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Describe your current role in the organization.

organization

As a Senior Product Manager, I have been entrusted with leading and mentoring a team of talented developers and QAs. I also oversee the development lifecycle of Zoho Calendar, besides heading the Platform & Integration initiatives for products under the Zoho Mail suite.

My day-to-day work typically involves defining a clear roadmap, technically guiding and supporting the development team, and ensuring that our engineering efforts align with the product’s vision and goals.

It gives greater satisfaction to take pride in delivering features that not only add value to the product, but also drive business growth and success.

What role does Zoho’s company culture play in your identity and the work that you do?

journey

Apart from the professional qualities I gained here, Zoho made me more empathetic as the culture sank in with time. I learned that one doesn’t need to be authoritative and aggressive all the time to get work done; there are other ways of doing it, and I owe that knowledge to Zoho.

In 2009, during the peak recession, a friend of mine referred me to Zoho for a technical role that luckily matched my interest and experience, as my core strength at that time was software development. I did not set high expectations when I started but was open to learning new things.

As a beginner, I wanted to learn as much as I could. Zoho’s culture is such that there will be no spoon-feeding, but there will be guidance when asked for, and we learn from each other. We are always free to fail and learn—this helped me understand first-hand how things work and how to get things done.

The culture here remains the same, but personally, I became a more action-oriented person from being a process-oriented person. Zoho also gave me a platform to wear multiple hats and try different things. I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of Zoho.

Your most embarrassing blunder?

Awkward and embarrassing moments are common in the early stages of one’s career, and I am no exception. When I was a beginner, I pushed a last-minute code fix in the release build that broke the basic functionality of the product, followed by a series of escalations. Being a fresher, I was terrified. The pressure was real. My manager then was very supportive, helped me handle it, and got the situation under control. None of the team members said anything unpleasant, but I felt awkward for the next few days.

Tell us about a time you overcame a challenge you didn’t think was possible.

Taking ownership of a new product with a new team during COVID-19 was challenging as the situation was demanding. I am proud of keeping up the pace, while improving the performance and enhancing the product’s experience at the same time. It instilled in me the confidence to take on future challenges of similar magnitude. I consider it both a personal and professional milestone.

organization

What are your hobbies or favorite activities outside of work?

I enjoy many things, especially reading, cooking, and listening to good music. All this helps me rediscover myself and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Though I am an indoor person, I recently discovered that I also fancy a good nature walk, but I don't do it often due to time constraints.

For me, there is always an overlap between work and personal life. Whatever I do, eventually, one will bleed into the other. Both will always co-exist, and I got used to it.

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