Five Ways To... Bridge the Generation Divide (22-02-11, Mumbai, Economic Times)

For a 40-something boss, watching the new kid in the workplace coming up with ideas every few seconds can be tiresome. And for the 20-something, being treated as an imbecile who gets indulged but not heard in meetings can be frustrating. For the company to get both the age groups working together can be tough, but is the only way forward, says Devina Sengupta. 


The Godfather Way Just because Don Corleone was an ace, does not mean a young Michael will not have a trick or two up his sleeve. There are companies who use the reverse mentoring technique to ensure both sects can learn from one another that ultimately benefits the company. Deepak Shetty, director HR for Philips Innovation recounted one such reverse mentoring session which helped stem attrition. One of the newly-recruited employees pointed out that many leave the company in a few years to study further. Realising their folly, the firm tied up Maastricht University in Holland and Manipal University this year for PhD programmes. The programme allows employees to get their degrees on projects they are working on in the company. 


Watch Them Work Watching different age groups at work is a sure shot way to learn from them. Amitabh Das, CEO of Vati Consulting, realised the benefits of a straightforward approach when he observed younger employees grill candidates. Often, distance is cited as reason for leaving a job. Not many pay attention to this, but a young recruiter spotted this and asked the candidate how he applied for a job, that required more travelling than the previous one. “The direct question caught the candidate off-guard and helped our screening process,” Das said. 


Change the Leaders In meetings, the boss takes the role of a family patriarch. Delegations are done from one end and suggestions are accepted from the elite circle. The younger lot are the sponges who absorb what the Oracle says. But companies should overhaul this system, says Dayanad Allapur, HR head for Tesco. For Allapur, the younger lot have a larger risk appetite. “This brings in the innovative spirit,” he says. 


Boss goes online Although companies have guidelines regarding the use of social networking, blogs, office intranet and social networking sites are a way to keep their ear to the ground. “To go online, is the only way to engage the new lot,” says James Thomas, country manager for Kronos. Companies can pick up cues from the response they receive on the intranet to various policies.


Open-door policy An environment that encourages questions brings out the best in both generations. Informal interactions with seniors, where the thought behind strategic moves is discussed, ensures knowledge transfer. Srinivas Nanduri, from Maxima International, cites the example of telecom companies where the operations are often looked after by senior employees while youngsters come up with ideas for value-added services. “They work in tandem, which brings out better and more competitive products,” he says.

Five Ways to Keep the Obsessive Boss at Bay (11-02-11, Mumbai, Economic Times)

IF YOU’RE A BOSS, YOU’RE LIKELY TOWORRY about whether your team is performing. And before you know it, you may start obsessing about your team members and their work habits. Monika Tejpal, a 22-year-old media planner, knows what this is like. Her boss wanted to know where she was all the time. He would call her early in the morning and through the day to find out what she was working on. Soon, it was getting on her nerves and she had no option but to look for another job. “It felt like I was being stalked. He would shout on the phone if I was unable to take his call during a meeting. Nobody can work under such conditions,” she says. At some point, every boss has the tendency to become obsessed, although the degree may vary. Here’s how you can deal with the obsessive boss, says Mahima Puri.

Create distance
If such a situation does arise at the workplace, the first things one should do is make the boss and subordinate sit far from each other, says LG Electronics COO YV Verma. This will give the subordinate a little space, and may work over a period of time.

Increase the boss’s responsibilities
Another way to handle the situation is to increase the span of responsibilities of the senior manager. "Sometimes, bosses are too obsessed to delegate work properly. Either they do it themselves or prefer chasing the subordinate to make sure it’s done right. This is likely to create problems between the two," says Verma. It is best to allot more work to the senior and keep him busy so that he doesn’t nag.

Introduce a 360-degree appraisal
HR experts believe a 360-degree performance appraisal helps in identifying problems like these at the early stages and thus, it becomes easier to handle them. Early identification of problems can alert the management regarding the boss-subordinate relationship, and steps can be taken accordingly. This, in turn, helps in arresting attrition and avoiding conflicts in teams.

Make sure he doesn’t get personal
It is important for the seniors to not get into their subordinates’ personal lives after a point. Consider this: 24-yearold Krithika, who works in a BPO in Delhi started getting uncomfortable around her team leader when he started asking her about places where she hangs around with friends or parties. “If he would get to know that I went to a certain party, he would mention it to me the next day. If that was not enough, he would have all the details of what I wore and who was with me. I thought that was cunning. He had the right to ask about my work, but not my whereabouts outside the office."

Provide counselling
Many people don’t realise that their obsession has gone beyond control, till the management starts getting hints on account of higher attrition or low productivity. If the situation has spun out of control, it is better to provide counselling. Companies such as LG India has a team of 10 counsellors for its 4,500-strong workforce. "This is the last corrective step one can take and it helps in many ways," says Verma. Counsellors can hear the senior employee’s problems and offer guidance.

Five Ways To Draw up Goals With Your Team (15-02-11, Economic Times, Mumbai)

It’s that time of the year when departments and divisions start finalising their annual budgets, yearly targets and goals. And it is here that bosses should ideally build engagement with subordinates and employees to ensure success, says Writankar Mukherjee

Focus on goal, not cost
A successful budget starts from the premise of what to achieve rather than what it will cost. Once this approach is adopted, bosses will have to involve other team members and subordinates to draw up the budget. “When a budget is drawn from the point of goals, a boss will be forced to sense the pulse of the employees, their needs and requirements,” says Hinduja Global Solutions global HR head Anthony Joseph.

Involve those at the bottom
In most companies, the top 6 to 10 people define the budget and targets. Such a process never involves the employees who remain alienated and often feel pressurised. Some companies like Hinduja Global Solutions have started to involve their top 100 leaders in budgeting and goal-setting. “This way, the budget belongs to the people who will actually work towards achieving it,” says Joseph.

Meet team members
It pays to conduct sessions with team members before the budgeting actually starts. This could also include one or two sessions by management experts on how to draw a budget and set targets, followed by meetings with team members. “This way, the budget does not overestimate inflows and underestimate expenses. It also brings about a sense of loyalty and ownership amongst employees and ensures the budget immediately moves beyond the stage of planning to execution,” says MphasiS chief HR officer Elango R.

Do a SWOT analysis
While the starting point of a budget or yearly plan is an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), it pays to take inputs from all employees. “The potential of the employees is rightly assessed and they have an ownership over the goals set. Employees would then be much more enthused to draw specific strategies to achieve goals,” says Sunil Goel, director of Delhi-based HR firm GlobalHunt.

Make it a year-round affair
Bosses should engage employees on the budget, achievements against goals and progress throughout the year. The best way to do it is by engaging an employee’s rational, assertive, emotive and cognitive faculties. The cognitive level can be targeted by telling employees about their ability to use knowledge to perform better, says KPMG partner and head (human capital) Ganesh Shermon. “At the rational level, bosses can set benchmarks. Assertiveness can be achieved by holding up the best performers as examples and the emotive level, there is fair reward and recognition. Once these are met, employees will naturally be interested in budgets and targets,” says Shermon.

Five Ways To Ways to Build Your Self Esteem

To build self esteem and eliminate all anxieties and self-limiting beliefs about yourself, it is best to focus on the things you can do and affirm your capabilities. You can get over fears and doubts you may have and gain more confidence with the mind-power techniques below:

1. Acknowledge your talents, good qualities and achievements.
Many times, we tend to be too hard on ourselves and fail to give enough credit to our accomplishments. You do have some accomplishments; and despite what you may think, everyone has a fair share of good qualities and fine talents. You can build self esteem by reminding yourself of these positive aspects about you. This helps to shore up your self-image and self-confidence. Remember, you did it before, and you still have the capabilities you had, so you can also do it this time!

2. Affirm that you already have the qualities you want to develop, and continue affirming them as you are developing these qualities.
You must be familiar with the principle, "You are what you think you are." If you think you're happy, you'll feel happy. If you think you possess particular talents and qualities, you'll have them. This will boost your self-esteem. Even if you don't have them right now, you will develop them if you keep thinking you have them and keep working on them. If you truly and firmly believe in what you want to get, you will get what you want.

3. See yourself as having successfully achieved a goal or being recognised for an achievement.
Successes build self esteem, so seeing yourself as successful increases you self-assurance. This attitude will make you more acutely aware of opportunities for success. More than that, seeing yourself as already successful tends to make you experience what it feels like. You'll feel more capable, dynamic and directed, and these positive feeling make you more confident. This is an effective way to use mental imagery, and your feelings and actions will surely react positively to reinforce the mental image.

4. Visualise yourself as having everything you want.
This exercise is for you to visualise being abundant and prosperous. In the previous exercise you see yourself as have achieved a goal; in this exercise you visualise the rewards that come with that achievement. And just as in the previous exercise the result was to sharpen your sensitivity to opportunities to be successful, in this exercise concentrating on abundance in your life prepares your mind to receive and attract these rewards to you. And, as you visualise all this abundance surrounding you, your feelings of confidence and personal power to accomplish things will increase, helping you to build self esteem.

5. Believe you are in full control and in charge.
The knowledge that you are in control of your situation is a powerful motivator that will build self esteem. This feeling will come after you have gone through the first four exercises. You can reinforce these being-in-charge feelings by using mental imagery to remind yourself that you are in control.
All of these exercises will convince you that whatever your situation may be right now, it will all change because you have the power to make things happen. Knowing that you have that power will really build self esteem.

about the author Evelyn Lim is a life coach and an intuitive consultant, with a passion for helping her clients and readers raise their vibrational state of being for attracting abundance. She is an author of self help topics such as positive thinking, attracting abundance, spirituality and becoming more happy. Her newsletter is currently read by thousands of subscribers. For free bonuses on manifesting secrets, mp3 downloads and fresh weekly tips, please sign up to her Abundance Tapestry newsletter. Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Evelyn_Lim

Five Ways to Build Confidence and Happiness (By Charlene M. Proctor, Ph.D. , the Official Guide To Positive Thinking)

It seems our culture is ridden with negativity from the media, old parental messages, or even advertising that tells us we not good, smart, or fast enough. Even outdated ideas we carry from our own past that we’ve generated all on our own can derail us off the positive thought track and send us into a fit of negativity. How can we quickly change our energy around and build more confidence and happiness?

Recognize non-empowering thoughts
If we believe everything that is put in front of us, we are not exercising our creativity and the power of our own mind. We are taking the easy road, and subscribing to mainstream thought which often does not have the equivalent of goodness. It’s easier to let someone else do your thinking, isn’t it? To shift away from negative, self-defeating thoughts you must first recognize them. Here are a few classics: “I am not beautiful nor talented. I can’t be happy. Life is hard. The world is a terrible place. I will probably fail. I’ll never make any money.” Awareness of what we are thinking is the first step, so learn to listen to your words, whether mental or spoken.

Set a new mental equivalent
What we think, and how we set our mental equivalent on any given day, sets the tone for what the universe will provide for us. If we want success, prosperity, better relationships, more self-confidence or love, then that’s where our mind needs to be – not once in awhile but all the time. Substitute the disasters on the morning news with a sense of positive expectation for your day. Rise out of negativity in as many ways as you can identify. Think great thoughts about everyone. See yourself as a success, and that you’ve come to the planet with a gift. Practice verbal harmlessness (no swearing!) and know you are a worthy individual. Switch on the positive thought channel the minute you arise each day and consciously invite abundance and opportunity into your experience.

Know that thoughts create reality
In today’s merge of mysticism, psychology, religion, science, and philosophy, western thinking is moving away from hard data and proof. Our culture is interested in illustrating the concept that thoughts create reality. Logical positivism had its field day, and people are beginning to embrace the power of the mind at the intuitive and spiritual level.

To turn negative self-talk around, you must discover where your mind is ingrained with patterns of negative expectation. This was discussed in the movie “What The Bleep Do We Know.” Our neuro networks become ingrained in patterns that make us search for a chemical “hit” in our interpretation of reality. In a nutshell, when we continue to stay in negative thought patterns that do not serve our higher purpose we are destined to keep repeating the same life experiences over and over again because we will never view reality any differently. Our lives will never improve and living with joy seems unattainable because we are generating more of what we don’t want.

Negative thoughts have a physical effect on our bodies. Our thoughts, memories, and emotions are not only part of our mental programming, but have a physiological effect on our bodies. Scientists have determined that we hard-wire our own brains by our associative memory: our associations with people, events, times, places, and things. We assign emotions to the memories recorded in complex strings of nerve cells wired together. The strings become networks of information we can access automatically at any time.

Connections between our nerve cells are strengthened when repeated stimulated in a process called “long term potentiation.” Through associative learning, our brains are not only programmed by ordinary experiences but by extreme circumstances. Trauma actually changes the structure and function of the brain.
We rely upon many automatic programs to function. Neural networks give us an opportunity to shift into “cruise control.” We don’t have to think about making every keystroke when typing, we just do. We’ve established the network by repetition.

Thoughts affect our bodies, especially any thoughts that have become patterns that don’t serve us well. For example, putting yourself down is based upon old information and not the powerful, present moment. Old experiences like despair, low self-esteem, and self-pity are emotions that give us a chemical boost of neuropeptides, which guide our perception of our current day choices. Cancel old thoughts and substitute powerful ideas

Want to feel better and stop negative self-talk? Prune your old negative programming and take charge of your current circumstances. New positive thoughts create new systems in the brain, which produce new chemistry associated with new emotional change. Break your “put down” habit neuron-by-neuron and learn to react differently to life! The next time you catch yourself in a put-down, say out loud, “I cancel that” and instantly substitute a new and powerful thought about you.

It’s vital to remember your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and physicality are intertwined. Negative self-talk down can make you feel unmotivated and physically ill. Move your mind to a new way of being is a healthy habit you need to cultivate. Here are 5 quick ways to shift to the positive self-talk channel:

1. Check your state of mind. Choose your own attitude and emotions, not another person’s outlook on life. Focus your intentions in the present moment. Because we have a choice, life originates in the mind first. As within, so without. Be consciously aware of what you want to create – and claim it as your unique mantra.

2. Focus on today. Step away from old memories, past relationships, and hurts. Attend to the present. Find joy in what you bring to the table today. Take a deep breath, stay centered, and remind yourself you are a gift to the world!

3. See the big picture. In the universal equation, today is but a blink in time. Move gracefully through difficult moments with ease because you are not stuck there permanently – you are going “through it!” You can do this with out depleting your energy reserves by making a commitment to doing so. Remember, life goes all too quickly. Make each day count and quit wasting your energy on negative thoughts, unproductive thinking, and who said what to whom 10 years ago.

4. Release negative expectation. Focus on what YOU can do to contribute to a better world and not what others expect you to do. Pace yourself. As you practice positive expectation, you’ll find that better circumstances will be attracted to you naturally. Have faith in the process!

5. Be Thankful. There is no better way to change your energy then to turn up the volume on thankfulness. If you are thankful for what makes you happy, by the Law of Attraction, the universe will provide you with MORE to be thankful for. Be generous with gratitude – to those in your life who care, to your Higher Power, and to yourself for begin an individual spark of Divine Power. Your natural state is unlimited abundance, so be thankful for all you are and your journey.


Dr. Charlene M. Proctor is the founder of The Goddess Network, Inc. an on-line educational resource for topics on spirituality, relationships, and women's studies. Author of Let Your Goddess Grow! she is a researcher and educator in the field of women's empowerment and develops self-empowerment strategies for women in all walks of life. She is a subject matter expert for Beliefnet.com, the world's largest self-help and personal growth website. Her affirmations from The Women's Book of Empowerment reach 2.7 million web visitors daily. She currently facilitates the PATH to Empowerment program for Lighthouse Path in Michigan, a residential women's shelter for homeless mothers, teaching them how to cope with life and increase self-esteem and confidence. To learn more, visit http://www.thegoddessnetwork.net

Five Ways To Give Your Employees More Room (09-02-11, Mumbai, Economic Times)

THEY ARE THE CONTROL FREAKS, AND invariably have a presence in every organisation. You know the type — taking charge all the time, micromanaging every situation. As leaders, they are not very popular, for one simple reason: Taking care of every detail is great till you are a team member. The moment you graduate to being a team leader, it can derail performance both for the team and the leader, which is the last thing any organisation wants. Here is how you can learn to delegate better, says Shreya Biswas.

Accept you are a leader
Rohit Pattanaik, a Delhi-based senior banker, has always been a hands-on individual. The last 15 years of his professional life has been about taking control of every situation and delivering. Ironically, this habit of micromanaging is taking him down in his role as a leader, feel his peers and seniors. The main objective of a leader is to get the work done. By all means, help subordinates with ideas, inputs and suggestions when needed. A leader does not work on his subordinate’s behalf. Accept this and stop taking over everything, each time.

Control isn’t always good
Don’t feel insecure in letting go. You have proved yourself all these years, you don’t need to do that every time you have a project at hand. "If you were not technically sound you wouldn’t be appointed a leader. To succeed as a leader, leave the worker attitude behind," says Daljit Singh, president strategy and organisational development, Fortis Healthcare.

You’re not the only one
Stop being obsessed with your self. The way you do things is the not the only way to do it. “There might be people in your team who can do a job equally well or even better than you. Have faith in them,” says Sanjay Gupta, global head, HR, EXL Services. Figure out their strengths and delegate work accordingly. This will take the extra burden off you and ensure maximum utilisation of resources.

Build your team’s confidence
Create an environment that allows your juniors to talk about problems and solutions openly. They can offer suggestions that can better both individual and team performance. “A good leader is able to generate enthusiasm among people,” says Fortis’ Singh.

Remember the common cause
Whatever you do, you should always keep in mind the common goal — the organisation’s growth. If your team meets deadlines and performs well, it will be your success and ultimately the organisation’s. You have to see every action in that light.

Five Ways To Get Your Ideas Accepted (25-01-11, Mumbai Edition, Economic Times)

YOU’VE COME UP WITH A CRACKER OF an idea and now, the only thing left to do is to get it accepted and adopted. But before you take it to the people who matter, get your act together. For many a good idea has come a cropper for no other reason than poor presentation and bad marketing skills. Here’s how to do it right, says Sreeradha D Basu.

Make a business case for your That is paramount, if you have an idea worth pursuing, advises A Sudhakar, head, HR, Dabur India. Get your facts and data in place. And do your research thoroughly. Otherwise, your idea is just on paper. "For a new product, for instance, one needs to have background information, data about the market, the competitive scenario and such," says Sudhakar 


Pitch it to the right people Be clear about presenting your ideas to the right people, those who have the authority and the budget to sanction it. Says HR consultancy Ma Foi Randstad director and president E. Balaji: "Make sure you have the right audience. Sometimes people aren’t clear about who the relevant person is." If possible, meet with stakeholders before the formal presentation to generate interest and pre-sell them on the idea. 


Keep it Crisp Detailed and lengthy doesn’t cut it; crisp and concise does. "Sell the benefits first: the benefits to the organisation, even the person you are presenting it too," says Balaji. 


Don’t knock the old methods Salil A, who works in an ad agency, recalls how he once rubbed his seniors the wrong way while presenting the idea for a new campaign for a product that had been with the agency for a long time. "I was new to the organisation and found faults with the old campaign, forgetting that some of them had worked on it. They found plenty of reasons to turn me down." The next time, Sahil played it safe. "I presented it in a way that showed I was simply building on their old ideas. I just sailed through," he laughs. 


Discuss the limitations upfront Every idea is bound to have some shortcomings. Figure them out before someone else does and suggest ways to work around them. "That way you are fully prepared and won’t give your critics any chance to wear you down," says Sudhakar.

Five Ways To Work With A Hated Co-worker

AMIT GARG WAS GIVEN THE RESPONSIBILITY to head a team of 30 people in a Gurgaon-based consulting firm. Little did he know that within months of joining the new organisation, he would be one of its least liked co-workers. He was having a tough time handling his team, until someone made him aware that his short fuse was to blame. According to HR experts, the next time you start hating a colleague at your workplace, try and help him instead of avoiding him. Here’s how to make things work with someone you hate in the office, says Mahima Puri.

Help create buddies
It is the responsibility of the peer group to help fellow colleagues make friends, says Umesh Dhal, head of HR &MS at LG Electronics. HR can too play an important role in this if such feedback is received from a team. “Sit with the team and check acceptability status of the concerned person. Get help from some specially designed activities that can gauge if the person has problems with social behaviour,” he says.

Offer personal counselling
One of the ways to deal with the situation could also be to offer the colleague personal counselling. The HR department can do this job after receiving feedback from the irksome employee’s peers.

Find areas of mutual interest
As colleagues, one can identify areas of interest that you and the concerned person may share. For instance, if cricket is an area of mutual interest, colleagues can sit together and watch or discuss cricket. This helps in breaking the ice and making the person more acceptable at the workplace.

Give feedback
You have to make your colleague aware of his behaviour that is making him the least acceptable in the office environment. “Give positive feedback and try and explain things instead of complaining. Most of the time, colleagues can be rude or short-tempered but they may not realise this. Be gentle in your approach,” says Gagan Adlakha, founder of HR consulting firm Vyaktitva.

Talk to peers
Another solution could also be to send the person to an open programme, wherein management and behavioural training is provided. “Feedback from the peer group may not work always. Sometimes, it is advisable to get feedback from a third party. The person may be more open to this,” says Mr Adlakha. He adds that this helps the person see himself in new light, without feeling that his peer group is biased.

Five Ways To Pump Up Employee Morale (18-01-11,Economic Times, Mumbai

A RESURGENT ECONOMY AND WAR FOR talent has increased attrition beyond the normal level across sectors. While instances of mass exodus are yet to take place, HR experts say its high time that bosses take note to prevent such a crisis. Writankar Mukherjee spoke to a cross-section of seasoned HR professionals on how bosses can take guard and boost employee morale.

Make the office a learning ground
Research has shown people don’t change jobs just for money. It is the job profile and the ability to learn within a organisation which often becomes a deciding factor. More so, in case of today’s generation of professionals who want to learn and move up the ladder fast. “When bosses and organisations continuously help an employee develop their capabilities, they will not quit as they have a sense of enrichment. Bosses should give correct feedback to employees on their performance, help them learn on the job and build their capabilities,” says AkzoNobel India’s HR director Sangeeta Pandey.

Chart the employee’s growth
HR experts say employees who know in advance their growth plan within an organisation are much more motivated. “Even though youngsters tend to change jobs every two years, they do so for career growth. So, why not show employees their future career growth within the current organisation, which highlights their potential salary and future role?” says YV Verma, COO at LG Electronics India.

Reward and recognise
Like talent management should ideally be a year-round phenomena for every employee-friendly company, so should be reward and recognition. “Giving a pat at the back at the right time is important. Such rewards or recognition then becomes a kind of psychic income. It sends the message that employees come before customers,” says Max India Group director (human capital) P Dwarkanath, a veteran HR professional.

Make your company a dynamic one
The best way to boost employee morale is by constantly evolving their role and responsibilities. HR experts say organisations should be dynamic enough to offer that challenge to their employees. Top performers like new challenge and tends to get bored doing the same thing for a long time. Godrej Consumer Products VP (HR) Rahul Gama admits it is like walking on a tight rope when it comes to balancing a person’s tenure in a role and ensure he does not quit for delay in upward movement. “Rotation of professionals in different roles is a must to ensure equitable growth of the organisation and individual,” says Gama. Godrej tends to rotate an employee’s role every three years.

Identify the employee’s sweet spot
HR experts say bosses should identify an employee’s sweet spot, be it job security, faster growth, desire to work out of a particular location, or be part of a new business, and try to nurture it. “People work for themselves and not for an employer. Each boss should know the eco-system of an employee well enough. And then give him the ability to perform, which if he lives up to then compensate him adequately and nurture his emotional and sentimental well-being. These should be the responsibility of all bosses,” says Ajit Isaac, HR analyst and MD at Ikya Human Capital Solutions.

Five Ways To Help Your Employees Feel Secure (11-01-11, Mumbai Edition, Economic Times)

EMPLOYEES NEED EMOTIONAL security above everything else. Shreya Biswas shares a few tips on what a company/boss can do to overcome apathy at the workplace

Assign work according to ability Don’t make a fish run the marathon. A tweak of the KRAs and job rotation can work wonders. “Those who enjoy what they do, don’t have to work a single day of their life,” says A Sudhakar, executive VP, HR at Dabur. 


Stay in sync “All of us are social creatures. We want to know what is happening around us,” says Muralidhar Rao, CEO, Future Human Development. “If someone takes the trouble to let us know this, it sends a positive signal.” Aligning the employee's performance with the company’s, is important. 


Appreciate good work As a society, we are stingy about providing appreciation. Appreciation should be specific, timely and authentic — and should not contain a ‘but’ or ‘however’. “Give your employees a pat on their back when they deserve it and make them feel wanted,” says K Sudarshan. 


Give feedback Not necessarily positive. In fact, once the three points, above, are operationalised, it is critical to provide timely feedback. Be genuine; unnecessary praise or rebuke will not be appreciated. Pause before providing feedback to think how it will help the employee. “A formal, written feedback, as we provide at Dabur, might be better. That way, employees can chart future course of action,” adds Sudhakar. 


Apologise when wrong Employees expect their boss to be human. Owning up to your mistakes is perhaps the best way of connecting with employees. “The management can also ensure that senior employees don’t get away with mistakes, and ensure the rules are the same for everybody, irrespective of rank,” says Rao. This will help garner the most valued virtue for the company — the employees’ trust.

5 Effective Ways to Use Anger in the Office (Dave Logan, Tribal Leadership)

Now that we’re past the season New Year’s resolutions, here’s a commitment to take seriously in 2011: get angry, stay angry, and direct the anger to things that matter.

A little known secret to leadership is that great leaders tap into their dark side (thinkBill Clinton), while wimpy leaders don’t, or don’t have a dark side to tap into (thinkJimmy Carter).

The challenge is how to tap your dark side without being consumed by it (think Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer or Darth Vader).  Here are some ways to use your dark side to sharpen your leadership skills:

1.  Get mad at something that matters.

Martin Luther King, Jr. got mad.  So did Lincoln, and Churchill, and Reagan.  It’s worth taking a moment, right now, and surveying your company to see what irks you, and better yet, pisses you off.

2.  Think and get mad at the same time.

When people get white hot angry, the part of their brain that controls the fight-or-flight response has hijacked their ability to think rationally.  Anger is helpful, blind rage can be disastrous.  To avoid unthinking anger, ask yourself what value is being violated that is making you so upset.  This action forces in rational thought, and lessens the chance that you’ll say something you regret.  Dr. King got mad about the lack of justice and equality.  Lincoln got angry at people trying to break up national unity.  Churchill was upset with naïve politicians who ignored the truth about the Nazi’s actions.  When Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” you could see the passion that only comes from tapping anger about the violation of one of his core values–freedom.

3.     Direct anger, don’t wallow in it or intellectualize it.

There are two major pitfalls with anger: swimming it, and thinking about it.  Staying angry without directing it makes people passive aggressive over time.  Another way to say “passive aggressive” is “bad at leadership.”

President Obama spent much of 2010 showing us the other pitfall: getting angry and then explaining the source of the anger in webs of logic no one cares about.  Anger is powerful because it cuts through clutter.  So get to its source (the violated core value) and then use clarity in moving to a solution.

The most important way to channel feelings of being upset is in getting others to declare that they won’t accept the situation as it is, because it violates a value you and they share.

4.  Channel anger into a commitment to fix the problem.

You need a simple method of going from values to a robust plan to make a difference in a short period of time.  There are many free resources on how to do this.  One of the better ones comes from the research in Tribal Leadership: a 90 day strategy map.

5.    Form a trusted relationship so you don’t get lost in the dark side.

Anger is a useful place to visit, but you don’t want to live there.  People who fly off the handle aren’t trusted, just as people who always respond in a Vulcan manner aren’t respected.  It’s worth noting that Obama spent months in 2010 coming across as calm and collected when people were outraged, over the BP spill, the lack of new jobs, and the souring deficit.  He showed directed anger when he bucked his own party late in the year and compromised on tax cuts to get an extension of unemployment benefits, and the result was progress on legislation and an uptick in his popularity.  Make sure you have trusted friends to make sure you don’t get mad too often, or stay mad without a sense of direction.  Just as important, make sure you have friends who don’t let you stay a Vulcan too long.

About the Author

Dave Logan is a USC faculty member, management consultant, and the best-selling author of four books including Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance. He has served on the USC faculty since 1996, and teaches leadership and management at the Marshall School of Business. From 2001-2004, he was Associate Dean of Executive Education. He is also Senior Partner of CultureSync, a management consulting firm, which he co-founded in 1997. The firm consults with dozens of Fortune 500 companies, major nonprofits, and governments worldwide. He has a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School at USC.
Learn more about Tribal Leadership
Follow Dave on Twitter @davelogan1

source - http://www.bnet.com/blog/tribal/5-effective-ways-to-use-anger-in-the-office/384?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Five Ways To Get In The Good Books Of The Boss (07-01-11, Mumbai, Economic Times)

JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WANTS TO LOOK good in the eyes of the boss. But it’s not about being a yes-man as much as it is about working hard, says Sreeradha D Basu

Exceed your boss’ expectations The easiest way to impress your boss is to be competent in the area where you work. “Be disciplined, be proactive, and help your boss in all situations, especially the more challenging assignments. Making sure you have your facts right, being well-prepared, delivering and then communicating to your boss about the good work you've done. “Always be around to take responsibility and go beyond his/her expectations,” says Rahul Kulkarni, head — HR, Kale Consultants.

Punctuality goes a long way Another no-brainer, but it’s often ignored. “Whether it’s attending meetings on schedule, finishing projects on time or meeting timelines and time commitments, this is something that gets you into your boss’ good books,” says TeamLease Services MD Ashok Reddy.

Give credit and earn goodwill When you complete a project, thank your boss for his inputs and support. At the same time, show that you genuinely value them, rather than just trying to massage his ego. If your boss gives you an assignment, treat it as top priority, even if it means pushing yourself to complete it. “It’ll earn you loads of brownie points,” says Ritesh Bhatia, who put in late nights at work for over a month to complete a job. At the end of the year, it bagged him a substantial bonus.

Show initiative “Take ownership and responsibility of your own tasks. Put timelines and find solutions,” says Team-Lease’s Reddy. “The use of initiative is very important for a boss to realise your full potential,” he adds.

Never bad-mouth your boss Don’t talk behind your boss’ back. If you have something you don’t like about him/her, keep it to yourself. Otherwise, it might end up reaching his/her ears one day. So save your criticisms, and say good things about your boss.

Five Ways To Effectively Manage Your Time At The Office

We've all heard that old saying, "time is money." When it comes to time spent at work, it couldn't be more true. Managing your time at the office as efficiently as possible makes a big difference in your effectiveness-and your bottom line. Here, we'll go over a few tips on how to streamline your time management at work.

Organize your desk. If you can barely see the surface of your desk for all the paper, you need to reorganize. Many people with messy desks will insist that they "know where everything is"-but this is in fact rarely true, especially if it's documentation for a project that's been on the back burner for a while. Over time, you'll waste hours just looking for things that should be easy to locate.

To get back in shape, set aside an hour to a day-or even more, depending on how chaotic your desk is-to sorting, filing, and organizing your office. You'll need a filing system that works for you. Put everything within easy reach-you should never have to spend more than thirty seconds locating a single piece of paper. Even though you may feel like you don't have the time to pay attention to organization, this investment of time will pay you back over the long run.

Delegate when you can. High-achieving business owners and managers often hate to delegate, because they feel out of control when they're not doing everything themselves. However, strong and effective leaders know the strengths of their employees-and how to rely on those strengths to best advantage. If you feel overloaded in your tasks, delegate to trusted employees when you can. Choose someone who's eager to prove herself, but who also isn't too inexperienced to do a good job-and when you can, choose employees who have talents to match the task.

Schedule e-mail time. Constantly checking email is just another way of procrastinating on other things. Turn off the automatic notification feature on your email-it kills concentration-and only check your email two or three times per day. That way, you won't feel like e-mail is taking up all your time at work.

Get rid of your paper in-box. If a document crosses your desk that you have to take care of, handle it now-don't set it in a "to-do" pile. We all tend to procrastinate with paperwork-but the more quickly you get it done, the less you'll feel like it's controlling your life. Don't let paperwork sit on your desk for more than a day if you can possibly help it.

Make sure you have the right software. If your business management involves a lot of software-spreadsheets, documents, data management systems-you could be wasting a lot of time just transitioning from one program to the next. Look for a software solution that combines mutually compatible programs that take care of all your data management needs. The best ones include tracking features that will let you keep track of time, efficiency, defects, financial information, and other information crucial to your business's effectiveness. That way, you'll be able to manage all relevant data, track your time, and make sure you're running your business as efficiently as possible.

Crucial time management is crucial to your bottom line and to your work-life balance. Get it right, and you'll work efficiently and have time left over for your family and yourself. Get it wrong, and you can start to feel like your work is taking over your life. Follow these tips, and you should be able to get it all done-with time to spare.

About the author

About the Author:
This article was written by ArtifactSoftware.com, creators of a free time management software program that was built for software developers. Please visit www.artifactsoftware.com

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/five-ways-to-effectively-manage-your-time-at-the-office-81239.html#ixzz19wvsdtve
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

5 Ways to Get More Time: Time Management Techniques for Super-Busy People (Susan Ward, About.com Guide)

Who hasn't wished at some point that there were more hours in a day? It sometimes seems that we spend so much time rushing from place to place or task to task that we don't actually accomplish anything except feeling more frustrated.
But we can accomplish what we want to each day if we put some basic time management principles in place and follow them. Be warned: these are not all easy things to do. You might have to struggle and work at these time management techniques. But the time you invest in learning how to do these things and practicing them will be paid back a thousand-fold. Use these five time management techniques consistently and you'll have more time, accomplish more, and feel better.

Time Management Technique #1: Recognize you can't do it all.

Too many of us are stretched too thin because we've bought into the myth that everyone can (and should) do it all. We should all work full-time, spend quality time with our children and spouses and pets, spend time with our friends, do volunteer and committee work, get involved in causes, work at staying fit and healthy, and spend time relaxing and rejuvenating ourselves.
This kind of balancing act is best left to the Flying Wallendas. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are healthy and happy with how you’re spending your time. Decide what roles and activities are important to you and live your life accordingly.

Time Management Technique #2: Prioritize.

The other part of the myth that we all can and should do it all is that everything is equally important. It's not. Just look at your daily calendar on any given day. Is picking up the dry cleaning really as important as that meeting with a client? No. So if you have to choose between them, it's easy to decide to leave the day cleaning pickup for another day.
Don't just rush from task to task throughout the day. Review the list of what you have to do that day at the day's start and then pick out the things that you 'must do' that day. (Try to keep these 'must-dos' to three or less for starters.) Then focus on getting those things done. At the end of the day, you'll have a feeling of accomplishment, no matter what else got messed up or went wrong.

Time Management Technique #3: Learn to say "Yes" and "No".

The inability to say "No" is the cause of an incredible amount of misunderstanding and frustration. Instead of saying "No," people say "Maybe" or "I might be able to do that" or "I'll see", creating the expectation that they will do whatever it is on the part of the listener and the pressure on themselves to do it. Then when they don’t do it, the person they said "Maybe" to instead of "No" is disappointed/annoyed/hurt.
Make it a general rule not to say "Maybe" at all when you're asked to commit to something. Learn to make quick decisions and say "Yes" or "No" instead. And don't get hung up on elaborating. You don’t have to give extensive reasons for your decision. A simple "No, I can’t do that" is enough. The person you're speaking to will appreciate your honesty and your disinclination to waste their time. And you'll be without the pressure to fit in yet another activity or event you weren't that interested in anyhow.

Time Management Technique #4: Unplug.

Another modern myth that you have to disregard if you want to manage your time effectively is the idiotic idea that we all have to be reachable and 'connected' all the time. We don't, and in fact, there are times when it's important or useful to be unreachable to everyone or everything except the person or the task immediately in front of us.
For instance, if your child is telling you about a traumatic thing that happened to him at school that day or you're doing an estimate for a potential customer, you need to be listening to/communicating with the people right in front of you, not the ones calling or sending you email.
So recognize this and 'unplug' yourself when appropriate. And make yourself the manager of your technology rather than being managed by it. Do not read every piece of email as soon as it comes in, for example, or feel that you have to personally answer every phone call. Don't let incoming texts or Twitters interrupt you when you're working. Set aside particular times of day to read or listen and respond to email and phone calls.

Time Management Technique #5: Take time off.

Many business people in particular fall into the seven day trap. They feel that the more time they pour into their business, the more successful their business will be. Before you know it, they're working seven days a week every week and wondering why they feel so tired and frazzled all the time!
And is their business more successful? Maybe. Maybe not. You see, the success of their business depends on what they do, not on how much time they spend doing it.
Consider this analogy: if you want to learn golf and you spend eight hours a day seven days a week golfing but are holding the club wrong every time so that every ball you hit has a pronounced swing to the left, what happens to your golf game? It doesn't matter how much time you put into doing something if you're not doing it right.
So incorporate time off into your schedule. When you take time off, whether it's an afternoon or a weekend or a week, you return to your work refreshed and more productive, able to accomplish so much more in the amount of time available.

5 Time Management Techniques Equals More Time?

No. You won’t physically magically get more hours in a day when you put these time management principles into action. But you will be able to more effectively manage the time you have. And in terms or what you get done and how you feel, that will make all the difference.

About the author

Susan Ward and her partner run Cypress Technologies, an IT Consulting business, providing services such as software and database development.

Source - http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/getmoretime.htm

Five Ways To Tread with caution on Twitter or FB (01-01-11, Mumbai Edition, Economic Times)

LAST WEEK, A BANGALORE-BASED SOFTWARE engineer got into big trouble over a tweet, which said: “Because of the whims and fancies of XYZ company, my long-awaited weekend party has gone for a toss. Feel like suing them.” His frustration had the client that his IT company services, take quick notice, and he was on the verge of losing his job. 

Companies are increasingly securing channels of information, believing every piece of information that appears on a public domain to hurt business interests. All the more reason for an employee to be careful about what they post on Facebook, Twitter, blogs or social media platforms, says Shreya Biswas.

Don’t identify your employer 

It might be great to flaunt that your employer as the world’s ‘biggest software company’, the best bank in the world or the best car manufacturer amongst your friends or family but don’t put it up on any of your social network accounts. It might welcome trouble.

Don’t link it all up Differentiate between social and professional networks. “It is not great for your professional contacts or prospective employers to know what you do in your personal life,” says Delhi-based Gautam Ghosh, an enterprise 2.0 expert and management consultant. Let them be unaware of your booze parties, a troubled relationship, if any, your friend from the rival company or people you hate the most in office. It might expose you to scrutiny and bias. 
Check your privacy settings Social networking sites are a great platform to share your life with friends but be sure you know exactly who are the people with whom you do not want to share the details of everything you put up there. Check privacy settings to keep certain people off the content.

Don’t get personal Avoid picking and choosing, name-calling and being abusive on such media, specially about your office staff. Even if you have a strong urge to vent your frustration, be discreet and keep people anonymous. You would not want to chew your words when you later face up to them or are pulled up by your function head for indecent behaviour. 

Comply with the rules “If you can’t share information on email you can’t share it on social media either,” says Asim Handa, country manager, Futurestep, a division of Korn/Ferry International. If you are a blogger, have a disclaimer that your views are personal and not those of your employer. Having opinions is fine till the time it gets you into trouble or people take it for someone else’s views and react accordingly.

5 Ways to Communicate Your Message on LinkedIn (Sean Nelson)

When I first joined LinkedIn my thought was that this would be a good place to network and connect to other business professionals.  What I’ve learned since is that LinkedIn is a great place to communicate your message to millions of business professionals.  Most often through indirect methods.

Most people think in term of communicating directly, but that’s a traditional perspective.  Social networking/media has its own rules in regards to sales related activites and most often using a direct sales pitch will fail and potentially cause damage to your brand.

There are a few ways to communicate directly on LinkedIn.  The most obvious is to send a direct message to your first degree connections.  Personally when I receive a direct sales message I immediately archive it.  Most often it’s from someone I’m connected to but do not personally know.  If I receive several I simply remove the connection.

If you want to sell to me you have to first introduce yourself and then start a conversation.  It all starts with the three requirements necessary for someone to choose to do business with you.  First they have to know you, second they need to like you, and finally they need to trust you.

Connecting or interacting within LinkedIn groups can accomplish the “getting to know you” requirement.  Moving to like and trust requires time and interaction.  You’re going to have to share value over time for this to occur.

Here are some of the ways that I communicate my message to tens of thousands of LinkedIn members each week.

1. I have replaced my title with a tag line… from “social media consultant” to “Showing businesses how to leverage Social Media to Build Communities and Monetize their Business”.  Now everytime my mini profile is displayed I’m indirectly telling people how I can help them rather than what I am.
   
   Action Step: Modify your elevator speech to 160 characters and replace your title with it.
   .
2. I’ve used my status update to communicate to my direct network.  Most often I use it to share success stories…”Sean just helped a client create a social media strategy and implement it”.  With the new Twitter integration now I can simply Tweet my message and it’s displayed in my status.  Be sure to only integrate your business related tweets.
   
   Action Step: Either update you status manuall or use the Twitter integration.  Keep your integrated tweets business related.  You have two choices:  Post only business related messages or use the #in hashtag for messages you want to display on LinkedIn.
   .
3. I’ve written the Social Media Sonar blog for two years now to help others more effectively utilize LinkedIn.  I share a lot of value in my posts.  I add each post as a news article in the 50 groups that I belong to.This drives traffic to my blog and helps people get to know me.  If they like the information they will normally grow to having a favorable opinion of me (Like).Over time this consistent sharing of value leads to building trust.At this point if they have an issue that I can help them with there is a high likelyhood that they will contact me.
   
   Action Step: If you write a blog or articles join the groups where the information will be relevant and post these as news articles.
   .
4. Another great way to share value is to engage inconversations in group discussions.  You can add your own discussion topic or join a conversation someone else has started.  Participate enough consistently and over time you will go from know to like to trust.  The key is in how you interact and the value you provide through your comments.Also if you add value be sure to share a link to your blog or website.
   
   Action Steps: First make sure you have joined as many relevant groups as you can find.  These can be location, alumni, industry, or topic specific groups.  These should be groups where you prospect belong.  Once a member join the conversations and participate.  Just be sure to conduct every conversation as you would if you were speaking in person.
   .
5. Answering questions is a great way to share value and communicate your message.  This is your opportunity to provide value by answering another person’s question and to demonstrate expertise if the questions is related to what you do for a living.You can also ask questions.  Both the questions you ask and answer will be viewable to your profile visitors.
   
   Action Step: Be sure to periodically look to answer questions in your field.  You can set up a RSS feed to see new questions or integrate them into your LinkedIn home page.  Take your time and provide well thought out answers.  Remember every answer either adds to your brand or subtracts from it.

These are only some of the opportunities to communicate your message on LinkedIn.  You should explore the various features to see how you can put these to use.  Utilizing the various means to communicating my message has led to my receiving from 3 to 5 inquiries a week from fellow members needing help with the services I provide.

What are some of the ways not listed that you have used to communicate your message to your fellow business professionals on LinkedIn?

Source - http://socialmediasonar.com/5-ways-to-communicate-your-message-on-linkedin-part-8-of-10

Workplace Communication - 5 Ways to Avoid Misunderstandings and Communicate Your Message (Allie Q Casey)

Communicating your message while avoiding or decreasing misunderstandings is an issue in most workplaces. Poor communication and listening skills, lack of leadership and conflicting values are just a few reasons misunderstandings have become a workplace expectation rather than an exception.

Challenge yourself to avoid misunderstandings and communicate to be heard with these 5 strategies:

1. Model your expectations. Become a leader. No matter your position or role at work, exhibit courtesy, kindness and assertive behavior. At first glance, courtesy and assertiveness may appear as opposing behaviors but respectfulness is their common bond. Respect others while respecting yourself is behavior that allows for self-expression and the opportunity to ask for clarification to avoid misunderstandings.

2. Listen attentively. Indicate that you are listening with eye connections, gestures and encouraging phrases. Be fully present to the speaker rather than blindly nodding while you formulate your response. If you speak your message in response to what you have heard rather than spout a pre-determined comment your likelihood of getting your message across goes up. Active listening takes practice but your listeners will support and respect your ideas.

3. Take your time. Why is there always time to do it over but never time to do it right? No one appreciates a doctor that rushes through an examination and gives a diagnosis without ever asking for your input. When you are communicating your message take the time to convey it with thought, clarity, and organization and then ask questions to confirm what your listener heard. Take the time on the front end to communicate clearly and you'll decrease the number of times work has to be duplicated.

4. Communicate values and priorities. Not everyone thinks the same way you do when it comes to values, priorities or goals. Unless you indicate what is important to you, your listener will naturally prioritize and interpret your message according to what they value.

For example, the assistant that values getting work done in an orderly sequence and checking things off a list may put her manager's request for information on the bottom of her task list unless the manager indicates a specific deadline or priority. Be specific.

5. Make excellent communication a priority. Consciously put communicating clearly into your daily awareness. Few people think about the act of communicating any more than they think about breathing. Put "communicate clearly today" on the top of your to-do list.

Communicating clearly takes awareness and the willingness to become a better, more effective communicator.

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Allie Casey, speaker, trainer, coach, helps businesses, organizations and mere mortals have fewer misunderstandings.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Allie_Q_Casey

link - http://ezinearticles.com/?Workplace-Communication---5-Ways-to-Avoid-Misunderstandings-and-Communicate-Your-Message&id=3249191