The Event: 8 corporate teams, 2 spots in the finals, 1 Crown - all battling it out over the weekends after rigorous working hours for the sweet spot. The league started at the end of June 2008 and lasted for a month with all matches being played during weekends, involving 15 matches. The prize money for the league and the Trophy for the winners were up for grabs.
Participating Teams:
Group A: Belga X (Belgacom Team A), Royal Super Kings (Proximus Team A), TCS, Girish’s 9 (Proximus Team C)
Group B: MindIT (Belgacom Team B), Ramki’s 9 (Proximus Team B), The Invincibles (LG), Telenet
Each team had around 12 participants (as 11 is usually the number of people on the field). This way more than 80 people participated in the event.
Management Lessons Learnt: Organizing an event on a big scale, managing the resources, co-ordination, team work, authority, team disputes, time management, decision making, dedication, passion, focus etc. I think I was able to cover almost all aspect of a management lesson outside of the work place. And hence I decided to share something which is not based on work but on co-curricular where you see regular team activities and are able to apply the management concepts.
Planning: I think one of the key aspects of the event was planning. The objective of the event was to bring as many people under a single forum as possible. This way networking is on a high, people are able to demonstrate skills outside of their work environment, and most importantly a way to remain fit. With this me, along with 3 other colleagues of mine started planning, and it was within 3 days, despite our tight schedules, that we finalized the plan, materialized over the resources, prize money, and registration and so on. It was no less than organizing a session and getting a speaker to visit the company or school. The time and energy put up by each one of us can be complicated with the passion each one had for the game as well as for networking.
Resources: After planning stage, this stage was very painful for the organizing team. Taking into account that the organizers had no $$$ cash for big spending, having the right finances was of utmost importance. With this the organizers had numerous brainstorming sessions, and ultimately came with a budget with which both the organizers and players were content. Getting the sports materials, hiring the internal resources for umpiring and organizing various things, prize money and post event party – everything was well planned. It was just a matter of execution.
Time-management: I believe this area was one of the poorly hit, in the sense that getting the organizers and players on time to the playing ground, and also considering the tight schedule at work place. As an organizer one hates to wait long hours for participants, in this case we gave some considerations based on the project releases that the team had, but at the same time we also ensured that the teams were penalized for any mis-conduct.
Team Work: As I mentioned already, the team work and co-ordination between players, between the organizers and both between the players and organizers were the key drivers of the event. Without this it was hard to ensure a very successful event. During the event, I also happened to be a part of team–disputes, but despite that the smoothness in the team co-ordination was ensured, and event was successful. The dispute arose due to the time-management process, and later the organizers learnt the lesson and quickly learnt and reacted over the same in other matches.
Decision Making: As a part of the resource planning, the departments were set. Each person was given an authority in the respective departments. Key people were identified. After a point, the organizers never had to rely on any SPOC’s, since everyone in the organizing board ensured the event was a grand success.
I believe the focus, dedication and passion towards the game drove the complete event. Even the losing participating teams enjoyed the game of cricket and supported the event until the finals. Many a lesson learnt, many a friends made, many a network developed. The objective was achieved!!
Gist of the event and Match Summary:
Belga X romped to a victory over TCS by 6 wickets to clinch the inaugural Belgian Premier League. An electrifying contest between two well-balanced sides was in the writings when table toppers Belga X took on the confident TCS in the Finals of the first Belgian Premier League at Schuman Park, Merode, Brussels on Sunday.
TCS, who were made to bat first by Belga X, made the lowest score of their tournament 61/8 before seeing the end of 16 overs. TCS started off positively with runs coming from all ends until Belga X took the much needed wicket of one of their key batsmen. TCS kept losing wickets at regular intervals after their opening batsmen failed to give them a good start with Belga X bowlers capitalizing on the crucial wicket. TCS set a target of 61 in 16 overs for Belga X, which the champions managed to convincingly reach with the loss of 2 wickets. TCS did not bowl that badly; nor were they slow in the field and this was evident from some quality fielding and fine bowling by TCS. Belga X were simply irresistible. For the most part Belga X looked on in admiration during an opening partnership between Anand and Yatin. TCS managed to bounce back within few minutes by grabbing two wickets of the openers, but it was too late in the day to stop Belga X from winning the tournament. TCS should have put the game way beyond the reach of any good side after Belga X had won the toss and put TCS to bat. But the team that held its nerves better and grabbed chances was the team that saw through the tournament.Belga X continued it's winning streak this season by grabbing the 1st edition of the Belgian Premier League 2008 Corporate Challenge trophy in style by beating TCS convincingly on the Schuman Park ( SCG ) in what was a completely one sided-affair.
The Champions lifted the trophy in style while also grabbed the cash prize , while TCS lifted the runners up trophy as well as the case prize. The tournament got the farcical final it deserved, and all praises to the participating teams, the supporters and the organizers who owed more than this. It proved to be a showpiece to say a more dignified victory.Cheers...
Comments from writers:
Rajarshi Guin, Senior Software Consultant and Writer of Infosys Newsletter - guin.rajarshi@gmail.com
"Arre yaar chalo ek cricket tournament karte hain", said a cricket enthusiast in Hindi (National language of India). But this was not just some casual coffee break comment. What followed was a herculean effort from the Belgacom team members, who got together, brainstormed for many hours and in less than 2 weeks managed to organise for the first time in Brussels the Belgium Premier League Cricket Tournament. And no, this was not just any cricket tournament, with 8 teams from all over Belgium, their supporters and guests, this event brought together close to a 100 people from Infosys, TCS and LG. Bright sunny days and curious Belgian spectators at the Schuman Cricket Ground made for a picture perfect start. Fourteen fiercely fought battles and four weekends later TCS took on Belga X (Infosys Belgacom) for a shot at glory. Dubbed the "Clash of the Titans", Belga X, however, had other plans. They wasted no time as they romped home to a 6 wicket victory, leaving them and their supporters with sufficient time to celebrate that Sunday evening. Both the winners and runners-up were pleasantly surprised to receive cash prizes and a trophy each to crown their achievements. Let's get together to applaud the fantastic effort of the organisers, the teams, the ever patient match officials and the many enthusiastic supporters - their spirit ensured that at the end of the day there was really one winner - CRICKET.
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