DISCREET ENVISAGEMENT

How to survive the first week at a new job?

2012-06-13T23:42:00.000+05:30

In the series of sharing some tips (out of my personal experiences) I am attempting to pen down some pointers for enduring the first week at a new job. It all starts with the first day – the day of joining. No matter if you are a fresh graduate or a senior management person – everyone is anxious about the first week at work. The preceding day to the joining, you keep everything aside and prepare for the next day. You plan to devise the first day as a productive and make the best impression in the manager’s as well other people’s mind.

However, it is very unlikely to get hold of everything related to your job description in a week’s time. The planning for the time has to be done in a way to ensure the seamless transition into new job. The preparation of first day has to be completely reverse of panicking and speculating. It has to be calm and comforting so that you can be up fresh next morning and head towards a new start. Let’s look at some pointers, which can make the first few days at new job manageable and in most cases enjoyable as well!

Read the complete post at: http://manavlalotra.com/how-to-series/self-help/how-to-survive-the-first-week-at-a-new-job/

How to manage a YOUNG team?

2012-06-12T23:30:00.000+05:30

In the recent stint of my career, I had an opportunity to work with a very young team. It compelled me to share my views on the management of young subordinates in today’s business environment.

The average age of my team including me would be close to 25 yrs and that number is significant when you have a team of 10 people! I have realized over time that managing the young generation is an art in itself. They want to make quick impact and achieve more in short span of time.

This generation has very different expectations as an employee and they want to be managed in a certain way in order to get the best our out of them. This generation is most tech-savvy of all and possesses multi-tasking skills. Managing such a young team can be frustrating for older managers since they do not find young employees in sync with the older professional customs. In the earlier times, growth in terms of position and responsibilities use to come by the virtue of spending substantial amount of time in a particular role/position/function; however the younger generation wants all that to happen out of turn.

It took me some time to realize the way to manage the young minds and bridge the gaps. Below are a few pointers, which have helped me to be able to play the role for quite some time effectively.

Let’s call it ’8 ways to manage a YOUNG TEAM:

Read the complete post at: http://manavlalotra.com/how-to-series/self-help/how-to-manage-a-young-team/

DOCTORS upset over Satyamev Jayate – Behaving like Cats on hot tin roof!!

2012-06-09T23:32:00.000+05:30

What can be crasser than a handful of self-proclaimed IDEALIST doctors picking up on Aamir Khan for his show Satyamev Jayate, which probed into wrongs of doctors in the profession? The disturbed set of doctors claims that the remarks of Aamir Khan have not gone down well with the fraternity.

Since then the circus has begun on the grounds of a few most atrocious news channels of our country. Self righteous people including the news host and the guest doctors are debating the issue at top of their voices. I am annoyed and upset (as usual) on the stance of all of these argumentative people for the silly areas that they are focusing on instead of looking at the bigger picture, which actually is the need of the hour.

I could not stop myself from dissecting the issues raised by Medical fraternity about the show. Let’s look at what is paining these doctors at all the wrong places:

Read the complete post at:

http://manavlalotra.com/doctors-upset-over-satyamev-jayate-behaving-like-cats-on-hot-tin-roof/

SATYAMEV JAYATE 4 – Apathetic plight of our HEALTH SERVICES

2012-05-28T14:20:00.000+05:30

Aamir Khan delivered yet another thought provoking and ultra-revealing facts filled show of Satyamev Jayate on this Sunday. This time it was all the more shocking and disturbing since it was about the most elementary and essential need of human beings – healthcare.

I have been trying to share my thoughts on this topic but all that I feel now is anger and agony! India as a country is full of people who live their lives based on trust and faith. Be it GOD, religion, politicians, teacher or doctors for that matter. We have immense faith in all these along with many such things. We trust that what they do will be for our good.

Honestly, I am not able to relate to any of that! Not so because I do not feel that it was true, but because I do not understand how someone could do that! We have discussed issues like foeticide, dowry, and child abuse in the past where to me, the culprits were people. You correct the mindset and the evil practice can be curbed.

But in current topic in discussion, the entire system is a party to it. It’s a complete process under which the lives of millions of people ate kept on stake every moment!

Let’s look at what all was covered in the show:

Read the complete post at:

http://manavlalotra.com/satyamev-jayate-4-apathetic-plight-of-our-health-services/

'DOWRY' & its modern version as a SYSTEM

2012-05-26T23:37:00.000+05:30

As I had stated in my last post on Dowry, I am sharing my views on the prevalent form of Dowry System in the country, a first-hand account of the practice.

I always believed that Dowry System must have evolved thousands of years ago in our culture and must have been based on the idea of gift giving. I personally do not just believe in something just because it is being written or said about, rather I try to find some logic in the same to believe in it. Same way, I have an understanding that the Dowry system must have originated long back with an idea of giving gifts to the daughter and the groom’s family to ensure the well-being of the bride.

I feel that every tradition starts as a practice and then gradually evolves into a custom or tradition. Same way a practice of giving gifts for the well-being of the daughter in a new place gradually developed into modern day Dowry system.

In the earlier days, when the communication and transportation systems did not exist (or were not well developed) the dowry system must have been limited to small payments and exchange of some tangible household items. I could remember (not very long back though) how young girls used to stich their own dresses and collected articles that they would be carrying along at the time of their marriage. A big steel box (peti) use to be arranged for storing these articles much before the marriage.

I remember an incident where a girl had stored an electronic product (received as gift from someone) for almost 6 years; but when she actually wanted to use the product after her marriage, it didn’t work!!

Read the complete post on:

http://manavlalotra.com/dowry-its-modern-version-as-a-system/

'HE was standing right there' - Short Poem

2012-05-23T23:05:00.000+05:30

HE was standing right there..

When the Sun went down and the darkness spread,

When the world had turned black and all hopes were dead;

When nothing seem to work out the right way,

And when it felt that the tough times were there to stay!

HE was standing right there..

When chaos was all around and despairs everywhere,

When the protectors and the saviors chose not to care;

When none came forward to lend a helping hand,

When a unanimous plea was to seek someone with a magic wand!

Then, things changed; there was light; there was a ray of hope!

HE was standing right there..

When all came together and marched forward,

When all hearts were filled with strength and none was left a coward;

When hands joined to take charge and bring about the Change,

And when all that was happening looked very strange!

HE was standing right there..

When the dust began to disperse and things started to clear,

When the layers of misery were peeled off by morality dear;

When the world turned into a beautiful place and pain perished,

And when everything came back to its likely form that HE had always cherished!

HE was still standing right there!!

'HE' is the common man of INDIA. HE stood strong through all the rough spells – Ruled by outsiders, hit by terrorism and militancy, duped by the statesmen, shook by the ghost of corruption, beaten by inflation – HE never lost hope.

HE stood there, saw it all unfolding and tested his own limits.

History speaks for him – whenever HIS threshold of perseverance has been breached – HE has rebelled.

In my view, another cycle of STANDING THERE is coming to end for HIM and it’s not much time now when HE will take charge again and set things right!!

God Bless!!

On the edge of the 'BENCH'

2012-05-22T23:41:00.000+05:30

I am writing to share an incident that has made me think about the way we manage organizations today. I am associated with IT Industry since early days of my career. Being the head of the function that takes care of hiring the talent (I prefer TALENT over RESOURCE or CANDIDATE), it was a part of my profile to interview people and determine the fitment in the organization. I must have interviewed hundreds on them in last few years of my career. As a part of process, we interview, give feedback, candidate is offered for the employment and if everything goes well the talent joins the organization. Owing to the busy schedules, we seldom do a follow up after the talent joins the organization as to how he/she is fairing and finding the organization (that is HR’s job, right!). In fact, in bigger organization, that is more of an automated mechanical process.

But, it was a bit different for me in particular since as per my work profile I was supposed to hire as well as keep track of a talent till he/she is in the organization. Assigning projects to them, seeking feedback from the project managers about their performance, manage their aspirations etc. were a part of my function. In the same process, management of BENCH (The bench refers to people who currently do not have any projects on hand – more relevant to IT industry) was completely my responsibility.

The story goes as below:

It is about this one particular talent, let’s call him John. John had been in IT industry for past year and a half (1 yr 5 months) and had changed 2 jobs before applying for my organization. Third job in 2 years!! Didn’t impress me at all as an interviewer! I had (kind of) made my mind already that this person would be no good, though it was against the principles of effective interviewing (I know!). Anyhow, as we got into discussion and the interview progressed, I realized that he had great passion for technology and wanted to make big on technical front in next 5-7 years.

I liked his enthusiasm and decided to give him an opportunity. Anyhow, we do not expect a 2 year (professional age) old kid to build a rocket for us – do we? So I decided to go ahead and hire him.

While I was giving my positive feedback (more of a final decision since I was the one to take the final call) I had this thought in my mind that John has never worked on a live project in both of his last jobs. He was put on BENCH in both of his earlier jobs! However, I overruled my apprehensions solely for the reason that his last 2 organizations were real big BRANDS.

Anyway, John was hired and he joined us after a month. He was very happy to join a growing organization since he could see huge potential for growth and learning for himself. More than that, he was happy to be working on a live project for the first time.

Like other organizations, we too have people on BENCH for some time before they are allocated live projects and John was informed about the same at the time of selection process. He had accepted that and was ready to wait for some time before he gets a project as per our instructions.

But I guess John’s destiny had other plans! The very next day of John’s joining; we received a project requirement which was matching John’s profile. I asked my colleague to call up John and give him the news of his allocation plan. John was happy, we were happy, everyone was happy!! Indeed it was a happy moment. Someone getting a project in a day’s time is wonderful. Finally, John was allotted the project and the meeting with the manager was fixed. He started working on the project with all the good feelings and dedication, clueless of the fact what time had in its store for him.

After just about a week, I got a call from John’s manager. He had called to express his dissatisfaction with John’s performance since as per him John didn’t have the required experience to work on a live project. He cited reasons like lack of exposure, lack of confidence and more lead time to gear up for the poor performance of John. Although John was working as the most junior member in the project; still it was not possible to continue with him as it was affecting the profitability of the project. Looking at the business criticality, we had to remove John from the project.

All hell broke loose on John! He was shattered, disturbed and disheartened. He was on the BENCH again. The fascination that he had felt around him in life vanished in a moment! Whole world came to a halt for him. But then, he was a strong guy! He gathered his thoughts and prepared himself to fight. To fight along with other 110 people on bench; waiting to be allotted a live project.

Days became weeks, but things didn’t change for John. We were not getting rightly matched project requirements for John. The world was moving ahead swiftly and John was feeling as if he was being left far behind in the race of success. But still he held his nerves. He kept calling, writing and probing frequently about any movement on his allocation.

One bright morning, I again got an opportunity where I could put John on a live project. I got a mail with a requirement from one of the projects, suiting John’s profile. John was informed, meeting was fixed and everyone was waiting for the results of the meeting eagerly. John looked very calm this time. He did not show any strong signs of joy or delight. I guess time had made him strong enough to take things as they come in life J.

Anyway, the meeting got over but the manager left us wandering for the result. He wanted some time to decide.

“Fair enough” we all thought! “Let’s give him some time.”

Next day, I got a call from the same manager early in the morning (10AM is the early morning as per office hours). He had called to inform that he cannot add John in his project team quoting a reason that he does not have valid experience. I immediately recalled what John had told me last evening about the meeting that there was no discussion on project experience as such in the meeting.

My inquisitive part promptly asked the question – “But how do you know that he does not have relevant experience?”

“I spoke to his last manager whom he worked with for a week!” he responded immediately.

He shared that the last manager had given the feedback about John after which it was decided that he could not be included in the team. I was surprised and equally annoyed too. How can one take a call based on someone else’s feedback, that too when the other person didn’t work with the guy long enough to comment? But, duty calls! Amid all these thoughts I called John to share the news with him. He calmly heard everything, thanked me for the information in the end and hung up the phone.

Process was completed! Another opportunity was closed for John.

Days passed by and I got busy with other things at work. John never called back or wrote for a new project. He used to come to office every day, spend the 8 hours of his quota doing things and go back. I could see him going out with friends for tea, chatting over lunch and I looked like he was having a good time. One day, suddenly I got a mail from John asking for a meeting to discuss something. Since he was writing to me after many days, I promptly accepted the request and fixed up a time to meet him. We met in a meeting room. He greeted me and pulled a chair but this time he looked very uneasy. Red eyes, fumbling hands and shaking voice! He sat on the chair out in front of me, quiet, sobbing. I was surprised to see a grown up guy crying in front of me and that too at the workplace. It was a strange sight! I softly asked him as to what was wrong. He would not answer initially but then he looked at me and plainly asked me a question, hitting the nail on the head: “How will I gain experience if I am not given a live project?”

John had stimulated a never ending debate going on since ever in the corporate world – How would you get experience unless you are put on actual work? Sounds similar to the Chicken-or-the-egg dilemma!

Somehow, this problem has become an inseparable part of our industry these days. John was the victim of the same mindset. We, as an industry could not nurture him in the early days of his career (made him sit on BENCH) and when he got old enough sitting there, we declared him unfit to be a part of the team! We are tagging talent based on their age in the industry without giving any heed to the passion for the work. We talk a lot about Training & Development, Mentoring, Coaching, Career Path, and Competency Development – but when it comes applying these basic practices like grooming talent things like Margins, Profits, Productivity come in the way.

We do not want to make conscious efforts to groom passionate young people who can make big in the field claiming that this will incur COST as well as TIME – both being very critical for organizations these days. No project manager wants a slow runner in his team since it would make his project suffer. He will have to put efforts in grooming the person and he finds it as an overhead. He wants all STARS in our team, but he does not want to groom any STAR. Are we doing justice to the young people who enter the industry with high hopes and almost no understanding of its functioning?

People grow not by their passion and talent but just by being in the industry. In the rat-race of making more money by doing more projects delivered in time, organizations have naively given an upper seat to SKILL as compared to PASSION & TALENT. As organization, we preferred SKILLED people over TALENTED ones who might be really passionate about the work. This mindset has developed deep roots in operative of most of the corporate functions. A programmer will routinely become a project Manager after he has spent 10 years in the job; least that he has to do is KEEP WORKING!

There is no harm in this concept of career development but is this the only way of doing things?

I leave it for you to decide and if you get some answers, please share with me as well.

Satyamev Jayate 3 - Dowry System

2012-05-20T23:40:00.000+05:30

There is no end to greed!!

This was the baseline of today’s part of Satyamev Jayate. I somehow had a feeling that Aamir might take up the topic of DOWRY SYSTEM in next episode, and it came out to be right.

Again; a neat presentation of an evil practice that is prevalent in our society. The cases picked up were very appalling and revealed the ugly face of our high-class educated society. In my last few posts I had pointed towards DOWRY as a major reason for eruption of other vices in our country – Female Foeticide being a major one of them.

The first story of Komal Sethi from New Delhi was unfortunate and that not only because it revealed the ugly faces of delinquents who could go to any extent of parsimony for the greed of money, but also because the in-law family in discussion was of a well-off IT professional earning a whopping 65,000 dollars a year! That is a not a small amount of salary for someone who is not yet married! Trust me on that since I am from the same industry!

An educated professional treating his wife like an animal is unpardonable as per me. This poor lady was manhandled and tormented to get stuff from her parents. Cash for car, furniture, then travel to US, car in US – everything was sponsored by girl’s parents – not by choice but by force. I would not get into much details but one thing that makes me loose cool is that the man left the poor girl without food and water for 4 days, locking her in an apartment! All this because she denied asking her parents to give their only house to him! I hope when this man looks at the mirror he actually sees a man, because he does not deserve to be called one!

Honestly, this topic of DOWRY did not unnerve me that much – not because I am insensitive to this issue but more so because I have seen all this in my own society.

Please visit below to read the complete post:

http://manavlalotra.com/satyamev-jayate-3-dowry-system/

"PARENTING" - How much is TOO much?

2012-05-19T23:50:00.000+05:30

It has been in my mind for couple of days now and I finally decided to word my thoughts about it. I have been thinking extensively about PARENTING, specifically from Indian context. When I say India, I am precisely referring to the structuring of the families, cultural and value system and our age old traditional legacies of INDIA.

All would agree that parenting is one of the toughest jobs and more so it has to be done well. Parents take care of all the things for kids when they are small and nurture them with intent to help them to be the best possible adults. Though, as I did share last time that I am not a parent yet, but I have many parents around me – my friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues and many more.

I get to observe them and by the virtue of being able to compare the various styles of parenting of different parents, I feel that I have created my own understanding about the process.

Oh yes! You read it right! To me, Parenting is perhaps a process, which needs to move gradually from one stage to another, evolve from one phase to another. It has to be followed with certain considerations, keeping the desired outcome in mind. You cannot call something a process unless you know what is desired out of it and what inputs would it take to get the desired result. I am attempting to seek an answer to a very basic question about parenting – How MUCH is TOO MUCH??

Read on:

http://manavlalotra.com/parenting-how-much-is-too-much/

Satyamev Jayate 2 - Child Abuse

2012-05-14T01:59:00.000+05:30

Along with many of you, I was also wondering as to what Aamir would present next after the shocking story of female foeticide. But, must I say, he stuck yet another master stroke this time again!! Please forgive me if I am sounding ecstatic, but this appreciation is solely for Aamir and his team for presenting such grave issues with utmost neatness and in a way that it strikes chord with every one, let it be the audience in the studio or millions of people watching the television.

The other day, I heard someone saying that Sunday's will not be the same from now on! People are doing everything they can, from cancelling their weekend getaway trips to dropping the plan of an early morning movie, all this to ensure that they get the first feed of Satyamev Jayate. Needless to say, I am one of them!

In fact, for me, only Sunday has not transformed but the entire week is different now. I spend much time reading about things, collecting information and work towards being actually INFORMED about what's happening around in our society.

It isn’t long since I wrote my last post about the last topic of Satyamev Jayate and here we are with yet another issue. Though, this one is more delicate and alarming than the earlier. Please excuse me for the comparison of two vices in the first place, but if at all I had to do so, Child abuse is more disturbing as per me; particularly for the reason that the victim has to live with the feeling for rest of the life. More so since these sinful things happen to them at a very tender age when they cannot even understand what is happening!! They cannot differentiate in love & affection of their loved ones and sexual advances by wicked people.

However, listening to a few brave people who have been through all this in childhood and still have a positive outlook towards life gave me a very positive feeling.

I had listed a few pointers which I personally have picked from the show and would like to list them down for all to review.

Read the complete post at:

http://manavlalotra.com/satyamev-jayate-2-child-abuse/

Transformation of Sunday - SATYAMEV JAYATE 3 (Final Part)

2012-05-10T23:57:00.000+05:30

I now come to the last and final part of my post on Satyamev Jayate! I might look obsessed with the topic, which might be true in some sense, but I somehow hold myself (and people like me) too accountable for this menace which has become so prevalent in our society. I (we) might have come across someone who is involved in this cruel act, but I (we) might have not noticed or might have overlooked entirely! Maybe I (we) need to relook at my claim of being highly informed and an active citizen. Maybe I (we) need to relook at my perspective of looking at social issues in the country.

Not preaching much about what is wrong and what is right, I still would say that this brave attempt by one man (Aamir Khan) will at least (if not much) send a message loud that if so many people are against something, then it is not supposed to be done. If the punishments are rendered to the guilty, it would warn the prospective culprits to not to commit such crimes for of the fear of being punished.

Another thing that Aamir said during the show and I truly believe in is that WE (the people of society) are the magic wands and if we resolve against the evil of Female Foeticide, nothing can stop it from getting eliminated.

To end, as says the Genesis 1:3 from the BIBLE:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light!

Let there be 'LIGHT'

Let there be light and let the nation rise and shine!! God bless and good luck.

Read the complete post on:
http://manavlalotra.com/transformation-of-sunday-satyamev-jayate-3-final-part/

Satyamev Jayate!!!

Transformation of Sunday - SATYAMEV JAYATE 2

2012-05-09T12:54:00.001+05:30

I am continuing from where I left in the last post.

The show’s content was so gripping that I could not move my eyes away from the TV set even during the 2 minutes long commercial break. Though I was looking at the screen but my mind was processing the information that I had gained from the earlier part of the show. It was disturbing yet engrossing and I had already thought that I am going to write about this after the show.

It wouldn’t be wrong if I call it a show of revelations since everyone who spoke, revealed some or the other shocking and horrendous fact.

‘Nahin khatam ho toh Yamuna mein phenk dena’ – (If it doesn’t die, throw it in Yamuna)

This was not said for some polythene bag, some garbage or some used pepsi can! A doctor used these lines while referring to a LIFE, a child, a foetus who was yet to come out of the womb of her mother and see the light!! Are these people really living amongst us? Aren’t they only seen in movies or read about in comics? Are they for real?

Read the complete post at:
http://manavlalotra.com/transformation-of-sunday-satyamev-jayate-2/

Transformation of Sunday - SATYAMEV JAYATE 1

2012-05-07T00:36:00.002+05:30

Sunday morning! The laziest day of the week! It started as usual for me; got up at around 9:30, had morning tea, read the newspaper. Then I realized that we had planned for a trip to Lavasa today! Oh yes! What about the trip?? I shot that question to my wife immediately. She looked at me with 'are-you-nuts' look in her eyes. I got the message that the trip was dead already by now :(. Killed by a famous assassin named Lazy Sunday!!

Anyways, I settled down on my couch browsing through the channels on the television. Oh man! Today is the maiden telecast of Aamir Khan's much awaited show - SATYAMEV JAYATE. The moment this thought came to my mind, I immediately switched to Star Plus (channel which is hosting the show). It still had another 5 mins for the show to be on air and so we (me and my wife) started talking about what the show would be about. We both were of the same opinion that since it is Aamir Khan, it must be something different and unique. Going by the promos of the show, it gives an idea that Aamir must have picked up real sensitive issues of our society and would present in it with an inimitable flamboyance and wit. Well, 5 mins went past in this discussion and we had Aamir on the screen. He looked as young and fresh as always (in fact he is getting younger and fresher with time!!).

Suddenly, our door bell rung and I opened the door for our help who ensure that my car is in a good shape every morning. He was there since it was first week of the month which means pay day!! This small transaction actually took a long time, which I realized after I sat on my couch again to watch the show. I had missed most of the introduction and now Aamir was talking about the issue of the day that was to be discussed. Initially I took it as another Public Awareness Shows which are in abundance today discussing the social issues and doing nothing in the end (in terms of impact on society). However, by the end of Aamir's show - I had wet eyes, which itself speaks as to how I feel about it. Little did I know the previous night that my SUNDAY is going to get transformed completely the next morning!

I want to narrate my understanding of the entire concept, issue and the way it was presented along with the facts that were shared in the show so that it can reach maximum people. Below column contains the transcripts of today's show.

EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – My View

2012-05-02T01:59:00.000+05:30

Performance can be simply put as an act of doing something! In most cases, it is referred to as an act happened in past, which means performance is something which has been done or carried out. But then we often talk about performance in future tense as well, like “the product will perform well”, “I will perform well in my upcoming exams” and “the company is expected to perform better than last year”! In all these statements, performance is a function of expectation which might or might not be based on factual realities.

Now, let’s try to look at how we can ensure that the expected performance is achieved. We can manage the situations which lead to a performance; in short we can MANAGE the performance. I am trying to bring this to the concept of PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT in organizations where employees are expected to carry out certain activities and deliver aforesaid PERFORMANCE.

The concept of Performance Management evolved with a perspective of improving the performance of employees and organizations. Tools like Performance Appraisals are being employed since ages to manage performance. On a lighter note, I wouldn’t wonder if a set of people believe that Performance Appraisals is a part of some mandatory sections under some statutory regulations!!

Anyways, no kidding, but can we say that after exercising the concept for so many years (since ages) it has been perfected? I am afraid not! We have seen (read) Performance Appraisal concept fail for many reasons in different organizations. Below are a few of the most common reasons for that:

• Incoherent rating scales

• Lack of awareness and proficiency of the appraisers/evaluators

• Lack of responsibility in the managers for the system

• Use of system for only reprimanding

• Performance standards are subjective and ambiguous in terms of relation to the work

Since we are trying to establish the fact that Performance Management is yet to evolve immensely to serve the true purpose and intent, let’s try to discuss the ways how we can achieve the same.

I will share 8 steps which can help in managing performance in any organization across industries and geographies. These are based on basic concepts of human psychology and organization behavior.

1. Robust System:

Any organization need to put an effective system in place, which finely aligns the processes of HR management with the vision of the organization in regards to performance management. Performance Management should be an ongoing process and not an annual meeting between the manager and subordinates to fill out pre-formatted forms. Performance appraisals done for the sake of completing the task would never have any positive impact on the performance. The appraisal meetings and forms should be designed keeping the organizational goals and values in mind.

2. Communication of the intent

Most of the companies have their mission and vision statements listed out very clearly. The core values and beliefs should be deep-rooted in the performance management system. Organization should clearly communicate to the employee on the first day of the appointment that his/her performance matters. Organizations can deploy various means like handbooks, message boards, orientation programs, training, and timely reinforcement by the leaders.

Compensation structure also serves as another mean of communicating that the performance is imperative.Communicating the intent clearly helps in maintaining a synergy amongst the teams and assists in developing the culture of continuous performance improvement. Moreover, the expectation from every individual employee in terms of performance should be clearly communicated to each one of them. For that to happen, the system has to ensure that the supervisors are clearly aware of the expectations and they are sharing the same intent with the employee.

3. Be Development Centric

Most organizations have Performance Appraisals which focus mostly on the past. Organizations should work towards reduction in time spent on the past. The focus should be shifted on the future and intensive goal setting should be done for the upcoming time. Future goal setting can lead to both employee and organizational improvements. It can have an output in the form of a list of improvement areas.

Another common mistake organizations commit is of preparing a long list of goals and improvement areas. Instead, improvement areas and goals should be carefully selected, defined, recorded, tracked, and reported. Goals should be challenging yet achievable. It should be accepted that not all goals and targets are quantifiable. If numeric goal cannot be assigned to a desired outcome, then its outcome and employee’s role in acquiring the outcome should be clearly defined. “It is more important to measure what counts than what is countable.”

The goals should be such that employee should be in a position to actually stimulate the outcome.

A few common mistakes done at the time of setting goals can be listed as below:

Setting goals that are beyond the scope of the employee's control.
Setting goals that are not aligned with organizational interests.
Setting individual goals that do not relate with group goals and the company's core beliefs and values.
Setting goals that instill fear by insisting that the goal be met OR ELSE.

4. Set "reasonable" performance standards

To me, setting performance standards is the most difficult part of the performance management cycle.

How much production can I expect? Can I expect perfection from my subordinate? How do I assess and quantify the effectiveness of negotiation abilities? Who would set the standards? These are a few of many questions which crop up at the time of setting standards. There always are 2 sides to it viz. listing responsibilities and defining rewards for it; performance standards need to be set somewhere in between these two process steps.

Employees must know what is expected so they can work toward achieving the goals. Reasonable standard clearly means challenging yet achievable standard. It should be something that can be achieved in the current state of the organization and should not be out of the wish-list of someone in the management who would like to experiment and see if employees can come up to the expected level of performance.

Standards should also have a related mechanism of measurement and employees should be aware of that. If an employee is expected to achieve a standard set for “Internal Feedback of the function”, but is not aware of the mechanism of capturing the feedback from within the organization; its fails the system at the basic level of intent itself.

Management, on the other hand must clearly know what they want so they can plan, establish, analyze, and improve work activities to meet company goals.

Setting performance standards is an exhaustive exercise and it requires considerable study, scrutiny, and consideration, though every moment spent at it is worth.

Systems should be flexible to modify performance standards as company needs change and the job changes to meet company needs.

5. Track performance

An effective performance management must be supported with run-time documentation of actual performance. It is practically impossible to effectively document the performance after a year or even 6 months for that matter. It should be an ongoing process and various methods can be used to document employee performance in a decided time span (year / half-year). Supervisors should document the incidents where they found the performance of the subordinate to be good or beyond expectation. These can be recorded in any form – pre-defined logs created by PMS team or any other mean as found suitable by the supervisor.

These serve as a reference during the appraisal meetings and also at the time of deciding performance ratings. Also, if challenged by an employee regarding an incident, the supervisor has a written resource to rely upon rather than just memory or hearsay.

If employees have been demonstrating severe performance issues, documentation becomes even more important. It is important to ensure that supervisors are not biased and none of the employees are being victimized for the lack of documentation of performance. Although often overlooked, good performance is as important as poor performance to document. The reason for ongoing communication about performance is to reinforce the good performance which will lead to continued good performance and to deal with the poor performance in an appropriate way that will extinguish it.

6. Be Upfront

Performance Management System always does not give sweet fruits since under-performers and non-performers have always been a part of the system. An effective PMS assists in identifying such cases before they can cause any damage to the organization. Supervisors must be conditioned to be forthright and honest with employees, instead of holding back the feedback in apprehension of losing the face with that person. Although none of the employees want to hear bad news (neither do I!!), it is still better to deal with a problem when it happens than to let it become a more serious concern. It has been commonly seen that a few managers in the organization always rate their subordinates as good performers since they do not want to get into any confrontation with either of the team members. These are dangerous and risky attributes, which work against the concept of an effective PMS.

7. Recognize exceptional performance

One of the factors that motivate people the most is “Recognition”. And trust me, it is least expensive too. All it takes is a "thank you" or "I really appreciated that" or "you did a great job, keep it up!”. It sends the message that the contribution of the employee counts. It is an established fact that employee performance improves through regular constructive feedback. A recent study of employee satisfaction with performance appraisals showed that many employees did not really want to be appraised more frequently on a formal basis but they wanted more frequent and continuous informal, day-today or casual feedback.

8. Reward performance

A lot has been written and said about the relationship between performance and pay. Many organizations believe that good compensation structure and considerable performance based pay can lower the attrition and help retain good employees. It is also widely believed that rewarding an employee for good performance will result in continued good performance. It makes sense to pay good performers more than mediocre performers. Still, we do not have conclusive answers to this perspective.

However, we do know that to be motivational, performance pay must be directly linked to performance and be significant to the recipient.

The concept of performance based pay makes some employees uneasy, but in many cases proficient employees, who desire recognition for their efforts relish the strategy of rewarding good performance and will be motivated by the idea.

To summarize, an effective Performance Management System is an employee-valued system of encouraging and rewarding employee contributions for the specific purpose of improving employee performance which directly impacts organizational success.

Pic reference: panorange.com, photocase.com

OPTIMISM - Chronicles

2012-04-22T22:06:00.000+05:30

1. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

2. Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

3. In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their round. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

4. In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency, told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.

5. In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become the most popular singer in America named Elvis Presley.

6. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing Invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

7. In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947 - after seven long years of rejections! He finally got a tiny company in Rochester, New York, the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation we know today.

The Moral of the above Stories:

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace.

And even the GOLD is tested against fire.

A winner is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS!

We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.

STEERING THE CHANGE - My Approach

2012-04-21T10:32:00.000+05:30

Me standing over at my cubicle and addressing the team is a common sight at the workplace these days. I have sessions with the team about the recent developments in the organisation and also about the road ahead for all of us as a team. The anxiety that prevails within the team is an obvious function of the CHANGE.

In the coarse of managing a young and big team in the times of the change, I realized that the best way to bring about change is to first gain the support of the people who will be affected by it and the people whose support you need to implement it.

I scratched my head in an effort to realize the best way (whatever extent possible) to manage and bring about the change in an organisation. One question that kept coming to me as a manager of change was that, " What factors should any CHANGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM have to make it successful?"

It came up that an ideal system should have following factors which can ensure that the brought about change is successful and meets its objectives.

I have tried to define it as a 4-tier process:

Guidance
Communication
Empowerment
Culture

I will make an attempt to describe the above factors in context to Change Management in any typical services organisation of today.

GUIDANCE:

People ought to follow leaders who have the ability to guide them to the final goal / destination. The leaders of the change ought to ensure that they are directing the people in the right direction and everyone is aligned to the cause. When the people are aligned, the decision making is lot more easier and effective.

COMMUNICATION:

This is one of the most important factor contributing in the success or failure of change. With lack of communication, even the best of change management initiatives might turn out to be complete disaster. Communication can have many forms, carried out in many phases, have many levels to it; still it is very important to continuously keep spreading the right information to people, customers, vendors and the business world.

EMPOWERMENT:

In CHANGING systems, the major anxiety people have is about delegation of authority - whether they will be empowered to take decisions the way they use to earlier?

An ideal system should empower people at the lowest possible level, which increases the productivity and motivation of the employees. It also develops the next layer of managers who can work independently and pull of things in crisis situations with help of innovation.

CULTURE:

A common set of values, beliefs, language and perspective helps people with diverse backgrounds to work together in harmony. The same people working under different cultures - even in the same organization - can act in very different ways. Change culture, and you change the way people act!!

A common thread of culture binds people together and facilitates achieving the organisational goals.

Let's try to understand further how above 4-tier approach can help in devising an ideal Change Management system.

Guidance:

To clearly define Where we are and where we have to go
Map the current process and systems
Concentrate on people
Define the strategy with clear scope and expected results
Device clear parameters for measurement
Sustain the current best practices

Communication:

Share with the stakeholders about what is happening
Daily and Monthly meetings
Frequent/periodic descriptive mails from leaders
Sharing of remarkable data and information
Open door policy
More time on work floor than cabin

Empowerment:

Confidence to employees that they can do what they need to do
Delegation of authority to sub-ordinates
Involvement of supervisors/managers in system development
Direct access to superiors
Assigning responsibilities as well as functional authority to employees

Culture:

Clearly demarcate how to do things around in the organisation!
Plans for individual, team and organisational growth
Encourage MBO (Management By Objective)
Device effective training & development programmes
Hold confrontation meetings
Linkage of salary to performance and productivity
Employee Surveys
Rewards & Recognition

Many organisations have implemented some or all of the above initiatives to ensure effective Change Management processes in the past. In my understanding, an effective system not only assists in effective change management rather it helps in positive transformation of the organisation and facilitates the growth.

My organisation; Vertex Software is integrating with 5 other subsidiaries in India and start operating as one brand - NTT Data, which is a 16Bn dollar organisation and also the 7th largest IT Company in the world.
Refer the links below for more information:
http://americas.nttdata.com/news/2012/press-releases-31-jan-2012.aspx

RIGHT PEOPLE at the RIGHT JOBS???

2012-04-13T13:23:00.005+05:30

In last few years of my career, I have had a chance to work with best of the professionals in very conducive organizational set-ups and the learning has been astounding. I have been put on a fast track since the early days of my career and due to having an opportunity to work under very able leaders, my professional journey has been somehow rewarding.

Having worked in areas of Core Competency Development, Organization Development, Talent Management, Delivery Operations Management in the industry I always had an insight of how the business is conducted.

Lately, I had an opportunity to work in the selective functional area of Talent Management, which covers almost every aspect of Human Resource management and at the same time it is very well coupled with business and strategy.

It’s during my latest stint that I got to learn more about how most of the organizations are actually managing resources. It seems that organizations today are not cognizant of the very principle of "Right Person at the Right Job"

I recall reading a publishing long back during the days of my college, which highlighted the major mistake that the organizations have been committing in ages related to the above principle.

Actually, people who really know recruiting also know that the best way to understand the overall recruiting process is to visualize it as a subset of the common business practices of Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Recruiting cannot reach its optimal impact, nor can it help drive an organization’s "performance mindset," if it is viewed in isolation. Instead, it must be viewed as an integral part of the entire people/productivity process. It's not enough "just to recruit them," it's equally important to look at the next step, which is to ensure that top performers and new hires are continually placed in the right job. And after a period of time in any job, it's also important to continually redeploy them into other "more appropriate" jobs.

Unfortunately, we now know that two of the most common errors that organizations make are:

1) Putting wrong people on wrong jobs.

2) Keeping them in these jobs for too long.

By "right person/right job" I don't mean the traditional "skill fit," but rather the underutilization of talent by putting top performers into inconsequential jobs and vice versa.

Here's a list of the 16 most common errors organizations make in how they treat and place their top performers.

A deployment mismatch occurs if the organization..

Fails to identify it’s "mission critical" positions, and then fails to focus the energies on these critical positions (10% of all jobs)
Fails to identify top performers, and then fails to treat them differently than the average worker
Allows a mission critical position to be left open/vacant
Allows a mission critical position to be filled with a non-top performer
Allows a top performer to remain in a non-mission critical position (generally because they assume that top performers will move on their own)
Allows a top performer to have a "mediocre manager" Allows a top performer to be "stuck" in a mission critical position beyond their peak growth period
Allows a "bottom performer" to remain on the same team as a top performer

Mistakes most of the organizations commit in terms of Employee Engagement are:

Providing little differentiation (less than 40%) in pay between the top and the average performers
Allowing a low percentage of all employees' pay to be at risk (less than 20%), contingent on performance
Not knowing specifically what motivates, challenges and frustrates every top performer
Not providing every top performer with the resources they need to in order to succeed (great teammates, budget, a plan and learning opportunities)
Not providing every top performer with "stretch" goals and enough on-the-job P&L opportunities to prove to themselves and others what they can do
Allowing a top performer to get a better offer from another organisation prior to getting a "better" internal offer from their own organisation
Failing to continually "challenge" any employee to the limit of their expectations
Not measuring and rewarding their managers for doing each of the above things

It is equally important to ensure that the right people are placed in the right positions, so that top performers can optimize their learning and growth. Unfortunately, many managers take a cavalier approach to deploy resources, and as a result, they have top performers working in non-essential jobs.

In addition to impacting their morale and retention, it also affects the organisation’s productivity, as well as its ability to maintain a competitive edge.

If you want your team to be productive, it's essential that you periodically conduct a "human capital audit" to ensure that the right people are placed in the right job!

Learning from ANTI CORRUPTION MOVEMENT: In my view

2011-08-27T16:49:00.001+05:30

Although this movement have a set agenda and a specific outcome is desired out of this - a very strong and effective LOKPAL BILL.

However, I tried to look at this in a different light!! There are many more learning for us as to take away from this nation-wide common thread of protests:

1. We can have peaceful, non-violent protests and the results of such protests are more dignified and fast.

2. To have unconditional support of all the citizens of nation irrespective of caste, creed and financial status it is very important to build a common thread - the way this Anti-Graft movement has connected people of all sections of the society together, it proves that we don't have to force people to come together for any manufactured issue for any political interest of a handful of people.

3. The events that have unfolded in last few days have educated the citizens of India about their rights and now the common man is better prepared to choose his representative in government bodies.

4. The customary mindset about the youth of India has completely changed in last 2 weeks. Youngsters with goatee beards, spiked hair, tattooed bodies and piercings all over the body are coming forward in thousands of numbers with ANNA's images painted on their shirts, bodies and are raising slogans like INQALAB ZINDABAD and VANDE MATRAM - its an unprecedented sight. It is an evidence of the fact that YOUTH of INDIA is equally aware and concerned about the condition of the social system of the country.

5. Support from all sections of the society is being extended to the movement. Those who are protesting on the roads and have gathered at Ramlila ground or other such places are very visibly demonstrating their support. However, those who are not there on roads are also not sitting just like that, in fact they are doing whatever in their capacity to be connected with the crusade against corruption. Evidently, when DABBAWALAS of Mumbai decide to go for a strike for a day, their customers (the number is more than 2 lacs) gladly supported their stand with an intent to contribute to the movement.

6. The wide outrage that has been seen in last 2 weeks across the length and breadth of India has given clear signals to political groups to better mend their ways for future, since surfacing of any more scams will only deteriorate their position in country. This wave of education amongst the common man will play a vital role in steering the course of action for the governments in future.

Anti Corruption Movement: My view

2011-08-27T16:46:00.000+05:30

Image courtesy: fakingnews.com

I have been trying to write about the most composite bustle in the country in last few days but somehow could not make time to do so!! Or should I say that I was not able to decide as to what exactly I feel about the same.
Being a patriot, I am certainly with ANNA HAZARE in this movement (do i need to say that actually!!!), but then I also had some other trepidations about the entire episode which has unfolded in last week or so. I still am making attempts to reach at some conclusive argument on this entire matter, which is on either if the sides. Apprehensions are not on the intent of the revolution, but somewhere I do not find myself completely in line with the entire process of handling this delicate situation. Neither by the civil society nor by the govt.

Both the parties claim that the new law (in question!) is to curb corruption and make the system free of it.

However, the common man, who is affected till date by corruption and also will be benefited if the law is enforced, is not completely aware of the attributes of the said LAW.

When I say so, lot of voices will raise claiming me to be uttering nonsense since entire nation is aware of this and that's why people have taken to streets to protest. I ask a simple question: Is the common man on streets because he is aware of exactly what this LAW will do OR because he has got exasperated by the way his life has been affected by corruption on daily basis and now he has an opportunity to vent his frustration out.

If you sit back and try to read the emotions of the people who are protesting, you will see one common feeling in most of them: not understanding of LOKPAL but being hurt be corruption at some point or the other in life. I do not question the fact that this feeling only is the base of this outrage, but until and unless people understand the common agenda of this revolution, I am afraid that even after it is over we will not be in a position to realise its results.

BUDDHISM: A different way of life

2011-06-18T13:20:00.007+05:30

Lately, we have been talking a lot at home about BUDDHISM, its teachings, people following the religion and the difference they have felt in their lives after they adopted the religion!!

This is when an impulsive feeling started building inside me to know more about the globally putative religion.

While reading through the contributions of a few authors who have been writing on Buddhism, I learnt about the principles and teachings of the religion.

Chip Tolaney states that the aim of the Buddha was simply to show mankind how to live without turmoil and in harmony by following the Eight-Fold Path and the Ten Precepts, as well as the Four Noble Truths.

He describes it further that to understand the basic principles of Buddhism, it is not necessary to believe in heaven or hell or to chant mantras.

While monks must practice all the precepts, the lay Buddhist (if he is to be called Buddhist) is expected to follow the five main precepts.

Buddhist principles are based on the basic idea of cause and effect, also known in eastern philosophy as karma.

According to this law every intention, thought and action has a consequence that equals the energy invested in it.

From good deeds come good results. Leading a disciplined life can ensure that suffering is kept to a minimum. The calm mind that comes from a disciplined life leads down the path of spirituality to the goal of all human life - self realization, or what the Buddhists call Nirvana.

The Buddhist philosophy and way of life is laid out in the Three Jewels, the Four Noble Truths, the Eight Fold Path and the Five Precepts. The first three doctrines are pursued by those who either adopt a monastic life or are involved in a deep philosophical interpretation of Buddhism.

The Philosophy of Buddhism

The Buddha presented his philosophy in the Four Noble Truths:

1. Life is suffering: Disease, death and emotional pain are inevitable.

2. Attachment causes suffering: An attempt to derive happiness from things that have shape and form results in suffering because these are not permanent.

3. To cure suffering, free yourself from attachment: The cause of suffering is attachment, so make attempts to free yourself from attachment.

4. The eight-fold path will show you the way out of suffering: The Buddha taught practical ways to end suffering through eight pursuits - right speech, right action, right livelihood, right concentration, right view, right intention, right mindfulness, and right effort.

The Five Precepts are what a lay Buddhist is expected to follow in day-to-day living.

The Five Main Precepts

1. Refrain from killing: In order to live harmoniously with all living creatures and create positive instead of negative vibrations, the Buddhist must be vegetarian. This is necessary for the growth of compassion.

2. Refrain from stealing: In order to be free of guilt, and not cause pain to others, Buddhists must not take anything that is not freely given.

3. Refrain from sexual misconduct: The Buddha taught his disciples that sexual desire is the greatest obstacle to enlightenment, and the most difficult to overcome. Sexual misconduct is forbidden.

4. Refrain from lying: To tell a lie is to deny the truth, and a Buddhist centers his life around truth - whether it is the truth of his spiritual path, the truth about himself, or the truth of the universe. Denial of the truth leads to confusion, guilt and disharmony.

5. Refrain from drugs and alcohol: If we are to clearly see the truth, and gain an accurate perception of life and reality, our minds must be free from the delusion and fuzziness caused by alcohol and drugs. An alert mind is capable of controlling actions efficiently and directing them along virtuous paths.

Buddhism affords believers an oasis where they can regain equilibrium by following the Middle Way. Buddhism enables people to look at life anew and stop blaming God, the universe, and others for their plight. They are the creators of their own worlds. Once they can grasp this great truth, life becomes a joyful journey.

Put the WHIRLING MIND at rest!!

2011-05-21T11:54:00.000+05:30

Lately I have been thinking of the lifestyle I am leading owing to my commitment towards job and my family. I always feel that there is so much to do and so little time for that.
Was just having a morning "over the cup of tea" talk with my wife discussing how one should spend the whole day doing something or the other and should have some hobbies & passions to follow..

But then it just hit me my mind that am I clear about what I feel about these things?? About living a full life?? Do I actually know the meaning of all that I just said??
I guess I had such a life in the past and all my talks were based on the past experience.

However, my present is not the same.. Nowadays my Mind is always occupied with work, some pending electric repair work at home, cleaning my office drawer of the trash, cutting a DVD of movies, downloading a rip software for digital frame I just got although I have enough DVD players and computes at home!! My mind is never at rest and its continuously spinning!!!

Even when I am lying in the bed trying to fall asleep, my mind keeps spinning with all the things I need to do and the thoughts just keep ticking? (I even wake up in the middle of the night to scribble things on my pad.. phew!!)

I realize that we (I believe all of us) wind ourselves up like a motor when we pile on more things than can possibly get done in the time frame have. When we rush to meetings, speed in the car and make it to places "just in time", it's no wonder some of us can have a tough settling in for the night. Or settling in for the day!

Wondering how can we keep our mind from whirling? I just tried to figure out as to why do we face these situations:

Matter of Life and Death:
Most of what is keeping our minds whirling isn't as serious as we make it out to be. Fetching the can of milk for home, getting something for the kids or trying to make it to the movie show is not life or death. Most of the time if things don't get done when we think they should get done, life stills goes on. Just think, when you are sick and down, does the world stop revolving?? But we forget this because we like to stay busy and experience the adrenaline rush.

I don't have time for myself!!:
Sounds familiar??? Yes, it is so important to have the time when nothing is planned; no meetings, no reunion with friends, no taking-the-kid-out. Maybe its the time to get some pampering done, like a massage. Or go for a drive all alone with your favourite music playing.. no phone calls, no grocery list in your pocket and no "From -To" schedule in your mind... Its really important to let yourself loose at times..

Review your TO-DO list:

Its very likely that there is a lot going on in our lives at the same time.. and its always logical to have a TO-DO list maintained for all those activities.. But did it ever occur to you that you should probably revise the TO-DO list to drop something from it??

Just give it a thought:

Is it that you actually have to fix that leaking faucet in your kitchen yourself or can you simply hire a plumber??

Have you accepted an invite for a half day conference on "How to save the planet?" on the other side of the city, which you don't want to attend??

Have you actually denied the "Home pick-up" service for your car and decided to go all by yourself to the service station to get the car serviced?

We need to get rid of the TO-DOs that take up time but do not add to the quality to our life!!

Keep the Evening Subtle:
Usually the times I have trouble sleeping are when I have worked too late on the computer or have been watching an action packed movie right before bed. The computer screen and the quick-paced movie are too stimulating late at night. Though I realised that turning off the computer or TV at least an hour before bed really helps... I actually feel relaxed with some soft music or a book instead.

Work Life - Personal Life Balance:

We often talk about that at those social gatherings and at evening tea-time chats.. A few people boast of striking perfect balance between work and personal life.. I somehow have never been that lucky.. and am friends with people who are more like me (and I guess 90% of the people out there are my friends)..
There are people who feel extremely guilty when they are at work because they aren't spending time with their family. Then, when they go home they feel guilty that they aren't working. They feel miserable most of the time....

Its up to us to enjoy work when we are at work and enjoy with our family when we are at home. Living in the moment helps to be happier.

As you can see, how just a few simple changes can bring us closer to a calmer and more peaceful mind. Hope we all strike that balance and have a peaceful and joyful life..

Cheers!!

TECHLAND TYRANTS - A perspective on those who made BIG

2011-05-18T11:53:00.000+05:30

Read an intresting publishing in todays newspaper where the Leadership style of 2 of the most powerful leaders of 2 of the most successful companies was discussed.

Steve Jobs - APPLE & Bill Gates - MICROSOFT.

Just have a read..

TECHLAND TYRANTS

compiled by Harsh Vora, published in PUNE MIRROR dated 18th May 2011

You think your boss is finicky the world’s most-popular nerds Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are known for their unforgiving autocratic management style. Here’s a look

STEVE JOBS

FROM IPADS TO CAFETERIA FOOD, IT’S HIS CALL
In his mid-blue Levis and black turtleneck tee, Steve Jobs looks almost harmless. It’s easy to picture him at the Apple Campus in California the Wonkas chocolate factory of the tech world working on the next wonder device and politely marshaling his engineers.This, however, may be far from the reality.

A recent article by Fortune magazine, details how one of the most successful and secretive companies operates. It reveals that the Apple CEO and enigmatic tech visionary is a corporate dictator, who doesn’t settle for anything less than perfection. Failures are anathema to him. Here are some insights into his autocratic management style.

I AM THE CAPTAIN, DAMN IT
Jobs, the article by Adam Lashinsky says, makes every critical decision at Apple and oodles of seemingly non-critical ones, too.From the design of buses that ferry staff members to and from San Francisco to the kind of food served in the cafeteria it’s his call. He makes sure that his approach to product design is shared by staff.

DUDS OUT, NOW
In 2008, Apple launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on 3G networks. It also introduced e-mail system MobileMe, which proved to be a disappointment.

When negative reviews started pouring in, Jobs summoned the MobileMe team and asked a simple question; Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do After receiving an answer, he thundered : So why the f** k doesn’t it do that... You should hate each other for having let each other down. He then quickly named a new executive to run the group.

ARE YOU V-P OR JANITOR
He tells employees who are made vice-presidents that there is no acceptable excuse for not getting a job done. He draws a comparison between an executive and a janitor, illustrating that if the garbage in his office is not cleared and he questions the janitor, the latter could give an excuse that he didn’t have office key.

When you’re the janitor, reasons matter. Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering, says Jobs, adding that Rubicon is crossed when you become a VP.

HUDDLE UP PEOPLE
At Apple, there is an employee’s group Top 100, which is not formed on the basis of rank. Each year, the group meets Jobs for a three-day strategy session at a secret location. Jobs preference for the venue: good food and no golf course.

BILL GATES

DONT DISAGREE WITH BILL, THE BULLY
A memoir released by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen last month portrays Bill Gates as a sarcastic bully who hates disagreements. In Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft, he describes the software mogul who these days spends a significant amount of time and wealth on charity as a person who thrived on conflict and wasn’t shy about instigating it. Childhood friends Allen and Gates founded Microsoft in the 1970s.Here are some points made by Allen that show his former partner and pal in unflattering light.

A TALENT FOR TAUNTS
Many consider Gates management style as a key reason behind Microsoft’s initial success. Allen, who left the company in 1983, disagrees. He says Gates demanding and confrontational style destroyed their friendship and ability to work together. He claims the Microsoft chairman was unable to settle arguments rationally and publicly belittled co-workers with his favorite insult: that’s the stupidest f** king thing I’ve ever heard. A few of us cringed at the way he’d demean people and force them to defend their positions, Allen says. He writes of having fights with Gates that lasted hours.

HARD TASK MASTER
Allen claims Gates jeered at colleagues who sought time off. Once, he seemed baffled by a programmers request to take a day off after working 81 hours in four days.

He would apparently ridicule coworkers’ efforts with put-downs like I could code that in a weekend. According a report on the memoir by The Guardian, Gates would prowl the company car park to see who came to work on the weekend.

BLIND AMBITION
Allen recounts meeting Gates in the 1960s.At 13, Bill asked me: What do you think it’s like to run a Fortune 500 company I said I had no idea. Bill said: Maybe we’ll have our own someday. Allen accuses his former friend of mercenary opportunism. He claims that Gates wanted to reduce his share in the company when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1982.

I’d thought that our partnership was based on fairness, but now I saw that Bills self-interest overrode all other considerations... My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold on to it, and that was something I could not accept, he writes.

Can't stop thinking if I also should start working on changing my management style to the kinds elaborated above.. It really takes THAT to make it big; I guess.. :)

Guide to succeed with a new BOSS!!

2011-05-14T22:16:00.000+05:30

We all know it's true: Managing up is as important as managing down. That's especially true when you are starting a relationship with a new boss.

When I switched my first job, I was apprehensive about the new person I was going to assist in next company. Then I came across this piece of writing where HBS Professor Michael Watkins discussed the importance of clearly defining goals with your superior.

It helped me.. hope it helps you too..

Working with your new boss

Your new boss will have more impact than anyone else over whether you succeed or fail. Your boss establishes benchmarks for your success, interprets your actions for other key players, and controls resources you need. Building a productive working relationship with him or her while you establish your mandate and negotiate for resources is a clear early priority.

Defining your goals

When you think about working with your new boss, keep the following goals in mind:

Clarify mutual expectations early. Begin managing expectations right away. You are in trouble if your boss expects you to fix things fast when you know that the business has serious structural problems. So it is wise to get bad news on the table early and to lower unrealistic expectations. Be careful to assess your new organization's capacity for change before making ironclad commitments to your new boss.

Secure commitments for the resources you need. In conjunction with establishing goals, begin to negotiate for the key resources - people, funding, and knowledge; you need to succeed. Don't commit to goals without getting corresponding commitments on resources. Otherwise you won't have much bargaining power.

Aim for early wins in areas important to the boss. Whatever your own priorities, identify what the boss cares about most and pursue results in those areas. That way, your boss will feel some ownership of your success. But don't make the mistake of doing things you consider misguided or trivial. In part, your job is to shape your boss's perceptions of what can and should be achieved.

Aim for good marks from those whose opinions your boss respects. This is an aspect of building supportive internal coalitions. Your boss may have pre-existing relationships with people who are now your subordinates. If so, their assessments of you will take on additional importance.

Establishing how you will work together

It's essential to figure out how you and your boss will work together. Your preferences may differ, such as over how much information the boss wants (and you want to give) and how involved the boss wants to be (and you want him or her to be) in the details of what you are doing. Rather than allowing misunderstandings to complicate your relationship, spend some time at the start discussing how you will work together. Even if you don't develop a close personal bond, doing so will help you create a productive working relationship.

Matching your requests for support to your situation

The type of support you need from your boss will vary depending on the business situation you are facing. The role of the boss in a startup is very different than in turnaround, realignment, or sustaining success situations. So you need to gain consensus on the type of situation. Then you have to think carefully about what role you would like your new boss to play and what kinds of support you will ask for.

Living by the golden rule

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You will almost certainly hire new people as your subordinates. Just as you need to develop a productive relationship with your new boss, they need to work effectively with you. In the past, have you done a good job of helping subordinates make their own transitions? What might you do differently this time?

Planning for five conversations

Your relationship with your new boss will be built through a series of conversations. These conversations begin before you accept the new position and continue through the time before entry and on into your transition. It is critically important that you cover certain fundamental subjects in these conversations. In fact, it is worth planning for five distinct conversations with your new boss.

The situational diagnosis conversation

In this conversation you seek to understand how your new boss sees the business situation. Is it a turnaround or a startup or a realignment or a sustaining success situation? How did the organization get to this point? What are the relevant factors; both soft and hard that make this a challenge? What resources within the organization do you have to draw upon? Naturally your view may be different than your boss's, but it is essential that you understand how he or she sees the situation.

The expectations conversation

In this conversation you seek to understand and negotiate expectations. What are the few key things that your new boss needs you to accomplish in the short term and medium term? What will constitute success? When? How will it be measured? Here again, you may come to believe that your boss's expectations are unrealistic and have to work to reset them. Also you should take care, as part of your broader effort to secure early wins, to under-promise and over-deliver.

The style conversation

In this conversation you work to understand how you and your new boss can best interact on an ongoing basis. How does she prefer to be communicated with? Face to face? in writing? By voice mail or e-mail? How often? What kinds of decisions does he want to be involved in and where can you make the call on your own? How do your styles differ and what are the implications for how you should interact?

The resources conversation

In this conversation you negotiate for critical responses. What is it that you need to be successful? What do you need your boss to do? The resources in question need not be funding or personnel. In a realignment situation, for example, your boss can play a critical role in helping you get the organization to confront the need for change.

The personal development conversation

Finally, you need to discuss how your time in this job will contribute to your personal development. Are there projects or special assignments that you could get involved in (without sacrificing focus)? Are there courses or programs that would strengthen your capabilities?

In practice, these five conversations are interwoven and take place over time. But there is a sequential logic. Early conversations should focus on situational diagnosis, expectations, and style. As you learn more, you can move to resources, revisiting situation and expectations as necessary. When you feel the relationship is reasonably well established, you can begin the personal development conversation.

Jumping Jobs??

2011-05-11T18:30:00.000+05:30

You're tired all the time; you don't want to get out of bed in the morning; you can't concentrate at work anymore. Guess what, you could be one of millions of people that need to consider a job or career change.

If you even think you are starting to feel 'burned out' or uninterested in what you are doing make some time for a real conversation with yourself - starting with the question.

"What do I really want to do with the rest of my life?"

Most people consider themselves lucky to have a job. But it may be time to start asking just how happy you are with it. Gone are the days when you could expect to work for the same company all your life and then receive a pension that paid income for life.

As against older people who are at the end of their careers and are comfortable in their existing set-up, younger people get most frustrated in the same organisation after a couple of years.

Also the same comfort level can be termed stagnation. Hence they are even ready to take risks and move to a different industry. So if you are ready for the switch, first do intense personal assessment and consider the following tips:

Find reasons

You need to pinpoint why you are looking for a change and whether you have the right reasons. It is better compensation or benefits or is it dissatisfaction with career potential?

If you are ambivalent about leaving, career consultants say there are a number of red flags that signal unhappiness at work.

The root of your discontent could be linked to anything from dysfunctional relationships at work to a personal clash with the organisation's values. It could be lack of close relationships, either with colleagues or your boss that could be disheartening.

A simple change can often be the remedy to your workplace woes. When contemplating a change, think about classes you took in college and even high school that appealed to you and left you inspired.

What's the way you like it?

You needn't change the organization. Maybe what you do is not what you like. The solution could be as simple as moving to a different department. Voice your commitment to the organisation and express how much you'd like to stay.

Then ask about other positions that might suit you better. When considering a professional makeover, don't think in terms of job titles.

Those can be limiting and can feed people's fears that they're pigeonholing themselves into doing one thing for the rest of their lives. Don't feel pressured to stick to one job. There are options beyond those that we can visualise. We just need to seek them out.

How does the industry look at you?

There is no rule as such, but put yourself in the position of a potential interviewer and think how you would react to your own CV.

While your current job may not be right for you in the long term, it is in your own interest to develop your role and responsibility as much as you can before you move on. Interviewers will naturally want to know what you have achieved and what has made you decide to change jobs.

Your application will be much more attractive if you can show evidence of your ability to manage your own personal and career development. Most important of all, you can use this experience to ensure that your second job is a better fit. You should be much clearer on what is important to you and what you have got to offer.

Consider your finances

If you're unemployed and bills are stacking up, you might take the first offer that comes along, even if it isn't perfect. But if you are considering a job change, make sure you aren't loading yourself up with debt.

Too much debt causes you to be more vulnerable during a job transition. Therefore, get your financial picture in order and give yourself a cushion of about six months. But you should know what you are worth on the open market.

Get connected

Stay up-to-date on technology, industry trends, customer needs and any other factors that are important to your personal and professional self-development. Upgrade your knowledge and skills in ways that are consistent with your own future interests and career development.

Find out what's happening within your industry. Those who struggle the most are just in tune with their own little circle. You may also consider contacting a head hunter, and make sure the headhunter is working in your best interest.

The amazing INTERVIEW(ee)..

2010-10-05T17:27:00.009+05:30

I wanted to share the experience I had while interviewing a candidate for a position in my organization.

He happens to come to us through reference of a very good friend and I decided to give him a chance to show me what he has got. My friend had already vouched for him and wanted me to be more considerate while I was interviewing him since he wanted me to place the guy somewhere within my team. I also made my mind that if the person shows some level of commitment and has some content only, I will groom him to be a part of highly aggressive and productive team we have at our office.

Last evening, I get this call and the person on the other side says,” Mr X must have spoken to you about me”.” I am Mr Y”, he said. “Could you please confirm me the time when I should come to your office to meet you?” was what he asked me straight away. I took it very lightly and briefed him that since next day I have a meeting in the morning, so I will reach office only after 11 and he can come after that to see me.

But, the gentlemen didn’t settle for that much. He shot another question at me and this time it was a little upsetting. He wanted me to speak out the entire address of my office to him over the phone. Well, I know that telling addresses to people is a very common phenomenon, but is it really common to ask that question to your prospective employer whom you might have to impress by your analytical abilities and smartness?

Anyway, I had to speak the entire address to him on the line and not to mention the landmarks and major junctions that he might have to cross to reach the place.

I hung up the phone (only after he was comfortable that he can reach the place without any trouble) and went on with whatever I was doing (actually had completely forgotten by then).

Next day, at about 9 o’clock in the morning I got a call from the same gentleman saying that he was already there at the gate of my office and there was no one in the office For a moment I felt as if I was talking to some inspector from FLYING SQUAD who has come to inspect if my office opens up in time.
I calmly reminded him of our last day’s conversation where I had asked him to come after 11 AM. But this man turned out to be a very enthusiastic fellow and he claimed so for himself. He said, “I thought that I should reach early so that you do not have to wait for me before the meeting.” I was zapped for a moment and didn’t know what to say. However, I appreciated him for what he has done and asked him to wait for his watch to tick 11 since I was unable to make it before that.

He agreed readily and assured me that he shall wait and believe me I was so glad that he didn’t create any fuss out of that (pun intended).
So, there I was, in the first hour of a long day, feeling like a criminal who has made someone wait for 2 long hours. I was feeling do guilty for what I had done.

I somehow did not happen to meet that person due to some reason but I really wanted to meet him and know more about him...

Better luck next time... :)