Following physical work across three decades

Mandate

Connect access, assembly resources and completion evidence with the usable result promised to customers

Outcomes

• Moved access planning ahead of difficult delivery commitments
• Funded approved assembly resources and a warehouse-space conversion
• Reopened incomplete installation records and clarified follow-up ownership

Decisions in context

The COO appointment connected the decisions I had previously encountered in separate parts of the operation. I now lead 690 colleagues through seven leaders within ₹48 crore delegated annual operating expense, while merchandise purchases and capital approvals remain distinct. Naina owns enterprise recommendations, and I present the operating account without a statutory board seat. The access case showed where my own review had stopped too early. Assembly preparation then required investment, and the warehouse conversion required an honest account of the storage we would lose. The completion review has more recently exposed unfinished work behind an apparently clear status. I want those experiences to make the operating account more useful, including when a result remains open or an alternative carries a cost. My personal 0.8% holding also belongs in any discussion of an outside role.

Reason for the move

Current role; preparing to consider one external non-executive appointment

Mandate

Make storage, assembly and delivery work as one operating sequence

Outcomes

• Examined capacity changes across more than one operating activity
• Brought repeat journeys into the account of installation work
• Developed a wider view of the commitments behind a delivery promise

Decisions in context

The network role widened my responsibility to 410 colleagues through five leaders and ₹27 crore annual operating expense. I reported to the COO and worked with buying, property and technical colleagues whose decisions affected the same physical flow. A warehouse position, an assembly area and a vehicle slot could each look adequate in a separate account while the combined sequence remained difficult. I learned to ask what a change displaced elsewhere before accepting its local benefit. The work also made repeat journeys more visible. A visit that required another visit was not fully described by the first dispatch count, even if the main product had arrived on time. This appointment prepared me for enterprise operations by making the dependencies between functions part of my own recommendation, rather than a list of matters to be settled after one function's plan had been approved.

Reason for the move

Promoted to chief operating officer

Mandate

Adapt installation planning to the constraints of customers' homes

Outcomes

• Connected customer questions with practical access planning
• Clarified when a site issue required specialist assessment
• Developed field leadership across several retail locations

Decisions in context

I moved into retail installation in October 2009, bringing project experience but needing to learn a different customer setting. The remit covered 190 colleagues through three leaders and ₹12 crore annual operating expense. Homes did not offer the same access arrangements or professional site coordination as exhibition venues. A customer could describe the intended space accurately while not knowing which route measurements mattered to a delivery team. I worked with field leaders on clearer questions and on recognising when a condition needed a qualified specialist. The role also taught me to separate arrival from completion. A customer had bought the prospect of using a product, not merely having its packaging inside the property. That wider promise became more important as my responsibility expanded beyond the installation region into the network that prepared and supplied its work.

Reason for the move

Promoted to lead network operations

Mandate

Connect installation drawings with access, equipment and the actual sequence of work

Outcomes

• Made unresolved installation methods visible before site mobilisation
• Coordinated practical handoffs with venue and specialist teams
• Completed a part-time operations-management diploma in November 2008

Decisions in context

Project operations made me accountable for a team and an operating expense account rather than only a planning contribution. Sixty-two colleagues worked through four team leaders within ₹5.6 crore annual expense. The drawings could be visually complete while the method of installing a component remained uncertain. I learned to ask who had resolved the access and equipment questions before a crew arrived, and to respect the authority of venue and technical specialists. The work involved coordinating several parties without pretending that one schedule could erase every dependency. I completed a part-time operations-management diploma in November 2008 while continuing in employment. Moving to Amlaqeri the following year offered a different rhythm: instead of a succession of temporary exhibition projects, I would help a continuing retailer make and fulfil installation promises to individual customers.

Reason for the move

Moved to Amlaqeri for a continuing retail-installation remit

Mandate

Translate design intent into questions that the installation team could resolve

Outcomes

• Learned to compare a final layout with the route into the venue
• Worked under senior review on installation sequences
• Built a practical base for later project-operations responsibility

Decisions in context

I joined Sovqeli in July 1996 after completing my industrial-design degree the previous month. I belonged to an eight-person planning group without direct reports or independent spending authority. The work exposed the gap between an attractive final drawing and the practical journey needed to create it. Components had to pass through real entrances, equipment had to reach the working area and other teams might need the same space. Senior colleagues reviewed my plans and helped me understand which questions required technical approval. I learned to treat a drawing as the beginning of an operating conversation rather than its conclusion. The role gave me a habit of following an object through the work, and also a reminder that a planner can miss the most consequential dimension by looking only at the destination.

Reason for the move

Promoted to project operations manager