Written by Nayan Mehrotra
You dream of a place and a company of people, and then, if they become part of your life, how would you feel? It’s been just a month since I joined but I feel I have been part of Bookworm since a long period of time. Looking back, I am trying to understand what has made me feel this way, because I work from home and home is in Jaipur while Bookworm is in Goa. So here, I am sharing the little things that I experienced and observed, but when one thinks about it, the small things become the big defining factors.
Vision of Organization: it is a heavy loaded term, where in some organizations, people join and leave the organization before even understanding the vision or without the realization of whether there is vision at all. At times this vision is not shared with employees because whom you are reporting to has not defined the vision for themselves or internalized the larger vision.
So, what happens when you have clarity of vision of organization? Do you work with more commitment? And how does one explain the vision to those who newly join? Sit and preach? Or show it in action and in your day-to-day practice? I feel that I acquired and I aligned with the organization’s mission through discussions, by getting to know the work better in our team calls and mails, and just by observing the way the team worked. Over the past 2 months, there has been a flurry of resources on digital platforms. Being a library organization, we discussed how our work is so important during times of crises and we explored ways in which we can continue our reach among children and library educators, knowing the real challenges faced by each and every individual. The discussion leading to options and the critical reflection on which options we are not choosing as our way forward talks a lot about the organization’s vision. When you have clarity about the organization’s mission, you feel committed towards it and you try to do things in your style by keeping the larger vision in mind.
Transparency in working style/your thoughts matters: I really like how Bookworm takes everyone along in the professional journey and involves each one in decision making. Every single mail talks about transparency within the organization’s functioning and it means a lot for the team. The working style of BW has changed my notion of decision making and has brought back my belief regarding how work-places should be. At present, we are designing an online course where each one’s point of view is being considered in order to make the course rich. It is not just to show superficial ideas of inclusion. but a proof on how discussion brings quality to the work and also makes one think critically. Even if there is a slight shift in design, then not just team members, but the partner organization is kept in the loop.
We walk hand in hand: I have not felt a stage where I am drowning and not able to figure out how to do something or feel helpless. Each task is given in a manner that we work in groups and learn from each other’s perspective. It pushes you to be responsive and encourages reflective thinking which brings a new dimension to task.
Work Ethic: I have always learnt that it’s not just working for the sake of working and reporting to funding agencies. The ‘quality’ of work matters a lot! It’s not just finishing things on time but also how we do it and how good we do it. It also talks about how carefully we utilize resources. Just because it’s a donation or a grant in aid or funds committed for a cause, that does not mean we use it up and show the expenditure. Instead, every seemingly small activity is discussed in detail to ensure that we are not compromising with the quality, and neither are we wasting resources.
Being a library educator at Bookworm, we live all those experiences first before we bring them in our library practice and due to the lockdown, the team in Goa was also not able to work in the library. But the lockdown didn’t stop the team from staying connected virtually. The team planned different activities to engage each other and it brought a fun and learning element in day-to-day life. We organized Saturday gaming sessions for ourselves where we worked in teams and it used to liven up otherwise dull hours in my house. Not just Saturdays, but we also expressed our feelings and experience of lockdown through stitching. For more on what we did during the lockdown you can read our blogpost https://www.bookwormgoa.in/2020/05/16/what-we-have-been-doing-during-the-lockdown/. Since the team started working again at Bookworm library from 3rd May onwards, our Saturday fun time diminished, which I am missing.
I joined the organization around the time when many other organizations were not hiring people or in some cases, even firing people. It’s not like we at Bookworm have a huge inflow of funds, but work must go on, right? Funds will eventually come, but if you feel connected to work, then that keeps you motivated.
One month of experience has nurtured my critical thinking and fostered learning through discussions and many other activities. I am looking forward to many more learnings in the coming months as we are currently working on interesting projects. However, I do miss the team a lot of times because while they can meet each other, I have to manage with calls and mails. Hope things get better soon and I get to meet everyone again. The learning journey continues from here…
