Missing in Action!!!

Yes, the blog and Me are no more in action... its time I have to spend every minute of available time to do something better... I am hoping to be back after a few weeks, feb really once we are out of the Major release.

Until then I will try to blog only when i cant be in front of the computer and have enough time to blog..

forgive me for the hibernation enforced here

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Team Engagement - 10 ways to get loved by your Team - 3/10 Inspire Them

Sachin Tendulkar the legendary cricketer was inspired by Kapil Dev the Indian cricket Team captain who won the 1983 world cup for India, this was when he was just learning to walk. Behind every legendary man/women there is a short inspiring story, this story plays a crucial role in the lives of these legends and thus make them legendary.

Your team always look at you with very high regards, yes they idealise you, they see you as their inspiration.. no matter what you do when you begin with your team, you begin as a inspirational part of their lives. However busy in the day to day routines you forget to inspire them in spite of being inspirational...Every Team member is like a hot iron rod if several other iron rods put pressure on it, it may not take the right shape, but when the hammer puts force it may(The hammer has to take care that it applies the right pressure and not force). And surely if the iron bar takes the right shape, it is going to love you for it....

Every member of your Team holds some exclusive quality within, if you can find that out and give way to it so the team member can do something of it, is he not going to love you for helping him expose and liberate his talent? There are different ways to inspire... Some people let others do what they want to others do things that can inspire else do it too. Everything and anything that you or your team does can inspire one or the other member of your team, you just have to use the right way to present it...

A few ways to inspire your teams:

I always think there is active inspiring and passive inspiring

Active inspiring

1. If you have found something very interesting or innovative on the web world

a. Speak about it in front of your teams

b. Tell them the benefits , usage and some good points of it

c. Show them how to use it, how you use it

d. Promote to get it used

e. Ask them ideas on how it can help the teams

2. If you know certain talents of your team members

a. Speak about those topics with them

b. Discuss pros and cons with them

c. Discuss legends, stories , success stories of people in the area of interest

d. Refer them to sites, people who you know in the same field

e. Share experiences

3. Creating a forum and debating on the topics of like

a. Create a forum where a lot of people can come together and discuss things. This will help your teams take a deeper dive into things

Inspiring Passively

1. Put a note or a symbol that can be seen.. Knowing some of the developers who were interested in blogging I made a point that I put my IM status message to my blog link, only later I realised that with every change in the status I had majority of them visiting the link. You don’t need to speak, if they are interested they will find a way to do it.

2. Create curiosity by not talking much about it.. sometimes less talking does more thinking.. speak once about it and let others to explore

3. Let them overhear – When the topics of discussion are interesting to others.. let them overhear.. they will go back and find details about it, would go and take it more further.

Yes.. Inspiring your team is something you would want to do.. Because if you can inspire them, you will find that they can do more then just getting inspired.. In turn to bring some good to them, they are going to love you.

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Team Engagement - 10 ways to get loved by your Team - 2/10 Just Be there

Team engagement, doesnt it get trickier as you go on doing it? But doesnt it ease up so many things when you do it? I have known companies spending thousands and thousands of bucks on this one thing, involving people , places and dont know what not... Success in Team engagement is however limited unless that Attitude and Culture is evolved....

Now coming to our next element.... take this situation:

Its 1 in the night actually early morning, you have 4 members from your team working on a very critical issue that has to make the production tomorrow morning, you have no onsite support available. You assign the issue and you leave for the day. You call your team member in the middle of the night or he calls you and updates you that the fix is done. All goes well.

Same scene.. the fix is not done.. what is your reaction now? you organize a call with stake holders, you shout , you yell, you are upset? you reschedule the fix and ask for another day, come to the office and ask them to be there to give you an explanation? firefight, issue resolved but did something go wrong here? The feeling in the Team????

Now same scene.... You are with the Team all the time, discussing solutions, evaluating options, the fix is done and all goes well.

Same scene again but the fix is not done? What will you do now? Since you have a complete understanding of what the team has done so far and what you have being doing all this while.. you can set a correct expectation?

Yes... sometimes you may not be the Technical expert, You may not add any value being with the Team while they are working hard on something.. sometimes it is important just to be there, facilitate things for them, try to check on their needs and try to remove there blockers so they can work well. Its a morale support to the Team... they know who to go back to when you are there. Now if they can depend on you for this, Aren't they surely going to love you?

Today we did a release, one of the fellow colleagues asked me "It is OK if you are not in, we could have taken care of it" I said "No worries, I just like to stick around" a few minutes later the same colleague was stuck with a issue and needed some help from me to reset some user details. I reminded the colleague "When you lead a Team, make sure you are there for the Team, you never know what will come up and when you will be needed" ....

You must have come in this situations very often... Your Team would be working day , night , late hours, weekends... if they see you around with a motive of helping them out... They are going to like it.

A few things to remember and do while you are JUST THERE for the Team

1. Make an arrangement for a quick Pizza grab if they are working late or weekends

2. Give them a ride home if it is late in the night.

3. Ask them about if they need any help occasionally.

4. Get them short breaks if they are working late.. this would release them from some pressures.

5. Do some petty tasks for them... like random tests to help them, or builds, or deploys that can save them some time

6. Get them a coffee on their desk... they may like it

7. A quick shoulder massage... of course for male colleagues is not a bad idea.

8. Appreciate their effort....

Do not

1. Be there to do a status check

2. Do not give a feeling or be there to monitor the activities.

Both of this is showing distrust.

Another small thing... But this can really help making life of Team members and Leads easier... a low cost item that can improve the leads level of engagement with the Team.. Now ask yourself ....On when you were present when your Team needed you the most...

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Keep up the Bad work!!!!

How does it sound? Annoying? Well isnt that the real truth? You keep on saying this to your team member even when he is at worst of his performance... dont care for what reasons? Well the truth is out of fear of loosing, causing revolt , constraints around resources etc etc you tend to do this... you go back with a feedback to your engineer and tell him "Look mate, you are doing OK, but you have a lot to improve on" I revised this statement in a simpler way and made it "Keep up the bad work!" .

For an under performer anything that is not direct or straight is like saying "Keep up the bad work mate". As Managers it will be your duty to make and build the communication in a way that says "It's enough of beating around the bush, time for you to respond", Again based on the nature and call and time and nth event of the feedback you can lighten up the statement, but in the end you have to help your under performer friend to boost it up.

We all want to make it sound positive, but not flattery... Tom was a project Manager dealing with Max who had been under performing in spite of last few months of support and attempts made by Tom and Team to get the issues with Max's ability sorted... when the options started reducing Tom had to go and open a communication which will help Max understand that the water has just hit the deck... Tom ran through the profile of Max and saw that he as a Formula 1 follower... took an opportunity on a one on one lunch and had this conversation...

This will hopefully enlighten you to make a easy conversation with your under performing member.

Tom "So, I learn that you are a Formula 1 fan"

Max "Yes, I a great fan"

Tom "So how does a normal F-1 race works"

Max "blah blah blah...... and thats how"

Tom "And how does a driver get in?"

Max "Its touch, but you need xx,yy zzzzzz blah blah, and this is how the points and ratings work for the Team and individuals"

Tom "Ahhh.. So the points for running a championship is also relational to individual driver performing?

Max "Yes"

Tom " And what happens if say Ferrari Team who is leading the championship has a Minus Schumacher"

Max "They fall back"

Tom "So how do you see yourself in this Team?"

Max takes time, thinks over it.. replies back "I think I have to change!!!"

Tom "OK, so lets get our driving gears, define a race path, lets target steps 1 to X until the pole position. Lets work on your car and gears and see how it works for your next race?"

An easy conversation goes well, without defences and grudges. Max realise the point and wants to seek help to do what would be best for the Team. A few races later Max is up to the speed.

But if the same conversation had gone in a way where Tom says "You are racing well, you need to win now" would have maybe not gone well... and Max would have continued with what he had being doing...

So next time you have an under performer in your Team... work out a best story, his likings and hobbies along with a statement that will make it clear for him that the feedback is counting and you dont and you never say "Keep up the bad work!!!!"

You can follow me on Twitter at sameera_cmc

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Team Engagement - 10 ways to get loved by your Team

Donate for Haiti Earth Quake Victims to the Red Cross here

Do you love your Team? Does your Team love you? Alrite do they like you? Alrite do they like to work with you? Alrite do they want to see you in office? Ok.. OK.. OK... I know the answer... You are one traditional Manager who is definitely hated by his Team. Never mind... You are not the only Manager thinking this... there are bunch of them who think they know they are been hated...hated by their teams... Initially i felt that it is just a normal human nature "Hate your Boss" but luckily I realise that it is not so (Thanks to all the bosses I have got in the past from Sakore Sir to Subhash Sangam to Kari to Gert-Jan). They all gave me a feeling that Bosses are one part of your life that can definitely make you one Hell Of a Good Manager.

To what I have learnt all these years from these great leaders and will continue to learn from... I will put down those 10 important elements that can make you love your Team and your Team love you... For those impatient soul's in here, this is not going to come in one shot... so please take I element at a time work over it, try to practice it, wait for the next and then carry on... For those Alpha Managers sitting and reading this, I am sure you may have tried all of these but read on there is nothing to loose if you get a good Idea of this.

Element 1 that will get you loved by your Team

You are leading a Team of 50 odd people, you walk into the office every day remembered ever you stopped by side of one of your engineers and asked him "Tom!!! Are you feeling better today after yesterday's headache?" Or Did you send a Birthday card to one of your new Team members on his first birthday with the company?

Well this is one of the last thing that you as the busiest manager would want to do... but who told you that no matter what you do, you will always be loved... try this with your son or daughter... just ignore them for a day or two and see they wont even want to see your face... So when our kids cant love us if we dont love them... how do we expect our Teams to love us if we dont like them , Love them , take care of them?

What was your reaction when you were mentioned in a big company meeting by the most important person in the company? You were on the 10th heaven? Well similarly when you show the care to your employees, about them they feel good.. and this good feeling is what builds an understanding and bonding that turns it to love... Yes Love for you by your Team members.

So if you havent got this right yet... The element here is your memory.... Yes if you remember the name of your Team member (In case of bigger teams), some important dates that affect them, some important days of their life and some important elements of their life... they love those who care about their personal things... and when they love you they work hard for you.

So how do you do this?

1. Get their important information

This can be done by various ways... I used a funny survey document that I asked the Team to fill. I got to know their hobbies, their partner names , their passion and much more. You can also do a social network check and find a lot about them from the social websites. You have to do some homework and be alert on this.

2. Store it in a way you would be reminded

Just having the information and doing it once is not the right way and thing to do... make sure you store the information at some place where you can retrieve it easily or it can remind you well in time. I use Microsoft Outlook and Remember the Milk tool to remind me of important dates of Team members and even family (considering the fact that I am a workalcoholic, I even store my anniversary reminders in these tools). The funny part is I still have important dates of team members who no longer work with me.

3. Show the care when they are and are not associated with you

Yes it is important that way. Even if you are not directly or indirectly linked, showing care would get the feel of closeness. This will bring more trust and love factor. And your Team would love you even when they are not in your Team.

4. Never mix work with care

"Are you feeling better today? Now since you said yes can you fix this for me now?" well dont mix it this way. Unless it is very important make sure that you keep work and personal care about your team in different zones.

Many of these things dont add up to cost. They are simple smaller things that have a huge impact on effective Team engagement. Now if you see yourself as a Good Manager you have to be honestly good.

So Today is a very Important day.... You just have to find out for which member in your Team....

You can follow me on Twitter at Sameera_cmc

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Confessions of a frustrated soul!!! - Handle it or Quit your choice

Well its not a rocket science... but it is definitely a science, an art and a lot of commerce... if you mix them up, you would definitely be able to handle frustration easily... Alrite coming back to the important part... we all being humans leaving those smart mon chips there who claim that frustration cannot run their way... we have to learn, definitely learn and practice the ways to handle frustration... like in our earlier post we know that a lot of times frustration comes up linked to competition and growth... remember it can very well positively contribute to ones growth...

Once when the speaker of Loksabha Mr. Somnath Chatterjee got frustrated with the Members of parliament shouting all over the house, he found an answer to the problem.."No and that was not suspension" He bought the noising members to desk and targeted questions to their regions be discussed in the question hour.. a lot of them eventually got quite.

So... handling frustration positively and effectively is just not the thing you can do with a cup of coffee.. we you may need a few more of it and of course shared ones... here is how I tackle frustration..

1. Speak it up

A lot of times the reason to get frustrated and angry is not speaking up. Most of the times not speaking leads to piling up things and our dirty minds then keep on adding negativity into the brains to add up to the frustration. Try to find a way to get the stuff frustrating you out.. discuss it with relevant people who can help you out with it... A previous colleague chose never to speak to anyone at work in situations where he was most frustrated... it was only known when he decided to leave the company on why he was frustrated and why he left, the reason was he was no more wanting to work during night shifts, only after he left he came to know that the Management was thinking of shifting many of people to daytime hours.

2. Take some time off

Usually the situation comes where you are in the routines and that brings up frustration to you even if you dont want to be. Its important that the time off is taken regularly to keep you energized and motivated and thus you can always come back with new flavors and new spirit. Once my 7 yr old asked me during a cricket match on why did the drinks come after every 30 minutes in cricket and why not even once in football. Apart from the logical shorter time game I could not think of another reason until when the commentator claimed that he always used the drink breaks to reset his mind set. Yes imagine a batsmen on the crease for 5 hrs waiting on the other side of the wicket to see how his partner just lets the ball go without scoring... enough to frustrate? Yes... that other batsmen, fielder and bowler need time off from the routine to rethink what they need to do...

3. Do what you like best

This is the time when you are tired of doing what you are doing.. and this is the time when you would want to do what you like the most to keep yourself motivated. A frustrated salesman who could not do any major sales in a full quarter was just about to quit when he was asked to take a break during which he did what he wanted to do best networking, social networking... he logged into his profile of social networks and started connecting to people... accidentally or with coincidence he was able to generate a couple of leads from the old school pals who were in business... Having said that this is the time and task that can let you bring your focus back, motivated with the spirit of accomplishment.

4. List down the reasons

Majority of times we dont know why we get frustrated, even if we know we dont know what to do with them. I remember a story of a scientist who while working on a very critical project had posted hundreds of post its in his bedroom... once his son entered the bedroom and started reading them .. words like "Did this approach of XYZ ever worked, what is the best way to do it?" blah blah all confusing for the kid, the kid left... he came back a month later to only find hardly few posts on the walls he asked his father "Where did all the post notes go?" Scientist replied... every time I get frustrated "I write a not about what frustrates me and post it on the wall" every day I enter my room I see them all around... I think over them and eventually get an answer to my frustration.....

Yes.. if you list them down , you may get time to rethink over them and find solutions or discuss them with others....

5. Identify the areas

As mush important it is to find the items that frustrate you is important to find the areas where you get frustrated.... A thing may frustrate you once, but if the same thing frustrates you always... my friend, its time you think over it... it is thus important to list them out and then create a pattern if you are usually "Frustrated Soul" A married man who had to go shopping with his wife every weekend realised that shopping with wife frustrates him, he had quarrel and fights with wife.... the wife never understood what was the reason to his frustration.... she once choose to change the shopping list and took the man to a lingerie shop, what happened to frustration was unknown?

6. Leave the brain and mind and different locations and Focus

Focus is key in this state. Keep your brain involved so it does not remind you of the items that frustrate you and let the mind be doing things that it likes so you dont remember what was frustrating you.... As long as you focus and remain positive the frustrating state is going to go off...keep calm, drink water, exercise and try to keep focus on positive and nicer things...

OR

Quit

Yes, if you can't handle your frustration, you are nothing but a looser... so Quit.

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