Interviewee: Mr.

Aviral Apurva(A)
Interviewer: Sherry Shrivastava(S)

S-Can you please briefly tell me about your organisation.

A-So, NuSocia is an impact consulting firm, we use technology to create or define models
of CSR, using technology using data driven solutions. So, it’s been about two and a half
years now, since the company was started. We are a team of, I would say 20 people now.
And we have our office, we have the office in Pune and we actually opened an office in
Gurgaon also So that is going pretty great.
S-What are your basic roles and responsibilities in your company?
A-So, basically I am in the team of founders, I was there when the company started. So all
the, you know, the start of words that you actually have to do, I was there for that and
currently I'm running all the technical things in the company be it data driven products or
any kind of you know, consultancy service that requires technology. So, I am handling that
currently and I have a couple of interns working under me in my technical team as well.
S-When do you usually start your work in the day and how long can you work for in
a stretch?
A-It depends. See, being a startup, if I tell you, we're not a conventional big company, if
you’re a traditional company , you might be working for, you know, let's say for a fixed
number of hours but when you are a startup, you have to do everything, so there is no
fixed time for that. Generally, you actually have to spend like, it's not fixed, sometimes you
are spending just say, let's five hours, or someday you are spending 10-15 or maybe 18
hours also. So it depends.
S-Do You get any free time during the working hours? Then how do you like to
spend it like you think about during that time? Or do you like to spend it in a leisure
way?
A-so I personally believe that a person should, you know, be able to vacate his mind a
little bit here and there. Because if you are, thinking about the work every time 24x7 ,then
your mind gets really burned out, and which can actually hamper your decision making.
So, besides that I have certain hobbies, I like to do that. So, not all the time work, but yes,
when it is required, your attention should be at its maximum.
S-Does your work ever gets monotonous? If so, then how do you cope up with it?
A-Sometimes yes, sometimes No, because again, the beauty of startup is you are actually
doing everything new, you're trying everything possible, but when you are in a
conventional company, things might get redundant very fast. So you might be doing or
working on a particular module over and over again, but being in a startup, it actually, you
know, keeps you on your toes to do something new every time.
S-Do you follow any particular management style that you prefer?
A-see, I actually personally believe that a person or a manager should be you know,
closely attached to his entity. Because if not, then the silos actually starts to make a build
up and when the silos are their work actually gets hampered, because there is not trust
between the intern and the manager, and they are not, you know, easily be able to share
their problems or any kind of scenario that they are facing. So, when it is, you know, kind
of friendly, it is really helpful for the interns to actually share their ideas. And as a team, we
can work upon it.
S-What kind of communication methods do you like to follow-email, telephone ,or
observational?
A-See as it is a startup and the company headquarters is situated in Pune, and I'm
currently in Delhi. So most of it is done through email. But we actually, you know, have
about two to three video conferences every week for performance evaluation, and figuring
out what the next steps that we have to be taken.
S-what are some of the challenges that you company or your organisation is facing
right now?
A-When we talk about business things, getting clients on board is one thing, and retaining
them is another, is a challenge again, so, the team is working, very efficiently for that
particular thing. But they are these are the major roles. And sometimes, you know, there is
this problem of good human resource also, because as a startup, you have to be selective,
because the people that are joining your company might be taking a very, decision making
roles. So you actually have to make sure you are getting the right people on board, which
can either make or break or break your company.
S-What do you like the most and enjoy the most in your company? And what are
some of the advice that you would like to give to your juniors or your interns?
A-Okay, so best thing that I like about my company is the fact that it is a start-up, that is
the thing I actually like, why because I get to learn a lot, because I'm doing the things from
scratch, sometimes. There are times when I actually created postcards also and there are
times I've created business models also. So, I'm doing everything, with my partners, so
that is the beauty of it and the advice I would give for the people to actually, if they're
aspiring to go in a company in a particular job, that's okay. But what if they can actually
create jobs? So, the best advice that I can give is just, you know, try to build a startup
there is nothing to lose right now because in this era of technology, opening a company,
registering the company is fairly easy, comparatively and you should give it a go. You
never know, you might be creating jobs instead of finding ones. So that is the advice, just
start early don't wait for the right time to start a company if you have idea, just go for it, do
it if you fail, nevertheless, you actually tried something.
S-How do you manage your personal and professional life?
A-Yes, a very good question. In the beginning, it was really hard because in the startup
phase, you tend to lose the, the idea about time like what is happening when, so, actually
it is becomes very hard to actually figure out time between your personal life and your
professional life. But now, as the things are moving forward it is somewhere getting
defined now, how to actually maintain your professional life and your personal life and that
is very important, you cannot deviate one side being it on professional, you cannot go
deeply into professional life, and you cannot go deeply into your personal life, you actually
have to balance both. So, it I think it's up to a person's management skills, I would say, to
actually manage these two very important aspects of having a career and having a
personal life. So, that is one thing that I would like to tell you.
S-So how do you use OB as a subject to manage your company
A-OB is a theoretical subject if I'm not wrong, but you know, its application is very vast in
businesses, what happens is you know, a person should understand how an organization
behaves, what is an organization? the organization is for the people by the people and is
run by the people ,people matter the most in an organization. So, you actually have to
understand how people in a particular company or a particular scenario thinks and
operates, So, it comes down to how they behave in an organization. So, OB is very
important and it's very relevant, if you study about various scenarios of how employees
work, how they actually think, how they perceive your company, what is their behaviour
towards a particular given task or anything, so, you actually have to manage everything.
So, I think OB makes sense for businesses
S-How do you manage your work with your co founders?
A-When people act on similar level roles people or someone that is superior to you, that is
where your interpersonal skill actually comes into play your interpersonal skills, your
conflict management skills, how you actually handle a particular situation, how you make
them understand your point of view, and all of you can come to a single conclusion,
basically keeping in mind every point of every person, you are not leaving out anybody in
the process, you are hearing everybody. So, that is one thing I would actually like to
advise, if you want to be successful with your colleagues or with your superiors, you have
to be a good listener. The person who is a good listener is the best communicator.
.