Representative image of people in an office.
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Those who have some knowledge of how a manufacturing company functions would surely know about a department called the Industrial Engineering Department. The company where I worked for 38 long years too had one with this name. Insiders called it the ‘Miscellaneous Works Department’ as it handled all and sundry things and trivial projects. After working there as a manager for a few years, I realised that there was truth in what people said. An interesting incident happened during my tenure in that department.
The divisional head to whom I was reporting got his office and meeting room renovated. He asked me, “Have you seen my new office? Don’t you think it deserves a good-looking wall clock?” Without waiting for my response, as any boss does, he continued. “Go in for a branded one. Don’t buy from a roadside shop.” I was surprised, not because I was assigned that trivial job, but by his decision to put a wall clock in his office. I had heard him saying that one need not depend on a mechanical device for time management as one is already having a God-given built-in biological clock in him. He had time and again proved this point by adhering to strict time schedules in his meetings and engagements.
I jumped into action immediately. Our organisation had given enough financial authority to senior officers to spend on things useful to the company with the only condition that they strictly followed the company guidelines. My boss had powers to sanction the money required in this case, with the approval of the Finance Department. I prepared a note that read, “As there is a need to equip the renovated meeting hall in our division with a wall clock, an amount of Rs 3,000 may be sanctioned to buy one” and sent the file to the Finance Department for approval. It came back promptly with a note, “As per company guidelines, purchase of wall clock is not permitted.” I took the file to my boss. Very shrewd, experienced, and witty as he was, he just smiled and said, “I know these guys. They always look for some reason or another to cut expenditures. I don’t find fault with them. Don’t worry. Wait for a week and send the file again, but call it a ‘Time Measuring Machine’ this time.”
As advised, I sent the file again after a week, seeking approval for buying a ‘Time Measuring Machine’. It was approved immediately. Even today, after 35 years, my friends in the organisation tell me that the wall clock, nay, the “Time Measuring Machine, is still there hanging on the wall, serving its purpose well, reminding people about me, my boss, and of course, the authority who approved its purchase.