Happiness quotient, you and work

I had a classic debate a day ago with one of the colleagues talking about Happiness at work. He mentioned that the happiness drivers for him or anyone are good work, good company, good money. When I asked what is replaceable, he said as often 1 of them has to be compromised... Misery eh? So being into a renowned company, earning great money bring smiles to your professional face? I am not sure.. the matrix's of these 3 can be different and have different meaning to different people.. What if you are working for Facebook or Google and doing a shitty job? What if you are working for a very small company, doing great work and earning peanuts? What if vice versa?

Well you cant link your happiness quotient to good Company or money, they are external factors really, they change. I remember when I started my career my happiness quotient always started and ended at "learning's", as long as I was learning I was happy. Things evolved and they tuned to improvise and factors affecting happiness increased..Now 3 things that drive my happiness quotient at work remain to be constant:

1. Am I working with great people

2. Am I working on challenging assignments

3. Am I contributing to the ones who are working with me.

Either of them fails, it hits this quotient,drills distorted view in my routines, creates pragmatic effect on work and professional life. My understanding with the drivers of happiness quotient is fair and simple..

1. If you are working with great people you will learn, evolve, achieve expertise.1 important thing that I have learnt working with great people is that they empower you to do critical tasks, jobs , things that you are told and not told.In other words you can grow leaps and bounds with them. Great people throw challenges at you, make you work effectively and also ensure that you are guided appropriately. Eventually it is great people that make companies good and good companies guided by great people ensure good people get paid well and are happy.

2. If you are working on challenging assignments it means that you are skilled and challenging work enhances your skills. If you are highly skilled you tend to achieve growth as it is an inherent part. Not to question challenging work will show where you stand every time you do it, as if it is a kind of reviewing your skills and potential.

3. If you are contributing to others one way or other, technically or non technically you are improvising your skills and making yourself great within(Teaching is learning again). Everyone likes to be (called) great, contribution to co-workers, mentoring and coaching demonstrates your potential leadership skills in turn exposes your greatness.

Considering these factors.. I happen to believe that extrinsic factors cannot define one's happiness at work.. it is the intrinsic element that drives your happiness. If you really want to be happy at work you need to first figure out what is it that drives your happiness? what defines your happiness quotient at work? Think over.. come back.. let us all know...

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I work so hard... what is he doing?

A few months ago I faced this question, but in a different form… the question was "What is he doing in the office?" I wasn't really very serious at that time about this since it came in very casually…. While moving ahead a similar question came across in the Chat across Table (CAT meet) with one of the development resources… this time the question was more towards partial resentment… "What is (are) he/they/she doing?"

OK so this is what I think when someone really asks this question to a Manager or the BB… now that I assume that this question comes out of one or more person from a Team… I believe that these questions really affect the Team the moment they get raised…

These are first of the few things I really think why these questions are raised:

1. Is he paid for chatting, reading newspapers and bossing around?
A member not having enough visibility on what others within his team are doing has this question in mind quite often… The best way to avoid this is to let everyone know in a Scrum what each one is up to for that day/week.

2. I have so much of work and he sits Idle?
Most of the time the question comes because of different duties or responsibilities each one is handling… Most of the time people confuse between duties and responsibilities… I really had to mention that "Do you know what your CEO does? And the answer was NO, so the issue here is that the moment you feel you are working hard; you see others not working so hard… Law of nature really….

3. The beginning of the problem is the End of the Day?
So most of the developers tend to stay late at least that's the culture out here in India… many of them are bachelors who prefer not to go on their hostels where they don't have Yahoo, Internet and of course work… So while you work late and late you feel you are the only one in the office who work… no matter you really work till then or just funk around.

4. The taste of the Poison can only be tested when you Taste it?
Many of the aspirants feel that what their superior does or knows is less than what he or she knows and does… common misconception that leads to a Team trauma at the same time raises this question too often in the mind… The major issue here is the poison of success (I am on my way to write this soon) doesnt let them think sensibly...


5. I am always left alone….
Now this is a problem with a genre that has some einsteinius genes… well I really mean that they like to be alone… in their own world, dreaming about the figures and the code they are writing…, most of the times these hysterical genes don't allow them to think anything up until 10 in the night and when they wake up they realize that the whole day is gone doing nothing but programming and it's already next day morning ;). The cause hits the case and the question gets a base…
Now that I have written a bunch of why's I think it will be relevant to put on How to avoid these things…. After all We are here to Grow a Team not Build it;)

Regards
Sameer
http://sameer-shaikh.blogspot.com

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