Who Knew Working in a Startup Would Be Like Playing Cricket | by Inderpal Ahluwalia

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. In today’s day and age, spending long hours at workplace is inevitable. The stress levels and pressure of achieving goals in stringent deadlines are the highest they have ever been. This can result in employees feeling worn out, which in turn could lower productivity and cause dissatisfaction at the work place.

The work environment and culture of an organisation play a key role in ensuring constant growth and productivity for its employees, not only in the short run but also in the long run.

My favourite sport during my childhood days was cricket, or as it was then called, ‘gully cricket’. Gully cricket is an informal variant of cricket, played by people of all gender and age, in gardens, backyards, on the street, in parks, car parking lots, on the beach or any space that could be used as a playing turf. Though not the most professional form of cricket, it is still played with utmost intensity and dedication that one could ever imagine.

So, what makes the startup work environment similar to gully cricket?

Read on to find out the similarities for yourself!

The best and the most unique characteristic of gully cricket is its inherent flexibility — it can be played on any turf or area. The primary aim of playing and enjoying the game is achieved without much struggle.

Anything that is flexible in nature makes way for overcoming hurdles and achieving desired goals. In this way one can continue to pursue their activity without losing much focus or getting bored.

Flexibility in a good working environment is equally necessary to remove any hassles and interference for its employees, so they can concentrate on what is truly important in the workplace and for the business.

Gully cricket can be played at any time of the day. There are no specific lighting constraints that one has to abide by.

Likewise, at a startup there are individuals who prefer to work late and others who are early birds. The flexibility in timing yields maximum productivity of an individual and enable them to achieve the goals of their organisation.

Change is the only constant in the world, that is why there has to be room for revising rules to accommodate better way of living.

With advancement in technology and changing preferences of the spectators, rules in all forms of cricket are being updated.

A conducive work environment also has room for change. This ensures that employees are not wasting their precious time in sorting out needless issues and feeling as if they were stuck in medieval times.

The greatest form of learning is self-learning. It is also one of the best ways to improve one’s game of cricket as everyone has a different style of bowling and batting. Similarly, a healthy office environment encourages its employees to pursue this form of learning, helping them enhance their efficiency and knowledge on the job.

In gully cricket, a person is made the leader or captain of their team based on their performance. Often the best player on the team is asked to lead the team. Likewise, a good office environment gives people the opportunity to get promoted and lead the team based on their merit.

Winning in cricket is a collective effort. The goal of winning teaches every individual in the team to motivate each other and inspires team work and camaraderie.

Similarly, a good startup environment encourages a culture in which team work can flourish.

There is one other striking similarity between gully cricket and a good office environment. Most of the time people enjoy and have a spirit of satisfaction in what they do. People show pure dedication in the activity that they are engaged in and there is no pretence. People work up until late because they have to and they like, and not out of putting up an act.

In busy cities, there are space restrictions to play gully cricket. That’s why one has to innovate the turf to suit the environment. Similarly, a healthy working environment dictates innovation to develop better work practices.

Cricket requires one to constantly think of game management to achieve optimal results; similarly in a work environment one has business plans (for instance, the choice of products based on seasonality to achieve the optimum results).

A good workplace liberates and inspires its people and encourages open-mindedness. With changing times, it is the management of any company that needs to align and improvise actual processes with this contemporary ideology to sustain and improve efficiency in the long run.

P.S.: I am a content writer at Coverfox.com, India’s leading online insurance broker. In fact, Coverfox has recently been recognised as the Coolest Start-up of the Year, 2017 by Business Today. If you could relate to my experience of working in a startup, just drop me a line below. 🙂