What I felt about this Workshop "Team Play"?

                                                       TEAM  PLAY

This workshop that I attended was an experience for me. The workshop was exhaustive and left us, the participants gasping for more. The congenial environment that was created for the workshop was incredible and now, when it has been two days since it ended I can still feel the warmth. 

It was organized an facilitated by Samatvam Academy.

The way the whole program was designed did not actually teach but made us experience, experiment, feel, explore, contemplate and finally realize the whole concept.  

And I met this person – Gary Guller there. Oh man! He made a lasting impression on me. It’s a privilege to meet such people. The way he spoke about his experience has such a lasting impression on my mind that I think that not only I remember his whole experience but I even felt to be a part of his experience? Such was his passion. He has a world record as a first man with one hand to conquer the Mt. Everest summit and a world record for leading the largest cross disability team to the base camp of Mt. Everest.

I would share with you all in brief about what I learnt or realized about Team Play from this workshop.

We all have read, said and experienced the definition of a Team i.e. “A group of people coming together and working for a common goal.” But has our thought wandered into the labyrinth of a team formation and its excellence?

This workshop exemplifies this process which a team undergoes to its way to success or achievement. Accordingly a team undergoes the following three stages/phases:-

1. Appreciation – where we get to know our team members.
2. Reconciliation – where we get to decide as to how we can work together.
3. Accomplishment – where we achieve the set goal working together.

It looks simple. Isn’t it? What is the big deal in it would be your thought? But let me ask as to how many of us go through these phases or stages in the given order while forming a team or working in a team. Think, retrospect and then answer to yourself. Let me explain the three stages in order to facilitate your thinking.

Appreciation – What does the word Appreciation literally means? Appreciation, admiration, gratitude, respect, high regard etc. What does this mean? Aren’t these words giving a positive kind of feeling? Yes, it means finding the positivity or you may even say positive strengths of your team members. Why only positive strengths? Because, these positive strengths of your team members will work for you and the whole team. It is the process of interviewing.

Let me cite an example where you can relate with it. We all have played cricket during childhood in our nearest park or the nearest lane and how did we choose the team? Didn’t we appreciate each member’s strength as batsman, bowler and fielder before setting out to play and faltered when not done.

Now, I think one can relate it to his/her experience. 

Reconciliation – What does it mean? Understanding, settling, bringing together and what else. To me it is like fitting the blocks of different size together to give a defined shape. Can you relate to any of your team building experience? I can again relate to the same example of the cricket team. After knowing the strengths of each member the roles are defined and a batting line up is made or a field is set to win the match.

Yes, it is the process of putting the pieces together so that they fit well and function together efficiently. This is the process where we define roles of each member in the team and set norms for the team to function and not falter in between.

Accomplishment – Now, I don’t have to churn this word to make you understand this last stage/phase of a Team Play. It is the stage in which we plunge into action and come out victorious but it will only happen when we are prepared with our action plan with each member’s role defined according to their strengths or field of play. 

It’s easy, simple but we don’t realize it many a times. Actually it happens with a human mind, it is drawn towards the greater picture neglecting the minute pieces that come together to construct it. We tend to not realize the effort of the people behind the scene after watching a great movie. The same way we and our mind are both drawn to the bigger picture or the field of play/action and neglect the importance of the preparation to be victorious. 

Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century economist, theorized that most effects come from relatively few causes; that is, 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the possible causes (Juran, 1988). For example, 20 percent of the inventory items in the supply chain of an organization accounts for 80 percent of the inventory value. This is known as the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule.

Some teams fall into the time wasting trap of going after the 80 percent of items that only have a value of 20 percent of the total net worth. Your visions need to picture the 20 percent that will have the greatest impact on your organization. Although it is nice to have small victories every now and then by going after that easy 80 percent, spend the majority of your time focusing on the few things that will have the greatest impact. 

This workshop did bring these grave mistakes of ourselves on the table in front of us to realize that yes we tend to do mistakes even if we are aware of the process in place. 

In my opinion this applies even for people working individually. All the entities that constitutes me, myself can be considered as members of a team i.e. me; like my mind, my intelligence, my skill, my experience, my mental endurance, my physical strength, my surroundings etc. Following the process of Appreciation, Reconciliation and Accomplishment for these team members will also bring successful achievement of the set goals.

What is the motive or the theory behind Performance Appraisal? VI (Goal Achievement)

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What is the motive or theory behind Performance Appraisal? V (Goal Setting Process)

When I stretched my legs thinking about my new post, I found my mind still lingering with the Goal Setting. It felt as if something is still missing and I felt I was not satisfied with my findings and exploration on the topic. I released my thoughts to wander and again retrospect the points that we have discussed till now in Goal Setting. I found that whatever we have discussed till now looks mechanical. It was not satiating my human crave. It seemed as if I knew about these entire long before. 

Who is not aware of the facts that I have discussed? Haven’t we all studied these in our schools or colleges? May be the words would be different, the presentation would be different, but it’s true that I did not discuss about anything out of the world. At max, I can say it with authority that it certainly refreshed our minds about the subject. But again the question of my dissatisfaction arises.

I then tried to find the answer to my dissatisfaction from my own course of life – why not?  You will find the answers to all your questions within yourself only. TRY IT. 

Thinking about my Goals and me, my thoughts drifted to my childhood. What was my first goal? May be in other words my first AIM? Perhaps I wanted to be Pilot. Those were the days when our goals changed with the day. I decided to be Pilot while waving at the fighter jet flying past the sky. My batting stance and my bowling action changed whenever Sachin or Kapil struck gold.  Even my friends will find it amusing that our dumbbells saw light only after watching a Sunny Deol starrer. 

I don’t remember how many times I have decorated pages with my so called Time Table but followed none. I think many of us would recognize with the fact that after each term examination there always was a resolution to improve upon the grades. 

Even today, how many goals do we achieve or how many resolutions do we follow?

Is it not true that whenever a good physique or a good figure passes by or at worse somebody ridicules at our waist line, we resolute on certain things to do but again...................

So, we haven’t changed since our childhood. How can we say that we have put our experience, our knowledge, our maturity to use if still we are behaving the way when we were curious little creatures imbibing everything that came across? 

We laugh and ridicule our failure when all have failed, feel sad and jealous when in midst of successful and feel angry on ourselves and almighty God when being sympathized on our failure.

Different types of emotions ooze out for the same failure in different situation. 

Now, the following questions arise:-

• -          What is the problem?
• -          Where is the problem?
• -          Were these goals out of reach?
• -          Could I have not become a Pilot, a cricketer or could have I not excelled in all my examinations?
• -          Could I have not reduced my waistline to a permissible level?
• -          Are these goals wrongly set?
• -          Was I unaware of how to achieve it?
• -          Did I put the right effort to achieve it?
• -          Etc, etc, etc

There can be any number of such questions if we sit and retrospect our life, goals and achievements.

Much has been written about goal setting. We have also discussed about it in the last two posts. Yet, many people comment that they are not satisfied with their performance in achieving those goals. 

To begin, let's be sure we have a clear definition of what constitutes a goal. As we have discussed, I would like to define a goal as follows: "A written statement that clearly describes certain actions or tasks with a measurable end result."

To elaborate on this definition, a goal must be written. If it is not written, it is merely an idea with no power, conviction or motivation behind it. It will lack energy and purpose. A written goal will allow you to remind yourself and others exactly what has to be done. Rereading this written goal on a regular basis will help provide the motivation to achieve the goal.

A goal will clearly describe certain actions or tasks. A goal that is clearly described will eliminate misunderstandings between you, your colleagues, your staff and your boss. Clearly described goals will include action verbs such as create, design, improve, organize, purchase, etc. A test to determine the clarity of your stated goal is to show the statement to 5 people. Ask each of them individually to explain the purpose and objective of the goal. If each one has the same response, your goal is clearly stated. If the responses differ, even in the slightest, it is a signal to make your goal clearer.

Goals must have a measurable result with a time frame for completion. A measurable goal is quantifiable. It is described in such a way that the actual result cannot be disputed. If you cannot measure something, chances are you cannot effectively manage it.

Now that you have a written goal, what steps can you take to ensure you achieve the goal? The following will help you:-

1. Regularly and vividly imagine your goal as accomplished.  
2. Share your goal with as many people as possible so they can support and encourage your actions to achieve the goal. 
3. Break the goal down into small steps or tasks and set deadlines to complete the smaller steps. 
4. Review your progress regularly. 
5. Plan each task or step on your calendar by making an appointment to work on a particular part of the task. Block out the time necessary and try to not allow interruptions, phone calls or other tasks distract you. 
6. If you are having trouble or getting backlogged, ask for help. Also, allow yourself to help others who may be backlogged as well.  
7. Make the decision that you will accomplish the goal. 
8. Plan a reward for yourself for the accomplishment of the goal. Even if no one else (like your boss) will provide a reward, there is no reason you can't reward yourself- a movie, a massage, a walk in the park or something that is meaningful to you. This will also help to motivate you to accomplish the goal.

 

What I have outlined is a process for effective goal setting and achievement. A process will work if two components are present -- the process itself is sound and the people utilizing the process have the discipline to follow the process through. The process described above is sound and has worked in thousands of situations. The discipline is up to you.

What is the motive or the theory behind Performance Appraisal? V (More on Goal Setting)

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What is the theory behind Performance Appraisal? IV (Goal Setting)

Now we are prepared for the Goal Setting exercise to commence. I think more emphasis to be laid on the Goal Setting exercise than the Performance Evaluation in the whole life cycle of Appraisal – why because if goals are loosely set then even the performance of a competent person will also affect and further the evaluation will not be done properly and it will leave a bitter taste for the Appraises and will demotivate them to Perform further and they may even look out for change. Now first let’s discuss the steps in Goal Setting in detail and then we will understand with some examples.

We can divide the Goal Setting exercise in 6 steps. They are:-

Step 1 - Vision

The first step in setting goals and priorities is to personally develop what the organization should look like at some point in the future — a vision. A junior leader, such as a supervisor or line manager, will mainly be concerned with a department, section, or small group of people, while senior leaders set the vision for the entire organization. However, both types of visions need to support the organization's goals.

Step 2 - Goals

The second step involves establishing goals, with the active participation of the team. Goals are also stated in unmeasurable terms, but they are more focused. It’s like selecting a path, a way, a road to the vision. For example, "The organization must reduce transportation costs." Or “The Sales Department must reduce the rejection rate.” Or “The Admin Department must reduce the Daily expenses without cutting on the facilities”. Or “The IT Department must reduce the turnaround time for any ticket raised.” This establishes the framework of the vision. 

Step 3 - Objectives

Definable objectives provide a way of measuring the movement towards vision achievement. This is the real strategy of turning visions into reality. It is the crossover mechanism between your forecast of the future and the envisioned, desired future. Objectives are stated in precise, measurable terms such as "By the end of the next quarter, the shipping department will use one parcel service for shipping items less than 100 pounds and one motor carrier for shipping items over a hundred pounds." Or “All salesperson will reduce their rejection rate by 30% by next quarter.” Or “We will reduce the daily expenses by 15% in next six months.” Or “We will reduce the response time to minimum for any ticket.”  The aim is to get general ownership by the entire team. 

Step 4 - Tasks

The fourth step is to determine tasks. Tasks are the means for accomplishing objectives. Tasks are concrete, measurable events that must occur. An example might be, "The transportation coordinator will obtain detailed shipping rates from at least 10 motor carriers." Or “Each salesperson will do a complete homework on the client before the final assault.” Or “Fresh quotations would be invited from various vendors and finalized after the rate is bargained to a lower level.” Or “Develop a mechanism for a speedy ticket raise and automatic approval by manager.”

Step 5 - Timelines

This step establishes a priority for the tasks. Since time is precious and many tasks must be accomplished before another can begin, establishing priorities helps your team to determine the order in which the tasks must be accomplished and by what date. For example, "The shipping rates will be obtained by May 9." Or “The new rates from fresh quotations will be finalized within a week.” Or “The new mechanism will be up and running in a month.”

Step 6 - Followup

The final step is to followup, measure, and check to see if the team / person is doing what is required. This kind of leader involvement validates that the stated priorities are worthy of action. For the leader it demonstrates his/her commitment to see the matter through to a successful conclusion. Also, note that validating does not mean to micro-manage. Micro-management places no trust in others, where as followingup determines if the things that need to get done are in fact getting done. 

I think now you have got a clear picture on how to set goals and what are the important steps in the exercise that ensure the positive and fruitful conclusion. I would like to point out to all the stakeholders that though this exercise is a part of performance appraisal system where the performance of appraise is evaluated on this dimension it should be conducted with a mindset of performance improvement system. 

If we have mentioned the word mindset then lets discuss the mindset while setting SMART goals to achieve. SMART is a methodology of goal setting which I will discuss along with a much fresh methodology on the block.

So, we were talking about the mindset. All the things that we have discussed in the goal setting till now seems like an academic chapter which generally gives you a base on which you yourself have to cultivate your thinking and methods. 

Now let us discuss as to how actually we settle on a goal. Like if we have zeroed in a Goal e.g. “Reduce the overlay expenses by 20% “ or “Reduce the rejection rate by 30% without increasing the cost”, and then this discussion will clear your apprehensions as to how to come up with such specific goals. 

As we all now know that for the goal setting exercise to commence the manager and the employee should be clear about the job, tasks, responsibilities, functions, competency of the employee etc.

Now, the following questions need to be asked and accordingly answered:-

1. What do you want that you don't have? (Achieve)
2. What do you want that you already have? (Preserve)
3. What don't you have that you don't want? (Avoid)
4. What do you have now that you don't want? (Eliminate)

Make a grid like structure as illustrated below:-

 

Achieve	Preserve
Avoid	Eliminate

And jot down all the relevant answers in the grids. Now the only thing that you have to do is to jumble up the words to come up with a sentence and EUREKA !!!! THIS IS YOUR GOAL.

Isn’t simple???? Do you want me to explain it with some live example???????

I will appeal to all that we all should set personals goals for ourselves  and make our growth path a well identified, marked track where there is minimal chance to deviate or go wrong.

Recession a REALITY or FARCE?

A new Study has come up recounting the sorry state of unemployment in America 

Going through this I reflected on the thought about the present state of India in terms of recession and unemployment. Every other day we hear about economic growth rate rising and presently it is placed at 8.5% according to the facts. 

Let’s try to understand what Economic Growth Rate is

In practice, it is a measure of the rate of change that a nation's gross domestic product goes through from one year to another. Gross national product can also be used if a nation's economy is heavily dependent on foreign earnings.

Economic Growth = (GDP2 - GDP1) / GDP1

Now, the question comes as to what exactly is Gross Domestic Product which is commonly known as GDP.

What Does Gross Domestic Product - GDP Mean?

The monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis. It includes all of private and public consumption, government outlays, investments and exports less imports that occur within a defined territory.

GDP = C + G + I + NX

where:

"C" is equal to all private consumption, or consumer spending, in a nation's economy
"G" is the sum of government spending
"I" is the sum of all the country's businesses spending on capital
"NX" is the nation's total net exports, calculated as total exports minus total imports. (NX = Exports - Imports)

Investopedia explains Gross Domestic Product – GDP

GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of living. Critics of using GDP as an economic measure say the statistic does not take into account the underground economy - transactions that, for whatever reason, are not reported to the government. Others say that GDP is not intended to gauge material well-being, but serves as a measure of a nation's productivity, which is unrelated.

What Does Unemployment Rate Mean?

The percentage of the total labor force which is unemployed but actively seeking employment and is willing to work. 

Do all these calculations show the real picture? Our Census says we are at present 1.15 billion. My hunch is that we are much more than that.

Now, I would like to ask a question - did the recession really hit India and is over now when America is still reeling under it?

I will let you know my experience of recession:-

• ·         My salary was decreased by 10% from the current level.
• ·         My quarterly Team Building allowance of Rs. 200 was scraped.
• ·         Bisleri bottles and dispensers were replaced by water filters.
• ·         We were asked to use paper plates, napkins and disposable glasses with care.
• ·         Many of my colleagues were asked to leave.

The only fact that amused me was that not a single project in my company got scraped during this period.

I and people around me experienced recession in the above illustrated form only. The other effect that we discovered outside our company was that our updated Resumes on the various Job Portals were unable to attract new job opportunities anymore.

The effect was like people started reaching Interview venues on or before time for whatever opportunity they got. The attitudes got milder. There were little or no negotiations on salary offered. Candidates started running after recruiters instead of the opposite earlier. Offer declines became a word of past.

Recession became the talk of the town and the synonym of any sorry state. 

According to me it was a FARCE in India. It just exposed our unorganized way of functioning. The recession was not the cause for the above distress instead it was the aftermath of the so called Economic Boom that we all enjoyed just before that. The so called trade pundits who continuously chatter on the idiot box and colour our newspaper black and white, were in one voice saying that “our Time has come”, “we are going to be the next economic super power”.

After the recession hit, economy slumped and they were again there making noise barefacedly about the present sorry state and how much more bad shape it would take in future.

We, like illiterate and senseless fools first believed them when they were shouting at the top of their voices dressed in fine linen suits and gelled hair on our TV screens that we are not going to get affected by the recession and our time has come and again believed them when they with an expression of an intellect again dressed in linen and well groomed hair said that we are hit by recession and the matter will worsen in future.

Again, we all started talking about the recovery when again these pundits started babbling about the recovery and we all started getting calls on our updated Resumes. 

I want to ask

• ·         How can we recover if America & Europe are still reeling under recession?
• ·         How are we getting new opportunities when our counterparts in America are still struggling to find a decent job?
• ·         How can we say that we were in recession and recovered from it with flying colours when during this periods all records of scams in our country were broken?
• ·         How can we say that we are on a recovery path when the price of all the essentials goods has almost doubled in a spam of one year?
• ·         How can we say that we were hit by recession when I hardly heard any company in India shutting down or incurring huge losses?

So, am I not right in calling this recession a FARCE?

What is the motive or the theory behind Performance Appraisal? IV (Goal Setting)

Goal Setting

Our next Step that we are going to discuss is Goal Setting. It is one of the most important aspects of Performance Appraisal Cycle where one’s growth is aligned with the Vision of the Organization .It is commonly seen that very less emphasis is laid upon this exercise due to which other aspects of the Performance Appraisal, Training Need Analysis, Employee’s   Career Growth goes awry.

Now let’s understand a few things before going ahead with the idea. Points to ponder upon:-

• ·         Goals are being set for the Appraise to achieve and set by the Appraiser to supervise.
• ·         These Goals are being set in the context of the Business and Vision of the Organization.
• ·         These Goals are being set as a scale to measure the performance of the Appraise in a given period of time.

The above points give clarity to the purpose of the exercise and this will in turn bring seriousness towards the exercise from the stakeholders. They are – the Appraise, the Appraiser and the Organization. 

Oraganization

• ·         The Organization is the major stakeholder in this exercise as these Goals are set in the context and limitations of the Organization to reach its Vision.
• ·         The policies, procedures and the culture of the Organization should boast and facilitate the other stakeholders to achieve their goals.

Appraiser

• ·         Appraiser should ensure that the appraise has totally settled and understood his/her job profile and what is expected from him/her in case of a new employee.
• ·         Appraiser should be well aware of the competency level of the appraise. WAIT – let’s consider a case¹ over here. Suppose a manager has to set goals for two of his subordinates with similar skills and job profile with differing competency level.  If the Manager sets goals of different levels with due consideration of their competency level then would it not be injustice?

Appraise

• ·         Appraise should have well imbibed the culture, business and mindset of the Organization along with his job profile and properly aligned it with his/her personal goals.

Now, before going ahead with the steps of Goal Setting let’s consider few points that really contribute to the success of this exercise.

• ·         They should be realistic and attainable.
• ·         They should improve the organization (morale, monetary, etc.).
• ·         All the people should be involved in the goal-setting process.
• ·         A program should be developed to achieve each goal.

There are further fivecharacteristics of goal setting:

• ·         Goal Difficulty: Increasing your employees' goal difficulty increases their challenges and enhances the amount of effort expended to achieve them. The more difficult goals lead to increased performance if they seem feasible. If they seem too high, employees will give up when they fail to achieve them.
• ·         Goal Specificity: When given specific goals, employees tend to perform higher. Telling them to do their best or giving no guidance increases ambiguity about what is expected. Employees need a set goal or model in order to display the correct behavior.
• ·         Feedback: Providing feedback enhances the effects of goal setting. Performance feedback keeps their behavior directed on the right target and encourages them to work harder to achieve the goal.
• ·         Participation in Goal Setting: Employees who participate in the process, generally set higher goals than if the goals were set for them. It also affects their belief that the goals are obtainable and increases their motivation to achieve them.
• ·         I would like to define a goal as follows: "A written statement that clearly describes certain actions or tasks with a measurable end result." To elaborate on this definition, a goal must be written. If it is not written, it is merely an idea with no power, conviction or motivation behind it. It will lack energy and purpose. A written goal will allow you to remind yourself and others exactly what has to be done. Rereading this written goal on a regular basis will help provide the motivation to achieve the goal.

We will discuss the Goal Setting steps and Methodologies in the next post. In the mean time I would like the reader to come up with the solution to the case¹ discussed above.

Homeless Man with a Golden Voice. What would have happened to this Talent in India?

Ted Williams: The MAN with a Golden Voice

As Reported on Los Angels Times:

“Ted Williams, a former radio announcer, was living in a tent near a highway, his life ruined by drugs and alcohol, until the Columbus Dispatch posted a video of him begging for money, thus showcasing the man with the golden voice.

The video, which highlighted his majestically silky voice, went viral on the Internet. Williams, 56, has since been flooded with job offers, including one from NFL Films and another from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who offered him a two-year contract and volunteered to pay for his living expenses.”

What would have happened to the Man, if he had been in India??

This is the most common sight for all of us in India. I think maybe we can find people living in such tents and part time shelters in every nook and corner. On every traffic signal we see such people either selling books, balloons, toys, begging money, making fool of you by posing pregnant, injured or lost in the city with family with no money.

There was even a movie named “Traffic Signal” on the life of such people.


Perhaps, now it doesn’t even catch our attention.

But let’s make a guess as to what would have happened to the man, if he would have been begging on any Traffic Signal of any Indian City????????