When going to ‘War’ isn’t really Bad

When going to ‘War’ isn’t really Bad

1 room, 1 mission, millions of ideas!

It may not always be the end-of-the-world here at Classplus, but the need for a War Room always remains to solve the biggest of hurdles! But what is a War Room, exactly?

"I was scrolling Twitter and saw this tweet. It made me wonder about a ritual that I love about Classplus.  For me, it is "war rooms for releases". We usually have one major release every month. Around 20-40 devs stay up all night to have a successful release, chitchatting about someone's life, bitching about some code that is delaying our sleep and stuff like that. That's one ritual I really love about the company." - Abhishek Gupta

Characterized by the most efficient and smooth communication, this room exists to bring the best of minds. From figuring out the root problem hampering a goal, to improving communication flow and getting updates on everyone’s status, War Rooms are the place where it’s all smoothened out. Besides, it’s these small steps that’ll eventually lead to solving the main problem. 

Why the name ‘War Room’ though? Well, that’s because when at war, there’s no place for procrastination or break. All that matters is solving the problem…whatever, however and however long it takes! That’s exactly the motto driving these rooms and thus the name ‘War Room’. 


From the Ground/Zone

“We owe the development of one of Classplus’ flagship products (cannot be named due to confidentiality) to the War Zone. There wasn’t just 1 War Room but the whole floor dedicated to this way of functioning. The clan saw the sun rise and set from the office itself and saw a change in their sleep cycles. Everyone had just 1 mission, execute the launch of this product at any cost. I love this concept as it gave us the much needed push to go out of our comfort zone and get the job done.” - Rishabh Gupta

The War Rooms (rather War Zones) at Classplus go by the mantra of ‘Do or Die’. When you enter this zone, there’s no looking back until the mission’s over i.e. the solution is executed successful

So, what does it take to establish an efficient War Room/Zone where the work gets done? Trust us when we say that it ain’t no rocket science. As long as your War Room has at least these 5 qualities, you’re good. It’s got the job done for us all this while!


Always be on your feet

There may be no Sarge barking orders at you at all times, but you need to be on your feet when in a War Room. So attentiveness is a vital aspect of this space. 

We’d always kept the communication flow smooth and quick and that was made possible by attentive individuals who could gauge what’s going around. Understanding and timely reacting as well as giving your feedback only helps move one step closer to solve the problem.

Besides, your level of attentiveness determines how long the War Room will last. The more attentive you are, the less time it’ll take to execute the solution, and eventually the War Room ends up being for a shorter duration. 


Commit yourselves…all in!

When the clan dedicated themselves to the War Zone, they were ready to spend multiple days and nights in office. If there was ever a personification of ‘hustle’, this room is witness to that. 

It’s this push (thanks to the War Zone) that ensured that things don’t get delayed or lost in the process. Instead, it ensured that the clan shoots for the moon and paves the road that’ll ultimately solve the problem in hand.

As far as taking breaks to go home or sleep or the related are concerned, these can wait until the goal isn’t met!


Democracy FTW

It’s natural to mistake a War Room for just a more glorified meeting. A leader speaks, others get their slots. Well, they couldn’t be farther than the truth!

A War Room brings together people who might not otherwise collaborate. Believe it or not, most of the eureka moments at Classplus’ War Zones come from individual contributors rather than those in leadership roles. That’s because each individual who’s in that room is there because s/he can contribute to executing that solution to the problem. 


‘Forming’ and ‘Performing’ like a Pro

Every group goes through 5 stages namely Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Transforming. An efficient War Room goes through it all. 

So going in, forming the right team becomes primary. As mentioned before, it’s not your position that counts but your willingness and understanding of the problem as well as the solution that gets you a place in the War Room.

Yes, there may be disagreements (storming) but eventually everyone knows the problem and solution at hand, and that it’s the execution they need to work on (norming).

But the game changer here is the Performing stage where the people actually get to work. There may be millions of ideas floating around but it’s important that all the efforts be directed towards a unified goal. It was the quick wittedness, presence of mind, flexibility and dedication of the clan that has made all our War Rooms/Zones a success. 


Conclusion

At Classplus, War Rooms/Zones have always helped us streamline the process anytime we’ve had a bottleneck. Getting like-minded and equally skilled folks together in the room definitely goes a long way. How?

Well, from figuring out the inefficiencies to ridding ourselves of bottlenecks, from carrying out sprints to methodically executing a plan; it were these zones that made it all possible. 

Till date, War Rooms/Zones continue to push us to be our best and no matter how big or small we are, this is a tradition which we’re NOT saying ‘Goodbye’ to…anytime soon!



This article is written by Shoubhik Sen . 🫡

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