Showing posts with label Awareness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awareness. Show all posts

Sunday 17 September 2023

Holistic Planning before execution

  Holistic Planning before execution 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 

As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature. We may need to deal with many stakeholders who may not directly report to us.

We discussed the relevance of defining outcomes in the beginning and reduce the complexity into simplicity to get things done in the workplace.
 
The next principle of project management is 
“Holistic Planning before execution.”

This principle says that before execution, we need to spend quality time on all aspects of planning. The mental visualization of possible risks will help us to solve the problem quickly as we already planned for it.
 
Generally, we do the planning before venturing into any event or task. However, we are primarily trained to plan typically on cost or budget, timeline or schedule aspects, and scope or deliverables aspects only.Having done reasonable planning on time, cost, and scope, we get into execution, and then we realize some changes in scope, and again, we get into managing the cost and timeline aspects. In the process, either we become poor in execution or the purpose is not met.

There only, project management suggests holistic planning beyond schedule, budget, and scope. The planning calls for a 360-degree approach to the event or task as much as possible. 
 
For example, when recruiting a senior person, you obviously go with the budget plan, timeline to close the recruitment process, job descriptions etc. Despite all the planning, the success of recruitment is not guaranteed. The reason is that we are not anticipating or visualizing other aspects related to recruitment beyond essential planning.
 
What are other factors to be planned before recruitment?

How are you going to search for the right people? (Procurement planning)
Who are all likely to get affected by the recruits, and what are their alternatives? (Stakeholder planning)
How do we communicate the new recruitments to all the employees? (Communication planning)
How does the organization structure change? (People planning)
What is the likely growth plan for the new recruit? (People planning)
How can we ensure the success of the new recruit in the first 100 days / one year in given organization dynamics? (Risk management planning)
What will happen if the new recruit fails or leaves the company quickly? (Risk mitigation planning)

 
You may note that this planning process goes beyond the budget/time/scope planning process, and this kind of visualization or planning process will likely lead to success…That is called holistic planning before the execution.
 
Holistic planning or visualization can be done for any simple daily task.

For example, you are making monthly presentation performance to your management team. In addition, with regular stuff or content, plan or think about who will be present in the meeting / what will be their likely questions / what may go wrong during presentations, and what is my plan B, etc.
 
Planning seems to be common sense; however, it needs to be holistic before execution, and looking at everything at 360 will give you an edge in getting things done.

This needs just awareness of our planning process before execution.

Have a great week ahead!

Why project management skills in addition to functional skills?

 Why project management skills in addition to functional skills? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

 

As we have discussed the macro level importance of developing project management skills to get things done in the workplace, let us understand how a manager/leader is exposed to more of a project environment in day-to-day activities and the need for project management skills in addition to functional skills.
 
Even though we will be doing repetitive tasks in a functional area, when we grow up, we only get into more non-repetitive tasks.

 


Typically, in the organization, when you are at a lower level of the hierarchy, say at the executive level, your task may be repetitive. For example, in HR functions, as an executive, processing attendance and payroll are repetitive. When you grow up in the same HR functions and get into managerial positions, your tasks become non-repetitive. The non-repetitive task is the project.
 
For example, as HR head, "recruiting people" is a typical HR activity. It looks like a repetitive task, but it is not. Each recruitment is a new experience, new candidate, new profile, and requirements are different. Expectations of stakeholders like candidates and internal customers are different, and the timeline and cost are fixed.
 
You may relate to any function and managerial position, but you realize that we do non-repetitive tasks only 80 % of the time, even though it looks repetitive.

Whenever any task calls for different scope, timeline, and resource commitment, that is called a project.

When there is a project nature of work,
 there may be uncertainties of success, we need to deal with many stakeholders whose expectations are different, and conflict will be part of it; there is always pressure on meeting timeline and cost aspects.
 
This non-repetitive task or project needs different skills to overcome the challenges. Typical functional expertise alone is not sufficient. There only developing project management skills becomes essential.

To sum up, 
when we go higher up in our career, we will deal with more projects, and project needs different skills to manage the challenges beyond functional skills. The person who learns the project management skill will have more edge in getting things done in the workplace.
 
 Have a great week ahead.

Knowing your work

  Knowing your work 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 

Under the Series " Execution Excellence-Ability to get things done" in a professional setup, we have discussed the importance, methodologies, and some insights on
 1. Personal Leadership
 2. Inspiring and influencing others

The last is "Having in-depth knowledge and awareness of the work or business."
 
For several reasons, having in-depth knowledge and awareness about one's work or business helps get things done efficiently.

  1. Informed Decision-Making: When you have a deeper understanding of your work or business, you can make more informed and well-thought-out decisions. Knowledge allows you to consider various factors, analyze potential outcomes, and choose the best action.
  2. Building Credibility and Trust: Expertise in your field enhances your credibility and earns the trust of colleagues, superiors, and clients. Others are more likely to rely on and support your decisions and initiatives when they see your knowledge and competence.
  3. High Edge on solving problems and influencing people than someone with limited knowledge about the work/ business.

For example,
 
 An executive working for new product development in a software company with a solid technical background and knowledge of the industry can better assess the feasibility of the product, understand the market demands, and guide the development team effectively. They can provide valuable insights during the design and development phases, resulting in a product that meets customer needs and gains a competitive advantage. In contrast, an executive with limited technical knowledge might need help comprehending the project leading to delays, miscommunication, and potentially a less competitive product.

Similarly financial head in a manufacturing company with a thorough understanding of the business's financial performance can make strategic financial decisions more confidently. He/ She can identify cost-saving opportunities, evaluate investment options, and allocate resources efficiently to drive growth. In contrast, a finance head with limited financial acumen may need help to grasp the financial implications of different decisions, leading to suboptimal financial outcomes for the organization.

Similarly, consider a Human Resources (HR) executive responsible for talent acquisition and employee development in a pharmaceutical company. An HR executive who understands the specific skill sets required for various roles can hire suitable candidates and design training programs to enhance their capabilities. An HR executive with limited knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry may need help to recruit and retain the right talent.

The key point is that in-depth knowledge about own profession will help to execute fast without struggle
 
Learning more about our work and our business is a continuous effort, and the more we know, the higher we have capabilities to get things done.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Thursday 11 May 2023

Being flexible in your influencing style

 Being flexible in your influencing style  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

Last week we discussed awareness of the situation/context and how our influencing style helps to get things done. The third dimension of the influencing process is understanding the other person's dominant influencing style and being flexible to change our style accordingly.
 
The ultimate purpose of learning influencing skills is to get things done. This will happen only when we are flexible and adaptive to the SITUATION and modify our influencing style.

Consider the following real incidents in which we can learn the impact of flexibility in making things better or worst.

One of the product development organizations has the policy to approve any product proposal only when it meets certain conditions; for example,  ROI must be two years. The product development team put in their best effort and brought the new proposal; however, the ROI was not meeting, say it was three years. The finance head was going by rational and company policy. He insisted on holding the proposal. However, considering the features, the technical and marketing team was optimistic about going ahead. Everyone was right from their standpoint of view. The situation became inconclusive.

Generally, the CEO believes in the engagement type and wants to decide by consensus.
Now he took the lead in convincing the finance head to go ahead with the product development by stating the big picture of the product and its potential to change the company's destiny in the long run. (inspiring influencing). Also, he persuaded other functions to rework the cost and make it attractive. Finally, the project was approved unanimously, and the product changed the company's fortune within three years.
 
Here the key learning is the business head's flexibility to change his influencing type from engaging to inspiring and counter the finance head's rational influencing style. Just imagine, if he had not been flexible enough and firm to make decisions as per the team's decision, the company would have lost the opportunity.

Alternatively, in one of the small firms, the management recruited a senior person from a large corporate where he spent his entire life and believed in getting things done through a commanding influencing style. The family-owned business believes in an engaging type of influencing and involving all the people in important issues to arrive at decisions. The new person is not flexible to change his influencing style, and he soon lost all his teammates' confidence and eventually made exits. Here the problem is rigidity in adopting the same style of influencing.


Changing style depending on the situation and other people's style without hurting relationships is a winning influencing style of effective leaders. Ultimately things need to be executed, and relationship needs to be preserved.
 
The key point is we need to be aware of the situation or context, aware of our influencing style, and have the flexibility to change the style depending on the other' style and situation. That mindset makes us better leaders in getting things done.

Have a great week ahead.

Thursday 23 March 2023

How to LEARN effectively?

 


How to LEARN effectively?  
(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

As we have discussed the relevance of curiosity to learn new things on being energetic in the workplace, let us understand the different approaches to learning.

Information access is not a problem in today's internet age like earlier. However, authentic learning is about understanding the concept, its application, its variation in different contexts, and its insights.
 
There are various approaches to learning, and one needs to choose the choice of combination consistently.
 
Self-learning:

Get interested in any subject  /topic, pick up suitable media like books, online courses, and YouTube videos, listen to expert interviews, attend seminars, etc.

This type of learning needs self-initiative, interest, and focus.

At the beginning of my career, fortunately, one of my bosses introduced me to many books on manufacturing systems, which helped me get more interested in those subjects. Eventually, i extended to other subjects, which improved my learning interest.

Observing others @ workplace:

Observing others @ workplace is one of the most effective learning processes for developing behavior and management style. We shall observe the bosses, colleagues even junior colleagues from whom we can learn what to do and don't. (Good and bad behavior😎).

Through observation, i learned a lot from my bosses about handling conflicts and the communication process, 

You might have realized some of the mannerisms you got from your bosses and peers as they inspired and impacted you.
 
Being part of a cross-functional team:
 
Working with a diverse team is one of the best ways to learn more about ourselves. It brings a new dimension to our skills in managing interpersonal aspects, persuasion skills, and ability to tolerate others. When we work with others, we become vulnerable and expose our natural strengths and weakness of ourselves. That introspection will be effective learning.
 
People will learn more in a project management environment of any size than in a functional setup. That is why some organizations encourage more of the CFT approach in solving organizational problems in which people learn and contribute more, and the energy level would be enhanced.

Learning through Teaching :

The learning pyramid model advocates that one can learn more by teaching others than by any other form of learning.
Teaching means sharing what you learned with others the way they understand. In the process, you are thinking more about the concept, its application, and its example and learning the art of communication.
This teaching process will make our learning more effective as we internalize it.

Where can we start teaching?

We can start teaching with our colleagues and internal team. As a manager/leader, one must spend time with others to share their experiences and learnings. Teaching makes us effective learners of concepts and communication skills. Teaching needs passion and patience.
 
In summary,
  • learning can occur in any format and combination, depending on the individual and subject.
  • We must be aware of the learning approaches and open enough for continuous learning, as learning will shape us to the next level and be energetic.
 
Have a great week ahead!
 

How to manage energy during challenging times?

  How to manage energy during challenging times? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 
We are discussing the methods by which effective people stay energetic in the workplace, enabling them to get things done efficiently.
 
One of my friends asked a question that is relevant to this topic. The question is, " Not all days, things will go as we wish. How do we manage high energy levels when the situation is unfavorable?" 

True...Not all days, things will go as we like. Situations like customers firing us, colleagues or junior colleagues in agitation mode, conflict with peers, or inordinate delays in getting things done due to beyond our control lead to disappointment, anger, and frustration.

How do we maintain a high energy level, at least, to be in a balanced mood?

Experts in emotional intelligence suggest the practice of self-regulation.
 
Self-regulation means the ability/ skill to deal with our emotions calmly and deliberate about how we want to show up at work and move on.
 
One of the self-regulation practices is Acceptance.
 
Acceptance :

Acceptance of situations or people is a very powerful self-regulation practice.

For example, imagine a situation where you must meet your customer to propose solutions for a problem, and your important colleague is much more familiar with the subject than you need to accompany you. Last minute, he/ she withdraws from participation for silly or manageable reasons. You are wondering whether it happens by chance or by choice of a colleague whom you do not like much in general.
Now you need to face the customer independently and get the proposal acceptable. Else it would affect your creditability. That is reality.


Would you get upset with the situation, worry about the outcome, blame or get angry with your colleagues for last-minute withdrawal, feel helpless to manage alone, or accept the situation and colleague as such?

We often do not accept and tend to go against reality, putting more pressure on our peace.

When we accept the situation and acknowledge the feeling, we can mentally manage the situation relatively well. Acceptance will give you the mental strength to think about the next step.

In contrast, when we do not accept the situation or people as such, we are still in the mode of negative emotions, which further drains our energy level.

Misunderstanding about Acceptance:

Acceptance does not mean that we have given up and accepted the mediocre. It is all about grounding ourselves with reality, acknowledging the negative emotions at that moment, and preparing ourselves to think about the next actions rather than fighting against reality.
 
Is it easy to be in an acceptance mindset always?

It is not easy for all to accept the situation and people. However, when we practice in small events, it helps us to manage higher challenges in the workplace.

For example, when you are stuck in traffic, are you accepting the situation calmly or blaming/being restless? Those are the moments that test our acceptance capability.
 
That awareness of Acceptance is a self-regulation practice to be at a positive energy level.

Let us discuss some other self-regulation practices next week.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Wednesday 2 March 2022

Awareness of thinking traps in decision making

 Awareness of thinking traps in decision making 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)


As we have discussed the different types of thinking traps that affect our decision-making process, let us summarise the thinking traps and their influence on our decisions.

  • Except for routine activities, most of us have decision dilemmas in all business decisions.
  • We generally assume that we are logical thinkers and equipped with tools and techniques for decision-making. However, research says that despite all the resources on the rational decision-making process, we are unconsciously trapped into thinking bias which affects the quality of decision making, particularly in complex business decisions.

 
Some of the thinking traps we have discussed with examples are
 

  • Giving excess weightage to the first information
  • Maintaining the status quo even though it is not relevant now
  • Seeking confirmation evidence for our initial thought from people who are favoring us
  • Not clearly defining the problem itself
  • Judgement trap either overconfidence or underestimating.

 
In every stage of the business decision-making process, we have more stakeholders, more assumptions, and inputs coming from different ends, leading to misperception. This bias influences our choices or decision-making quality.

Some of the above thinking traps can work in isolation, or they can work in combination.

For example, we give more weightage to the first information we receive, believe it true, and seek confirmation from the people in favor of our initial thinking. Then we take some decisions that will become status quo. We stick to it as our sunk cost mentality will not allow us to detach ourselves from our earlier decisions and finally get into the trap of living with the pain of our decision.

The only protection from the different thinking trap is 
AWARENESS.
 
Even though we cannot avoid the inputs/assumptions from different stakeholders, we can build tests and be disciplined enough in the decision-making process, which will help to get into the trap. That needs a step back and challenge our thought process while making decisions in important events.

More we take unbiased choices without a trap, our confidence improves.

It is easier said than done; however, it needs awareness and practice to take the unbiased, right decisions in a complex business environment.

Have a great week ahead.

Friday 9 April 2021

How environment affects achievement orientation?

 How environment affects achievement orientation?

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)


As we discussed the first two factors on achievement orientation viz Values and Purpose, the third factor which impacts achievement orientation is the Environment.


The environment is where and with whom we spend most of our time, that could be our internal family members, colleagues, friends, and externally to some extent, the society.

How the internal environment impacts us towards achievement orientation?

Since we spend more time with family, friends, and professional networks, they influence our thought process towards achievement orientation. That thought process triggers our ability to take risks, confidence, and courage to manage the challenges during the execution of any tasks.
 
For example,
Imagine that you are proposing a new venture to your internal environmental members. The next step in your venture is predominately determined by the kind of response or reactions you receive from your close circles. That could be an encouraging response or show stopper kind of response.

The environment is primarily influencing your thought process in the following aspects.

Should i focus more on " to be successful " or " not to be failed"?

Even though both focus approaches seem to be the same, there is a subtle difference in how we deal with the achievement task.

When we have a "success" orientation, most of the time, we look for LEARNING  in each step and always look at the experience (either pass or fail) as a learning opportunity. That approach would put us at a high energy level.

When we orient towards “not to fail,” our inclination would be more rigid, always try to be smarter than others, and that approach leads us to a high anxiety level.
 
The environment predominately determines our approach.

Practically, as an individual, we have limited choice on selecting the environment circle, however, we can be conscious about our responses and our thought process towards achievement orientation.

How can a leader in the organization build a conducive environment for achievement orientations among people?

Let us discuss it next week!

Sunday 1 November 2020

Overcoming frustrating moments at the workplace

 Overcoming frustrating moments at the workplace

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

One of the destructing emotions in the workplace is getting frustrated, that too frequently. Getting frustration is not an issue, but being frustrated feelings for a longer time will affect the quality of work, and eventually, it affects your well-being.
 
What is meant by frustration?

It is the feeling of being upset or annoyed with someone you can not change immediately. It is an outcome of helplessness in the situation or with someone.
 
For example,

You may be easily frustrated.

When you are not recognized for your contribution/effort, and you may think your work seems to be pointless at some point in time.

When your partner or junior colleagues are not delivering to your expectation despite your  repetitive mentoring and guidance

When you are loaded with many activities and with limited resources, you may feel that you cannot cope with others' expectations or requirements.

 

In all the examples, you can observe one typical pattern: a misalignment of reality vs. expectation. That is the moment you get frustrated.
 
What will happen when we allow frustration to continue?

When we are in frustration mode for a longer time, that will manifest into anger, outburst to someone, or sometimes when you suppress, it will affect your self-esteem.
 
Dealing with frustration:
  1. Realize the fact that the workplace world will not have the same alignment with your expectations. Getting disappointment sometimes is inevitable. How quickly we bounce back from frustration or channelize it to higher-level emotion is essential to learn.
  2. Express it to your trusted circle :
                When you have disappointment, and you can not do anything about it, at least in the short term, you can express your feeling of frustration to someone who can understand and listen to you. When you speak and get listened to, most of the time, you are subsidizing the pain.
However, it would help if you had someone trusted, more mature than you to look at the issues from a different perspective. The trusted person can be your spouse, colleagues, or friends, mainly external to the workplace.
 
         3. Look at the frustration moments in the broad realm of life.
 
This approach is more effective in dealing with frustration. For example, if you are not given due recognition in a particular event, how will it affect your overall life? How important is it given the privileges you have in other aspects of life.? The point is when you look at your frustration moments in the realm of a larger life, the problem becomes small.

        4.Deal directly with the source:

  The last approach is to get into the dialogue with someone who made you frustrated. Some times it works.

To sum up,

Getting frustration is normal for all of us as human beings. The smartness is quickly recognizing it and channelize it through any of the above approaches rather than dwell on it for a longer duration.
 
You can not change the circumstances, which makes you frustrated, but you can channelize it if you are aware of your emotions instantly. That calls for self-awareness and enhancing your perspectives.

Tuesday 29 September 2020

Dealing with FEAR

 Dealing with FEAR

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

 
One more emotion, if not handled well, that affects personal effectiveness in the workplace, is FEAR. The fear could be loss of job, employees, customers, or loss of finance or fear of rejection or failure in any effort or initiative. The list is countless, and it depends on the individual.

Dealing with fear is not an easy task for all, as the FEAR itself has many dimensions and complex.

Imaginary vs. Fact:

Imaginary fear is something we have in our thoughts and not necessarily present in reality. Some of the fears are an exaggregated version of our thought process.

For example,

what will happen if i fail in my effort or new venture?
What will my colleagues think about me if i ask this question in an open forum?.

The other type of fear is based on the fact; it is reasonable because it is based on the data or fact.

For example,

How can i pay my EMI as my bank account is zero?
How i can face the customer as i did not deliver as committed? 

Whether we have fear due to over exaggregated thoughts or facts, it certainly affects the well being and quality of work in the workplace.

Research studies show that only two fears like fear of falling and fear of loud noise are inborn with us. The other fears are developed by ourselves since childhood experience and the environment. Hence the intensity of fear will vary to everyone.

Another dimension of fear is that one person may have courage in one aspect of life, and the same person may have fear in other aspects.

For example, one person is very bold enough to start a business where most of the population looks at his/ her courage with surprise. Still, the same person may have a fear of scaling up or dealing with a difficult employee or customer.

So, the fear factor is unique to each one depending on the time, context, situation, or environment.

However, we can deal with some of the imaginary or fact-based fears with three steps approach as i experienced. 
  
1.Recognize
2. Subsidize with rational thinking
3. Confront with Action 


We will discuss each step with examples next week!

Practicing Self Compassion

 Practicing Self Compassion

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)


 
In continuation of last week's discussion on overcoming low-level emotions, There are two situations in which we feel low, one is for unknown reasons, and another is for the known cause.
 
Having discussed the method of dealing with low emotions for unknown reasons, let us understand the process of dealing with low emotions due to known causes.
 
Sometimes, we feel low due to disappointment, failure in a task despite the effort, rejection by others, etc.
 
For example, you prepared a proposal to get a new customer order, and despite your best efforts, you failed to win through. You may undergo the pain of losing the opportunity. Now, you feel low due to disappointment, your lack of negotiation skills, or any other factors. You have two choices to overcome the low-level emotion.

The first choice is getting into self-criticism for the failure, labeling you as unlucky, and get into self-pity. This choice pulls down your resilence power. The other choice for overcoming the low-level emotion is through self-compassion.
 
What is meant by self-compassion?

Self-compassion is about being kind of yourself when you are suffering from pain or low-level emotions.

We generally compassionate with others when they undergo suffering. We give them support by looking at the problem rationally and help them to overcome. But when we suffer, most of us are not self-compassionate. Instead, we get into self-criticism or self-pity mode, which aggravates the low-level emotions further.
 
How to practice self-compassion? 
 
First, accept the failure and the fact. Second, recognize your efforts and feel good about that. Also, realize that others are also going through similar pain in the world, and it is not something new that happened to you.

Once you practice self-compassion with kindness and neutral, you are overcoming the low-level emotions. You are in a position to look at the failure in an objective way to avoid mistakes in the future. You are inclined to learn from the mistake. This self-compassionate quality will help you to improve your resilience from failure quickly.
 
Practicing self-compassion during a tough time is essential for our well being and look at the problems from a different perspective. The practice of self-compassionate will come through self-awareness!.

Thursday 3 September 2020

Avoiding impulsive decisions( Contd..)

 Avoiding impulsive decisions( Contd..) 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

 
Last week we discussed one of the methods to avoid impulsive decisions-i.e Going beyond the numbers or facts with example. Let us understand other methods to avoid impulsive decision making.


Taking timeout for responding:

Except for emergencies, not all business decisions call for immediate reaction or response. We can take time out to make the decision. One of the benefits of taking timeout is that the time makes us think about the alternatives or choices for solutions. When we are making decisions impulsively, we feel as if there is no alternative.

When we give time ourselves, we are thinking about both rationally and emotionally. We are in a position to generate the options and able to evaluate the pros and cons of the options.

Typically we come across situations when dealing through emails. We used to react to mail communication immediately as impulsive and later realized that we could have taken timeout to respond with different choices. Sometime back, i have shared my experience on impulsive way of reacting to email as given in the link.

https://lifeexcellenceinsights.blogspot.com/2019/05/lessons-learned-on-email-communication.html

It just needs the ability to distinguish which decisions call for immediate attention and which decisions can be delayed. Not all workplace decisions need the same level of urgency!
 
Getting the perspectives from elders or mentors:
 
The next practical method is to get a perspective from others or mentors on important personal or business decisions. The obvious reason is that when we are emotionally overwhelmed with the problem, we may not see it from the other dimensions. Others could see it from a different perspective because they are not emotionally attached.

Most of us might have experienced that when we were about to make an impulsive decision due to emotions, and when we discussed with others, they provided us simple, rational solutions to the problem.

It requires that we need someone to share the concerns and get different rational perspectives than making impulsive decisions and struggling with the consequences.

How to avoid impulsive decisions?

 How to avoid impulsive decisions?

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 
As we discussed the importance of avoiding impulsive reaction in the conversation and making hasty decisions on any business aspects, now let us learn some of the methods to avoid impulsive decision making.
 
1.Going beyond the numbers or facts
2.Taking timeout for responding
3.Getting the perspective from mentors
 
Going beyond the numbers or facts:

Generally, we believe that "numbers or facts" are the real proof for making the right decisions. However, not in all situations, the facts or numbers will help us to make the right decisions. Instead, the numbers or facts lead us to make impulsive decisions and as a leader, we believe that we are taking logical right choices. We need to look at the scenario from the overall perspective.

For example,

In one of the client organizations, the worker's union put a demand to increase the compensation by quoting an absolute value per annum basis. By seeing that fact, the business head was immediately got angry and reacted to reject the proposal. Eventually, that decision led to the disturbance in the operations for some time. The disruption in the operations costs more than what the people put it as a request. Later, when the business head analyzed the demand in detail, he realized the impact was minimal daily compared to the losses they incurred.

The key realization is that the business head reacted to the mere fact rather than looking at the issue holistically in terms of the overall cost to the company, business continuity, and goodwill.

We may come across many situations in the workplace when we look at only on the number or facts, and we tend to react impulsively both positively and negatively. In either way, it would affect us professionally. It just needs awareness.

Let us discuss other methods in next week!

Impulsive reaction and decision making

 Impulsive reaction and decision making

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 
  In continuation of channelizing the emotions for the positive outcome, one more emotional practice that needs attention is "Making Impulsive  Decisions or Reactions."

The impulsive decision means taking quick decisions without much thought about the consequences, implications to others, and self. Spontaneous reaction means quickly reacting to someone during the conversation without thinking about the consequence. It is simply all about "not thinking before speaking"

For example,

When a manager/colleague/ customer is asking for timeline commitment, without any thought or calculation, committing some timeline and realizing later that impossible to complete.

When somebody asks for your appointment tomorrow, you are agreeing for that, then later on realizing that you have some other commitments.

You can relate your experiences where you committed something without any thought and later troubled yourself to fulfill the commitment or asked for excuses.
 
Why do we make impulsive decisions? 

It is due to our inability to control our emotions, both positive and negative emotions in a particular moment or conversation. It is a state of mind, and it is challenging to be in a balanced state, but that is what most of the effective people use to display both in extremely happy or in extremely uncertain times. That we need to learn while growing up in the ladder.
 
Why should leaders not make impulsive decisions?

Taking an impulsive decision is not good for everyone, but especially it costs more for the people who are growing up and at higher positions. When you are young and make any impulsive decision, it would be seen as aggressive, over-enthusiastic, ambitious, and the mistakes are perceived from the perspective.

When at a higher level, when we react without much thinking and impulsive in making decisions in a business environment, it will affect most of the stakeholders.

I know one of my managers who had grown very fast in the early years of the career due to his impulsive way of making things happen. The same strength affected his reputation and growth when he was handling the managerial roles to manage both business and people.

We should not conclude that impulsive decision means taking decision slowly. It only means making decisions without thinking about the consequences.

But in reality, most of us are prone to impulsive reaction and decision making, and we need to strive to be conscious about it.
 
Let us discuss some of the strategies to channelize the impulsive reaction or decision making next week!

Tuesday 11 August 2020

Misconception about empathy and performance

 Misconception about empathy and performance

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)



One of the responses for last week's discussion on "empathy or looking at the things from other's views" is that if we start looking at things from other's views, that leads into lenience and, in turn, mediocrity in the performance, particularly in a professional environment.

We need to understand the slight difference between empathy and being lenient.

Empathy means we listen to other's views and recognize the cause in it. That does not mean that we are accepting the consequences as such.

For example, let us imagine a typical scenario in the workplace,

One of your junior colleagues on a particular day left the office early due to personal issues. He/she may be the authorized person for a financial transaction, and he/ she had not delegated the task to anyone on that day. Due to his/ her absence, the important financial transaction did not happen, which affected your organizational performance.

In this scenario, as a manager/leader, what choices you had the next day when the junior colleague reported the duty?

Choice 1:

You might have displayed your dissatisfaction with the performance without listening to his/ her situation. In this process, both of you experienced negative emotions or hurt personally.No learning from low performance.
 
Choice 2 :

You might have listened to personal issues, and both of you felt sorry about the performance. In this process, you are lenient and accept mediocre performance.
 
Choice 3:

You might have listened to personal issues, acknowledged it and you might have assertively conveyed your dissatisfaction and his/ her lack of delegation to the work. You made him/ her responsible for not completing the task.He/she might have learned from the mistakes.
 
Choice 3 is the appropriate method of understanding others and ensuring the right management process in place.

Most of the time, we are witnessing either choice 1 or 2 in which mediocre performance is encouraged.

 i recall an incident that happened to me some years back. I drove my car first time in a new city and violated the signal as I was not familiar with the signal points and free left etc. A traffic policeman stopped me and got my license. I briefed him about my first-time driving and lack of awareness about the signal points. He listened to me and advised me to be careful in city driving. But he was firm to charge me fine as punishment and I also paid. In my view, the policemen were very empathic about my ignorance but, at the same time, firm on his duty. That is what required for the people who are at the commanding level as a manager or leader. Just imagine if the policeman displayed choice 1 or choice 2  behavior, then we both were not doing justice to ourselves as humanity consideration or duty consciousness.!
 

The point is being empathetic does not lead to lenience; you need to be firm on your role as a leader in a professional environment for ensuring performance!