(Source: My colleague, Mr Jayaram, Vice President – Projects, had mailed me this content last week. Posted here with his prior permission, to share the information with others.)
1. Starting out:
Make sure that when you start out your customer defines their requirements in depth. You need to know exactly what it is that must be delivered, to who and when. Make it specific, write it up formally and get them to sign it off. This document will become the basis upon which to measure your success.
2. Customers:
Involve your customers throughout the entire project life cycle. Get them involved in the analysis and planning, as well as execution. You don't have to seek their approval, just keep them informed. The more you involve them, the greater their level of buy-in and the easier it is to manage their expectations.
3. Timeframes:
Keep your delivery timeframes short and realistic. Never agree to lengthy timeframes. Split the project into “mini-projects” if you need to. Keep each mini-project to less than 6 months. This keeps everyone motivated and focused.
4. Milestones:
Break your project timeframe into "Milestones" which are manageable pieces of work. Add delivery deadlines to your milestones and try to deliver on every deadline, no matter what. If you're late, tell your customer about it as early as possible.
5. Communications:
Make sure you keep everyone informed by providing the right information at the right time. Produce Weekly Status Reports and run regular team meetings.
6. Scope:
Only authorize changes to your project scope if there is no impact on the timeline. Get your customers approval to important scope changes first and then get their buy-in to extend the delivery dates if you need to.
7. Quality:
Keep the quality of your deliverables as high as possible. Constantly review quality and never let it slip. Implement “peer reviews” so that team members can review each others deliverables. Then put in place external reviews to ensure that the quality of the solution meets your customer's needs.
8. Issues:
Jump on risks and issues as soon as they are identified. Prioritize and resolve them before they impact on your project. Take pride in keeping risks and issues to a minimum.
9. Deliverables:
As each deliverable is complete, hand it formally over to your customer. Get them to sign an Acceptance Form to say that it meets their expectations. Only then can you mark each deliverable off as 100% complete.
10. Your team:
Great projects are run by great teams. Hire the best people you can afford. Spend the time to find the right people. It will save you time down the track. Remember, good people are easy to motivate. Show them the vision and how they can make it happen. Trust and believe in them. Make them feel valued. They will work wonders.
Jaikishan (13th July 2010)
www.twitter.com/rjaikishan
www.linkedin.com/in/rjaikishan
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Book Review: “EMPLOYEES FIRST, CUSTOMERS SECOND” by Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies. Foreword by C.K. Prahalad. Cost INR 595.00.
When Vineet Nayar became CEO of HCLT (HCL Technologies) in 2005, HCLT was already among the top five IT Services companies based in India with 30,000 employees, operations in 18 countries, about 30 percent CAGR (during the past five years then), ….
But, HCLT was growing more slowly than its competitors then. And, therefore ran the obvious risk (in future in their domain). To address this challenge, Vineet Nayar and his team, embarked upon various initiatives which transformed HCLT by 2009 into what they wanted HCLT to be.
“Employees First, Customer Second” is a narration of Vineet Nayar on the various initiatives that they tried during that period in transforming HCLT into what it is today. It’s a firsthand account of a contemporary CEO and is an interesting read. Contains just about 190 pages printed with 1.5 line-spacing.
Though the book is not a treatise on the initiatives taken at HCLT, Vineet believes that those initiatives could be replicated in any organization, in any part of the world, irrespective of the market conditions, size of organization, type of industry, …. Of course, the flavor of the initiatives will have to be slightly changed to suit an organization.
HCLT has been able to perform better, increase their topline and bottomline substantially even during the recent recession, contain attrition to acceptable levels, had performing employees (who had left earlier) returning to HCLT, ….
Details on the concepts can also be viewed at www.employeesfirst.com The site has links to Twitter and YouTube on the concept, speeches, ….
Vineet intended to provoke a thought and discussion on the concepts through his book. The tweets and the YouTube contents testifies that Vineet has achieved it.
Jaikishan
www.twitter.com/rjaikishan
rjaikishan.blogspot.comwww.linkedin.com/in/rjaikishan
But, HCLT was growing more slowly than its competitors then. And, therefore ran the obvious risk (in future in their domain). To address this challenge, Vineet Nayar and his team, embarked upon various initiatives which transformed HCLT by 2009 into what they wanted HCLT to be.
“Employees First, Customer Second” is a narration of Vineet Nayar on the various initiatives that they tried during that period in transforming HCLT into what it is today. It’s a firsthand account of a contemporary CEO and is an interesting read. Contains just about 190 pages printed with 1.5 line-spacing.
Though the book is not a treatise on the initiatives taken at HCLT, Vineet believes that those initiatives could be replicated in any organization, in any part of the world, irrespective of the market conditions, size of organization, type of industry, …. Of course, the flavor of the initiatives will have to be slightly changed to suit an organization.
HCLT has been able to perform better, increase their topline and bottomline substantially even during the recent recession, contain attrition to acceptable levels, had performing employees (who had left earlier) returning to HCLT, ….
Details on the concepts can also be viewed at www.employeesfirst.com The site has links to Twitter and YouTube on the concept, speeches, ….
Vineet intended to provoke a thought and discussion on the concepts through his book. The tweets and the YouTube contents testifies that Vineet has achieved it.
Jaikishan
www.twitter.com/rjaikishan
rjaikishan.blogspot.comwww.linkedin.com/in/rjaikishan
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
LESSONS From The ‘1984 BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY’ at Union Carbide Ltd’s PLANT (MN2M)
MN2M = My Notes To Myself.
Seven officials of Union Carbide Ltd (UCL) were convicted and sentenced two years jail term on 7th June 2010. The court awarded this sentence after almost 25 years. The gas leak in Bhopal unit of UCL had occurred on 3rd Dec 1984 which had resulted in more than 35000 deaths in the neighboring slums.
The seven accused includes the business leader Mr Keshub Mahindra (who was non-executive Chairman of Union Carbide in 1984). Mr Keshub Mahindra is the current Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, the car-and-utility-vehicle manufacturer. The other six accused were employees of Union Carbide, Bhopal.
This note is not about the cause of the gas leak or about the award or the lives lost or about the accsued. The note is on the lessons one can take to pre-empt such incidents in future.
a. Adequate safety measures must be taken as per the industry standards and specifications in such installations.
b. Adequate factor-of-safety must also be taken into consideration in such installations.
c. Adequate back-up systems to contain leakages, fire, explosion, … must also be in place. The management must not compromise in these aspects.
d. Preventive Maintenance of these installations must be performed regularly. A very detailed checklist(s) must be in place for ensuring the desired Preventive Maintenance.
e. Strict and regular Safety Inspections must be conducted. Inspection checklists must be thoroughly designed and must take into consideration every remote/minute aspect that could cause an accident.
f. The top management must have a system to ensure that the Safety Inspections and the Preventive Maintenances are carried out strictly, regularly, in its letter and spirit.
g. A third-party Inspection agency may also be considered to eventually ensure the desired Safety Systems and Preventive Maintenance systems in such installations.
h. Habitation in the immediate vicinity of such factories must be discouraged.
j. In the industry forums (national and international), measures to enhance the safety of such installations must be discussed and the reports must be published. It will facilitate continual improvement in Safety Standards.
Through such safety measures, the lives lost could have been avoided and the effects of the gas leak could have been contained significantly. The UCL officials would also have done their duty and would not have been accused and convicted by the court.
Senior officials in such organizations would have to take the lead and have the desired safety systems and procedures in place. It makes no sense to spend a career in litigations, court visits, … with the fear of a probable jail-term hovering over the head all the time, with guilt, …. Definitely not.
What I have penned here, is an ‘ideal approach’ . There could have been some ‘practical issues’ which would have resulted in some compromise of safety systems somewhere. That’s a moot point.
Jaikishan (9th June 2010)
rjaikishan.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com\rjaikishan
Seven officials of Union Carbide Ltd (UCL) were convicted and sentenced two years jail term on 7th June 2010. The court awarded this sentence after almost 25 years. The gas leak in Bhopal unit of UCL had occurred on 3rd Dec 1984 which had resulted in more than 35000 deaths in the neighboring slums.
The seven accused includes the business leader Mr Keshub Mahindra (who was non-executive Chairman of Union Carbide in 1984). Mr Keshub Mahindra is the current Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, the car-and-utility-vehicle manufacturer. The other six accused were employees of Union Carbide, Bhopal.
This note is not about the cause of the gas leak or about the award or the lives lost or about the accsued. The note is on the lessons one can take to pre-empt such incidents in future.
a. Adequate safety measures must be taken as per the industry standards and specifications in such installations.
b. Adequate factor-of-safety must also be taken into consideration in such installations.
c. Adequate back-up systems to contain leakages, fire, explosion, … must also be in place. The management must not compromise in these aspects.
d. Preventive Maintenance of these installations must be performed regularly. A very detailed checklist(s) must be in place for ensuring the desired Preventive Maintenance.
e. Strict and regular Safety Inspections must be conducted. Inspection checklists must be thoroughly designed and must take into consideration every remote/minute aspect that could cause an accident.
f. The top management must have a system to ensure that the Safety Inspections and the Preventive Maintenances are carried out strictly, regularly, in its letter and spirit.
g. A third-party Inspection agency may also be considered to eventually ensure the desired Safety Systems and Preventive Maintenance systems in such installations.
h. Habitation in the immediate vicinity of such factories must be discouraged.
j. In the industry forums (national and international), measures to enhance the safety of such installations must be discussed and the reports must be published. It will facilitate continual improvement in Safety Standards.
Through such safety measures, the lives lost could have been avoided and the effects of the gas leak could have been contained significantly. The UCL officials would also have done their duty and would not have been accused and convicted by the court.
Senior officials in such organizations would have to take the lead and have the desired safety systems and procedures in place. It makes no sense to spend a career in litigations, court visits, … with the fear of a probable jail-term hovering over the head all the time, with guilt, …. Definitely not.
What I have penned here, is an ‘ideal approach’ . There could have been some ‘practical issues’ which would have resulted in some compromise of safety systems somewhere. That’s a moot point.
Jaikishan (9th June 2010)
rjaikishan.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com\rjaikishan
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
IT: Note on CLOUD COMPUTING
(My colleague from our IT Wing, Mr B. Arun Kumar, had prepared a brief note on ‘Cloud Computing’ for my consumption, at my request. Thought of sharing Mr Arun's note (verbatim) with others through this blog; of course, I have taken his permission to do so before posting this blog.)
QUOTE:
Based on computing needs, a company decides on the technology:
Generation One------Mainframes Technology
Generation Two------Client-Server Technology
Generation Three----Cloud Computing Technology
Cloud Computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid. It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet.
Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flowcharts and diagrams.
The term "cloud" is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network, and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from another web service or software like a web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.
Most cloud computing infrastructure consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers. Clouds often appear as single points of access for all consumers' computing needs. Commercial offerings are generally expected to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements of customers and typically offer SLAs (Service Level Agreements). The major cloud service providers include Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
In general, cloud computing customers do not own the physical infrastructure; instead they avoid capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider. They consume resources as a service and pay only for resources that they use. Many cloud-computing offerings employ the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utility services (such as electricity) are consumed, whereas others bill on a subscription basis.
Sharing "perishable and intangible" computing power among multiple tenants can improve utilization rates, as servers are not unnecessarily left idle (which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development). A side-effect of this approach is that overall computer usage rises dramatically, as customers do not have to engineer for peak load limits. In addition, "increased high-speed bandwidth" makes it possible to receive the same response times from centralized infrastructure at other sites.
Please visit the following website for understanding the cloud computing services offered by Microsoft & Google.
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/cloud-computing.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx
http://www.google.com/services/
UNQUOTE
Jaikishan
QUOTE:
Based on computing needs, a company decides on the technology:
Generation One------Mainframes Technology
Generation Two------Client-Server Technology
Generation Three----Cloud Computing Technology
Cloud Computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid. It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet.
Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flowcharts and diagrams.
The term "cloud" is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network, and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from another web service or software like a web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers.
Most cloud computing infrastructure consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers. Clouds often appear as single points of access for all consumers' computing needs. Commercial offerings are generally expected to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements of customers and typically offer SLAs (Service Level Agreements). The major cloud service providers include Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
In general, cloud computing customers do not own the physical infrastructure; instead they avoid capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider. They consume resources as a service and pay only for resources that they use. Many cloud-computing offerings employ the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utility services (such as electricity) are consumed, whereas others bill on a subscription basis.
Sharing "perishable and intangible" computing power among multiple tenants can improve utilization rates, as servers are not unnecessarily left idle (which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development). A side-effect of this approach is that overall computer usage rises dramatically, as customers do not have to engineer for peak load limits. In addition, "increased high-speed bandwidth" makes it possible to receive the same response times from centralized infrastructure at other sites.
Please visit the following website for understanding the cloud computing services offered by Microsoft & Google.
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/cloud-computing.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx
http://www.google.com/services/
UNQUOTE
Jaikishan
Sunday, June 6, 2010
HR: The Advantage Of Experiencing Tough Days Early In Career (MN2M)
MN2M = My Notes To Myself.
One must, especially in the early part of one’s career, work in an environment where others (superiors, peers, sub-ordinates, vendors, clients, …) are selfish &/or unreasonable &/or illogical &/or short-tempered &/or strict & tough, …. That is, an environment which normally demoralizes or de-motivates a person. He who is able to endure such experiences and yet grow in his career (as an employee or an entrepreneur), is a person who can sail through all tough situations in today’s world.
Senior management officials who had endured such negative-experiences (for a considerable period of time in their career) and had (thus) grown in their career (through a positive attitude), will make the best senior management team in an organization today. They would turn out to be good leaders, facilitators, … that any organization expects them to be.
For instance, if a person after having worked under very good bosses for a longer period of time (say, about 15 to 20 years) has to report to a new boss who is short-tempered, unreasonable, … , then in most cases, the person will not be able to cope with the new environment. Because, he had not developed the resistance and resilience needed to face and overcome such situations.
Let us consider another instance. A salesman after working in a sellers-market for a long period of time, has to later work in a buyers-market (as a result of market dynamics) will find it very difficult to survive in the new market scenario.
I was privy to such situation while in Dunlops. Dunlop products used to sell at a premium in sixties and early seventies. Customers had to pay advance and wait for a few days or weeks to get a product. It was a sellers market. Those days, a Sales Manager had to just announce his tour itinerary. The dealers in that area-of-tour used to arrange his room, food, drinks, entertainment, …. Products used to be allotted based on the manner the Sales Manager was treated by the dealers. Similar was the scenario in other firms like Firestone, ... those days. Between mid-seventies to 1980, the market changed. Nylon tyres came into the market. New companies also entered the fray. By early 80s, the sales team had to operate in a buyers- market. The new recruits in Sales were able to do well in the buyers-market vis-à-vis the experienced salesmen who had worked only in the sellers-market.
Therefore, I opine that if one goes through tough times in the early part of one’s career, one will have an advantage over others (whenever one has to face tough situations in future).
Jaikishan
www.twitter.com\rjaikishan
6th June 2010
One must, especially in the early part of one’s career, work in an environment where others (superiors, peers, sub-ordinates, vendors, clients, …) are selfish &/or unreasonable &/or illogical &/or short-tempered &/or strict & tough, …. That is, an environment which normally demoralizes or de-motivates a person. He who is able to endure such experiences and yet grow in his career (as an employee or an entrepreneur), is a person who can sail through all tough situations in today’s world.
Senior management officials who had endured such negative-experiences (for a considerable period of time in their career) and had (thus) grown in their career (through a positive attitude), will make the best senior management team in an organization today. They would turn out to be good leaders, facilitators, … that any organization expects them to be.
For instance, if a person after having worked under very good bosses for a longer period of time (say, about 15 to 20 years) has to report to a new boss who is short-tempered, unreasonable, … , then in most cases, the person will not be able to cope with the new environment. Because, he had not developed the resistance and resilience needed to face and overcome such situations.
Let us consider another instance. A salesman after working in a sellers-market for a long period of time, has to later work in a buyers-market (as a result of market dynamics) will find it very difficult to survive in the new market scenario.
I was privy to such situation while in Dunlops. Dunlop products used to sell at a premium in sixties and early seventies. Customers had to pay advance and wait for a few days or weeks to get a product. It was a sellers market. Those days, a Sales Manager had to just announce his tour itinerary. The dealers in that area-of-tour used to arrange his room, food, drinks, entertainment, …. Products used to be allotted based on the manner the Sales Manager was treated by the dealers. Similar was the scenario in other firms like Firestone, ... those days. Between mid-seventies to 1980, the market changed. Nylon tyres came into the market. New companies also entered the fray. By early 80s, the sales team had to operate in a buyers- market. The new recruits in Sales were able to do well in the buyers-market vis-à-vis the experienced salesmen who had worked only in the sellers-market.
Therefore, I opine that if one goes through tough times in the early part of one’s career, one will have an advantage over others (whenever one has to face tough situations in future).
Jaikishan
www.twitter.com\rjaikishan
6th June 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Book Review: “The HP Way” by David Packard
Like most first generation entrepreneurs, Hewlett-Packard (HP) was started in 1938 by two enterprising engineers of Stanford University --- Mr Bill Hewlett and Mr David Packard with less than US$ 600.00 investment. Today, HP has more than 650 offices and plants in over 120 countries.
The book, “The HP Way” was written by David Packard (in 1995) on how Mr Hewlett and he had built the HP organization since 1938. The company practices all aspects of management that management consultants and management books speak of.
All first generation entrepreneurs (especially) will be able to relate many instances which HP had gone through in their initial growing years, and relive those moments. Well non-entrepreneurs can also enjoy reading the book. “The HP Way” can also give insight to the actions that all organizations have to take constantly as they keep growing.
“The HP Way” is a small book of less than 200 pages. Since Mr Packard has narrated the story like diary notings, one can complete the book fast.
The book is available at all leading bookstores.
Jaikishan (16th Nov 2009)
The book, “The HP Way” was written by David Packard (in 1995) on how Mr Hewlett and he had built the HP organization since 1938. The company practices all aspects of management that management consultants and management books speak of.
All first generation entrepreneurs (especially) will be able to relate many instances which HP had gone through in their initial growing years, and relive those moments. Well non-entrepreneurs can also enjoy reading the book. “The HP Way” can also give insight to the actions that all organizations have to take constantly as they keep growing.
“The HP Way” is a small book of less than 200 pages. Since Mr Packard has narrated the story like diary notings, one can complete the book fast.
The book is available at all leading bookstores.
Jaikishan (16th Nov 2009)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
HRM – “The Practice of Withholding Salaries” – (MN2M)
MN2M = My Notes To Myself
Even today, in my part of the world, there are companies that resort to ‘Withholding of Salaries’ of its employee(s), for whatever reasons. Primitive actions, I would say.
Well, if a company decides to terminate the services of an employee, it may withhold the salary of that employee (to recover the dues, if any) and make the final payment along with the settlement, at the earliest, as per company norms. For other situations, ‘withholding of salary’ should be avoided.
Many a time, salaries are withheld on flimsy grounds or at the whims of a Reporting Authority. The ramification of withholding-the-salary is no less than issuing a show-cause notice to an employee.
Since his other colleagues will know of his salary having been withheld by the company, it tantamounts to belittling the employee among his other colleagues --- subordinates as well as peers. Not to speak of the hardships that he would have to face at home for his monthly domestic expenses.
Some perverted sub-ordinates and peers may also use the opportunity to indirectly antagonize or belittle him, like the typical mother-in-law as depicted in our Indian films.
We must remember that the moment a salary is withheld, the employee is insulted; it is fait accompli. Since one cannot erase such incidents from one’s memory, the insult will remain in that employee’s mind forever. No employee motivation exercises, HR programmes, … will ever remove the residue of that insult from the affected employee’s mind.
Some of the colleagues of the affected employee would also develop a negative image about the company. There would also be discussions and gossips on that issue in the cafeteria, at informal gatherings, … which are undesirable in any organization.
Companies must therefore have a strict and clear policy on the withholding-of-salaries such that no Reporting Authority would take undue advantage in spoiling the employer-employee relationship. First of all, the practice should be avoided. However, if the salary of an employee has to be withheld, it must have the written approval from the top management. Top Management could be a single person (in smaller organizations) or a Committee in large organizations.
Recently, I was privy to one such incident in another company where the affected employee (a senior person) submitted his resignation giving no room to the company for re-conciliation. And, that company lost a very important resource for a silly action of ‘withholding the salary’ (on a flimsy ground) while releasing others salaries. That incident prompted me to pen my thoughts on ‘withholding of salaries’.
Jaikishan - 30th May 2010
Even today, in my part of the world, there are companies that resort to ‘Withholding of Salaries’ of its employee(s), for whatever reasons. Primitive actions, I would say.
Well, if a company decides to terminate the services of an employee, it may withhold the salary of that employee (to recover the dues, if any) and make the final payment along with the settlement, at the earliest, as per company norms. For other situations, ‘withholding of salary’ should be avoided.
Many a time, salaries are withheld on flimsy grounds or at the whims of a Reporting Authority. The ramification of withholding-the-salary is no less than issuing a show-cause notice to an employee.
Since his other colleagues will know of his salary having been withheld by the company, it tantamounts to belittling the employee among his other colleagues --- subordinates as well as peers. Not to speak of the hardships that he would have to face at home for his monthly domestic expenses.
Some perverted sub-ordinates and peers may also use the opportunity to indirectly antagonize or belittle him, like the typical mother-in-law as depicted in our Indian films.
We must remember that the moment a salary is withheld, the employee is insulted; it is fait accompli. Since one cannot erase such incidents from one’s memory, the insult will remain in that employee’s mind forever. No employee motivation exercises, HR programmes, … will ever remove the residue of that insult from the affected employee’s mind.
Some of the colleagues of the affected employee would also develop a negative image about the company. There would also be discussions and gossips on that issue in the cafeteria, at informal gatherings, … which are undesirable in any organization.
Companies must therefore have a strict and clear policy on the withholding-of-salaries such that no Reporting Authority would take undue advantage in spoiling the employer-employee relationship. First of all, the practice should be avoided. However, if the salary of an employee has to be withheld, it must have the written approval from the top management. Top Management could be a single person (in smaller organizations) or a Committee in large organizations.
Recently, I was privy to one such incident in another company where the affected employee (a senior person) submitted his resignation giving no room to the company for re-conciliation. And, that company lost a very important resource for a silly action of ‘withholding the salary’ (on a flimsy ground) while releasing others salaries. That incident prompted me to pen my thoughts on ‘withholding of salaries’.
Jaikishan - 30th May 2010
MN2M – Continual Improvement – To Remain Relevant In Industry – 2010 05 30
MN2M = My Notes To Myself
If we are not getting any new assignments that are different from what we have already done earlier, then we are stagnating and unknowingly getting into a ‘comfort zone’ in our life. We may even term the ‘comfort zone’ situations as no-learning or no-growth phases in our career.
Such situations are bad not only for individuals but also for the organizations that employ them. It is therefore the responsibility of the organization to ensure that the quality and skillsets of its workforce are continually enhanced. It will thus ensure the continuity and competitiveness of the organisation in the dynamic market since an organization’s quality is that of its workforce, at any given point of time.
Organisations can identify the areas-of-improvement/development desired in every employee through a proper annual Performance (Assessment) Management System (PMS). Ideally, there can be an interim assessment/review mid-year to enable the workforce to take corrective actions, if required, for bettering their performance and in enhancing their performance/experience.
If an organization does not engage in serious annual PMS, it would find it difficult to retain performing workforce, even if a good remuneration package is offered.
Jaikishan (30th May 2010)
Filename: MN2M – Continual Improvement – To Remain Relevant In Industry – 2010 05 30
If we are not getting any new assignments that are different from what we have already done earlier, then we are stagnating and unknowingly getting into a ‘comfort zone’ in our life. We may even term the ‘comfort zone’ situations as no-learning or no-growth phases in our career.
Such situations are bad not only for individuals but also for the organizations that employ them. It is therefore the responsibility of the organization to ensure that the quality and skillsets of its workforce are continually enhanced. It will thus ensure the continuity and competitiveness of the organisation in the dynamic market since an organization’s quality is that of its workforce, at any given point of time.
Organisations can identify the areas-of-improvement/development desired in every employee through a proper annual Performance (Assessment) Management System (PMS). Ideally, there can be an interim assessment/review mid-year to enable the workforce to take corrective actions, if required, for bettering their performance and in enhancing their performance/experience.
If an organization does not engage in serious annual PMS, it would find it difficult to retain performing workforce, even if a good remuneration package is offered.
Jaikishan (30th May 2010)
Filename: MN2M – Continual Improvement – To Remain Relevant In Industry – 2010 05 30
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Excerpts from 'Effective CEO' published by ICFAI press. Price INR 95.00
Emotional Intelligence is an imperative behaviourial attribute expected in great leaders. Great leaders invariably score high on emotional intelligence.
Without Emotional Intelligence, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind and an endless supply of smart ideas but he still won't make a great leader.
Emotional Intelligence has a genetic component but it can definitely be learnt.
The five components of Emotional Intelligence are: (1) Self-awareness, (2) Self-regulation, (3) Motivation, (4) Empathy and (5) Social Skills.
(1) Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither unduly critical nor unrealistically optimistic. They are honest with themselves and with others. They have the ability to assess themselves realistically. They speak accurately and openly about their emotions and the impact they have on their work. They are comfortable talking about their limitations and strengths, and they are receptive to constructive criticism. Self-aware people also tend to be self-confident. But they do not overstretch themselves. They know when to ask for help.
(2) Self-regulation helps a leader to control his feelings. When exposed to bad moods, they find ways to control them and even to channel them in useful ways. Self-regulated people are able to create an environment of trust and fairness where politics and infighting are sharply reduced and productivity is high. It helps to attract Talented people and to retain them. Self-regulation also improves organisation climate. When the boss is calm, staff below him also control their tempers.
Leaders regularly review their personal SWOT and plan corrective actions.
People in control of their emotions tend to cope with change better. When a change program is announced, they do not panic; instead they postpone judgement, seek out information with an open mind, listen to executives and understand the new program.
(3) Motivation. Emotionally Intelligent leaders are great motivators. They seek out creative challenges, love to learn, take pride in a job well done, are restless with status quo, ….
Such people have very high levels of commitment to the organisation due to their love for the job.
(4) Empathy means thoughtfully considering the feelings of employees along with other factors in the process of making intelligent decisions.
The increasing use of teams by organisations has made empathy a valuable attribute. For a team to be effective, the leader must be able to understand the viewpoints of the members.
Retaining and developing talented people also needs empathy.
(5) Social skills. Leaders must score high on social skills. Prentice has put it, "The leader's unique achievement is a human and social one which stems from his understanding of his fellow workers and the relationship of their individual goals to the group goal that he must carry out."
The essence of social skills is friendliness with a purpose. It is about moving people in the desired direction.
Socially skilled people build a wide circle of acquaintances, and have the ability to find common ground with people of all kinds. They have a knack for building rapport. They understand that nothing important gets done alone, and they have a network in place when the time for action comes.
Goleman, Boyatziz, and McKee recommend a five-step process to cultivate emotionally intelligent behaviours.
(1) Who do I want to be?
That is about imaging the "ideal self" and coming to terms with the "real self".
(2) Who am I now?
How people see us compared to the desired 'ideal self'.
(3) How do I get from here to there?
Once we know who we want to be and have compared it with how people see us, we need to devise an action plan.
(4) How do I make change stick?
That is, to break the old neural habits, we need to practise change (new behaviour) until it becomes automatic.
(5) Who can help me?
To identify who can be counted upon to give a honest feedback (about us).
xxx --- Emotional Intelligence --- xxx
Emotional Intelligence is an imperative behaviourial attribute expected in great leaders. Great leaders invariably score high on emotional intelligence.
Without Emotional Intelligence, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind and an endless supply of smart ideas but he still won't make a great leader.
Emotional Intelligence has a genetic component but it can definitely be learnt.
The five components of Emotional Intelligence are: (1) Self-awareness, (2) Self-regulation, (3) Motivation, (4) Empathy and (5) Social Skills.
(1) Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither unduly critical nor unrealistically optimistic. They are honest with themselves and with others. They have the ability to assess themselves realistically. They speak accurately and openly about their emotions and the impact they have on their work. They are comfortable talking about their limitations and strengths, and they are receptive to constructive criticism. Self-aware people also tend to be self-confident. But they do not overstretch themselves. They know when to ask for help.
(2) Self-regulation helps a leader to control his feelings. When exposed to bad moods, they find ways to control them and even to channel them in useful ways. Self-regulated people are able to create an environment of trust and fairness where politics and infighting are sharply reduced and productivity is high. It helps to attract Talented people and to retain them. Self-regulation also improves organisation climate. When the boss is calm, staff below him also control their tempers.
Leaders regularly review their personal SWOT and plan corrective actions.
People in control of their emotions tend to cope with change better. When a change program is announced, they do not panic; instead they postpone judgement, seek out information with an open mind, listen to executives and understand the new program.
(3) Motivation. Emotionally Intelligent leaders are great motivators. They seek out creative challenges, love to learn, take pride in a job well done, are restless with status quo, ….
Such people have very high levels of commitment to the organisation due to their love for the job.
(4) Empathy means thoughtfully considering the feelings of employees along with other factors in the process of making intelligent decisions.
The increasing use of teams by organisations has made empathy a valuable attribute. For a team to be effective, the leader must be able to understand the viewpoints of the members.
Retaining and developing talented people also needs empathy.
(5) Social skills. Leaders must score high on social skills. Prentice has put it, "The leader's unique achievement is a human and social one which stems from his understanding of his fellow workers and the relationship of their individual goals to the group goal that he must carry out."
The essence of social skills is friendliness with a purpose. It is about moving people in the desired direction.
Socially skilled people build a wide circle of acquaintances, and have the ability to find common ground with people of all kinds. They have a knack for building rapport. They understand that nothing important gets done alone, and they have a network in place when the time for action comes.
Goleman, Boyatziz, and McKee recommend a five-step process to cultivate emotionally intelligent behaviours.
(1) Who do I want to be?
That is about imaging the "ideal self" and coming to terms with the "real self".
(2) Who am I now?
How people see us compared to the desired 'ideal self'.
(3) How do I get from here to there?
Once we know who we want to be and have compared it with how people see us, we need to devise an action plan.
(4) How do I make change stick?
That is, to break the old neural habits, we need to practise change (new behaviour) until it becomes automatic.
(5) Who can help me?
To identify who can be counted upon to give a honest feedback (about us).
xxx --- Emotional Intelligence --- xxx
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Book Review : “THE 59 MINUTE GUIDE TO SUCCESS”
by Arindam Chaudhuri of Indian Institute of Planning Management (IIPM).
(2009 Edition. www.vikaspublishing.com Price: INR 150.00)
This is a book for everybody. The author deals with the principles of success without any management theories. The written content in the book runs into just 59 small pages with 1.5 line-spacing, and each page could be completed in one minute. That’s the reasoning behind the book’s title.
The author used ‘DIAMOND’ as a metaphor for ‘HUMAN BEINGS’. A diamond is graded on four parameters viz. its Carat, its Cut, its Colour and its Clarity. He drew an analogy between these parameters and the qualities of a successful person, as follows:
Carat:
Passion (P1)
Positive Energy (P2)
Cut:
Performance (P3)
Perseverence (P4)
Colour:
Personality (P5)
People Skills (P6)
Clarity:
Perspective (P7)
Principles (P8)
Patriotism (P9)
When a person acquires these nine principles and applies it in his life, he can discover the DIAMOND in him. That’s the gist of the book.
A brief note on the nine principles are listed below. But, do read the book for the excellent examples used and to enjoy Arindam’s lucid writing style.
Passion. The most important quality a person must have. All other principles basically support this quality.
Positive Energy is referred to the enthusiasm and the motivation. This has two sources --- external and internal. External is when someone motivates us; that’s easy. It’s the internal energy (read ‘self motivation’) in a person that matters most.
Performance. No plan or dream or … is fruitful unless we ‘ACT’ on it. Here, the author dwells on the ‘DO IT NOW’ quality in successful people.
Perseverance refers to the quality of resilience. Never give up when we fail. The only people who never fail are those who never try, says the author.
Personality is more important than technical expertise in a leader, says the author. The ‘LAW’ of personality building is important to note. Eg: Dr Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, … of NDTV, Amitabh Bachchan, ….
‘LAW’ stands for ‘Looks, Action and Words’ . ‘Looks’ refers to the first impression that we give of ourselves to others. The way we present ourselves.
‘Action’ refers to our body language. The way we gesticulate while speaking. The eye contact, the mannerisms, the walk, the gesture, the poise, … all go into this aspect.
‘Word’ stands for what we speak. The clarity, tone, depth, choice of words, knowledge, content, maturity, … in our conversation or speech.
People skills. To be a team-member as well as a team-leader. ‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.”, quotes the author. That quality in a person wherein his subordinates, his peers as well as his superiors accept him and are comfortable with him. Indeed, a very important quality that a leader must have.
Perspective. To have a broad Vision. For example, “A PC on every desk in every home” propelled Microsoft in the right direction for many years. Similarly, the reasoning behind the Infosys team’s decision in 1990 (after nine years of toiling hard) to ‘not to sell their company’ (when they got an offer of US$ 1 million to sell Infosys) exemplifies their broad perspective.
Principles and ethics in successful persons. The Karma theory. That, the Journey is the Reward. To be known like J.R.D. TATA; not like the Rajus’ of SATYAM or the ENRON top men.
Patriotism. The final P that makes the human diamond perfect. The number one selling car or mobile or Cola or designer wear in China are manufactured in China; not from the West.
The foreword to ‘The 59 Minute Guide To Success’ is by Shah Rukh Khan, the Superstar (who belonged to a lower-middle class family).
The nine principles stated above are explained lucidly with appropriate examples in the book. It is a good buy.
Few quotes the author used in his book are:
‘Success occurs twice in life: Once in your mind and once in reality.”
‘Sustained Sincerity: The two most important words that make an achiever.”
‘Failure is not when you don’t reach your goals. It is when you don’t have any goal to reach’.
‘The only people who never fail are those who never try.’
‘The result of your journey is not the reward. The journey is the reward.’
‘There has never been a great leader without a great personality’.
‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.’
‘In trying times, never stop trying.’
References:
Log on to the author’s blog arindamchaudhuri.blogspot.com to read his weekly thoughts.
To interact with him on facebook, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/Arindam-Chaudhuri/76429890015
To invite the author or his team for inspiring sessions in your organization, call +91 9811270918 or e-mail to chanda.mehra@planmanconsulting.com
Other Books of Arindam Chaudhuri:
Planning India
Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
The Great Indian Dream (Co-Author).
Jaikishan
23rd Jan 2010
(2009 Edition. www.vikaspublishing.com Price: INR 150.00)
This is a book for everybody. The author deals with the principles of success without any management theories. The written content in the book runs into just 59 small pages with 1.5 line-spacing, and each page could be completed in one minute. That’s the reasoning behind the book’s title.
The author used ‘DIAMOND’ as a metaphor for ‘HUMAN BEINGS’. A diamond is graded on four parameters viz. its Carat, its Cut, its Colour and its Clarity. He drew an analogy between these parameters and the qualities of a successful person, as follows:
Carat:
Passion (P1)
Positive Energy (P2)
Cut:
Performance (P3)
Perseverence (P4)
Colour:
Personality (P5)
People Skills (P6)
Clarity:
Perspective (P7)
Principles (P8)
Patriotism (P9)
When a person acquires these nine principles and applies it in his life, he can discover the DIAMOND in him. That’s the gist of the book.
A brief note on the nine principles are listed below. But, do read the book for the excellent examples used and to enjoy Arindam’s lucid writing style.
Passion. The most important quality a person must have. All other principles basically support this quality.
Positive Energy is referred to the enthusiasm and the motivation. This has two sources --- external and internal. External is when someone motivates us; that’s easy. It’s the internal energy (read ‘self motivation’) in a person that matters most.
Performance. No plan or dream or … is fruitful unless we ‘ACT’ on it. Here, the author dwells on the ‘DO IT NOW’ quality in successful people.
Perseverance refers to the quality of resilience. Never give up when we fail. The only people who never fail are those who never try, says the author.
Personality is more important than technical expertise in a leader, says the author. The ‘LAW’ of personality building is important to note. Eg: Dr Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, … of NDTV, Amitabh Bachchan, ….
‘LAW’ stands for ‘Looks, Action and Words’ . ‘Looks’ refers to the first impression that we give of ourselves to others. The way we present ourselves.
‘Action’ refers to our body language. The way we gesticulate while speaking. The eye contact, the mannerisms, the walk, the gesture, the poise, … all go into this aspect.
‘Word’ stands for what we speak. The clarity, tone, depth, choice of words, knowledge, content, maturity, … in our conversation or speech.
People skills. To be a team-member as well as a team-leader. ‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.”, quotes the author. That quality in a person wherein his subordinates, his peers as well as his superiors accept him and are comfortable with him. Indeed, a very important quality that a leader must have.
Perspective. To have a broad Vision. For example, “A PC on every desk in every home” propelled Microsoft in the right direction for many years. Similarly, the reasoning behind the Infosys team’s decision in 1990 (after nine years of toiling hard) to ‘not to sell their company’ (when they got an offer of US$ 1 million to sell Infosys) exemplifies their broad perspective.
Principles and ethics in successful persons. The Karma theory. That, the Journey is the Reward. To be known like J.R.D. TATA; not like the Rajus’ of SATYAM or the ENRON top men.
Patriotism. The final P that makes the human diamond perfect. The number one selling car or mobile or Cola or designer wear in China are manufactured in China; not from the West.
The foreword to ‘The 59 Minute Guide To Success’ is by Shah Rukh Khan, the Superstar (who belonged to a lower-middle class family).
The nine principles stated above are explained lucidly with appropriate examples in the book. It is a good buy.
Few quotes the author used in his book are:
‘Success occurs twice in life: Once in your mind and once in reality.”
‘Sustained Sincerity: The two most important words that make an achiever.”
‘Failure is not when you don’t reach your goals. It is when you don’t have any goal to reach’.
‘The only people who never fail are those who never try.’
‘The result of your journey is not the reward. The journey is the reward.’
‘There has never been a great leader without a great personality’.
‘The job of the leader is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders. Fearlessly.’
‘In trying times, never stop trying.’
References:
Log on to the author’s blog arindamchaudhuri.blogspot.com to read his weekly thoughts.
To interact with him on facebook, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/Arindam-Chaudhuri/76429890015
To invite the author or his team for inspiring sessions in your organization, call +91 9811270918 or e-mail to chanda.mehra@planmanconsulting.com
Other Books of Arindam Chaudhuri:
Planning India
Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
The Great Indian Dream (Co-Author).
Jaikishan
23rd Jan 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tips for Project Managers
The daily routine of a successful Project Manager is listed below. The Project Manager had taken a cue from his senior, in the early years of his career, and followed the routine religiously since then, which helped him in completing the projects in time .
FIRST:
· Used to visit the site about 15-30 minutes in the morning before the workers arrive to assess the progress vis-à-vis the planned progress. Thus, he used to have complete and firsthand information about the project.
· Used to insist his Site Engineers to arrive at the site (at least 10 minutes) before the workers arrive. This helped the Site Engineers in managing the workers better and in maintaining the discipline.
· Site Engineers were insisted to dress well and bathe every day, even if they had worked very late the previous night. Insisted on personal hygiene and to treat the place-of-work like a place-of-worship.
SECOND: (About 2 hours)
· Returns to office from Site.
· Browses through all the correspondence. That used to take about 30 minutes.
· Then, he completes the correspondence for the day.
THIRD: (About one hour)
· Takes his lunch.
· Takes about 30 minutes nap in his cabin.
FOURTH:
· Spends about an hour on administration and HR aspects and issues at Project office.
FIVE:
· Visits the site.
· Meets the client, if required.
· Similarly, meets the consultants, sub-contractors, … if required.
· Returns to office before 6 PM.
SIX: (About one hour)
· Completes pending correspondence, pending calls, pending e-mails, …
· Leaves office by 7 PM.
SEVEN: (For about 30 minutes)
· After dinner, he used to attend to QA/QC aspects. Used to go through the drawings, contract documents, MIS reports, programme-of-work review, …
· Used to plan his next day. Attend to any crisis which needs attention.
By adhering to this routine, the Project Manager was able to successfully complete various projects ahead of schedule, many a time in his career.
Got this information recently from a friend. As usual, thought of sharing this ‘routine checklist’ with our colleagues under the ‘HRD-KISS’ series. (KISS = Knowledge and Information Sharing System).
Good day,
Jaikishan
HR Dept.
22nd Nov 2009
Source: From my colleague, Dr. K.S.Chandra Sekhar (CGM-Projects).
xxx---xxx
FIRST:
· Used to visit the site about 15-30 minutes in the morning before the workers arrive to assess the progress vis-à-vis the planned progress. Thus, he used to have complete and firsthand information about the project.
· Used to insist his Site Engineers to arrive at the site (at least 10 minutes) before the workers arrive. This helped the Site Engineers in managing the workers better and in maintaining the discipline.
· Site Engineers were insisted to dress well and bathe every day, even if they had worked very late the previous night. Insisted on personal hygiene and to treat the place-of-work like a place-of-worship.
SECOND: (About 2 hours)
· Returns to office from Site.
· Browses through all the correspondence. That used to take about 30 minutes.
· Then, he completes the correspondence for the day.
THIRD: (About one hour)
· Takes his lunch.
· Takes about 30 minutes nap in his cabin.
FOURTH:
· Spends about an hour on administration and HR aspects and issues at Project office.
FIVE:
· Visits the site.
· Meets the client, if required.
· Similarly, meets the consultants, sub-contractors, … if required.
· Returns to office before 6 PM.
SIX: (About one hour)
· Completes pending correspondence, pending calls, pending e-mails, …
· Leaves office by 7 PM.
SEVEN: (For about 30 minutes)
· After dinner, he used to attend to QA/QC aspects. Used to go through the drawings, contract documents, MIS reports, programme-of-work review, …
· Used to plan his next day. Attend to any crisis which needs attention.
By adhering to this routine, the Project Manager was able to successfully complete various projects ahead of schedule, many a time in his career.
Got this information recently from a friend. As usual, thought of sharing this ‘routine checklist’ with our colleagues under the ‘HRD-KISS’ series. (KISS = Knowledge and Information Sharing System).
Good day,
Jaikishan
HR Dept.
22nd Nov 2009
Source: From my colleague, Dr. K.S.Chandra Sekhar (CGM-Projects).
xxx---xxx
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