Goal Setting

On a recent management course, about goal setting.  

Asked one of the employee to volunteer, Told him “Stand here and your task is to 
throw as many screwed-up pieces of paper as you can into that
waste bin close to his feet. 

CAR INSURANCE QUOTES 

The employee stood up and, rather embarrassingly, screwed a few
pieces of paper up and threw them in the bin. 

After one minute, asked “Had enough?”, to which
the person said “Yes thanks!” and gratefully returned to
his chair. 

The person had managed to screw-up and bin 12 pieces of paper.

A second volunteer was requested. This manager, a lady, was given
her task.

“Your task is to throw as many pieces of screwed-up paper as
possible into this bin in one minute, and your target to beat is
12, The lady went about the task with enthusiasm and scored 15.

Then asked for a third volunteer. Addressing this person,
and said, “OK, you’ve seen what the others achieved. Do you
think you can beat them in one minute?”

“No problem!” said the third volunteer, and he began when the
trainer started the stopwatch.

He managed 21 pieces in the same time as the other two.

The first volunteer objected to this. “That’s not fair…you
didn’t give ME those rules!”

The second volunteer also voiced her opinion. “Yes, it isn’t
fair, because you didn’t give ME any choices, other than to
beat one target.”

Then I had asked the third volunteer for his opinion.

“It was very fair”, he said. “I knew what I had to do and
by when, and I got a say in what target I thought I could meet. I
saw what was possible, set myself a higher target and knew that I

could achieve it. And I did!” 

In goal-setting, we very often just set the target and expect
team members to achieve it. But how many of us are asked to
achieve a task without being involved in the big picture, or
fully understanding ‘the rules’? Or we see any insurance or compensation

in the whole idea. What might our team be
capable of if they were allowed to set targets they thought were
stretching and achievable? How much more ownership would they
experience if they were involved in the goal-setting up front?
Goat setting is your insurance to better compensation. 

Ponder over the message

Most of you might have read my earlier posting on Management course. Here I am narrating another story which my maternal grandmother often used to narrate. The story is about importance of listening, rekindlingabout what you have listened and come out with your own judgement. You yourself a VIRTUAL DATA ROOMS

REGISTER-FREE-DOMAINS 

In old times the boarding school known as “Gurukul”. The students used to join at the very young age. The “Achrya” –teacher- was the one responsible for all round personality development all the students. 
He never answers to any questions, with simple solution; always reply with some hidden message. The idea was, he wants his students pounder over the answer, rekindle their mind and to have their own interpretations. That way, it was believed the level of education will be good and all round.

This was a routine to be done every day before sunset, a student have the responsibility to pour “Sesame oil” –Til ka thel- into diyas for the all the students to study at night. While pouring the oil, he found it may last for another a day or two. After finishing the job, he went to the “Guruji” and told, “Achrya, we are about to run out oil for Diyas in a day or two. Guruji who was on meditation, just answered without opening his eyes, there is couple of gunny bags full of “Sesame seeds”-til on the backyard.

He could not understand, so he narrated it to another student. Both were pondering over the message, after a while, the other student said, ‘I got it’- it is going to rain tonight, so the master has asked you to move the “sesame gunny bags’ inside the house. Both went ahead and moved the bags inside. Though they did it, they are not convinced, and then they decided to check it up with the third student. Both narrated what they heard and what they did. All the three were pondering over the issue again. After a while, the third student, shouted I got it, the Guruji told you extract the ‘Sesame oil’ from the ‘Sesame seeds”. All the three exited about finding a solution to the problem. Now the first asked, how will we do it? What is the method? Or there any place to do it? The second student answered, let us go out tomorrow and explore the possibilities in the town. Next day they found a oil mill in the town and went there with bags of Sesame seeds and extracted the oil and got it back to the school in a container.

Guruji, could have said straight, take the Sesame seeds and extract the oil. But not, here he wants his disciples to rekindle on the information received and come out with own interpretations. Our ancestors are PHD IN COUNSELING EDUCATION.  

Moral of the story, you have to work your intelligence to move up. No spoon feeding.

Inspirational Women

To all Men

A mother was out walking with her 4-5 year old son. He picked up something of the ground and tried to put it in his mouth. Mother took the item away from him and asked him not to do that.

Why? The boy asked.

"Because it’s been on the ground; you don’t know where it is been, it’s dirty and probably has germs. Mother replied.

As this point, the boy looked at his mother with total admiration and asked, Mom, how do you know all these stuff. You are so smart. 

Mother thought for while and replied, All women know this stuff, it is on the Examination, all mother  have to know it, otherwise god doesn't allow any women to become Mother.

The boy asked,  if you have not answered the question? Mother doesn’t have the answer

Both walked in silent for couple of minutes more, boy pondering the new information, and said Oh… I got it; he beamed, so if you don’t pass the test you have to be Dad.

EXACTLY! Mom replied with great pride and big smile. Please keep the same innocence and respect WOMEN.

LIFE INSURANCE -COLINCOLN 

When you've finished laughing, send this to all women colleagues in your OFFICE or Workplace. 

How to Manage People

Do you have someone who at work consistently triggers you? Doesn't listen? Takes credit for work you've done? Wastes your time with trivial issues? Acts like a know-it-all? Can only talk about himself? Constantly criticizes?

Badri Narayan entered the office literally to a roaring welcome by the stentorian voice of his Administrative Officer Ranga Bhashyam. (Ranga)

RANGA:  “You are late again, Badri.”

Badri was painfully aware that it was no mere rhetoric.

Badri:     “Sorry, sir.”

RANGA: “What is it today, your great grandfather expired?”

Badri:     “Sir, bbb…bus broke down.”

RANGA: “Www…why don’t you buy a two-wheeler?”

Badri:    “I will, sir, when my loan is sanctioned …”

RANGA:“So, until then your highness will attend office when convenient?”

Badri:    “Nnn…no, sir.”

RANGA: “This is the third time this month. Next time you will be typing your résumé. Got it?”

Badri:“Yyy…yes, sir. It will not happen again, sir.”

RANGA:“OK. What happened to the …”

That was another routine day in the official life of Badri Narayan. Read full story:

Pompous jerk, annoying nudge, or incessant complainer, an insufferable colleague can negatively affect your attitude and performance. Instead of focusing on the work you have to do together, you may end up wasting time and energy 

Chances are, in your job, you will have come across at least one type of person that you've found it difficult to work with. Here are fourteen types of difficult people you may meet at work and advice for understanding and getting along with each one.

Let’s be clear on one thing, difficult people do exist. Even it is not in a a form of “Boss” like Ranga, but always appear as “Friend”, “Colleague” or “neighbor”. Chances are, in your job, you will have come across at least one type of person that you've found it difficult to work with. Here are seven types of difficult people you may meet at work. There is no Insurance cover to escape from this type   people or not going to get any extra compensation for handling them better. 

The Bully: Bullies can be rude, aggressive and negative about people. They blame others and never take responsibility for their own actions. Usually bullies are very insecure. Like Ranga on the above story.

The Gossip: The gossip seems to know everything about everyone and want to share it. They can be the cause of arguments because a lot of the time the information they spread is false. One minute, they talk to you about other colleagues and then the next thing you know you’re the subject of the gossip. 

The Complainer: There’s always one person who can never find anything to be happy about. They keep on whining about their heavy workload and can’t complete their projects quietly because they keep procrastinating and complaining.

The Agreeable One: Your agreeable colleague just wants to be liked and will agree to anything but then fail to deliver.

The Criticizer: Criticizers criticize others to make themselves look and feel better. Typically they are the ones who make fun of others e.g. who is the worst dressed. They seem to pick fights for no reason and disagree just for the sake of disagreeing. 

The Telltale: Telltale story tellers  are very good at discovering every little mistake you make made at work and then telling on you making them look good and you look bad. 

The Backstabber: Back stabbers tend to be nice and helpful on the surface but they do this to gather ammunition and then use it to cause trouble. If you make a mistake, they will be the first to let everyone know. They can cause damage to you and your reputation. 

In the next blog let us see how to tackle these king of people. Till then .......buy.

Ideas for Motivating Employees

--> Motivation is the driving force that causes the flux from desire to will in life. For example: a flower with no water still desires for water to sustain life; however, due to its incapability to move and get water, the flower cannot will for water, hence, suffering from a break in the driving force of motivation; it is not to say, however, that, necessarily, the flower lacks the driving force; therefore, all life can said to have, at its very minimal, the igniting spark of motivation. It can be considered a psychological state that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal.For example, hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat.      Wikipedia

Managing a group of people with different personalities is never easy.   But if you're managing or leading a team, it's essential to know what motivates your people, how they respond to feedback and praise, and what tasks fit them well. What you are doing is FUTURISTIC ARCHITECTURE.

Unhappy employees are likely to be unproductive employees so the mental well being and happiness of your staff is crucial for your business’ success. Not addressing this now could be expensive for your company later – either through an inefficient workforce or high staff turnover. 

In six stages of motivating techniques, measure the motivation, accelerate the motivation constantly, and identify de-motivated employee and take corrective measures and much more. 

Giving people responsibility caused them to rise to the challenge. Unleashing their imagination, ingenuity and creativity resulted in their contributions to the organization being multiplied many times over.

 
Look for the next part soon.

The Trouble Tree

All need one trouble tree

I hired a plumber to help me restore an old house, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

LIFE INSURANCE CO LINCOLN 

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation.. His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

'Oh, that's my trouble tree,' he replied 'I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children.. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again.' 'Funny thing is,' he smiled,' when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.

THIS ONE IS WORTH SENDING ON.  AS
We all need a Tree!.

(read this story somewhere, thought of sharing with you)

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Cherish It

WHERE YOUR LIFE STAND HERE ON EARTH

(Translated from the Chinese).

Because none of us have many years to live, and we can’t take along anything when we go, so we don’t have to be too thrifty…

FUTURISTIC-ARCHITECTURE 

Spend the money that should be spent, enjoy what should be enjoyed, donate what you are able to donate, but don’t leave all to your children or grandchildren, for you don’t want them to become parasites who are waiting for the day you will die!!

Don’t worry about what will happen after we are gone, because when we return to dust, we will feel nothing about praises or criticisms. The time to enjoy the worldly life and your hard earned wealth will be over!

Don’t worry too much about your children, for children will have their own destiny and should find their own way. Don’t be your children’s slave. Care for them, love them, give them gifts but also enjoy your money while you can. Life should have more to it than working from the cradle to the grave!!

Don’t expect too much from your children. Caring children, though caring, would be too busy with their jobs and commitments to render much help.

Uncaring children may fight over your assets even when you are still alive, and wish for your early demise so they can inherit your properties and wealth.

Your children take for granted that they are rightful heirs to your wealth; but that you have no claims to their money.

50-year old like you, don’t trade in your health for wealth by working yourself to an early grave anymore… Because your money may not be able to buy your health…

When to stop making money, and how much is enough ( hundred thousands, million, ten million )?

Out of thousand hectares of good farm land, you can consume only three quarts (of rice) daily; out of a thousand mansions, you only need eight square meters of space to rest at night.

So, as long as you have enough food and enough money to spend, that is good enough. You should live happily. Every family has its own problems. Just do not compare with others for fame and social status and see whose children are doing better, etc., but challenge others for happiness, health, enjoyment, quality of life and longevity…

Don’t worry about things that you can’t change because it doesn’t help and it may spoil your health.

You have to create your own well-being and find your own place of happiness. As long as you are in good mood and good health, think about happy things, do happy things daily and have fun in doing, then you will pass your time happily every day.

One day passes without happiness, you will lose one day.
One day passes with happiness, and then you gain one day.

In good spirit, sickness will cure; in a happy spirit, sickness will cure faster; in high and happy spirits; sickness will never come.

With good mood, suitable amount of exercise, always in the sun, variety of foods, reasonable amount of vitamin and mineral intake, hopefully you will live another 20 or 30 years of healthy life of pleasure.

Above all, learn to cherish the goodness around… and FRIENDS… They all make you feel young and “wanted”… without them you are surely to feel lost!!

Wishing you all the best.

Please share this with all your friends who are 50 plus and those who will be 50 plus after some time.
“Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away. Goodreads:

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How to Engage Employees

--> One of today's hot topics is employee engagement.  Here are some excellent business reasons to get everyone working to their full potential: 

An employee's motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager.Bob Nelson 

We were asked in Jan.2012 by one of our client to take in-depth look at employee engagement and to report on its potential benefits for both company and individual employees. The client encouraged us to examine in particular whether a wider take up of engagement approaches could impact positively.

image-optimization-Dilbert

In the course of last 24 months, we have seen where performances and profitability of the company have been transformed by the employee engagement program. We have witnessed in our studies which show a clear correlation between engagement and performance – and most importantly between improving engagement and improving performance. Today we are putting this practice in more than a dozen clients.

Engagement, going to the heart of the workplace relationship between employee and employer, can be a key to unlocking productivity and to transforming the working lives of many people for whom Monday morning is an especially low point of the week. 
Employee Engagement – What, why and how

How employees behave at work can make the crucial difference between business and operational success or failure along with enough cash, clear strategy is vital.

Engaged organisations have strong and authentic values, with clear evidence of trust and fairness based on mutual respect, where two way promises and commitments – between employers and staff – are understood, and are fulfilled.

What we thought simple at first turned out be tough task. There is not a single  agreed definition of employee engagement – during the course of this review we have come across more than many definitions; many of them rejected and some of them agreed. What we have learned there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach and no master model for successful.

These four enablers of engagement have proved to be useful lenses which can help organisations assess the effectiveness of their approaches.

Despite there being some debate about the precise meaning of employee engagement there are three things we know about it: it is measurable; it can be correlated with performance; and it varies from poor to great. Most importantly employers can do a great deal to impact on people’s level of engagement. That is what makes it so important, as a tool for business success. 

·     There is employee voice throughout the organisations, for reinforcing and challenging views, between functions and externally, employees are seen as central to the solution.

·     A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and its values. An engaged employee is aware of the business context and works with colleagues to improve performance.

·     There is organisational integrity – the values on the wall are reflected in a day  behaviors. There is no ‘say-do’ gap.

·     In particular, engagement is two way; organisations must work to engage the employee who in turn has a choice about the level of engagement to offer the employer. Each reinforces the other. 

Incorporate-2

As the team begins to work together, they move into the “storming” stage. This sage is not avoidable. Storming often starts where there is conflict between team members’ natural working styles. It is for sure, especially a new team who has never worked together before.

Storming can also happen in other situations. Where a team member may challenge your authority or there is no definite clarity about the way team will work or couple of team members compete with each for status and acceptance.

The team leader needs to be adept at facilitating the team through this state- ensuring the team members learn to listen to each other and respect their difference and ideas. The leaders have to guide them to learn two important things. As the team start moving the leader has to guide them to work together, and function both independently and together as a team.

courtesy:Dilbert corporate cartoons

Some teams sometimes do not move beyond this sage and entire project is spent in conflict and low morale and motivation, making it difficult to get the project completed. The cause of the problem is professionally immature team member of members.

You can read the first part over here. Forming

Employee Retention Plans

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As a manager or leader, do you let your people assume more responsibility when they are able? Do you know when that is, or do you keep telling yourself that they aren’t ready yet? Don't put yourself life Asbestos Lawyers, roofing for your employees.

Employee empowerment has been defined in many ways but generally means the process of allowing employees to have input and control over their work, and the ability to openly share suggestions and ideas about their work and the organization as a whole. Empowered employees are committed, loyal and conscientious. They are eager to share ideas and can serve as strong ambassadors for their organizations.

Often the leadership has not done their part to empower the employees or, worse, has gotten in the way through micro-management.  Not all Managers/Leaders have selfish intentions or poor skills; many simply haven't had the training, time or focus to create an environment of empowerment.

Employee empowerment is allowing individuals, or groups of employees, to make their own decisions on daily job functions without needing approval from upper management. Supervisors that run small work groups and make their own operational decisions are an example of employee empowerment. Before implementing an empowerment program, you should understand the positive and negative consequences of employee empowerment.

Consequences of Employee Empowerment:

 

Employees that are allowed to make their own daily operating decisions can alter the way their jobs are performed to create a more efficient workplace.

 

Work groups that are empowered to reach their performance goals without having to report to management on a regular basis learn to benefit from each others' skill sets.

One of the negative consequences Empowered employees and work groups can feel as though they no longer need to take direction from management. This creates a company consisting of individuals or work groups achieving their own goals without much direction from the company.

Ask others to "drive for a while. 

Following are a few things leaders can do to build an environment that empowers people.

Give power to those who have demonstrated the capacity to handle the responsibility.

Create a favorable environment in which people are encouraged to grow their skills.

Don’t second-guess others’ decisions and ideas unless it’s absolutely necessary. This only undermines their confidence and keeps them from sharing future ideas with you.

Give people discretion and autonomy over their tasks and resources.

  

Successful leaders and managers today are willing to exercise their leadership in such a way that their people are empowered to make decisions, share information, and try new things. Most employees (future leaders) see the value in finding empowerment and are willing to take on the responsibilities that come with it. If future leaders have the wisdom to learn from the experience of present leaders, and if present leaders have the wisdom to build an environment that empowers people, both will share in the benefits. You insurance cover for their upward movement, will benefit them with good compensation. 

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mediation Techniques

--> "Success... from the inside out starts by listening to what that still small voice within you is saying" 

Success .... from the inside out is way of life.. So you ask, how does one live success from he inside out? Well it all starts with listening. Listening to what that still small voice within you is saying. That voice is coming to you straight from your heart, and it's very wise. It has all answers, if only you would just listen to it. Most successful people will tell you that they take time out for themselves to every day to listen to their inner voice. According to a new study, internal speech makes use of a system that is mostly employed for processing external speech, which is why we can "hear" our inner voice. Just about everyone I have ever spoken to about hearing an inner voice has said that at some point in their life, they got a message, in one form or another to do something that seemed out of the ordinary. It might have been to take a particular turn off a road, change flights, go into a store without knowing why or call someone they had a strong feeling about. 

At other times, they had a strong knowing such as who was calling when the phone rang or that something had happened to a loved one or acquaintance. Or, there can be a “gut feeling” that taking a particular action will be beneficial. All of you with various beliefs will attribute the “messages” to different sources such as God, angels, The Universe, Spirit, etc. For our purposes here, I'm going to refer to it as your Inner voice.

The problem is that we all get caught up in the busyness of our day-to-day like and all the activities and responsibilities go along with it. We are too busy to hear that wise voice of ours. Fortunately the voice doesn't go away. It just patiently waits until the time comes when we want to or are forced to listen. 

That time may be when life smacks us on the FACE. Why wait?

The inner voice does not shout, it speaks from a point of silence deep within you. It sometimes speaks through signs and symbols. It’s purpose is to gently guide us through your life lessons. Because it is a subtle voice, we have to be still in order to hear it. A head that is cluttered with extraneous thoughts, worry, fear, resentment, longing, desire, or ongoing grief won’t hear it through the noise. If, somehow, it does filter through, we probably won’t recognize it or follow its direction. Why wait until some crises happens to start listening? Begin to practice listening to your inner voice right now. Every morning from this week, take 5 minutes before your start your day to sit and reflect, mediate, or contemplate - whatever suits you. (Any time, if morning isn't time then do it in the evening before retiring to bed).

If you don’t hear your benevolent inner voice, it is not because it isn't there. It’s part of our basic human equipment. Everyone has one. It is a valuable resource and works best for those who cultivate a relationship with it. In this short article, I can only outline some steps you can take to begin to develop your listening skills. Each of these steps could probably be a chapter in a book. But, hopefully, you’ll be pointed in the right direction.

Find out who is talking in your head. 

Create a benevolent supporter in your head. 

Take a chance.  

Be willing to change. .

The Advantage of Listening to The Voice:

Although it takes some practice to hear our Inner Voice on a regular basis, there are great advantages in doing so. Here are a few:

1. You will save a lot of time and energy by not pursuing ego-driven ideas and desires.
2. Because you have to be still in order to hear your Inner Voice, you will greatly reduce your stress levels and improve your health.
3. Your trust levels will increase, which leads to improved relationships with yourself and others
4. You will open yourself to having what you need seem to just show up. You can stop pushing your life forward and let it unfold, leaving more time and energy for pure enjoyment. 

image-optimization

If you have found your truth within yourself there is nothing more in this whole existence to find. Truth is functioning through you. When you open your eyes, it is truth opening his eyes. When you close your eyes, it is truth who is closing its eyes.  Insurance to your success is constantly listening to your inner voice. Without momentum within you success will elude you.

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