Over a cup of coffee.....

Coffee: It is a beverage, served both hot and cold with or without milk, consist an infusion of roasted ground (American way) or crushed filter (Indian Way) coffee beans. It has very high level of importance in an IT industry. Coffee is known to contain caffeine, which acts as a stimulant and is addictive by nature. Coffee is usually available free and in plenty in an IT firm. It was initially started as a British (or American) tradition but later on was realized as an important factor in increasing over all productivity of the organization. Having characterized as in impetus to the whole nervous system, coffee helps people in keeping them stimulated in the otherwise sedentary  (and boring!!) work environment. Coffee is a symbol of concentricity within an IT project (read account). It is thing that is common within the entire work hierarchy. Everyone likes having coffee but they differ in the way they intake it.

Entry level / fresher – Since they are often free and un-encumbered by load of work and new , they tend to take a lot of coffee in spare times. This is their first step to getting addicted to this drug for the rest of their work-life (unless they leave IT and become something like tiger tamers!).

Senior Developers / Architects – One of the most working people in a development team. Often you can spot them on their desks with a cup of coffee placed right next to keyboard. They are so imbibed in their work that they often forget to drink it. When they emerge from their thoughts (or code) , with their eyes still on computer screen, they lift the coffee cup with their left hand and sip it only to realize that it has gone cold. They still finish it off and get another cup and start a new cycle.

Project Manager - Unlike the other above mentioned people, they do not take coffee in paper cups rather in their ‘coffee mug’. They have a habit of sipping and savoring the coffee, while the cup is in one hand, looking and scrolling the mouse on some excel sheet or project plan. They have a dignified and often very different timing as compared to the above two for refilling coffees.

Account and Sales Manager - With their always formally dressed (even on Casual Fridays), a cup of coffee is not that repetitively seen in their hands. Usually they enter the office in morning with a cup of coffee and probably that’s the only time when they actually palce their coffee mug/cup on the desk. Rest of the time they like sipping coffee sitting, and sometimes even standing, looking on some presentation or report. They also show some pack behavior whence most of their coffee-sipping time are accompined by other managers and discussions.

Group Leader -  Being the head of the whole team, he/she always drink coffee on-the-move. The group leader takes the opportunity (or coffee-break!!) by getting the progress update as well as keeps a vigil on the team. With a cup of coffee in one hand, you can expect the GL to randomly ask anyone about what they are working on. ‘A coffee in GLs hand’ is a code red for the team. as soon as the coffee gets over the GL returns back to the responsiblities he left behind.

 

The coffee is not only restricted within each of the above group. Whenever these groups meet with each other, often they have a cup of coffee. Go to a technical meeting, you can see developers entering the conference rooms with coffee cup in one hand an notepads in other. Go to a management meeting, you can see the managers entering room with a cup of coffee in one hand and their laptops in other. Go to a presentation, you can see the whole team turning in late (trying to avoid the boring presentation) with coffee. For a normal (and mundane) 8-5 job in an IT company, you can see a lot of people on the open terrace of the office,at around 330-4 PM, trying to get some sky with a cup of coffee in their hand. With the an average of 3 cups of coffee a day for an IT professional and looking at the hiring trends in the IT industry, coffee sure is a billion dollor market. Whatever the command protocol be, caffeine acts as a common and a pleasant drug that powers the entire IT industry.

*****Ankur