Ngern Tid Lor has long emphasized technology and innovation because we believe that a solid back-office system will allow us to deliver uninterrupted, convenient, and fast services to customers. Today, we will talk with the IT guru, It or Nutthee Rujirachaivej, VP of IT Project Management, to learn more about his concept that “doing is better than memorizing.”
“Today, our IT Department has nearly 300 staff, including a new generation of employees who just started working with us, and some who have been with Ngern Tid Lor since its founding. I have been working with Ngern Tid Lor for about 10 years. I started as a programmer and later became a business analyst, analyzing user needs and discussing the results with programmers in order to develop systems capable of problem solving, or systems that meet the needs of users.”
Why was that so? Previously, we needed to wait for a business analyst to collect data on user or customer needs, which may take two months to complete. After that, the business analyst consulted a system analyst in order to design and analyze a system based on user needs, which could take a month. It may take a programmer two months to develop an application and another two months to conduct a user acceptance test. Thus, it would take several months for end users to see what they wanted. The greater problem was that when the development was completed, the product might not have met all the needs of users.
Why? Because there was physical distance involved in the work process which could lead to miscommunication or communication errors. The Scrum methodology provides a solution for this problem.”
I can tell you that in our IT Department, we encourage our staff to develop their knowledge and skills and provide leadership opportunities under the Thirst for Wisdom and Self-Development core value. In IT, we constantly need to self-develop in order to keep up with rapid business growth.
I have had the opportunity to go on site visits and attend training courses, and I want to pass on that opportunity to my younger colleagues. A site visit can open the door to many benefits. My site visit to China allowed me to gain a new business perspective and to see how online and offline channels could be easily integrated in order to effectively develop products and services. This was something we never thought of before because we were used to looking at things in a complicated manner from an IT perspective.
Not only do such opportunities broaden your horizons, it can open up new perspectives on your work as well.”
For me, what drives Ngern Tid Lor to become a leader in IT innovation, delivering financial betterment to grassroots people, are its core values. They need not be memorized but must be put into action to create good opportunities for the organization, ourselves, customers, and society.”
“Today, our IT Department has nearly 300 staff, including a new generation of employees who just started working with us, and some who have been with Ngern Tid Lor since its founding. I have been working with Ngern Tid Lor for about 10 years. I started as a programmer and later became a business analyst, analyzing user needs and discussing the results with programmers in order to develop systems capable of problem solving, or systems that meet the needs of users.”
The importance of technology development
“The importance does not lie in the tools and equipment we use but rather in the kind of people we have. Ngern Tid Lor has a corporate culture that encourage employees to embrace changes, and that promotes a thirst for learning. As such, our employees are fast learners and able to develop technology quickly.
This was also the case when we started to use Scrum. We found that we could develop small software applications quickly but took longer to configure bigger and more complicated systems. For example, it may take months to configure speeding up our payment system from 30 to 10 minutes. When our executive came across and read the book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, he thought that the Scrum framework could solve our problems. So, he sent a team, of which I was a part, to study Scrum in Singapore. When we came back, we immediately set up a Scrum team which could substantially reduce work processes that may take months to complete to only 10 days.Why was that so? Previously, we needed to wait for a business analyst to collect data on user or customer needs, which may take two months to complete. After that, the business analyst consulted a system analyst in order to design and analyze a system based on user needs, which could take a month. It may take a programmer two months to develop an application and another two months to conduct a user acceptance test. Thus, it would take several months for end users to see what they wanted. The greater problem was that when the development was completed, the product might not have met all the needs of users.
Why? Because there was physical distance involved in the work process which could lead to miscommunication or communication errors. The Scrum methodology provides a solution for this problem.”
Core values: behind the success of Ngern Tid Lor’s IT
“I am one of those people who can’t remember the company’s seven core values. But I think that I already have these values in me and can apply them to my work. I believe each of our core values can be used to support our duties and work practices. When I interview a job applicant, I ask very little about work experience or skills because these kinds of questions are easy to answer if the person has worked before, or is familiar work systems. If you want to know whether the person you are hiring thinks like you, or is one of your people, you have to ask him about work-related problems. For example, you might ask: How would you handle this or that kind of user or how would you solve this or that type of problem, in order to understand his way of thinking or problem-solving while observing his reactions.I can tell you that in our IT Department, we encourage our staff to develop their knowledge and skills and provide leadership opportunities under the Thirst for Wisdom and Self-Development core value. In IT, we constantly need to self-develop in order to keep up with rapid business growth.
I have had the opportunity to go on site visits and attend training courses, and I want to pass on that opportunity to my younger colleagues. A site visit can open the door to many benefits. My site visit to China allowed me to gain a new business perspective and to see how online and offline channels could be easily integrated in order to effectively develop products and services. This was something we never thought of before because we were used to looking at things in a complicated manner from an IT perspective.
Not only do such opportunities broaden your horizons, it can open up new perspectives on your work as well.”
Books are knowledge
“I do not like reading books. But, when I attended the lean startup training (shorten process and use less resources to get more results), I had to read a lot of books when I came back in order to build a Scrum team and teach younger colleagues. We only learned about the processes in the training: When we put what we had learned into practice, we encountered many problems. Later, I copied my executive’s method and gave books to my younger colleagues to read. Today, when I buy a book, I have to buy four copies for my team members to read I believe that the more the organization encourages its employees to pursue knowledge, the more its business will grow. Our “dare to do, dare to try” corporate culture can serve as a good start to make our organization grow faster and farther. If people are afraid to make mistakes, there will be no new technologies.
When a team member makes mistakes, I will not reproach him; I will show him his mistakes and give him an opportunity to think about how to improve what he is doing and to avoid repeating the mistakes. This is also what I learned from my executive.For me, what drives Ngern Tid Lor to become a leader in IT innovation, delivering financial betterment to grassroots people, are its core values. They need not be memorized but must be put into action to create good opportunities for the organization, ourselves, customers, and society.”
Tips: Benefits of Scrum
- Reduce distance and communication errors by effectively collaborating between team members to keep them on the same page.
- The principle of Scrum—to divide a complex project into a series of simpler, achievable tasks—can not only speed up the work process and achieve more results, but also allows for work adjustment to reflect changing conditions or situations.
- Promote work transparency and enable team members to work together to solve problems immediately when a delay occurs.
- Help to build an understanding and relationship between team members because team members can better understand the work of others by working together.
- Foster leadership and followership in a team because everyone on the team has a chance to lead the field in which they excel.