I PUBLISH, THEREFORE I AM

For a simple reason that complexity of work never changes, it’s either complex or easy, and almost always you know about it; but an employee’s attitude towards the assigned work changes over night. Before (that is, in 1940 J ) me and my friends thought that all that the Project managers and Delivery heads do is send emails, chat on the phone, and give their teams’ status to their bosses. Were we dumb or what! These managers have a whole lot of project management responsibilities which is obscure to a lot of us (i.e. team members), but slowly as you try to analyze things in your team, you’ll know that your managers don’t just do reporting, they too have REAL work, just like you do. Now, that gets me to think that just like colleges have  15:1 ratio defined for “students : teachers”, we gotta have some definition for “employees: bosses” in a company. We need a boss for every 5 guys (i.e. 5:1). Also, there is a dearth of pe...

What are you weaknesses? Don’t gimme that answer you prepared for the interviews …seriously, what are your weaknesses and what have you done to improve on it? I am weak at filling forms (not weak, may be lazy), being a gentlemen, remembering dates, and doing administrative work…what have I done to improve on it? NOTHING You know why, coz I am not interested in those activities, and I prefer not to improve on it. I don't want to learn things that I don't find interesting, even if learning them makes me smarter by the day. It’s not like I have not tried improving on it; I tried and found out that those jobs literally suck. There are a lot of other things I don’t know of, let me find out and try those things first. All I say is that it’s ok to not improve on your weaknesses , don’t worry, your employer will understand ;-).

If you foresee a problem and let’s say, there is no way you can escape that! (something like: getting results, or buying shit we don’t need and realizing it later) Take it from me, just relax and wait for it, whatever you need to do, you’ll do it when it happens. Don’t break your head over it on a daily basis, trying to figure out a solution and all that. PS: I am just saying this to myself. I think the shit is about to get heavy, and there is no way I can do anything about it, so, I am just gonna relax my way outta it.

I read  a fabulous article that talks about performance appraisal goof ups, and that got me to think something else. The article specifically talks about managerial goof ups, but, I’ve got an employee-goof-up to add to that context, here it goes. I remember spending around 1 hour to prepare for my appraisal meeting (I take it really seriously, I take print outs, what to ask, how to ask, how to answer and all that), and I was the only one who filled that form (THE form) that early; To that someone said “that shows that I don’t have any other work”, I didn’t have a comeback coz frankly, I thought appraisal meeting IS work (it sure is). So, if you think spending 1 hour to prepare for an appraisal meeting is useless, then I’d say, 1 hour an year is just too reasonable a time to spend for your own good. Also, some people say – the percentage hike or your promotion and all that is already set beforehand, and that this appraisal meeting is...

Telling them why is it impossible to reach the customer care executive, and how the service they provide needs a service :). Don’t be an ass, stop shouting, save your breath, nothing is going to happen, all that the customer care can do is push your complaint to the next step in the pipeline. So, just do your thing - lodge a complaint and get the complaint details/ID. The customer care is there to do JUST that, they don’t have a solution that you can use (almost always), unless you are calling a support center. And ya, you should know that there is a hell lot of a difference between customer support and customer care . Take my advice, shout at the wall or even the trees, but not the customer care – just chill. BTW, I am not in this profession, I am a writer J .  

There are a lot of group buying websites that give you a 90% discount on certain products/services, and some of them get tipped if 2-3 people buy it. Do you believe that...freaking 90% discount is just too much, don't they wanna make money or even to that matter, break even. If you think like that, then you are way too innocent. The discount is on a fake price, these guys don't sell that stuff anywhere else for the MRP (most of them, not all). I don't wanna undermine what these websites are doing, coz I believe in the group buying concept and it's fabulous. But it has one major drawback : If I find a store giving me a ayurvedic massage for 500 bucks in the group buying website, where in I have to pay 400 bucks to the merchant and 100 bucks to the website. Then my cheap/smart mentality thinks - what if I call the store guys and ask for the same offer without having to register in the website, by that I save the 100 bucks I had to give to the group buying website. Of cour...

this is because, you keep things in the closet which you think you don't need that often (important once are on the table, in that sense), but you might need it once in a while and you might forget that you kept it there. So, if you keep it at some place where you can see it everyday, you are more likely to use it whenever you want it. It's always there in your subconscious that you have that thing and it's ready to be used. I say this not just for things, even for papers or folders in the computer , don't nest a folder within a folder unless really really necessary coz if you do nesting, you'll forget to use the nested folder when required, coz you only see the parent-folder everyday and not the nested folder. I just found my sunglasses somewhere buried in my closet, that I was supposed to use in the summer. I wish I kept it somewhere I could see it, coz I could have used it then.

If someone is talking about money, health, luxury, or may be old age...you gotta use this poem. As a rule, man is a fool, When it's hot, he wants it cool; When it's cool, he wants it hot, Always wanting what is not. You see, it fits brilliantly :). I was getting bored listening to how old people survived with 300 rupees a month salary, lived a happy life and all that (for almost the gazillion'th time). No offence, I understand that the older generation has given the best possible things to the younger generation, but a 300 then and a 10,000 now is one at the same, a lot of us are still living that life. Don't be scared, I know you have problems, even I do. So, don't put your shit on me; instead, just deal with it.

You’ve got to read this . I always wanted to say this, but couldn’t say coz it doesn’t look good when it comes for a guy in his twenties, and especially from someone who’s never been a boss ( correction : I sometimes boss myself J ). Anyways, don’t wait for people to tell you what needs doing, you are wasting a lot of money if you know what I mean. So, quit wasting your time and money.

I read an article on how the best labs manage talent , and then it occurred to me that a senior colleague in my office told me something similar that I found really enlightening, and something that everyone should keep in mind when giving an interview. W hen you are going for an interview, the assessment is not just on the skill set you possess, it's also on the skill set you wish to possess. For instance, you might be one of the writers who did all kinds of writing, but you didn't do the kind of technical writing that is crucial for you to get hired. Now that the interviewee has come to know about it, he might assess you on are-you-interested-in-the-writing-we-do . If you show genuine job role curiosity then the guy might hire you. Nothing concrete about what I just said coz it ain't, it's just a thought. PS : Another post on hiring , two in a row.

If you are hiring, the best fit for you would be someone who can fit right-in without any kind of training. There are a lot of guys like that out in the market, but the challenge is that you need to find them, that explains why monster.com and naukri.com is such a big hit. So, I’ve been doing some interviewing for quite a long time now, and I believe that some of the good ways for you to find a candidate is to: Target potential companies and not candidates – if you find a company that works exactly like you do, then you get candidates from there who fit right in. Target communities – Be a part of the community, contribute to the community, and hire people from the community. Coz a candidate in a community shows that he is passionate about his line of work and is working more to get things done besides his office work. Address pain points – Yes! It is a business strategy and not some hiring strategy ( I think, I got that from my MD’s talk in a leadership meet ). It is very general,...