How someone playing table tennis became my reason of quitting job

We all have reasons why we quit our jobs. Sometimes it may be for growth, or for money. But the first time I took decision to quit my job was because someone’s playing table tennis was impacting my productivity.

This is how the story went…

It was my first corporate job. I had done my internship in the same company before, so I knew a few people. I wanted to work in a particular team but was offered to work in another. When I insisted, the HR put me in touch with the team’s manager.

The team manager explained the role to me but also cautioned how his team was pretty ambitious and full of young men. They had not worked with a female before and may have some reservations to work with one, he said. Being my first job, I accepted the challenge and took it upon me to prove myself. Little did I know at that time that the game was not going to be about my talent/knowledge but how well I could adjust with their working styles.

My company offered breakfast and lunch at subsidized prices and dinner free of cost. Most bachelors in the company would come in just when the breakfast time was about to end and leave after having dinner. Spending 10+ hours at work, they all loved playing table tennis, chess and other games available in the cafeteria. Also they had to work with the US teams wherein they needed some overlaps in the time zones. So far so good.

The problem began when I wanted to leave on time in the evening. Being new, I had to learn and depend a lot on my team member’s time. But they preferred sparing mentoring time only in the evenings. Code reviews meant late stays in office for me. Soon, I too began to come in a little late, knowing I could anyway not leave early.

But this was not my preferred working style. I had almost a 1.5 hour one way commute time and my company was in an isolated place in Noida, UP. Leaving late meant keeping my mother tensed till I reached home. When it became an everyday ritual, I moved into a paying guest near to my workplace. But I was not happy.

These were early days of my career. On one hand, I did not want to quit. On the other hand, I craved for me time. After 8–9 months of this schedule, I began to wear off.

I decided to call it quits. Someone’s playing TT was impacting my work.

But the day I put down my papers, my super boss called me in. He asked me why I was moving. When I explained the whole situation to him, he smiled and asked if I had ever shared my concern with my team. I hadn’t . In those days when jobs were easily available in the market, I thought quitting would be easy than trying to face the situation and solve it.

He asked me to give him 3 months. He had a word with my team and explained how everyone should be tolerant of other’s working style. He told us how despite our working schedules, we almost had a 5–6 hours of overlapping time. He told everyone to make it a rule to do all work which needed collaboration in those overlapping hours.

My team members appreciated this and did not take it as a escalation on my part. I took back my resignation and trusted my super boss and team mates. Whenever work demanded, I put in extra time logging in from home. What happened after this?

I worked for that company, in that team for 7 years. I left that company after 7 years only because I had interest in a different domain and function, and had absolute respect for the company and its people. Even today, I have fond memories of those 7 years and get nostalgic. Even today, I am connected with my team mates and first boss.

I am sharing this incident today because I want every woman to get my message. We as women, begin to feel guilty when we leave early. But we are able to leave early without letting our work suffer by focusing and multi-tasking. Ask for support if you need it. Men around us may be blind to our issues or preferences but if they know of it, they accommodate excellently well to ensure we have a smooth run. My boss and super boss helped me acclimatize with the corporate life and their support in laying the initial foundation helped me in the rest of my journey.

I am sharing this incident today because I feel we all often find quitting and walking away as an easier option than voicing our concerns or finding solutions. Yet only when we voice conflicts can we team up to solve them. We meet people with different working styles, attitudes, level of knowledge,dedication and commitment; we meet people with different ambition levels and professional and personal goals. Working with so many different types of personalities is never easy. But the answer does not lie in quitting. A little flexibility on everyone’s part goes a long way in maximising a good working relationship.

11+ years of my corporate life, meeting quirks at work and thriving this life has resulted in me taking a pun at my own journey and drive valuable lessons for everyone to navigate the seas of corporate world. In my book ‘Corporate Avatars’ , meet 40+ quirks at work and get 100+ tips from my own experience of dealing with personality conflicts at work.

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