My experience working with Tata ProEngage - TISS canteen

I had the privilege to be selected and participate as a Volunteer in one of the many projects taken up by Tata ProEngage*. It felt like a great start to the year and I was completely gung-oh about the project I had applied for. The primary agenda of the project was to create various Job descriptions (JDs) for canteen workers in TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) to tackle their challenges such as duplication of work, mis-management, lobbying against new staff, stealing of food items and absenteeism.

It all started with the orientation of volunteers and project managers (NPO reps who are link between corporates like Tata and organizations in need of volunteers like TISS canteen here) at the Tata Communications Mumbai office, where I met my NPO project manager – Kinkini. We had a brief discussion and the task seemed to be pretty simple at first. Our first meeting was then scheduled in the following week at the TISS canteen.

We met the canteen manager and few of the committee members of the Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangh, a Self-help group (SHG) esp. for women working as ragpickers, commenced by Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS). These women were now working in TISS canteen under SMS committee’s management. As the canteen employees were actually ragpickers and were only recently trained to work as canteen staff, they were facing a lot of challenges.

I got first-hand information about their problems and also about their life in general – esp. the hardships they face in their daily life. With no prior experience in how a canteen works and little knowledge about kitchen duties, I thought I’ve landed myself in trouble.

After a series of meetings over a couple of months esp. with Kinkini (who ultimately became my dear friend), fellow volunteer and canteen managers, I could actually understand how important all the roles in a canteen are. I also spoke to some of our canteen staff in TCS and they were very helpful as always. Right from a table cleaner – dishwasher – server to assistant cooks (who help prep the actual dish by cutting vegetables, boiling eggs, etc) to main cooks, everybody’s task is so crucial! Even if one person does not perform his/her task properly, the ultimate consumer i.e. the customer or TISS students here, will not be satisfied.

Preparing the JD was one task but explaining the tasks to the canteen managers, preparing a timetable with sprints (yes, I used agile!) for them to follow w.r.t. how much time every activity takes, was at a whole new level. This definitely opened my eyes about all the people who run a kitchen (like my mom) successfully in spite of all the tasks at hand (including my tantrums). A huge respect to all the canteen staff and support staff across TCS locations for always being so proficient in their job.

This entire project and esp. the interactions with the canteen staff has indeed taught me a lot about myself. It not only taught me to use my HR skills other than at work, in a place like a canteen but more importantly it taught life lessons like –

• Every job is important and it’s your duty to do yours with integrity
• Humility cannot be learnt in classrooms, but only by examples – i.e. people who face hardships in life but still do their job with a smile
• Life can be very tough at times, but as the saying goes, “this too shall pass”… Believing in yourself can never go wrong

From ragpickers to canteen staff to managers, who knows where they are going to go next, but I’m sure to a better place.

This project definitely paved a way for me to participate in other volunteering activities (like Empower - Teach to lead at Olympus Thane) and helped build confidence in me help those in need. Never miss a chance to help make somebody’s life better while you can.

(*Under ProEngage, TSG provides exciting volunteering projects in areas such as HR, finance, business planning, IT, web design, social media and marketing, mentoring and coaching to help non-profits build and sustain their capacity. Duration of the activity can range from one to six months and volunteering is mainly during weekends and holidays.)