Altruism, Brotherhood & Camaraderie: The ABC at OFB

It’s been 2 years since I joined OfBusiness, a start-up, an organization, and a family where work is not only about earning money, building territories, or selling products but also about investing in people and giving them a platform to learn, earn and have fun. 

Since day one of my joining, I was given a platform full of possibilities and opportunities to excel in. I can divide my roller coaster ride into three stages “forming, storming, and norming” coined by Psychologist Bruce Tuckman. 

At first, when I joined as a Management Trainee in the Ahmedabad team, I was anxious, curious, and excited to get going and learn. I was in the FORMING Stage, where I was a little unsure of the team’s purpose and how I would fit in. But, the support and encouragement from the Gujarat team, combined with endless discussions and successful conversions allowed me to push myself onto the next stage. 

Then came the next stage, STORMING, which makes us push against the established boundaries, thus helping us face challenges to increase the pace and at the same time explore new regions. At this stage, many of us failed or quit, but the motivation given by my mentor allowed me to run on the correct path, relentlessly. The situation was handled by my line manager very well, who is nothing less than a friend and critic who kept pushing me to perform. This stage when left untouched can make or break the very spirit of the team. It has been rightly said by Robert Schuller – “Tough times never last, but tough teams do” and we became the lean and mean team at OfBusiness.

The next stage, NORMING – is when we are allowed to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of every team member. Growing together was now a habit and flying high became our destiny. There was a commitment of goals that raised the performance bar to the next level. At this very stage, the pandemic hit us; when most of the businesses and organizations collapsed, OfBusiness raised the flag higher than ever. We took some magical decisions to continue and I was given a responsibility to handle and manage a team in a new region with new challenges and opportunities. 

Handling and managing a team is the most difficult and challenging task that I’ve had to do in my entire two years. As one rightly said, “Take Care of Your Team and They Will Take Care of Your Business”. So the question becomes, how do you make sure you’re taking care of your team? The answer to that lies in team bonding.

In all these stages, what allowed me to keep going again and again, with great passion and rigor is the team bonding. The bonding to solve one common problem among SMEs, to do “dhandha” in unexplored territories and opening new avenues for better growth and development, to know the OFBian, helping them to explore their hidden capabilities and motivating them to grow professionally and personally. 

We might have heard of Covalent Bond in Chemistry – the strongest force which binds two atoms together to form a molecule. These molecules are as tough as diamonds and as free flow as water.  We share the same type of bond and thus we have coined a phrase to express our bond  – “Once an Ofbian, forever one”.

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