We are all familiar with the story of King Midas, blessed with the power to touch anything and turn it into gold. At Tech Mahindra, we have witnessed this phenomenon through Prasoon Srivastava. Any account, no matter how small or big, would grow multiple folds with Prasoon’s hard work and leadership. And this is the very reason he is heralded as the Growth Champion at Tech Mahindra.
We sat down with Prasoon to further understand how he works his magic across his projects. Here’s what we learnt about his Midas approach:
The First Step is to Understand the Problem
For a Tier 2 telco in the US, Prasoon identified 3 core issues in the customer’s operations:
- A start-up mindset that creates chaos at scale: This mindset made it difficult to envision the long-term vision and mission for the company.
- Lack of a blueprint: Just setting timelines would not have been enough; a holistic project plan was necessary.
- Scaling up people and resource management: The company had an influx of customers but lacked the necessary systems to serve these customers. And to build and maintain systems, one needs people. Ramping up and creating team structures is arguably one of the more difficult changes that Prasoon had to tackle.
The Second Step is to Find the Solution
Prasoon leveraged the vast competencies from Tech Mahindra’s arsenal, such as OSS, BSS, digital, ICS models and more. He believes in educating the customers by providing resources and demos to help them develop their business and build a growth mindset. Prasoon’s team, having worked with Tier 1 telcos across the world, presented their learnings to the customer. With the right competencies in place, it became easier for Prasoon’s team to support and help the customer build a robust portfolio.
In fact, for another Tier 2 telco, Prasoon helped with their web applications, and even implemented a door-to-door application for the company’s agents. The application was designed to make it easier for the agents to recognise and target certain areas in their city where the company provided their services.
The Third Step is to Establish a Long-term Framework
No matter the project, Prasoon always creates a framework for customers to follow while keeping their long-term interests in mind. He makes short-term goals and a roadmap which builds up, in this case, to a three-year concrete plan. Apart from goal setting, it includes allocating resources for each goal while keeping in mind the fast pace of growth that tier 2 telcos go through. His determination has resulted in incredible growth for many clients, including the tier 2 telco in the US. With a team of brilliant resources, Prasoon and his team are working towards at least four big deals with this customer.
Flying High and Staying Inspired for Life
As a Growth Champion, he feels it’s important to identify his own shortcomings to grow as a person.
“I have realised that we need to listen twice as hard for everything. I have had to work on my listening and communication skills. It’s OK to talk but it’s even better if you can listen and act. The way you communicate with a person tells a lot about you.”
Prasoon dedicates his incredible results to the immense faith that his leaders have put in him. He counts himself lucky to have found great mentors who let him handle the reins on any project he undertakes. He also attributes his successful endeavors to his father who taught him to adopt a positive mindset, and his mother who taught him to be polite and respectful.
Advice to Budding Techies
“Be positive and have passion for learning from everyone. Be humble to others. A lesson from my early days is that most people are used to predicting what the outcome will be. Rather, focus on the process and the task at hand, and not the outcome, to achieve your goals.”
About Prasoon Srivastava
Prasoon has worked with Tech Mahindra for over 15 years, assuming many roles such as a Technical Program Manager, Technical Delivery Lead, Application Specialist, and Tech Lead, among others. His expertise lies in his ability to leverage the learnings from our biggest telco clients and utilising them to grow start-ups, including newer telcos. Prasoon is a foodie by heart and enjoys interacting with people. He tries new cuisines whenever he can and loves cooking at his leisure.
