Ten Tips for the Leader About Employee Motivation

Your Arrival at Work Sets the Employee Motivation Tone for the Day

Picture Mr. Stressed-Out and Grumpy. He arrives at work with a frown on his face. His body language telegraphs "over-worked" and unhappy. He moves slowly and treats the first person who approaches him abruptly. It takes only a few minutes for the entire workplace to get the word. Stay away from Mr. Stressed-Out and Grumpy if you know what's good for you this morning.

Your arrival and the first moments you spend with staff each day have an immeasurable impact on positive employee motivation and morale. Start the day right. Smile. Walk tall and confidently. Walk around your workplace and greet people. Share the goals and expectations for the day. Let the staff know that today is going to be a great day. It starts with you. You can make their day.

Use Simple, Powerful Words for Employee Motivation

Sometimes in my work, I get gifts. I recently interviewed an experienced supervisor for a position open at a client company. She indicated that she was popular with the people at her former company as evidenced by employees wanting to work on her shift.

Responding to my question, she said that part of her success was that she liked and appreciated people. She sent the right message. She also uses simple, powerful, motivational words to demonstrate she values people. She says "please" and "thank you" and "you're doing a good job." How often do you take the time to use these simple, powerful words, and others like them, in your interaction with staff? You can make their day.

For Employee Motivation, Make Sure People Know What You Expect

In the best book I've read on the subject, Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do about It Compare Prices, by Ferdinand Fournies, setting clear expectations is often a supervisor's first failure. Supervisors think they have clearly stated work objectives, numbers needed, report deadlines and requirements, but the employee received a different message.

Or, the requirements change in the middle of the day, job, or project. While the new expectations are communicated - usually poorly - the reason for the change or the context for the change is rarely discussed. This causes staff members to think that the company leaders don't know what they are doing. This is hardly a confidence, morale-building feeling.

This is bad news for employee motivation and morale. Make sure you get feedback from the employee so you know he understands what you need. Share the goals and reasons for doing the task or project. In a manufacturing environment, don't emphasize just numbers if you want a quality product finished quickly. If you must make a change midway through a task or a project, tell the staff why the change is needed; tell them everything you know. You can make their day.

Provide Regular Feedback for Employee Motivation

When I poll supervisors, the motivation and morale builder they identify first is knowing how they are doing at work. Your staff members need the same information. They want to know when they have done a project well and when you are disappointed in their results. They need this information as soon as possible following the event.

They need to work with you to make sure they produce a positive outcome the next time. Set up a daily or weekly schedule and make sure feedback happens. You'll be surprised how effective this tool can be in building employee motivation and morale. You can make their day.

Minimally, you will want to learn the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and managers and how to:

• provide feedback,
• provide praise and recognition,
• provide proper progressive discipline,
• give instructions,
• interview and hire superior employees,
• delegate tasks and projects,
• listen actively and deeply,
• write records, letters, file notations, and performance evaluations,
• make presentations,
• manage time,
• plan and execute projects,
• problem solve and follow up for continuous improvement,
• make decisions,
• manage meetings, and
• build empowered teams and individuals in a teamwork environment.

Make Time for People for Employee Motivation

Spend time daily with each person you supervise. Managers might aim for an hour a week with each of their direct reports. Many studies indicate that a key employee work motivation factor is spending positive interaction time with the supervisor. Schedule quarterly performance development meetings on a public calendar so people can see when they can expect some quality time and attention from you. You can make their year.

Focus on the Development of People for Employee Motivation

Most people want to learn and grow their skills at work. No matter their reason: a promotion, different work, a new position or a leadership role, employees appreciate your help. Talk about changes they want to make to their jobs to better serve their customers.

Encourage experimentation and taking reasonable risk to develop employee skills. Get to know them personally. Ask what motivates them. Ask what career objectives they have and are aiming to achieve. Make a performance development plan with each person and make sure you help them carry out the plan. The quarterly performance development meeting is your opportunity to formalize plans for people. You can make their career.

Share the Goals and the Context: Communicate for Employee Motivation

People expect you to know the goals and share the direction in which your work group is heading. The more you can tell them about why an event is happening, the better.

Prepare staff in advance if visitors or customers will come to your workplace. Hold regular meetings to share information, gain ideas for improvement, and train new policies. Hold focus groups to gather input before implementing policies that affect employees. Promote problem solving and process improvement teams.

Above all else, to effectively lead a work group, department, or unit, you must take responsibility for your actions, the actions of the people you lead, and the accomplishment of the goals that are yours.

by,Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Seven Opportunities to Influence Employee Motivation

Specific Actions to Increase Employee Motivation

hese are seven consequential ways in which a manager or supervisor can create a work environment that will foster and influence increases in employee motivation - quickly. 

Communicate responsibly and effectively any information employees need to perform their jobs most effectively. Employees want to be members of the in-crowd, people who know what is happening at work as soon as other employees know. They want the information necessary to do their jobs. They need enough information so that they make good decisions about their work. 

• Meet with employees following management staff meetings to update them about any company information that may impact their work. Changing due dates, customer feedback, product improvements, training opportunities, and updates on new departmental reporting or interaction structures are all important to employees. Communicate more than you think is necessary.


• Stop by the work area of employees who are particularly affected by a change to communicate more. Make sure the employee is clear about what the change means for their job, goals, time allocation, and decisions.


• Communicate daily with every employee who reports to you. Even a pleasant “good morning” enables the employee to engage with you.


• Hold a weekly one-on-one meeting with each employee who reports to you. They like to know that they will have this time every week. Encourage employees to come prepared with questions, requests for support, troubleshooting ideas for their work, and information that will keep you from being blindsided or disappointed by a failure to produce on schedule or as committed.

Employees find interaction and communication with and attention from senior and executive managers motivational. In a recent study by Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson), the Global Workforce Study which included nearly 90,000 workers from 18 countries, the role of senior managers in attracting employee discretionary effort exceeded that of immediate supervisors.

• Communicate openly, honestly and frequently. Hold whole staff meetings periodically, attend department meetings regularly, and communicate by wandering around work areas engaging staff and demonstrating interest in their work.


• Implement an open door policy for staff members to talk, share ideas, and discuss concerns. Make sure that managers understand the problems that they can and should solve will be directed back to them, but it is the executive’s job to listen.


• Congratulate staff on life events such as new babies, inquire about vacation trips, and ask about how both personal and company events turned out. Care enough to stay tuned into these kinds of employee life events and activities.

Provide the opportunity for employees to develop their skills and abilities. Employees want to continue to develop their knowledge and skills. Employees do not want jobs that they perceive as no-brain drudge work.

• Allow staff members to attend important meetings, meetings that cross functional areas, and that the supervisor normally attends.


• Bring staff to interesting, unusual events, activities, and meetings. It’s quite a learning experience for a staff person to attend an executive meeting with you or represent the department in your absence.


• Make sure the employee has several goals that he or she wants to pursue as part of every quarter’s performance development plan (PDP). Personal development goals belong in the same plan.


• Reassign responsibilities that the employee does not like or that are routine. Newer staff, interns, and contract employees may find the work challenging and rewarding. Or, at least, all employees have their turn.


• Provide the opportunity for the employee to cross-train in other roles and responsibilities. Assign backup responsibilities for tasks, functions, and projects.

Employees gain a lot of motivation from the nature of and the work itself. Employees seek autonomy and independence in decision making and in how they approach accomplishing their work and job.

• Provide more authority for the employee to self-manage and make decisions. Within the clear framework of the PDP and ongoing effective communication, delegate decision making after defining limits, boundaries, and critical points at which you want to receive feedback.


• Expand the job to include new, higher level responsibilities. Assign responsibilities to the employee that will help him or her grow their skills and knowledge. Stretching assignments develop staff capabilities and increase their ability to contribute at work. (Remove some of the time-consuming, less desirable job components at the same time, so the employee does not feel that what was delegated was “more” work.)


• Provide the employee a voice in higher level meetings; provide more access to important and desirable meetings and projects.


• Provide more information by including the employee on specific mailing lists, in company briefings, and in your confidence.


• Provide more opportunity for the employee to impact department or company goals, priorities, and measurements.


• Assign the employee to head up projects or teams. Assign reporting staff members to his or her leadership on projects or teams or under his or her direct supervision.


• Enable the employee to spend more time with his or her boss. Most employees find this attention rewarding.

Elicit and address employee concerns and complaints before they make an employee or workplace dysfunctional. Listening to employee complaints and keeping the employee informed about how you are addressing the complaint are critical to producing a motivating work environment. (These are employee complaints that readers identify as regularly occurring in their workplaces.)

Even if the complaint cannot be resolved to the employee’s satisfaction, the fact that you addressed the complaint and provided feedback about the consideration of and resolution of the complaint to the employee is appreciated. The importance of the feedback loop in addressing employee concerns cannot be overemphasized.

• Keep your door open and encourage employees to come to you with legitimate concerns and questions.


• Always address and provide feedback to the employee about the status of their expressed concern. The concern or complaint cannot disappear into a dark hole forever. Nothing causes more consternation for an employee than feeling that their legitimate concern went unaddressed.

Recognition of employee performance is high on the list of employee needs for motivation.Many supervisors equate reward and recognition with monetary gifts. While employees appreciate money, they also appreciate praise, a verbal or written thank you, out-of-the-ordinary job content opportunities, and attention from their supervisor.

• Write a thank you note that praises and thanks an employee for a specific contribution in as much detail as possible to reinforce and communicate to the employee the behaviors you want to continue to see.


• Verbally praise and recognize an employee for a contribution. Visit the employee in his or her work space.


• Give the employee a small token of your gratitude. A card, their favorite candy bar, a cutting from a plant in your office, fruit for the whole office, and more, based on the traditions and interaction in your office, will make an employee’s day.

Employees appreciate a responsive and involved relationship with their immediate supervisor.

• Avoid cancelling regular meetings, and if you must, stop by the employee’s work area to apologize, offer the reason, and immediately reschedule. Regularly missing an employee meeting send a powerful message of disrespect.


• Talk daily with each employee who reports to you. The daily interaction builds the relationship and will stand for a lot when times are troubled, disappointments occur, or you need to address employee performance improvement.


• The interaction of an employee with his or her immediate supervisor is the most significant factor in an employee's satisfaction with work. Practice just listening. Encourage the employee who brings you an idea or improvement. Even if you think the idea won't work, that the idea has been unsuccessfully tried in the past, or you believe your executive leadership won't support it, this is not what the employee wants to hear from the supervisor.
  
  And, it's not in your best interests for employee motivation to put the kibosh on employee contributions and ideas. You'll tick them off, deflate them, and make their thoughts insignificant.
  
  Think creatively about how you can explore the idea, support the employee in his or her quest to try out the innovation, provide time for experimentation, and more. Encouragement brings payback in positive employee motivation.


• Remember that your nonverbal communication communicates more expressively than the words you use to convey your honest response to employee thoughts, concerns, and suggestions. Pay attention, ask questions to further elicit information, and focus on understanding the employee's communication. Lose your reactions: shrugged shoulders, rolling eyes, or partial attention are insulting and degrading.


• The supervisor's relationship to reporting staff is the single most important factor in employee retention. Stay on top of what your staff needs and wants to provide a work environment for employee motivation.

Employee motivation is a common interest from supervisors and managers who are responsible to oversee the work of other employees. You can increase your efforts to improve employee motivation. The big seven actions and behaviors that you can make happen every day for employee motivation are covered in this article.

BySusan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Top 10 Ways to Show Appreciation to Employees

Here are ten ways to show your appreciation to employees and coworkers.

• Praise something your coworker has done well. Identify the specific actions that you found admirable.


• Say thank you. Show your appreciation for their hard work and contributions. And, don't forget to sayplease often as well. Social niceties do belong at work. A more gracious, polite workplace is appreciated by all.


• Ask your coworkers about their family, their hobby, their weekend or a special event they attended. Your genuine interest - as opposed to being nosey – causes people to feel valued and cared about.


• Offer staff members flexible scheduling for the holidays, if feasible. If work coverage is critical, post a calendar so people can balance their time off with that of their coworkers.


• Know your coworker’s interests well enough to present a small gift occasionally. An appreciated gift, and the gesture of providing it, will light up your coworker’s day.


• If you can afford to, give staff money. End of the year bonuses, attendance bonuses, quarterly bonuses and gift certificates say "thank you" quite nicely. TechSmith staff receive a percentage of their annual salary for their end of year bonus.


• Almost everyone appreciates food. Take coworkers or staff to lunch for a birthday, a special occasion or for no reason at all. Let your guest pick the restaurant.


• Create a fun tradition for a seasonal holiday. ReCellular employees draw names for their Secret Santa gift exchange. Alison Doyle, About's Guide to Job Searching, also works inCareer Services at Skidmore College where they do a "gift grab" at their holiday party.
  
  LuAnn Johnson who works in Human Resources at the Schaller Anderson Mercy Care Plansays, "We celebrate Treat Tuesday, every Tuesday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We match up departments or people who don't normally work together as a unit and assign a day to provide gooey, healthy or scrumptious treats for the other groups. It's a great mixer, an opportunity to show off our culinary skills and a morale builder - to say nothing of the sugar high".


• Bring in bagels, doughnuts or another treat for staff and coworkers. Offerings such as cookies or cupcakes, that you've baked personally, are a huge hit. (Have you tried baking cupcakes in ice cream cones? People love them.) Another hit? Bring chocolate - chocolate anything.


• Last, but not least, provide opportunity. People want chances for training and cross-training. They want to participate on a special committee where their talents are noticed. They like to attend professional association meetings and represent your organization at civic and philanthropic events.

These are my top ten ways to show appreciation to employees and coworkers. Stretch your imagination. There are hundreds of other employee and coworker appreciation ideas just waiting to be found. They'll bring you success in employee motivation, employee recognition and in building a positive, productive workplace.

Employee appreciation is never out-of-place. In fact, in many organizations, it's often a scarce commodity. Make your workplace the exception. Use every opportunity to demonstrate your gratitude to employees.

By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees

• First agree that a satisfied employee knows clearly what is expected from him every day at work. Changing expectations keep people on edge and create unhealthy stress. They rob the employee of internal security and make the employee feel unsuccessful. I’m not advocating unchanging jobs just the need for a specific framework within which people clearly know what is expected from them.


• The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention.People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well-liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas.
  
  --lack of clarity about expectations,
  --lack of clarity about earning potential,
  --lack of feedback about performance,
  --failure to hold scheduled meetings, and
  --failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.


• The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues or find themselves constantly "in trouble" - until they leave.


• Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and experience, and take the time to tap into it. As an example, in a small company, a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the company didn't want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities helped precipitate his job search.
• Here are six additional employee retention tips. Here are the first four tips and a discussionabout why retention is critically important.
  • The perception of fairness and equitable treatment is important in employee retention.In one company, a new sales rep was given the most potentially successful, commission-producing accounts. Current staff viewed these decisions as taking food off their tables. You can bet a number of them are looking for their next opportunity.
    
    In another instance, a staff person, just a year or two out of college, was given $20,000 in raises over a six month time period. Information of this type never stays secret in companies so you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the morale of several other employees will be affected. For example, you have a staff person who views her role as important and she brings ten years of experience, an M.B.A. and a great contribution record to the table. When she finds she is making less money than this employee, she is likely to look for a new job. Minimally, her morale and motivation will take a big hit. Did the staff person deserve the raises? Yes. But, recognize that there will be impact on others.
  
  
  • When an employee is failing at work, I ask the W. Edwards Deming question, “What about the work system is causing the person to fail?” Most frequently, if the employee knows what they are supposed to do, I find the answer is time, tools, training, temperament or talent. The easiest to solve, and the ones most affecting employee retention, are tools, time and training. The employee must have the tools, time and training necessary to do their job well – or they will move to an employer who provides them.
  
  
  • Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend seminars and read and discuss books, they feel they will stagnate. A career-oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your organization.
  
  
  • A common place complaint or lament I hear during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You'll have more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your organization. It's a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed, acknowledged and loyal.
  
  
  • No matter the circumstances, never, never, ever threaten an employee's job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information; no matter how you explain the information, even if you're absolutely correct, your best staff members will update their resumes. I'm not advocating keeping solid information away from people, however, think before you say anything that makes people feel they need to search for another job.
  
  
  • I place this final tip on every retention list I develop because it is so key and critical to retention success. Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognized and appreciated.Frequently saying thank you goes a long way. Monetary rewards, bonuses and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated. Understandable raises, tied to accomplishments and achievement, help retain staff. Commissions and bonuses that are easily calculated on a daily basis, and easily understood, raise motivation and help retain staff. Annually, I receive emails from staff members that provide information about raises nationally. You can bet that work is about the money and almost every individual wants more.
  Take a look at your organization Are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these ten factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too.
  By,By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Tips About Dating and Sex and Romance at Work

Organizations walk a fine line between ensuring employee productivity and interfering in the private affairs of their employees. Powell, in the cited study, states, "that policy makers in most organizations believe that workplace romances cannot be legislated away and should be ignored unless they present a threat to individual, group, or organizational effectiveness.

"Decision makers in most organizations recognize that some form of managerial intervention is required when a workplace romance presents a serious threat to the conduct of work or group morale."

As an HR professional, you also want employees to perceive your staff members as advocates for their well-being and high morale, not as the rule-making, interfering, systematizing arms of management.

With both of these concerns in mind, I suggest you take the following actions.

Provide Training About Work Romances

Provide training for supervisors and managers about how to discreetly address overt sexual behavior in the workplace. You will also want the supervisors comfortable coaching the dating couple if the relationship results in lowered morale and productivity for themselves or coworkers.

Additionally, Powell's study of the literature found that workplace romances are particularly "hazardous for gay and lesbian employees due to negative reactions to homosexual relationships in general." Supervisors will need to know how to address these issues should they arise.

Office relationships are often the focus of intense gossip, so supervisors need to know how to keep their ears open for work and career damaging behaviors. Supervisors need to know the appropriate disciplinary actions to take if the romance derails and resultant employee behavior disrupts the workplace. If romance becomes sexual harassment, supervisors need to know, working in concert with HR, what to do to take immediate action.

The SHRM study found that only 12 percent of the surveyed organizations provided training to managers and supervisors about how to manage a workplace romance. I think this is a mistake; take the time to make supervisory staff as comfortable as possible before the predictable romance crops up.

Broadcast Your Sexual Harassment Policy

Have a formal, written sexual harassment policy that is posted, appears in the employee handbook, and is listed on all company policy documents. The sexual harassment policy should address how a sexual harassment claim will be handled. Train all employees that the company has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Provide information about the consequences of such behavior on their continued employment.

At the same time, employees need to understand that it is okay to ask a coworker out on a date. Harassment occurs when the employee indicates no interest and the unwanted attention continues. All employees need to understand where the line occurs. Most organizations ask employees to sign a document indicating they understand and will abide by the sexual harassment policy.

Develop an Appropriate Relationship Policy About Office Romance

You may want to think about your organization culture and the work environment you want to provide for employees. Are there certain romantic situations you want to prohibit or, at least, have a policy in place for addressing? I would never recommend a policy that prohibits dating, sex, and romance entirely. You give people something to push against and guarantee that all relationships will be covert.

Given the literature about studies that have been done in workplaces, I recommend that you institute a policy that prohibits a supervisor from dating any employee who reports directly to him or her. The policy may also state that you expect staff members to behave in a professional manner.

You expect that office romances, relationships, or affairs will be kept separate from the work environment. The organization will not tolerate sexual liaisons and sexual behavior at work. Spell out the consequences if the romance is negatively impacting the workplace.

Find out what the dating couple needs to do about an office romance.

If Cupid strikes and you find yourself attracted to a coworker, these actions will minimize any possible damage to your career.

• Know your organization's written and unwritten policies about romantic, sexual, extramarital, or dating relationships.
• Keep the relationship private and discreet until you are ready to publicly announce that you are a couple.
• Behave discreetly in the workplace. Keep public displays of affection off limits at work.
• Limit the number of people at work with whom you share this confidential information.
• If your position and responsibilities require you to work together, attend the same meetings, and so on, behave professionally at all times. You are encouraged to be yourself, maintain and speak your continuing opinions, exhibit the same skills, and conduct yourself in the same manner as you did prior to the relationship.
• Discuss, as a couple, the potential impact of your relationship on your work. (Will one employee have to leave a department or the company? Will your organization respond favorably to your relationship?) Know your company, and make a plan before the organization requests one.
• Be happy and build a successful relationship that adds value to the world; produces well-adjusted children, should you choose to have them; and that adds great value and happiness to your life all through the years.

Love, sex, and romance in the workplace will likely increase as time goes by. Expect these relationships; be prepared in advance. And, if the SHRM study participants provide figures that are typical of HR offices worldwide, get ready to attend a whole lot of weddings.

By http://humanresources.about.com

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff :)

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:

It’s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on… PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing… And who’s at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look…

All or most specimens are ?? Something male species of the human race…

Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…

And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!! Any guesses??? Let’s ask one of them… Here’s what he says… ‘What’s there 2 do after going home…Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late…Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!’

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.

Bachelors ‘Passing-Time’ during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they’ve nothing else to do… Now what r the consequences…

‘Working’ (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.

With bosses more than eager to provide support to those ‘working’ late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he’s a hard worker….. goes home only to change..!!). They aren’t helping things too…

To hell with bosses who don’t understand the difference between ‘sitting’ late and ‘working’ late!!!

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family… office is no longer a priority, family is… and That’s when the problem starts… b’coz u start having commitments at home too.

For your boss, the earlier ‘hardworking’ guy suddenly seems to become a ‘early leaver’ even if u leave an hour after regular time… after doing the same amount of work.

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers…

Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays… though) leave on time are labelled as ‘not up to it’. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on ‘working’ not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

So what’s the moral of the story??
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
* Never put in extra time ‘ unless really needed ‘
* Don’t stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.

There are hundred other things to do in the evening..

Learn music…..

Learn a foreign language…

Try a sport… TT, cricket………..

Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town…

* And for heaven’s sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *’Life’s calling, where are you??’*

Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don’t stay back till midnight to forward this!!!

IT’S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.

PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON’T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !

Regards, NARAYAN MURTHY.

Why People Shout In Anger"

A Saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled and asked.

'Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout.'

'But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.' asked the saint

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.
Finally the saint explained, .

'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens?
They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

He looked at his disciples and said.

'So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.'

Tips on leveraging different styles of Bosses

Complement differences and take charge wherever required to make your BOSS look good...Tips on leveraging different styles of Bosses...

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. - Russell H. Ewing

Invariably, when people think of managing someone at work they think of it as a one way street. They think of their bosses managing them. Yet, in my experience, I've found that bosses also need to be managed. They need to be managed by their people because they often over or under manage them. For example, they over-manage by micromanaging and continually checking on a project's status. They under-manage by not giving their people enough direction, detail or feedback.

These kinds of problems occur for a number of reasons. At the start of middle management, Team Leaders are often promoted for their operating excellence and are made incharge of career of at least 6-7 people, however, are not trained enough on people skills.They keep doing what made them successful so far - individual excellence and mess up with the career of their sub-ordinates.  Many times, they also don't have any good role models for what a manager should do. And they rarely get feedback as to how they're doing.

So, if you have a boss who over or under manages you, what can you do to get what you need from him? How can you effectively manage your boss?

Whenever you see a gap in the wavelength between you and your boss you need to identify what are the attributes which make you different from him. A successful boss-subordinate relationship is when you start complementing the differences and take charge wherever required to make your boss look good.

Below are certain tips to manage different types of bosses depending on their predominant attributes:

AMBITIOUS – They are interested in looking good and getting ahead. Show them how supporting you and your projects will be viewed favorably by top management and thus  support his ambitions.

LONER - They like to work alone. Loner bosses do not like to supervise others. Praise their pet projects and offer to help them with some of the administrative work. Keep them informed on what is going on with the team.

POWER HUNGRY - They like to control and show they are in control. Keep them informed. Give them a chance to“influence” your decisions but do not give in and become timid.

WIMP BOSSES - They are indecisive and will not make waves even for progress. You have to push them to make decisions. They love to hide behind bureaucracy. You can help by agreeing to take some of the heat or giving assurance that nothing bad will happen.

BUREAUCRATIC BOSSES - They like rules and policies and the status quo. You must show that you are following the rules, organizing things in a logical way, putting things in writing and giving them time to think it over.

FIRE FIGHTER BOSSES - They like to fix problems. They thrive on finding disasters and solving them. You must show a sense of urgency, give them frequent updates and find the next disaster to keep them busy.

UNETHICAL BOSSES - They have no shame. They can be of any of the stated categories and make a deadly combination. You must document everything. Make sure you meet your objectives and stay true to your values. You can call them out but make sure you have a back-up plan.

Of course, in managing your boss you should know his personal inclination, as well as your personal bias. If you are process oriented, you will tend to present issues in a systematic and orderly fashion, with pros and cons, chronology of tasks, etc. If your boss is the action type, he could be bored. In that case an executive summary, emphasizing the key actions and results would be a handy starting point. You need to becognizant of the working style of your boss so that you can match up to his expectations.

Bosses who like to 'control things'normally introduce processes, develop more the 'now' attitude. Bosses who are more concerned with people, develop more impact on people. Bosses who are more concerned with getting things done, start with key actions and bosses who are more concerned with ideas, frame proposals in concepts.

Here are some practical things you can do to manage your boss:

·                     Remember your purpose - Don't let your boss sidetrack you from your goals and purpose. Focus on what needs to get accomplished and use the rest of these tips to get your boss' support.

·                     Understand your boss' problems - Ask your boss what kind of pressures he is under. Now you may not think it's your place to do that, but it can make a great difference in your understanding why your boss is not managing you properly.

·                     Compliment what is working - Give your boss positive feedback on what is working in your relationship. For example, say "Thanks for your valuable feedback," when he gives you a useful response.

·                     Be a role model - If you want your boss to do certain things, do them yourself. For example, if he or she doesn't listen well, practice active listening in your interactions. He or she will probably match your positive behavior.

·                     Let him be wrong - Try to correct him few times and if it doesn't work, let it go. You won't always be able to save him.

Certain things which you need to do no matter what kind of boss you have is, don’t compromise on performance,keep your boss abreast of what you are doing in the way he wants himself to be updated, abide by your commitments, under commit and over deliver,  be cognizant of your threshold.

To reinforce trust make sure that your boss is not surprised by others rather you should be the first one to tell him if something doesn’t work well. Never criticize your boss in front of others rather discuss with him directly so that you can also help him grow. Remember that your success lies in your bosses’ success so contribute to make him successful.