A mom at home can teach a few things on management

The 8^th of May is Mother’s Day and the social media is full of pictures of children with their moms. And in nearly all the pictures you can see mom at home smiling and hugging the kids. When it comes to managing a home there is nobody better than a mom. People in the corporate world can get a few tips by observing the lady of the house working at home. Whether it is the supply chain management team or the human resource team, there is something that they can learn from a mom working at home.

A mom’s life starts early in the morning. For getting up early she doesn’t need an alarm nor has to punch a card. She has just an hour to prepare tiffin for both her kids, wake them up, and dress them in the school uniform. If she gets late nobody will reprimand her except that her kids will miss the school bus. And if by any chance the kids leave without the tiffin they will have to eat canteen food or go hungry.

Mom at home is an expert in managing logistics

Logistics has become a nightmare for companies across the world. Automobile companies are unable to deliver cars worldwide due to a shortage of semiconductors. Ships are stuck at ports unable to load and unload cargoes creating a shortage of essential goods worldwide. A car company can delay the delivery of a car. On the other hand, a mobile company can delay the launch of its latest model giving unforeseen logistical bottlenecks as an excuse. But a mom at home doesn’t have such a privilege.

Managing a household is not an easy job. An empty toothpaste tube and the kids get an excuse to miss school. On the other hand, if a shaving cream is missing the husband will press the panic button. Mom ensures that all the supplies from groceries to home utilities are well stocked. Whether it’s the daily supply of vegetables and fruits or hygiene essentials like soaps and shampoos the stock never ends.

Mom’s skills were tested to the maximum during the pandemic when the entire family was locked at home. The demand for every essential went up. From an increased consumption of snacks and savory to tea and cold drinks, items used to get finished at a jet speed. Replenishing the dwindling stocks was a big challenge. Access to the neighbourhood market was restricted. But our mom just sitting at home was an expert on ordering online. She used a mix of online and offline ordering thus ensuring that the family at home never faced any shortage.

Mom is the best HR manager resolving the greatest relationship problems

Mom comes to the rescue of every family member from spouse to kids to even relatives. If the husband is feeling low after missing a promotion at work mom takes the role of a counsellor and guides him. She cheers up her husband by making him realise that he is blessed with a happy family with two sweet little kids and a house of their own. He is the one who supports all of them with food and education.  She asks him to get ready and the family goes out for dinner to cheer up dad.

A son who has started liking a girl at his workplace breaks the news first to his mom. He knows that his mom is his best friend and will give him the correct guidance on how to go about it. On the other hand, the daughter who is confused about whether to go for journalism or fashion design finds her mom in a new avatar of a career counsellor.

There are times when the relationship is strained between two close families. A cold war starts and the cousins go on non-talking terms. Mom at home with all her experience makes an effort to sort the matter. She is perturbed seeing the cousins not speaking to each other. Keeping all her ego aside she makes the first move and resolves the differences.

Like an expert HR manager, mom plays the role of a counsellor to a senior in the family. She guides the younger ones in the team (read trainees and interns) and settles a dispute between inter-departments (read families).

The creative and product development expert

This is one department where nobody at home can challenge a mom. She turns into a magician the moment she steps into the kitchen. From the mouth-watering rajma and sambhar to lip-smacking aloo-tikki and mutton korma the list of dishes made by her is endless. During the pandemic, mom was quarantined for 10 days in her room. A cook was engaged to keep the kitchen going. But the cook was hardly a match to mom’s cooking skills. As a result, on the 11^th day when mom stepped out of the room, she was given a wish list that ran into 2-3 pages. It listed all the dishes the family missed during her quarantine days.

Mom’s skills are just not limited to the Kitchen. Her creative skills are the best when she is in her bedroom. From crochet to knitting the hand-made table covers and the beautifully designed sweater is something that reflects her creative side. When guests appreciate the crochet table cover or a neighbourhood aunty checks on who made the sweater, the kids proudly say mom.

As a product development team, her quality control is excellent with a consistency that is matchless. A son who visits India after a couple of years on Holi bites into the gujia and makes out that it has been made by mom. The aam ka achar still tastes the same as it used to 6-7 years back. It’s rare to see such kind of consistency.

Mom at home has the skills of an expert saleswoman

The first question that comes to everybody’s mind is how come a mom who is at home can be a good saleswoman. But ask the husband? The day he wore that pink shirt to the office he got a big compliment from his boss. The mom convinced him to bring some life to his blue-black office attire. No doubt she was successful in her endeavour.

When the son was faring badly in maths, it was she who convinced him to prep up his studies by taking extra tuition classes. The daughter who was keen to pursue fashion design finally opted for journalism. Thanks to mom who made her realize her strengths of writing and research skills.

And last but not least when mom booked a stall in the Diwali Mela in the society, the entire family was skeptical. How can mom sell veg kebabs and parathas? She has never done it in the past. But when mom won the best award for the most creative dish amongst all food stalls, the family realised that they have an extra smart salesperson in the family. On asking mom what clicked at the stall and how she sold the entire stuff mom had just one reply: “Believe in yourself and focus on quality”.

You can read more such stories on my blog. Click on the following link:

In a Moms World, the teaching classes never get over

The smart housewife beats the Indian Finance Minister