A busy day in the busy world. In People/Team Management – don’t burn bridges you cross.

 

The world today is busier than ever, it is the same with each passing day. These busy schedules mean a lot of changes to both our professional and personal lives. Sometimes it involves a change in the workplace; for a better job or great perks. It may also require relocation to a new place. Most of the time these changes are our own choices. On few occasions we may not have a say, and may be compelled to face such changes.

These situations are common and can be challenging or rewarding. Challenging because we could get complacent in the present role and be hesitant to take up a new change. Rewarding as we never know what is in store for us in the new role.

We tend to grow complacent because we have worked so hard to make many successful connections, achieved many milestones in the present job. The fear of the unknown in the new opportunity is always there. So much so that we tend to forget that the present job that we are in was also an unknown territory at one time in the past.

The success at this present job was possible only because of the skills and the personality we possess.

In a few cases, the experience of leaving the present organization and the very process of how it is conducted can remain a sore memory to us for a really long time. We may feel betrayed and the process itself in question may seem very unfair; involving a grudge by one person or a small group of people indulging in a plot. The transition can be very painful, considering the innumerous, selfless contributions made by us. Here are certain tips that will help our thought process during these testing times.

•         Don’t burn the bridges – Do not sever the connections made by you over a period of time, painstakingly made with your skills and charisma.

•         Don’t hate the entire organization for the fault of one person – At times we may have the urge of harboring negative thoughts, praying for the failure of the entire organization itself just for the fault of one person.

•         Let go of the bad experience – Do not take it personally and let the experience not remain as a constant reminder of the pain.

•         A new learning – Mold the experience as a new learning for identifying similar situations well in advance in the future.

The person/s who is responsible for such a sinister act is not new to such deeds. They would have done it in the past or will repeat such actions in the future, with someone else. It will remain as a testament to the character they are associated with.

Wisdom lies in carrying on with focusing on the great connections that are made during the period there; instead of carrying the hurt as a burden for the rest of the life.

The world is a small place you never know when you will reap the benefits of your connections; hence don’t burn the bridges that have been crossed.

Relationships flourishing with love, trust and respect…in People/Team Management – Converting connections into relationships.

 

The connections that we make in our day-to-day activities are a very frequent part of our life, most of them are just casual acquaintances. A few of them grow over time and turn out to be a stronger emotion than being just a connection between two people. Relationship between two individuals, is a complex, time tested, strong bond made out of a series of such connections.

 

These relationships can be formed at almost any place where people interact constantly with each other for a long period of time, for example at the work place, in the neighborhood etc.

 

The factors that make a connection transform into a relationship are diverse, it could include common interests, a general liking, appreciation, affection or any other aspects that complement each other.

 

The process of forming a relationship may be complex and time consuming, however the fundamentals of a good working relationship is plain and simple. It constitutes three aspects working in conjunction namely Love, Trust and Respect.

 

All relationships function on these basic elements working in unison, let us understand these crucial elements in detail.

 

·       Love: An intense feeling of a deep affection; it is fundamental for any relationship.

 

·       Trust: A firm belief in the reliability or capability of the concerned person; a very crucial aspect of the relationship.

 

·       Respect: A feeling of deep admiration for someone for their abilities, strengths, achievements which form the crux of any good relationship.

 

It is crucial to understand that the above aspects Love, Respect and Trust (LRT) need to function in combination. Any aspect missing can be detrimental to the relationship itself.

 

People suffer a lot in sore relationships due to a lack of understanding or absence of the LRT’s. It will have a devastating effect of the absence of even one aspect of the LRT’s.

 

·       Absence of Love in a relationship: It defeats the very purpose of a relationship; it is no longer a relationship. It’s just two people being together due to some other ulterior motives.

 

·       Absence of Trust in a relationship: it causes a sense of betrayal and results in a compromised relationship thereafter; that may collapse any time due to the resultant insecurities on either side. 

 

·       Absence of Respect in a relationship: when two people tend to be together without respect for each other’s efforts, time and feelings; eventually they will end up in an abusive relationship. It’s just a matter of time.

 

A successful relationship will have all the LRT’s functioning at all times. It is crucial in establishing and living meaningful relationships. 

 

Love Trust and Respect cannot be commanded or gained through force, even though it may seem that it can be achieved by force or other means; it’s a false notion and is bound to collapse at any given time.

 

A good relationship flourishes when we initiate the LRTs from our side FIRST.

If our intention and efforts are genuine LRT’s will come back to us in Multifold. 

In spite of numerous efforts sometimes, relationships can be challenging, requiring more care, attention and sacrifices. There is peace in letting go off certain things, while there is happiness in clinging on to certain things; our decisions of what to let go off and what to cling on to, makes the entire difference in how our life is shaped.

Organization as a multipronged environment…in People/Team Management - managing the tines.

 

Organization put in simple terms is a collection of people pursuing defined objectives. It has set functions for all who are a part of it. Ideally this group of people perform different tasks assigned to them and work as a single unit to achieve the final goal of the company. It is a goal-oriented process.

 

Organizational structure is critical to any business, big or small. Businesses flourish or perish depending on the efficiency or fragility of this system respectively. It is that vital. Hence it is very important to understand its key drivers, ensuring it remains a well-oiled machine.

 

The key drivers for any organizational structure are the people who are at the helm of affairs at Mid Management Level. They form the essential link in understanding the mission of the business from the Top Management’s point of view and implementing the same; communicating it to their respective teams; the Actual Workforce. Any weak link here would be detrimental to the system and thereby to the business itself.

 

An Efficient manager identifies any red flags on time, takes effective steps in addressing the issue. Coaching, Mentoring, Motivating and in some worst cases Punitive action are the methods to correct the errant behavior. There is no thumb rule in applying these methods, it may vary from person to person.

 

Workforce with such attitude display certain type of behavior. Here are a few types of generally observed behaviors that need to be considered as red flags and tips in diffusing them:

 

 

·       Mr. Pessimistic: As the name suggests tries finding fault in each and every thing, always complaining and results in a demotivating the team.

 

Tip: A one to one discussion with a few instances of explaining the negative behavior and the impact of it.

 

·       Mr. Know All Guy; Acts overconfident even in time sensitive and critical situations and takes wrong decisions resulting in loss of revenue or reputation.

 

Tip: A one to one discussion on a serious note; citing examples of the wrong decisions taken and explaining its impact.

 

 

·       I have different plans for the future guy: Has a very casual approach to towards work, deadlines. This kind of staff tends to be habitual offenders as they have a different plan for their immediate life and this job just happens to be a stop gap arrangement.

 

Tip: A one to one discussion on a serious note, delivering a strong message that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable. If the issue is not that serious, then methods like Mentoring and Motivating may be adopted.

 

 

·       Everything functioning here depends on me guy: Insubordination is a visible behavior with such people because they think that they are irreplaceable and hence are doing a favor working there. They have no respect for rules.

 

Tip: This is a tricky one if they really possess some specific set of skills as they presume. Managers should waste no time in building a solid backup. (If the task is huge breaking it into smaller tasks could be helpful too). It is important to try and test such a backup for time sensitive operations. A one-to-one discussion, assigning a different role to the person in question will help eliminate the misconception.

 

The behaviors mentioned above are just a few among many other examples. However, it is important to know that any discussions regarding feedback, coaching and mentoring should be conducted strictly on a one-to-one basis and never discussed in a group. This will ensure that the person concerned does not feel offended or takes it personally. Similarly, any achievements, success and laurels should always be announced in the group. It will make the person feel special, appreciated and motivated.

 

Budding managers become seasoned ones and seasoned ones experts. Once they are able to identify such behaviors in advance, address it effectively and overcome the obstacles on time efficiently; they are that close in establishing a strong organizational structure in place and thereby successful businesses.

Life's Highs And lows...in People/Team management – treading the treacherous path.

Life's highs and lows are just as common as the next passing second; frequent to some and intermittent to others. These phases while not permanent are certainly testing times and clearly test our endurance to the limits. Many people find it hard to adjust to these phases initially; however they slowly get used to it and figure out a way to live through it.  These stages  tend to bring out the extremes in us, in the process of dealing with it.

The highs and lows in life cause significant changes to our behavior and attitude in general. It brings out a certain persona that is usually more visible to others first, than ourselves. Let us first understand these stages in life. 

Life's highs can be different to different people, for example what is a high in life to one person need not be the same to another person. Simple examples of the highs are securing a dream job,  being in a powerful position in the society, inheriting a fortune etc.  The list is exhaustive but is usually associated with power, wealth and factors that put a person in a clear advantage.

Life's lows do not need such an elaborate explanation. It is unfortunately the most frequent phase of life; that most of us can easily relate to. However, this stage too is individual specific and it is usually associated with failure,  be it an important task or the life in general, loss of a loved one etc. This list is huge too and is usually correlated by failure, loss,  anger shame disgust etc.

These inescapable stages of life throw our life out of gear. However, we really need to understand that these stages of life by themselves isn't no significant; than the point as to how we conduct ourselves through them. The pointers below will provide a clear understanding of these stages and helpful tips in successfully coming out of them.

To emphasize enough that this is a stage of life; and not the life itself (It is not permanent).

Having a clarity of thought and not be impulsive ( neither with our words nor with our actions).

Taking measured steps guided only by the "Good" in you. Extra care to be taken not to counter with the negative emotions (that are rearing to go in such situations).

Finally believing that there is a Choice. It is not the end of the world.

I know these words might sound as a no brainer; but these are the areas that people falter at most of the times. These recommendations will not take you out of the bad situation. It will help you retain your  good even in the worst of the situations. it will change the paradigm and help you deal such a situation effectively.

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post, share or like if you find it useful.

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The people we like in our life...in People/Team management – choosing the right ones.

In life we like few people. These people in most cases will be our own family, relatives and friends (who are as good as family) so on and so forth.  We are bound to like and love these folks as it is either biological or reasons that are time tested relationships. We know that they will be there for us no matter what. It is quite natural. The more number of such people we have the better for us.

Apart from the said set of people, we also have another group of people who we eventually end up getting acquainted with; as part of growing up, neighbourhood, our career, travels etc. Let us for the ease of understanding we will name them as Group 1 and Group 2. Though what we discuss in this post is generic to all relationships, it is the Group 2 that we would be focussing more in this post. The reason we need to understand this group is that it is formed as a result of our own choices. In a way they define us. Let us first understand the process of how we make such acquaintances.

These based on the conversations that we have with them, matching of our likes and dislikes, the amount of time we are associated with them etc. We are likely to form our observations among those conversations. We identify and associate them with certain traits. We try to match it with our own experience and expectations. If the score is right we tend to like that person a lot, irrespective of how that person may treat or behave with us or others in the long run. Few pointers that help establish such great connections:

·         Identifying people who are honest, not self centric, who value contributions of others.

·         People who tend to give good counsel always.

·         People who advise us the right thing and not the thing that seems right at that point of time.

·         People who do not tend to customize their suggestions as per the situation or the person in question.

It helps us a lot to identify genuine well wishers in life, they are hard to find. After identifying them, make efforts to connect with them even if it involves some small sacrifices. Once a connection is established, reciprocate the feeling and treasure them for life. Never ever hurt someone who likes you, because the world is shrinking rapidly relationship wise; as such people are irreplaceable in life. This Group 2 set of friends sometimes give us valuable advice when we have some major issues with Group1 and vice versa.

We must always remember that the major driver in all our relationships is ‘Our own expectations’. It helps us a lot if we keep our own expectations fair, just and reasonable.

Also remember we are among Group 1 and Group 2 for so many other people too.

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post, share or like if you find it useful.

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When the going gets tough, the tough get going...in People/Team management – Being the support you need.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going; we have heard this so many times. I for one thing even believed it blindly, when counselling others without actually knowing what it really meant. There are or will be some situations in our life that really test our mettle. These situations really test our limit, and bring out the real us in our life. The situations vary and the reasons could be different, emotional, financial, difficult relationships, loss of a loved one and so on. Irrespective of the situation, the way we feel while going through them is the same. It is as if everything in life has come to a grinding halt. It is as if we are alone on the planet, someone is trying to take revenge with us, as if some unknown force is hell bent on breaking us.

I am sure you can relate to this feeling at some point or the other in life. This kind of feeling lasts for a brief period of time, probably even days at a stretch in some cases. It varies from person to person and is directly proportional to the intensity and degree of the situation that we face. Usually we are solely responsible in most of the cases; also sometimes there are factors beyond our control too. Whatever be the case, our normal reaction to the situation will be blaming us for the catastrophe. The next step would normally be contemplating things and different ways that could have avoided this mishap. This usually goes on and on in our mind, sometimes tiring us to the point of a nervous breakdown. These reactions are quite normal.

However, what we need to understand here is that this is the moment that we need our 100%. We need our self here more than anything else in the world. The above mentioned reactions, however normal it may be; doesn’t help see us through the debacle. On the other hand it just magnifies the meltdown. Most of the times it aggravates the pain more than that it is ordinarily warranted for.

Unfortunately, there is no short cut to this. We need to go through this each time we face such situations, without having a way around it. That is exactly the reason that we need to make sure that we are present for us when we need us the most. There is no better way than to collect and compose our self while going through the agony. The key point here is being the best person that you can rely on. Hence it is all the more crucial that we are present with our complete strength. The advice from friends, well wishers and experts is an added bonus. The fundamental thing is being able to control our state of mind, to act on the decision that we have arrived at.

You will be surprised at the ease with which you deal with the situation when you have your own support while facing it. You will realize that you are capable of adopting to new situations, make changes to your lifestyle, face life changing circumstances with confidence etc. In all, you will see a new dimension within yourself, a capability that you have never knew that existed. The learning out of the situation, however, is the most important as it translates as our experience in the due course of time.

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post, share or like if you find it useful.
Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!

Life is a mixed bag of people and emotions...in People/Team management – Manage it efficiently.

Life is a mixed bag of different people and the resultant emotions that we have because of them. There are different kinds of people in our life as in, the people who need us, people who want to take advantage of us, people who hate us etc. We too tend to be the same to others depending on certain circumstances; it is quite natural. I am not talking of Parents and our children here, with whom we are biologically motivated to love; they come with their own set of challenges. That’s a different story altogether.

Then there are people who like us and people who we like. They could be at our workplace or in our personal life.  In this post we will focus on this particular category of people. These people are not connected to us and we eventually meet them. We set off on a journey to make a connection with these people over a period of time. We will now discuss the first set of people ‘people who like us’. They are not at all difficult to identify, sometimes it is so obvious. They will communicate more often with us, they will feel happy in our presence, they will have a particular interest in our likes and dislikes, they will be over apologetic when they do something that offends us, they will go out of the way to be of some help to us, in extreme cases, they sometimes behave and act as if their world revolves around us, they get deeply hurt when we find fault with them. There could be numerous  other gestures to identify them.

Now there is this other set ‘people who we like’, they too are not that difficult to identify as we tend to do some of the above mentioned things with them. Initially we may not notice it but over a period of time the signs will be much more evident.

Our actions with these two different sets of people and the reactions that follow by far, constitute our mental state of mind in our life. It is very important to be sensitive to these situations. Hence, these situations need to be identified at an early stage and managed very efficiently; failing which it could result in a mess. The approach is pretty much the same in both cases; it may only vary with the level of involvement. Here are a few tips that could help through this situation.

·         Open and timely communication – a very vital aspect, as anything we postpone will only result in dealing with even bigger a mess.

·         Defining boundaries – again a crucial condition so that nothing is left in a gray area, eliminating the possibility of any ambiguity.

·         Setting expectations – a very central exercise which is often ignored in situations like these, setting expectation needs to be done with others and with our own self too (sometimes it is most important to do it with ourselves than others).

·         Realistic thinking – a fundamental condition that is easily ignored by the attitude of taking everything for granted (for example : taking other people’s time, nature and priorities for granted)

·         Taking Stock of the situation – this particular tip is the most helpful, taking stock of where the situation is heading is very essential. If we are not sure or lack clarity we can always approach for a third party perspective. A Third party because they are not thinking the way you are and are not bound by your feeling, emotions and hence is more likely to give a honest and genuine evaluation of the situation.

Different things work out for different people, but the point is not to delay the process and come up with a solution soon enough. The solution may not be favorable to us always, but it would certainly contribute towards the peace of mind in the longer run. The things that happen in our life is mainly our own doing, most of the times. Nothing impacts our life more than our own actions and thinking.

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your time reading this post. I hope you enjoy reading the posts and find it helpful. I request you to share the learning as much as possible so that many more benefit from it. I would be glad to know your inputs both For or Against. Please feel free to post, share or like if you find it useful.Happy Learning! and Happy Sharing!