised workplace is always preferred as all the employees can work together as a team by helping each other.
It also helps with communication with the team members and helps the employee to clear questions that run through his/her mind during various projects. Employees will be more disciplined, as they would be accountable about their work and time in office.”
Unequal Equation
While, the debate regarding a virtual workplace or a personalised workplace rages on, experts believe in the long run, neither of them will go out of fashion, with more and more organizations becoming virtual in the in the near future.
They add that even if an employee is not at his / her desk during work hours, work would carry on without getting affected.
“We are going to see an ‘in-between’ model of work that offers a balance between the two extremes of virtual workplace and formal office. Work will be farmed out (out-sourced) to clusters of people working from remote locations.
I believe that ‘clustering’ is one model that works well, small teams or clusters typically tend to perform better and stay more motivated, they easily produce a sense of camaraderie and a cluster is in a flexible, self-correcting environment, so work does not suffer,” says Heda.
While it’s obvious what works for one industry might not work for another, both formats have been accepted. Employers feel comfortable allowing their employees to be non- existent from the work place, as they feel giving them their space is important so they feel comfortable with their work and deliver on the trust reposed in them.
On the other hand, they prefer nothing better than having their employees present in office, right under their nose where they can keep an eye on them.
So, while employers are prepared to pamper their employees to extract the best out of them, it is possible that those employees, who have opted for working from home, may soon miss the daily routine of getting dressed to go to work, gossiping at the water fountain or catching up for coffee. It may feel good to work from home for a while, but sooner or later, coming to office on a regular basis is what 98% will opt for. It is women with young children, who will benefit the most from being able to work from home.
This option comes at an opportune time for India, as it too could have found itself in the same dilemma many western countries are beginning to face i.e. an aging population and not enough youngsters to replace them. This is a situation that is the direct outcome of women joining the workforce, only to sacrifice marriage and children for a career and higher incomes. Though India could do without adding to its population, yet if outsourcing to India continues to grow, it is these same numbers who will ensure India remains the favourite outsourcing destination.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Agile State of Mind
These days everyone seems to be blogging and writing up a storm about Agile methodology in software development. While that maybe, it is doubtful if any of them have ever thought of applying the Agile principles of supporting change, rapidly adapting and learning from it, leaving all communication doors open, being accountable and collaborating closely as a life philosophy to live by? Some may find it unnerving, but they shouldn’t? Agile in life is as applicable as in software development, since ‘Agile’ is not a discipline, but a life philosophy. Nothing but a set of principles and values, it is a broad approach and like all things in life, it means rapid adaptation to changes, learning, open communication, accountability, and close collaboration.
But, many people find responding to change requires a major mental shift that is difficult and takes time and environmental support. Society often penalizes people for being flexible or adaptable, as rigid traditionalists seem to think this translates to being uncertain, indecisive, uncommitted or even rebellious, as confirmed by the various blogs and comments reviling Agile. However, dip your toes in it and find that as a philosophy, Agile adapts itself pretty well to living life by it. After all, Agile philosophy emphasising a set of values, principles and practices can be applied outside of software... in business management, family and household, or... in agile classroom management.
For example, the easiest way to get a child to eat healthy is doing it one bite at a time, starting off with the best and tastiest bits first. This makes your goal of getting him to finish a healthy meal more manageable. That is to say, when faced with a life issue, as in Agile software development iteration by small iteration helps solve any problem, allows you to assess the situation and then proceed to the next step, and so on until you ultimately achieve your goal. However, always keep the big picture in mind when starting out on a goal achievement mission.
Basically, Agile methods are quite similar to 12-year olds, high on IQ, low on patience, with enough time on his hands to sit in front of the TV, frantically pushing every button of his Nintendo until he figures out how to do it, all without once bothering to touch the manual. It’s all about trying something else until you get the desired effect and then moving on to the next thing.
Using Agile methods in the classroom is easy. Simply start out by:
1. Carefully studying the syllabus.
2. Next, setting up one’s teaching goals.
3. Then, assigning a goal to be achieved within each sprint or iteration. Students have to be taught and they must understand what has been taught.
4. After completing a sprint or iteration, a test should be assigned to assess whether your goal has been achieved.
5. If, a majority of students do not pass the test, assess your teaching methods, selecting the successful ones, while junking those that fail to catch the students attention.
6. Simultaneously, the areas the students failed in should be evaluated and subjects put together, with the more interesting one’s first, trailed by the least interesting lessons.
7. Now, you start afresh with a new sprint or iteration.
Congratulations! At the end, you will find that your students have learnt and been able to retain, which means you have met your goal of teaching your class well enough to pass a difficult evaluation exam! And, you will find adapting Agile principles and values to life helps up your success rate!
But, many people find responding to change requires a major mental shift that is difficult and takes time and environmental support. Society often penalizes people for being flexible or adaptable, as rigid traditionalists seem to think this translates to being uncertain, indecisive, uncommitted or even rebellious, as confirmed by the various blogs and comments reviling Agile. However, dip your toes in it and find that as a philosophy, Agile adapts itself pretty well to living life by it. After all, Agile philosophy emphasising a set of values, principles and practices can be applied outside of software... in business management, family and household, or... in agile classroom management.
For example, the easiest way to get a child to eat healthy is doing it one bite at a time, starting off with the best and tastiest bits first. This makes your goal of getting him to finish a healthy meal more manageable. That is to say, when faced with a life issue, as in Agile software development iteration by small iteration helps solve any problem, allows you to assess the situation and then proceed to the next step, and so on until you ultimately achieve your goal. However, always keep the big picture in mind when starting out on a goal achievement mission.
Basically, Agile methods are quite similar to 12-year olds, high on IQ, low on patience, with enough time on his hands to sit in front of the TV, frantically pushing every button of his Nintendo until he figures out how to do it, all without once bothering to touch the manual. It’s all about trying something else until you get the desired effect and then moving on to the next thing.
Using Agile methods in the classroom is easy. Simply start out by:
1. Carefully studying the syllabus.
2. Next, setting up one’s teaching goals.
3. Then, assigning a goal to be achieved within each sprint or iteration. Students have to be taught and they must understand what has been taught.
4. After completing a sprint or iteration, a test should be assigned to assess whether your goal has been achieved.
5. If, a majority of students do not pass the test, assess your teaching methods, selecting the successful ones, while junking those that fail to catch the students attention.
6. Simultaneously, the areas the students failed in should be evaluated and subjects put together, with the more interesting one’s first, trailed by the least interesting lessons.
7. Now, you start afresh with a new sprint or iteration.
Congratulations! At the end, you will find that your students have learnt and been able to retain, which means you have met your goal of teaching your class well enough to pass a difficult evaluation exam! And, you will find adapting Agile principles and values to life helps up your success rate!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Pink Slips With A Silver Lining
As the American economy goes into a tailspin, with Dell laying off 1,200, Nokia shutting down its German plant, the question is whether the tremors of its slowing economy are making an impact onshore. Possible, as 500-employees are laid off at Tata Consultancy Services and 700 at IBM India.
This has the IT-employees worried, as the days of hefty pay cheques and bonuses seem to be replaced by anxious days reminiscent of the 2,000 meltdown, when the country’s pampered Sunrise sector wondered ‘whose turn it could be next’.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys, India confirms the fears, saying: “Pink slips are possible in the industry.” Adding it all depends on a company’s clients and those IT firms with clients in the services sectors, BFSI and retail to be the most affected.
While, the news seems to have rattled many tech firms, it should not come as such a surprise knowing that there are few other sectors so closely bound by the global markets as information technology. Global sentiments affecting the industry is but a natural outcome, say the analysts studying the situation. And, not so long ago other analysts were predicting that India would be facing a talent shortage with not enough graduates to fuel the demand. Well, if the lay-offs continue and the pampered darlings of the tech world are shocked into the real world, the industry is in fact expected to come on par with its global counterparts in terms of salary increments and annual growth.
Sourabh Kaushal, Industry Manager, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia & Middle East, news from the TCS and IBM stables could be seen as early signs. “These are still early signs. However, facing a US recession, IT companies are under great pressure. So, in future we may see this trend growing with companies undertaking strategic restructuring.”
Quite simply put, it means that the western techie’s pay cheque will soon match that of what his counterpart in the East, read India, China, and other countries outsourcing their services, receives. While, many of the Indian techie Diaspora i.e. those who immigrated to USA and Europe e in search of greener pastures, began to trickle back to India, as soon as its IT industry began to take over the world. They will be returning in droves when salaries in East and West become on par.
Before that happens, here are some of the top tech companies in India and overseas, who began to trim their workforce in the past few months.
1. Tata Consultancy Services: After first cutting variable salaries across the board, a lean period due to external business dynamics saw India’s largest private sector employer and Asia’s largest software exporter show the door to 500-employees, citing poor performances.
2. IBM India has delivered pink slip to a sizeable chunk (700-across company locations, including 180-odd in Kolkata) of its entry-level trainee programmers (ELTPs) across major offices in India, most of whom were engineering graduates.
3. IndyMac Bancorp Inc.: One of the largest US mortgage lenders, IndyMac has eliminated 2,403 jobs, or 24% of its workforce, to cope with deteriorating housing and capital markets. This will impact three service providers in India i.e. Cognizant Technology Solutions, ExlService Holdings and WNS, with at least 400-450 people at the three service providers being let go.
4. Dell Inc.: More than 1,200 sales and support workers in North America are expected to get the pink slip, including 900 employees who will lose their jobs later this year as the company shutters one of its two call centers in Canada.
5. Yahoo Inc.: With a financial mess that deepened at the end of 2007, the slumping Internet icon has drawn up plans to lay off as many as 1,000-workers.
The list increases from Nokia closing its production plant in Bochum, Germany to Ericsson cutting 4,000 jobs globally, including 1,000 in Sweden, to Alcatel Lucent set to cut 400 jobs in France, heads are expected to roll everywhere, as the economy worsens in USA.
However, the good news for techies laid off in India, is that they will not have to wait too long before they are snapped up by some of the smaller IT firms, who were facing a skills shortage, since graduates opted for the big names when job hunting. So, all in all things will pan out pretty well for everyone in India’s IT world, pink slips and all!
This has the IT-employees worried, as the days of hefty pay cheques and bonuses seem to be replaced by anxious days reminiscent of the 2,000 meltdown, when the country’s pampered Sunrise sector wondered ‘whose turn it could be next’.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys, India confirms the fears, saying: “Pink slips are possible in the industry.” Adding it all depends on a company’s clients and those IT firms with clients in the services sectors, BFSI and retail to be the most affected.
While, the news seems to have rattled many tech firms, it should not come as such a surprise knowing that there are few other sectors so closely bound by the global markets as information technology. Global sentiments affecting the industry is but a natural outcome, say the analysts studying the situation. And, not so long ago other analysts were predicting that India would be facing a talent shortage with not enough graduates to fuel the demand. Well, if the lay-offs continue and the pampered darlings of the tech world are shocked into the real world, the industry is in fact expected to come on par with its global counterparts in terms of salary increments and annual growth.
Sourabh Kaushal, Industry Manager, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia & Middle East, news from the TCS and IBM stables could be seen as early signs. “These are still early signs. However, facing a US recession, IT companies are under great pressure. So, in future we may see this trend growing with companies undertaking strategic restructuring.”
Quite simply put, it means that the western techie’s pay cheque will soon match that of what his counterpart in the East, read India, China, and other countries outsourcing their services, receives. While, many of the Indian techie Diaspora i.e. those who immigrated to USA and Europe e in search of greener pastures, began to trickle back to India, as soon as its IT industry began to take over the world. They will be returning in droves when salaries in East and West become on par.
Before that happens, here are some of the top tech companies in India and overseas, who began to trim their workforce in the past few months.
1. Tata Consultancy Services: After first cutting variable salaries across the board, a lean period due to external business dynamics saw India’s largest private sector employer and Asia’s largest software exporter show the door to 500-employees, citing poor performances.
2. IBM India has delivered pink slip to a sizeable chunk (700-across company locations, including 180-odd in Kolkata) of its entry-level trainee programmers (ELTPs) across major offices in India, most of whom were engineering graduates.
3. IndyMac Bancorp Inc.: One of the largest US mortgage lenders, IndyMac has eliminated 2,403 jobs, or 24% of its workforce, to cope with deteriorating housing and capital markets. This will impact three service providers in India i.e. Cognizant Technology Solutions, ExlService Holdings and WNS, with at least 400-450 people at the three service providers being let go.
4. Dell Inc.: More than 1,200 sales and support workers in North America are expected to get the pink slip, including 900 employees who will lose their jobs later this year as the company shutters one of its two call centers in Canada.
5. Yahoo Inc.: With a financial mess that deepened at the end of 2007, the slumping Internet icon has drawn up plans to lay off as many as 1,000-workers.
The list increases from Nokia closing its production plant in Bochum, Germany to Ericsson cutting 4,000 jobs globally, including 1,000 in Sweden, to Alcatel Lucent set to cut 400 jobs in France, heads are expected to roll everywhere, as the economy worsens in USA.
However, the good news for techies laid off in India, is that they will not have to wait too long before they are snapped up by some of the smaller IT firms, who were facing a skills shortage, since graduates opted for the big names when job hunting. So, all in all things will pan out pretty well for everyone in India’s IT world, pink slips and all!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Women In The Workfield
‘What do women want?’ is a question that is as old as the universe, if popular culture is to be believed. While, civilisation isn’t any closer to answering that particular question, what is becoming increasingly evident is the fact that women want economic freedom, the catalyst that frees them from the dominance of men, at long last ‘Masters Of Their Own Destiny’. As their numbers increase in male dominated work fields, they have cause to revel in the fact that no longer do they need a man to provide shelter, put food on the table or clothes on their back, his ‘bedroom and kitchen slaves’. They do all that and more pretty well on their own.
From President’s to Prime Ministers of nations, corporate boardrooms to entrepreneurships, Armed Forces to Members of Parliament, from medicine to IT, Research & Development to high finance wheeling and dealing, think of any field and you are sure to find a woman who has dared to break the barriers, stormed the male bastions of power. No longer content to pose as simply easy-on-the-eye secretaries or receptionists, hired more for their good looks than the grey matter housed in their craniums, they have struggled to break free of gender stereo-types, and one cannot help but applaud and exclaim: ‘You’ve come a long way, baby!' as they light up a Virginia Slims and knock back a chaser!
However, while women are contributing equally, perhaps a little more or a little less to house hold incomes, double-income families are not an invention of modern times. “In prehistoric times, double-income families were the norm, and women provided 60-80% of the evening meal,” says Ms Fisher in her article on “Why Companies Need Female Managers” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7209353.stm). According to her, the invention of the plough and resultant need for hard manual labour caused the balance of power to shift, and it is only since World War I women are re-entering the workforce and regaining their status in society.
However, there are much more fundamental differences between men and women that have been shaped over millennia of evolution. For starters, brain scans and research prove it, including the fact that men and women think differently. On average, women gather more data, consider the context, are intuitive, have a sympathising mind and think more long-term, which Ms. Fisher calls ‘web thinking’. Men, on the other hand, are more focused, think linear, focus on rules and the short-term - ‘step thinking’. If, you want proof, then research shows film scripts written by women are more complex, with more ambiguous endings than those written by men. Further, male doctors focus on the illness and its treatment, while female doctors take a more holistic approach.
This enforces her belief that the long-term thinking of women makes them better investors, an opinion corroborated by a Merrill Lynch Investment Managers gender study that throws up some interesting results. It found that women investors while less knowledgeable about financial markets and products than men, were more interested in finding out about them than men. They also went on to make fewer investment mistakes and repeated them less often than men. As well, women were far less likely to hold on to a losing investment (35% of women reported having done so at least once against 47% of men) or wait too long to sell a winner (28% versus 43%) than men. The research also revealed men were more likely than women to allocate too much to one investment, or buy a hot investment without doing any research and trade securities, highlighting women’s behavioural tendency to play safe with their investments.
Men may be considered to be far more analytically inclined than women; however, women plan better for the long-term. Perhaps, that is why Infosys mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy has a mantra for working women who aspire to reach the top. He advises companies to give them the option of working from home, on those days when home demands get too pressing. He believes in giving them a three year break from work, so they can take care of growing children. A period they could utilise for upgrading knowledge and skills, even while they stay at home, coming back to work later.
“Companies should make policies that make it is a win-win situation, both for the employer and its employees,” he recently stated, while addressing women delegates representing the IT sector.
As India’s IT sector alone employs 21% of the 6% of it’s working women population, issues like gender equality, greater participation, commitment to stretching jobs was the key focus area of the one-day annual conference on ‘Women in IT’. Organised by Infosys, under the banner of Infosys Women's Inclusivity Network, the conference was attended by 96-delegates from companies like TCS, Wipro, Lucent Technologies and Sun.
Ending with a group discussion on how to create women leaders in IT, Murthy concluded by saying “Running an industry by excluding women, who have sizeable amount of talent, is like the corporate engines working on half filled cylinders.” And, to prove his point Murthy highlighted the fact that a survey of the United Kingdom FTSE 100 companies showed, the equity return of firms with women on their boards averaged 13.8% as compared to 9.8% for those that had an ‘All Boys Club’ i.e. all males on its Board. Emphasisng the commitment and compassion female employees had for their companies, he reiterated they should be provided with equal opportunities for growth and given challenging roles.
Citing examples of successful women like Kiran Majumdar - bio-tech enterpreneur, Lalitha Gupte - ICICI Bank Board of Directors of, Shehnaz Hussain - beauty expert, Murthy said: “Women executives at senior levels in companies encourage female subordinates to aspire big.”
He felt the reason why 90% of managers across information technology firms were male, was because women opted out of mid-level careers due to family pressure. And, why women were not able to reach the top was, because women employees failed to get ‘stretching’ jobs like working on an ailing division or driving a new business, which 99% of the time went to their male counterparts.
More than substantiating Ms. Fisher’s findings, over the ages men were the hunters who needed to remain focused. Women, in contrast, had much more diverse tasks, like bringing up children (which Ms Fisher also believes may be the reason why women are better talkers: language being the key tool to control children).
Business Case
So ,what does all this mean for business leaders?
Ø It means they should combine the long-term thinking of women with the short-term focus of men.
Ø They should bear in mind that different thinking also results in very different behaviour.
- Men think more in terms of status and rank. Women prefer flat hierarchies.
- Men can have tunnel vision; women may fail to get to the point.
- Women find it difficult to counter aggression, while when men push back it earns them the respect of other men.
- When women apologise, they are not really sorry. For men it's a serious affair, a perceived weakening of their status.
The list of differences is endless, but the message is loud and clear. Managers have to realise that while men and women act differently, they also complement each other. As women rise in status, according to Ms. Fisher, we ‘move forward to a lifestyle we had a million years ago’. The world over, we are coming full circle i.e. dual income households.
So, whatever the difference between men and women in the workfield, let’s say ‘Vive le difference!’ Encore! ‘VIVE LE DIFFERENCE!’ May it live forever!
From President’s to Prime Ministers of nations, corporate boardrooms to entrepreneurships, Armed Forces to Members of Parliament, from medicine to IT, Research & Development to high finance wheeling and dealing, think of any field and you are sure to find a woman who has dared to break the barriers, stormed the male bastions of power. No longer content to pose as simply easy-on-the-eye secretaries or receptionists, hired more for their good looks than the grey matter housed in their craniums, they have struggled to break free of gender stereo-types, and one cannot help but applaud and exclaim: ‘You’ve come a long way, baby!' as they light up a Virginia Slims and knock back a chaser!
However, while women are contributing equally, perhaps a little more or a little less to house hold incomes, double-income families are not an invention of modern times. “In prehistoric times, double-income families were the norm, and women provided 60-80% of the evening meal,” says Ms Fisher in her article on “Why Companies Need Female Managers” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7209353.stm). According to her, the invention of the plough and resultant need for hard manual labour caused the balance of power to shift, and it is only since World War I women are re-entering the workforce and regaining their status in society.
However, there are much more fundamental differences between men and women that have been shaped over millennia of evolution. For starters, brain scans and research prove it, including the fact that men and women think differently. On average, women gather more data, consider the context, are intuitive, have a sympathising mind and think more long-term, which Ms. Fisher calls ‘web thinking’. Men, on the other hand, are more focused, think linear, focus on rules and the short-term - ‘step thinking’. If, you want proof, then research shows film scripts written by women are more complex, with more ambiguous endings than those written by men. Further, male doctors focus on the illness and its treatment, while female doctors take a more holistic approach.
This enforces her belief that the long-term thinking of women makes them better investors, an opinion corroborated by a Merrill Lynch Investment Managers gender study that throws up some interesting results. It found that women investors while less knowledgeable about financial markets and products than men, were more interested in finding out about them than men. They also went on to make fewer investment mistakes and repeated them less often than men. As well, women were far less likely to hold on to a losing investment (35% of women reported having done so at least once against 47% of men) or wait too long to sell a winner (28% versus 43%) than men. The research also revealed men were more likely than women to allocate too much to one investment, or buy a hot investment without doing any research and trade securities, highlighting women’s behavioural tendency to play safe with their investments.
Men may be considered to be far more analytically inclined than women; however, women plan better for the long-term. Perhaps, that is why Infosys mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy has a mantra for working women who aspire to reach the top. He advises companies to give them the option of working from home, on those days when home demands get too pressing. He believes in giving them a three year break from work, so they can take care of growing children. A period they could utilise for upgrading knowledge and skills, even while they stay at home, coming back to work later.
“Companies should make policies that make it is a win-win situation, both for the employer and its employees,” he recently stated, while addressing women delegates representing the IT sector.
As India’s IT sector alone employs 21% of the 6% of it’s working women population, issues like gender equality, greater participation, commitment to stretching jobs was the key focus area of the one-day annual conference on ‘Women in IT’. Organised by Infosys, under the banner of Infosys Women's Inclusivity Network, the conference was attended by 96-delegates from companies like TCS, Wipro, Lucent Technologies and Sun.
Ending with a group discussion on how to create women leaders in IT, Murthy concluded by saying “Running an industry by excluding women, who have sizeable amount of talent, is like the corporate engines working on half filled cylinders.” And, to prove his point Murthy highlighted the fact that a survey of the United Kingdom FTSE 100 companies showed, the equity return of firms with women on their boards averaged 13.8% as compared to 9.8% for those that had an ‘All Boys Club’ i.e. all males on its Board. Emphasisng the commitment and compassion female employees had for their companies, he reiterated they should be provided with equal opportunities for growth and given challenging roles.
Citing examples of successful women like Kiran Majumdar - bio-tech enterpreneur, Lalitha Gupte - ICICI Bank Board of Directors of, Shehnaz Hussain - beauty expert, Murthy said: “Women executives at senior levels in companies encourage female subordinates to aspire big.”
He felt the reason why 90% of managers across information technology firms were male, was because women opted out of mid-level careers due to family pressure. And, why women were not able to reach the top was, because women employees failed to get ‘stretching’ jobs like working on an ailing division or driving a new business, which 99% of the time went to their male counterparts.
More than substantiating Ms. Fisher’s findings, over the ages men were the hunters who needed to remain focused. Women, in contrast, had much more diverse tasks, like bringing up children (which Ms Fisher also believes may be the reason why women are better talkers: language being the key tool to control children).
Business Case
So ,what does all this mean for business leaders?
Ø It means they should combine the long-term thinking of women with the short-term focus of men.
Ø They should bear in mind that different thinking also results in very different behaviour.
- Men think more in terms of status and rank. Women prefer flat hierarchies.
- Men can have tunnel vision; women may fail to get to the point.
- Women find it difficult to counter aggression, while when men push back it earns them the respect of other men.
- When women apologise, they are not really sorry. For men it's a serious affair, a perceived weakening of their status.
The list of differences is endless, but the message is loud and clear. Managers have to realise that while men and women act differently, they also complement each other. As women rise in status, according to Ms. Fisher, we ‘move forward to a lifestyle we had a million years ago’. The world over, we are coming full circle i.e. dual income households.
So, whatever the difference between men and women in the workfield, let’s say ‘Vive le difference!’ Encore! ‘VIVE LE DIFFERENCE!’ May it live forever!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Indian Creativity
When did creativity die out in India? Was it with the invasion of the Mughals and the subjugation and repression of Hindoostani culture and population? But, suffice to say it ebbed out by the time Lord Macaulay imposed British education on an unsuspecting Indian populace, in a bid to turn Indians into clones of themselves, albeit ‘Brown Sahibs’ who blindly believed all good things followed from the West. Macaulay's Children, people born of Indian ancestry adopted Western culture as a lifestyle , displaying attitudes influenced by colonisers. Victims of civilisational faults, one can say India’s ensuing intellectual insolvency, therefore, is civilisational.
Wherever the blame lies, the damage was done and the creative flowering of India’s Golden Age ‘Gone with the Wind’, as Indians excelled in imitating their colonial masters. However, now that the Great West is tottering, faced with a talent and skills crunch, India begins to find itself once again. Creative innovation picks up, as seen from the rising number of patents being registered by Indian IT and other sub-continental entrepreneurs. While, the western style education imparted in classrooms ensures children learn by rote and are prevented from questioning what is taught. This method that prevents children from thinking for themselves and stunts creative thought, has not been successful in stubbing out Indian creativeness and innovation. Indians, despite everything continue to innovate and find viable solutions to every problem they face in life. Creativity may have taken a back bench in India, yet the Western talent crunch has once again brought it to the fore.
From Call Centre hub to Research & Development hub, Indian creative innovativeness blossoms once again, as the Indian regains confidence in himself and his culture. His services much in demand world wide, he is no longer willing to be clone of the West. He has begun to express his identity, refusing to change his name from Ankit to Andy, likewise talk with an American twang. If, David on the other end does not understand what he is saying, tough, he’ll jolly well have to learn how the Indians talk, if we are to continue to do business.
Today India stands tall, despite, a history of invasions and conquests, holding fast to its myriad diversities, once upon a time the richest country in the world turned into Third World, has turned the tables on British imposed poverty by constantly innovating to overcome shortages in life. It may have briefly lost some of its creativity; however, it continues to innovate in most every field.
Today, it is that IT geek standing out from the crowd, that independent woman walking the beat of her own drummer, that lone wolf no part of the wolf pack, the Indian who shies away from being a routine part of society, who typifies the India who has come out of the shadow of the West.
One does not have to be an Einstein to know that uniformity and regularity so beloved of the West, ring the death knell for creative innovativeness. Perhaps, that is why the West is experiencing a shortage of talent, a burn out. While, India’s unity in diversity always a fertile ground, is responsible today for India’s current success from being the back office of the world to it’s Research & Development hub, whether, in the field of IT or pharmacy!
As India begins to be itself, as pale imitations of the West fade away, as Indian tradition, ancient knowledge and lore once again find pride of place, Indian creativeness begins to flower! And, once we have done away with all things western detrimental to our people and our culture, it will be second coming of India’s Golden Age!
Wherever the blame lies, the damage was done and the creative flowering of India’s Golden Age ‘Gone with the Wind’, as Indians excelled in imitating their colonial masters. However, now that the Great West is tottering, faced with a talent and skills crunch, India begins to find itself once again. Creative innovation picks up, as seen from the rising number of patents being registered by Indian IT and other sub-continental entrepreneurs. While, the western style education imparted in classrooms ensures children learn by rote and are prevented from questioning what is taught. This method that prevents children from thinking for themselves and stunts creative thought, has not been successful in stubbing out Indian creativeness and innovation. Indians, despite everything continue to innovate and find viable solutions to every problem they face in life. Creativity may have taken a back bench in India, yet the Western talent crunch has once again brought it to the fore.
From Call Centre hub to Research & Development hub, Indian creative innovativeness blossoms once again, as the Indian regains confidence in himself and his culture. His services much in demand world wide, he is no longer willing to be clone of the West. He has begun to express his identity, refusing to change his name from Ankit to Andy, likewise talk with an American twang. If, David on the other end does not understand what he is saying, tough, he’ll jolly well have to learn how the Indians talk, if we are to continue to do business.
Today India stands tall, despite, a history of invasions and conquests, holding fast to its myriad diversities, once upon a time the richest country in the world turned into Third World, has turned the tables on British imposed poverty by constantly innovating to overcome shortages in life. It may have briefly lost some of its creativity; however, it continues to innovate in most every field.
Today, it is that IT geek standing out from the crowd, that independent woman walking the beat of her own drummer, that lone wolf no part of the wolf pack, the Indian who shies away from being a routine part of society, who typifies the India who has come out of the shadow of the West.
One does not have to be an Einstein to know that uniformity and regularity so beloved of the West, ring the death knell for creative innovativeness. Perhaps, that is why the West is experiencing a shortage of talent, a burn out. While, India’s unity in diversity always a fertile ground, is responsible today for India’s current success from being the back office of the world to it’s Research & Development hub, whether, in the field of IT or pharmacy!
As India begins to be itself, as pale imitations of the West fade away, as Indian tradition, ancient knowledge and lore once again find pride of place, Indian creativeness begins to flower! And, once we have done away with all things western detrimental to our people and our culture, it will be second coming of India’s Golden Age!
Briefly Agile
Agile can be defined as a conceptual customer driven framework generally centred on iterative and incremental delivery of working software. The iterative part means repeating or iterating, a complete lifecycle of development over a short, fixed span of time. And with each iteration, some working sub-set or increment of features is delivered to the client.
Agile Methods
Several agile methods, such as, extreme programming (XP), lean software development, Crystal, DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method), Scrum, and feature-driven development (FDD) are some of the well-known ones holding similar values and principles, with each method emphasising the following:
Agile Methods
Several agile methods, such as, extreme programming (XP), lean software development, Crystal, DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method), Scrum, and feature-driven development (FDD) are some of the well-known ones holding similar values and principles, with each method emphasising the following:
Lean - close customer relationship, shorter cycles, waste elimination, late decisions, team empowerment and building in integrity.
DSDM empowers team decisions, emphasizes frequent product delivery, integrates testing throughout, promotes collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders.
FDD centres development around the feature, creates a domain model with domain experts.
Crystal emphasizes people, gathers techniques from other methods, improves communications, adapts the process itself (shrink or grow to fit).
Scrum manages a prioritized list of requirements on a product backlog, collaborates through daily meetings, exhibits the product upon iteration completion, uses retrospectives to correct the process.
XP emphasize communication values, simplicity, feedback, and courage; uses specific technical and collaborative practices, including TDD, re-factoring, pair programming, continuous integration, open workspace, and automated acceptance tests.
Highlighting the human aspect in software development, Agile arose out of frustration with ‘heavyweight’ methods and phased approaches.
Work on an Agile project involves working in a team that emphasizes cutting to the chase, with little or no time spent on large detailed design or requirement documents, as working software must be delivered every week / two weeks. Rather, contributing to designing automated tests; or brainstorming ideas for new features is likely more on the cards.
· The outset of an agile project is usually short, as no one spends weeks or months to gather and refine requirements before working on a detailed design.
· Once the project has begun, all work takes place in iterations of fixed length - most typically one or two weeks each.
· Each iteration begins with a plan, wherein the customer decides the most important features the team is to build. The meeting finishes when the team commits to a set of features that can be delivered by iteration end.
· The next important aspect of an agile method is the deliverance of working software at the completion of each iteration. Each iteration aims at updating production software, meaning it has to be fully integrated and tested
before an iteration is completed.
· Teams get together frequently to discuss who’s doing what and what issues exist. Agile practitioners work best in a bullpen, in earshot of fellow developers, even pairing for software development, in order to improve the quality of design and code.
· Throughout an iteration, completed business functionality is required to be delivered, after effectively determining
· Teams get together frequently to discuss who’s doing what and what issues exist. Agile practitioners work best in a bullpen, in earshot of fellow developers, even pairing for software development, in order to improve the quality of design and code.
· Throughout an iteration, completed business functionality is required to be delivered, after effectively determining
whether you're done or not by, using defined automated acceptance tests. Or, a test can be designed and developed for successful execution by working in concert with a QA or testing team.
· To conclude, at the end of each iteration, it is essential that a demonstration be held of newly-completed features to interested parties and stakeholders.
Agile software development is great for many situations, isn't always appropriate for every team within a company. Not a surefire guarantee for success, it requires an appropriate attitude, an eye for spotting deficiencies in the process, and a willingness to correct the process itself with every iteration.
· To conclude, at the end of each iteration, it is essential that a demonstration be held of newly-completed features to interested parties and stakeholders.
Agile software development is great for many situations, isn't always appropriate for every team within a company. Not a surefire guarantee for success, it requires an appropriate attitude, an eye for spotting deficiencies in the process, and a willingness to correct the process itself with every iteration.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Agile State of Mind
These days everyone seems to be blogging and writing up a storm about Agile methodology in software development. While that maybe, have you ever thought of applying the Agile principles of embracing change, rapidly adapting and learning from it, leaving all communication doors open, being accountable and collaborating closely as a life philosophy to live by? Do your find that unnerving? You shouldn’t, as you will find Agile in life is as applicable as in software development, since ‘Agile’ is not a discipline, but a life philosophy. It is nothing but a set of principles and values, a broad approach and like all things in life, as this broad philosophy exists, ... rapid adaptation to changes, learning, open communication, accountability, and close collaboration.
But, responding to change requires a major mental shift for many people that is difficult and takes time and environmental support. People are often penalized socially or formally for being flexible or adaptable, as the rigid traditionalists seem to think this translates to being wishy-washy, uncertain, indecisive, uncommitted or even rebellious, as confirmed by the various blogs and comments reviling Agile. However, dip your toes in it and find that as a philosophy, Agile adapts itself pretty well to living life by it. After all, Agile philosophy emphasizing a set of values, principles and practices rather than a prescriptive process can be applied outside of software... in business management, family and household, or... in agile classroom management.
For example, the easiest way to get a child to eat healthy is to do it one bite at a time. Of course, there’s no question that you will have to start with the best and the tastiest bits first. However, this makes your goal of getting him to finish a healthy meal more manageable. In other words, when faced with a life issue, as in Agile software development i.e. iteration by small iteration, will help solve any problem, allowing you to assess the situation and then proceed to the next step, and so on until you ultimately achieve your goal. However, the big picture must be kept in mind when starting out on your goal achievement mission.
Basically, Agile methods are much like a 12-year old, high on IQ, low on patience, with enough time on his hands to sit in front of the TV, frantically pushing every button of his Nintendo until he figures out how to do it, all without once bothering to touch the manual. It’s all about trying something else until you get the desired effect and then moving on to the next thing.
Using Agile methods in the classroom is easy. Simply start out by:
1. Carefully studying the syllabus.
2. Next set your teaching goals.
3. Then, assign a goal to be achieved within each sprint or iteration i.e. the students are to be taught should understand what has been taught.
4. After one sprint or iteration is complete, assign them a test to assess whether you have succeeded in achieving your goal.
5. If, a majority of students have not passed the test, it means it’s time for you to assess your teaching methods, selecting the successful ones and junking those that failed to catch the students attention.
6. As well, evaluate the areas in which the students failed to get through and put together the subjects, with the more interesting one’s first, trailed by the least interesting lessons.
7. Now, you start afresh with a new sprint or iteration.
Congratulations! At the end, you will find that your students have learnt and been able to retain what you have taught, which means you have met your goal of teaching your class well enough to pass a difficult evaluation exam!
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