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How to Overcome Fear of Making Decisions

- on 4/30/2013 06:04:00 PM - No comments
By Junaid Tahir:
Fear is one of the major blocking obstacles against your success. You tend to compromise with your circumstances and prefer to continue your status quo condition because you are afraid of making decisions. Since you lack in courage you cannot move forward in your life with liberty.

On the other hand successful people are those who take risks in life. Successful people understand that taking risks will lead them experience new horizons in their field, will give them more vision and more confidence,  give them wisdom and success by exposing them to more and more challenges and consequently help them achieve their dreams. Such people keep taking new risks in order to achieve what they want to achieve. Whenever there is a doubtful situation they take the next baby step in order to determine whether it is fine to move ahead. In case they fail, they take one step back and re-determine their direction using their analytical skills. 


So if you would like to live a successful life, you must defeat your fears. The reasons for being under the clouds of fear might be because of several doubts or unanswered questions in your mind.  In this article, I have compiled and answered a few of such queries in order to boost your confidence level:

Question: Do I have enough info in making this decision?
Answer: You may or may not have the full information as of now. However you can gather all the facts by consulting the right professionals, by reading books, by discussing with your friends and well-wishers, by posting your questions to online forums, by studying the market and by taking advice from experienced people. Once you have collected all the information, write it on a piece of paper; positive points on one side and negative points on another side. Now read them slowly with full focus. Once done, you are all set for making the decision.

Question: What if I fail?
Answer: Consider the worst case scenario as this gives you inner strength and makes you prepare for it. However if the worst case as per your thinking is a serious disaster then reduce your risks by reducing your goals, your investment, energies, efforts etc. Change some of the points from your original plan and re-asses the worst case.

Question: Do I have the capability to do it:  
Answer: See if you can learn it by reading, training, counseling or brain storming. Believe in your inner powers. List down the capabilities required for a specific task and start polishing yourself in each domain one by one. This might take some time but once you learn and polish your skills you will be able to make wonders in your domain.

Question: What will people say?  
Answer: People will comment any way. It's your life and you have all the authority to do what you want to do in order to achieve what you want to achieve. Don't worry about social factors, instead focus on your plans and decisions. Evil social factors will die their death one by one once you start producing the results. Strengthen your thoughts, avoid the unnecessary criticism and you will be able to set new trends in your domain.

Question: Is anyone else afraid of same thing? 
Answer: Yes everyone is afraid of failures but only bold people make bold moves to accomplish things. Remember, common people see things while they are happening whereas smart people make things happen.

Question: What If I am trapped in tragic Situation:
Answer: To overcome a tragic fearful situation is to think of a genius person and imagine how he would have acted under the same condition. You will definitely get a new idea to try.


Closing my article by emphasizing one more time to throw your fears away, convert your risks into new opportunities, execute your plans and live like an independent andprosperous soul. Your inner confidence, your guts and your will power can make things happen. If others can do it you can do it too so believe in the power of now and go ahead and grab the success.

Some Recommended Articles:


Junaid Tahir is a UAE based Telecommunications Manager. He is a passionate blogger and write articles on wisdom, stress management and leadership. His 90+ articles are available at his personal blog
 
M Junaid Tahir www.DailyTenMinutes.com 
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Correct Calculation

- on 4/30/2013 05:52:00 PM - No comments
We cannot simply accept that part of the scripture we like, and reject what we don't like, and still expect to get the result. If you miss one point, there is a mistake in your calculation. Regardless of what you add or subtract after that, the mistake is already in the calculation, and everything that follows will also be faulty.

For example, a hen lays eggs with its back part and eats with its beak. A farmer may consider, "The front part of the hen is very expensive because I have to feed it. Better to cut it off."But if the head is missing there will be no eggs anymore, because the body is dead. Similarly, if
we reject the difficult part of the scriptures and obey the part we like, such an interpretation will not help us. We have to accept all the injunctions of the scripture as they are given, not only those that suit us
.

Comments Junaid Tahir; 
This concept is applicable to so many scenarios of our professional life. We focus on easy things or easily resolvable matters and ignore the difficult things. We do not consider the fact that easy matters may not be the most important ones instead the ignored one may have the big negative impact hence it is highly recommended to meet the problems, greet the problems, treat the problems and then defeat the problems.


M Junaid Tahir
www.DailyTenMinutes.com
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Tech Knowledge: Terms to Know When Choosing a Projector

- on 4/29/2013 01:05:00 PM - 1 comment
By Dustin Checketts
The adage, "larger than life," defines perfectly the world of projectors. Designed to fully immerse you in your movie-watching or board room experience, a projector illuminates and captivates. There are three technologies behind today's projectors:

DLP Projectors
Digital Light Processing uses small mirrors to reflect different measures of light through a color wheel to create a stunning image on your screen. The use of mirrors creates a smooth, crisp image without the "screen-door effect", but is susceptible to the "rainbow effect". The rainbow effect is caused when only one color can be displayed on the screen at a time, and can be seen as an uneven overlapping of colors on the screen.

LCD Projectors
Liquid Crystal Display technology shines light through a polarized liquid crystal wafer that allows or disallows light to pass through it to create an image. By shining a light source through an object, the absence of light creates a "screen-door effect" that looks as though you're watching the television from behind a screen door. This effect is most prevalent in LCD projectors, making some text and fine details difficult to read or see.

LCoS Projectors
Liquid Crystal on Silicon combines the best of both LCD and DLP technologies. Three LCD lamps are reflected off mirrors, each one passing through its own color wheel, to simultaneously project an image using all three colors at once on the screen. In doing so, LCoS eliminates both the "screen-door effect" from LCDs and the "rainbow effect" from DLPs.

Beyond Technology: Other Considerations for Projectors

Apart from the technologies, there are several other features to consider that will help narrow your front-projection buying options: resolution, brightness, contrast ratio, aspect ratio, portability, noise, and connectivity.

Resolution is the measure of pixels used to create an image. The higher the resolution, the sharper the image will become and the larger the image can be made while still providing a clear image.

Brightness is a non-standardized measure (in lumens) of the lamp's strength. Generally, projectors with less than 1000 lumens are dim and should only be used rooms where the lighting can be controlled. Projectors of 1000-2000 lumens offer enough light for business or classroom use, and projectors over 2000 lumens can illuminate a wall or screen in a well-lit room. This also varies by the projector's throw distance (distance from screen or wall) and can be controlled on the unit as a television's brightness can.

Contrast Ratio is a measure of the projector's ability to produce deep blacks and bright whites and is not standardized. Typically, a higher the contrast ratio is better. Keep in mind that these measurements vary dramatically from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Aspect Ratio is the projectors supported format. The ratio 4:3 appears as more of a square like standard televisions, while 16:9 is more rectangle, or "widescreen". With the increase in high definition content, more and more displays are supporting the widescreen format.

Portability is an important consideration if a projector is to be shared within an office or will be carried with you as you travel. Most projectors will include a simple cover or storage case to keep the unit free from dust and other harmful particles.

Noise is a consideration most overlook. Projectors generate a lot of heat and must be cooled by a fan and good chassis design. Nothing is worse than trying to talk over noisy hardware or hearing the hum of a fan throughout your cinema experience.

Connectivity is a vital component to picking out a projector. Make sure the projector you seek supports the mediums you wish to use. This could include: S-VGA, DVI, RCA, Component, S-Video, or HDMI.
 
M Junaid Tahir
www.DailyTenMinutes.com
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Story: Giving Your 100%

- on 4/29/2013 01:03:00 PM - No comments
A
boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of
marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that
he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl
agreed.

The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave
the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had
promised.
 

That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn't sleep as
he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way
he had hidden his best marble.

Reflection:
This simple story gives us a simple lesson that he who does evil expects evil. This lesson applies to all stages/domains of life may it be professional for familial.
 
 If you don't give your hundred percent in a
 
relationship, you'll always keep doubting if the other person has
 
given his/her hundred percent.. Give your hundred percent to
 
everything you do and get peace of mind.

Regards
Junaid
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5 Tips for Building a Work Breakdown Structure

in , , , - on 4/28/2013 10:19:00 AM - No comments

Author: Tom Mochal

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is the best way to understand the detailed work of a project when you have to build a schedule from scratch. It lets you break the project down into the major phases, deliverables, and work components that will be built by the project. You can then break down these work components into the activities that are required to build them. The WBS is not the same as the final schedule (which requires sequencing, resources, estimated effort, estimated duration, etc.). Here are five tips to keep in mind when building your WBS.

1: Create a WBS dictionary for large projects
Normally, you wouldn't need a WBS dictionary. But if your WBS has hundreds (or thousands) of detailed activities, there may just be too much to keep track of by hand. In this case, it might make sense to place all the important information in a WBS dictionary. The dictionary helps keep track of all of the summary and detailed activities, including a short description, the WBS numeric identifier (1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.), and the estimated effort. If you enter your WBS dictionary into a specialized tool, the tool can also help to keep track of changes to the WBS as well.

2: Use the summary activities as milestones
Your WBS should contain both detailed and summary activities. (A summary activity is one that is broken down further; a detailed activity is one that is not broken down further.) Although a schedule usually includes only detailed activities, it makes sense to include the summary activities as milestones (i.e., markers signifying that a deliverable or set of deliverables is complete). A summary activity can be used as a milestone since it would indicate that all of the underlying detailed work has been completed.

3: Break activities into two or more detailed activities
I've seen teams that break one activity in the WBS into only one activity at the next level. In my opinion, this doesn't make sense because then the detailed activity represents the same work as the prior summary activity. This doesn't buy you anything.

4: Make the final detailed activities action oriented
The detailed activities on your WBS (the ones that are not broken down further) are ultimately moved to your schedule. For that reason, it's easier if the detailed activities in your WBS are action oriented — just as activities in your schedule would be. For example, instead of describing a detailed WBS activity as "meeting," you should state it as "schedule a weekly meeting." Instead of having a WBS detailed activity for "Testing Plan," you should state it instead as "Create Testing Plan." In this way, the detailed activities can be moved to the schedule with a minimum of wording changes.

5: Don't place requirements on the WBS
If you place a deliverable on your WBS, you can break this deliverable down into the activities that are required to create it. You don't break a deliverable down into the requirements that describe it. Requirements do not belong on a WBS. Only deliverables and activities belong on the WBS.


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Story: The Three People

- on 4/28/2013 10:11:00 AM - No comments
Three people were laying bricks. A passerby asked them what they were doing.
 
The first one replied, "Don't you see I am making a living?"
 
The second one said, "Don't you see I am lying bricks?"
 
The third one said, "I am building a beautiful monument."
 
Here were three people doing the same thing who had totally different perspective on what they were doing.
 
They had three very different attitudes about their work. And would their attitude affect their performance? The answer is clearly yes.
 
REFLECTION
 
Excellence comes when the performer takes pride in doing his best. Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it, regardless of what the job is, whether washing cars, sweeping the floor or painting a house.

Michelangelo had been working on a statue for many days. He was taking a long time to retouch every small detail. A bystander thought these improvements were insignificant and asked Michelangelo why he bothered with them. Michelangelo replied, "Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle."

Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well it was done.
Pride of performance does not represent ego. It represents pleasure with humility.
 
"The quality of the work and the quality of the worker are inseparable."
 
Half-hearted effort does not produce half results; it produces no results!
 
M Junaid Tahir
www.DailyTenMinutes.com
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Story: Which Employee Type Are You

- on 4/27/2013 11:06:00 AM - No comments
Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day?  The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank. "A" completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said "GOOD JOB"

Next day Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also. The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized "C" has the same task. Now "B" not only crossed the river but also helped "C" to cross the river. "B" reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said "VERY GOOD JOB"

The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.  Employee "Q" before starting the work did some home work and realized "A", "B" & "C" all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed. He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task. He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. Using the methodology he had written down he crossed the river and reported back to the manager along with documented procedure and training material.  The manger said "Q" you have done an "EXCELLENT JOB".

The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again. "O" studied the procedure written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole task. He realized company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, "You no longer need to assign this task to any one". The manager smiled and said "Outstanding job 'O'. I am very proud of you."

What is the difference between A, B, Q & O?  Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play.,
Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation. Let us compare ourselves with "B". Helping someone else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb (I do not know the author) "learn to teach and teach to learn". From a company point of view "B" has demonstrated much better skills than "A" since one more task for the company is completed.

"Q" created knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from other's mistake is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost there by increases productivity of the team. "Q" demonstrated good "team-player" skills,

Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the team.
If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team performance" over and above individual performance; they have also demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as "INITIATIVE".

Initiative pays of everywhere whether at work or at personal life. If you have initiative you will succeed. Initiative is a continual process and it never ends. This is because this year's achievement is next year's task. You cannot use the same success story every year. The story provides an instance of performance, where as measurement needs to be spread across at least 6-12 months. Consequently performance should be consistent and evenly spread.  Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what everyone constantly looks out for. Initiative, Out-of-Box thinking and commitment are the stepping stone to success.

Initiative should be lifelong. Think of out of the box…..Happy Working
 
M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/
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What to Learn to Become a Great Manager?

in , , - on 4/27/2013 11:02:00 AM - 2 comments
Delegating : Learn how to choose what to delegate, match employee and delegated assignment, and set the stage for success by both developing your employees and freeing up your time for critical managerial tasks.

Goal Setting : Learn how to set realistic goals, prioritize tasks, and track milestones to improve performance and morale.

Managing Upward : Learn insight into developing a mutually rewarding relationship, with skills for communicating and negotiating with your manager, presenting problems or opportunities to your supervisor and accepting responsibility for your proposed actions.

Meeting Management : Learn about planning and conducting meetings from start to finish; preparation, keeping the meeting on track, and follow-up and dealing with problem behaviors exhibited by meeting participants. 

New Manager Transitions : Learn what it means to be a manager, as well as how to navigate the complex and often stressful transition from individual contributor to a new manager.

Presentation Skills : Learn about preparing and delivering presentations that command attention, persuade, and inspire, rehearsal techniques, creating and using more effective visuals, understanding your objectives and your audience to create a presentation with impact.

Stress Management : Learn the difference between positive stress that enhances productivity and negative stress that breeds tension, lowers productivity, and undercuts job satisfaction, strategies for dealing with underlying causes of worry and stress, tactical coping mechanisms for immediate problem management.

Time Management : Learn how to analyze how you currently spend your time and pinpoint opportunities for improvement, set goals, prioritize tasks, plan your time efficiently using scheduling tools, control time-wasters, and evaluate your schedule once it is underway.

Writing Skills : Learn how to accomplish your business objectives and extends your influence as a manager, create clearer, more effective written communications, guidelines for preparing memos, letters, emails, and other common business documents.

Career Management : Learn how to manage your career--including how to identify your business interests, professional values, and skills in order to target your most exciting career possibilities.

Change Management : Learn how to manage change constructively and navigate the ups and downs that inevitably accompany a change effort.

Coaching : Learn how to strengthen your coaching skills to facilitate the professional growth of the employees you coach.

Developing Employees : Learn how to encourage your employees to learn and grow, while maximizing the return on the management time you invest in employee development.

Difficult Interactions : Learn how to discuss and resolve difficult interactions in the workplace--whether with employees, peers, bosses, or even suppliers and customers.

Feedback Essentials : Learn when and how to give effective positive or corrective feedback, how to offer feedback upward, and how to receive feedback.

Global Collaboration : Learn critical skills required to manage a cross-cultural collaboration, including negotiating, building trust, overcoming language barriers, and navigating the geographical and technological challenges of working across continents.

Hiring : Learn how to identify the particular skill set needed for a job, and then how to research and interview leading candidates until you find the one who best fills your need.

Leading and Motivating : Learn about the essential tasks of leadership: setting direction, aligning people, and motivating others. Learn how to recognize the skills and characteristics of effective leaders, create an inspiring vision, and energize people to support and work toward your goals.

Performance Appraisal : Learn how to prepare for, conduct, and follow up on performance evaluations--in ways that link employee performance to your company's and group's goals.

Retaining Employees : Learn strategies for attracting and keeping top performers, how to handle common obstacles to retention such as burnout and work/life imbalance, and how to develop programs that address the diverse needs and interests of your workforce.

Team Leadership : Learn how to establish a team with the right mix of skills and personalities and create a culture that promotes collaborative work, steps to leading an effective team and includes innovative, easy-to-implement self-evaluation tools.

Team Management : Learn how to diagnose and overcome common problems - such as poor communication and interpersonal conflict - that can impede team progress, learn to take corrective measures to remove team problems and improve team performance.

Virtual Teams : Learn how to create concrete suggestions for forming virtual teams, including assessing their technology and communication needs, structuring the team to build trust, and keeping the team on track


Budgeting : Learn about the budget process, different types of budgets, and common budgeting problems--so you can allocate resources wisely to meet your goals.

Business Case Development : Learn how to create an effective business case, from defining the opportunity and analyzing alternatives to presenting your final recommendations.

Business Plan Development : Learn the process of preparing an effective plan for a business proposal, applicable to launching a new internal product as well as seeking funding for a new start-up business.

Crisis Management : Learn a practical, hands-on method for looking at crises--from developing a crises audit to avoid and prepare for crises, to managing an actual crisis, to learning from past events.

Customer Focus : Learn how to target the right customers and build their long-term loyalty by developing systems for learning about--and responding to--their needs.

Decision Making : Learn how to identify underlying issues related to a decision, generate and evaluate multiple alternatives, and then communicate and implement your decision.

Diversity : Learn how to manage diversity to extract maximum value from your employees' differences -- including how to recruit diverse talent, resolve diversity-related conflicts, and communicate with employees and customers from other cultures. 

Ethics At Work : Learn how to identify and execute sound choices based on ethical standards and how building a culture of integrity and cultivating an environment of trust among employees, customers, and other stakeholders lays a foundation for sustained success.

Finance Essentials : Learn the essential concepts of finance--budgeting, forecasting, and planning, for managers who are not financial managers.

Innovation and Creativity : Learn how to manage an intellectually diverse work group and their environment to produce more--and better--ideas that encourage innovation when developing products and work processes.

Innovation Implementation : Learn how to implement an innovation--from crafting a vision statement to gaining support and managing resistance--and turn an idea into reality.

Marketing Essentials : Learn the fundamentals that will help you better understand the importance of marketing and how it relates to you, especially for non-marketing managers.

Negotiating : Learn how to become an effective negotiator, the negotiation process: assessing your interests as well as those of the other party, developing opportunities that create value, avoiding common barriers to agreement, and implementing strategies to make the negotiation process run smoothly.

Performance Measurement : Learn how to review financial and non-financial measures used in all areas of organizational performance, addresses both standalone measures (including ROI, EVA, and BET) and measurement frameworks such as dashboards, quality models, and the Balanced Scorecard, systematic processes for tracking performance of initiatives.

Persuading Others : Learn the art and science behind successful persuasion -- changing others' attitudes, beliefs, or behavior to create win-win solutions, -- accomplishing work through others -- rather than simply issue orders.

Process Improvement : Learn what business processes are; why improving them is essential; and how to carry out a business process improvement (BPI) initiative.

Project Management : Learn the nuts and bolts of project management, including project planning, budgeting, team-building, execution, and risk analysis, useful tools and techniques such as GANTT and PERT charts, Work Breakdown Structure, and variance analysis.

Strategic Thinking : Learn how to shape and execute organizational strategy, analyzing opportunities, challenges, and the potential consequences of high-level action plans, addresses identification of broad patterns and trends, creative thinking, analysis of complex information, and prioritization of actions

source: unknwon


M Junaid Tahir
www.DailyTenMinutes.com 
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Business Terminology: What is insourcing

in , , - on 4/26/2013 03:22:00 PM - No comments

Insourcing is a business practice in which work that would otherwise have been contracted out is performed in house. 
Insourcing often involves bringing in specialists to fill temporary needs or training existing personnel to perform tasks that would otherwise have been outsourced. An example is the use of in-house engineers to write technical manuals for equipment they have designed, rather than sending the work to an outside technical writing firm. In this example, the engineers might have to take technical writing courses at a local college, university, or trade school before being able to complete the task successfully. Other challenges of insourcing include the possible purchase of additional hardware and/or software that is scalable and energy-efficient enough to deliver an adequate return on investment (ROI).
Insourcing can be viewed as outsourcing as seen from the opposite side. For example, a company based in Japan might open a plant in the United States for the purpose of employing American workers to manufacture Japanese products. From the Japanese perspective this is outsourcing, but from the American perspective it is insourcing. Nissan, a Japanese automobile manufacturer, has in fact done this.
source: techtarget

M Junaid Tahir
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I Need To Tell You Something

in , - on 4/26/2013 03:20:00 PM - No comments

I need to tell you something. I hope you don't mind. You see, what I have to tell you might not be something you want to know. But here goes, "You are not always right." This is my polite way of telling you that sometimes you are wrong.
It's OK. Believe it or not, we all are wrong about something. We are wrong regularly and repeatedly. It is the nature of who we are. I am not asking you to dwell on when you are wrong or what it is you are wrong about. I ask you to consider how are you wrong? Translation, when you are wrong about something, how do you behave and how does this impact your team?

Perhaps you do this because you come from a culture where admitting an error is a sign of weakness or you are afraid of losing face. When you are wrong and you hide it, you are teaching your team to engage in the same behavior. This makes it very difficult to proactively solve issues

When you try to cover up the fact that you are wrong about something you damage your integrity. 

When you look for someone else to blame, you are hiding the fact that you are wrong PLUS telling a lie about someone else. This is even worse for your integrity and your credibility. Now you are teaching your team to use other team members as human shields. This makes it very difficult to build any kind of high performing team.
When you are wrong and you admit it, you model responsibility and integrity for your team. You can proactively address issues, you can demonstrate how to behave like an adult professional and you can all move forward.
So here goes, "You are not always right." This is my polite way of telling you that sometimes you are wrong. It's OK. Believe it or not, we all are wrong about something
.

Source

 

M Junaid Tahir
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10 Tips for Better Business Writing

in , , - on 4/25/2013 11:03:00 AM - 1 comment
Writing in a business environment is an activity with associated norms, challenges, and opportunities. Keep the following points in mind as you craft communication in the context of a company or an organization.

1. Clarity
Be clear. Clarity is the primary goal of all communication, and in business writing, the degree of transparency in one's message can determine whether one succeeds or fails in a venture, whether you're transmitting a report or closing a deal. State the intention of your message, provide the necessary details, and request the precise response you need or want.

2. Active Voice
Employ active construction (subject-verb-object). "This report was sent to me by John Smith" is not wrong, and it's probably the best choice if you want to distinguish one report from another, but consider whether "John Smith" should be the subject of the sentence; the active syntax is more vigorous, and usually more appropriate.

3. Direct Language
Construct concise, declarative statements. Your goal is to provide or invite information, or to persuade or be persuaded. Your time is valuable to you, but the recipient or recipients of your communication also have constraints and deadlines, so take the time to express yourself with economy and directness.

4. Simple Words
Favor plain, clear words and phrases over technical terms, jargon, or buzzwords. Take care not to complicate your vocabulary or stiffen your tone in an attempt to seem more businesslike or expert. By all means, use proper terminology to enhance clarity and demonstrate your knowledge and skills, but imagine how you would speak to your intended audience, and write with a conversational glossary in mind.

5. Tone
Strike a balance in tone that depends on the particular context of the communication. Even within categories (memos, whether in print or in email form, or marketing content), the feel of the correspondence will depend on many factors. Consult with management and colleagues, study precedents, and consider the audience when settling on the voice of a particular message.

6. Role
Consider the role of a particular piece of communication. If it's summarizing a report, don't go into so much detail that the report itself is unnecessary (unless, of course, you're providing an executive summary for a company leader who doesn't have time to read it). If it's part of a larger project, match your writing style to the approach of the overall suite of materials.

7. Goal
Focus on the expected or hoped-for outcome. Whether you're writing to a superior or a subordinate, or to a colleague or someone outside your company or organization, be clear but courteous about the goal of your correspondence.

8. Candor
Avoid euphemisms or generic references; name topics outright. Diplomacy is a foundation of successful business transactions, but you can undermine success by seeming too solicitous or vague about sensitive matters. Be forthright in your discussion.

9. Formality
Standards for business correspondence have become more relaxed, but maintain a professional tone, avoiding slang or text-speak, exclamation points, and overly informal salutations and sign-offs.

10. Words with Friends
Be cautious about making exceptions about formality when corresponding with coworkers or associates you consider friends or confidants. Just because you dish or swear when the two of you chat in person doesn't mean you should do so in email messages or other electronic communications located on a company network. Drop the formality a notch, certainly, but don't document your lapses in professional behavior.
source: Daily writing tips

M Junaid Tahir
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New Manager's Fundamentals

in , , , - on 4/25/2013 11:02:00 AM - 5 comments
By Junaid Tahir

Below are my notes from the lecture I attended recently about "New Manager's Fundamentals". The speaker elaborated that following aspects must be taken into account by all new managers or leaders if they want to sustain and succeed in their roles:

-          Chose Your Decision Making Style:  
o    Chose different approaches of decision making for different situations like deciding salaries, budget review and allocations, Promotions, routine work. Following are 3 categories of decision making.
1.     Autocratic: You make the decision at your own and then inform your team, if required. (Deciding Salaries, Budget allocations, Promotions etc)
2.     Collaborative: Seek input from your team and then make the decision. (Routine office tasks, Making WBS for the project etc)
3.     Democratic: Asking your teams to decide. (Asking team where to go for lunch, get together, small/medium impact official task etc)

-          Develop Professional Relationship (not friendly relationship):
o    Hobbies, interests, families come under friendship. Your 5% of discussion can be on such subjects just to show people that you are human but strictly note more than 5 minutes a day.
o    Build new relationships at Lunch, Coffee times and other breaks.
o    Learn about different people in your organization from LinkedIn and have chat on relevant subjects to make them comfortable with you.
o    Build Rapports (A close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well)

-          Stay Visible:
o    Say hello to people around you; 5-10 minutes each day. Good relations result in good outcomes.
o    Ask people in a gentle way about what are they working on? How you can help them.
o    Tell them What you are working on? This improves the visibility about your work and help maintaining good professional relations.

-          Be concerned About Your Status Bubble As A Manager/Leader:
o    Be open with your team members, discuss your new role and elaborate your new responsibilities.  
o    Ask them that you want to know what they think about you as new boss

-          Communicate Proactively:
o    What you say is important but do consider how to say and when to say and when not to say.
o    One kg of prevention is better than 10kg of cure so stay ahead of challenges by being proactive.
o     When communicating, pause for a moment and ask "are you with me?"  At the end of discussion, ask a team member to summarize what you said.
o    Don't misjudge when you have a doubt about something your team member said.  Ask "can you clarify".
o    Consider Candor communication Vs Civility Communication approach. Both are important. Candor (Straight, blunt, candid). Civility (nice, positive, congenial)
o    Different communication approaches (Text, Email, Phone, Meeting) have different kind of trade of in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Some approaches might be efficient to convey the message but may not be effective (SMS). Face to face is the best approach to consider as much as possible.
o    Want to send tough email? Draft it now, go for coffee or lunch, come back, read again with relaxed mind and then send.

-          Provide Effective Feedback:
o    Give right amount of feedback. Too little may not help a person. Too much criticism may not be digested by employee and may sound offensive. Consider what amount of feedback is required and then convey. Feed back is two way thing not one way. Make it a conversation. Ask him/her about his/her opinion.
o    Give feedback in person. Give feedback as quickly as possible so it sound relevant. Be respect. Avoid "You" and "I" words.

-          Conduct Relevant Meetings Only:
o    Don't call unnecessary meetings. Consider these situations to call  meeting:
1.     Important Team decisions
2.     Major Announcements (Changes in company strategy)
3.     Kick off Meeting. (Clarifying the initiative, expectations from teams, roles and responsibilities)
4.     Pre mortem and Post mortem (Discussing what might go wrong when project starts and when it goes live)
5.     A challenging situation on which feedback is required.
o    Call only relevant people (Experts, Affected and Sponsors)
o    Don't invite too many experts.  Don't invite sponsors (Leadership) every time. Don't invite political associates.

-          Use Authority Wisely:
o    Authority is your legitimate right to exercise influence and decision making.
o    If you want to make changes, start with the smaller ones.
o    Consider Pro-Employee changes (the one which employees are going to like – example, lunch timings flexible etc)
o    Consider Team culture (The shared attitude and behavior of the overall team). Consider buy-in from key employees prior to implementing a new decision.
-          Develop a Lieutenant:
o    Consider a person to work as second in command who can make decisions when you are away, attend meetings on your behalf etc . Make it informal  instead of formal position in the team.
o    He will give team's feedback for improvement.
o    He will be your personal devil's advocate. He will privately question your assumptions and challenge your thoughts for improvement.
o    He is 'not a yes man', not a conflict generator, not a political personality. He is trust worthy, hard working, visionary and thoughtful.

-          Enhance Your Outlook:
o    Look and behave like a leader. Spend time on enhancing your outlook. Right clothes, shoes, suit, hair style etc
o    No sudden change in outlook required. Avoid becoming a joke by immediate change in your personality. Slow transformation is recommended.

-          Defining Norms:
o    Define formal and informal norms for your team members. For example, we are Positive; we show respect; we are solution oriented; we are trust worthy and transparent etc.
o    These norms will become their habits if you repeat them in different meetings and other discussions.
While  attending this training I made my own Norms. These norms cover my major professional personality traits. Have a look below and then ponder what are your norms?
N- No negativity – All Positive
O- Open heart (Transparent)
R- Respectful – Strong mutual respect.
M- Micro and Macro Analyst
S- Solution Oriented

-          Some General Recommendations:
o    Convey the message to your teams with your actions that you trust them not be telling them. Your actions must portray what you believe in.
o    Share Credit. Acknowledge everyone's contribution.
o    Help others succeed. If they succeed you succeed.
o    Develop Empathy: The skill to understand and be sensitive to other emotions.
o    Project your confidence with your eye contact and through your  voice
o    Maintain your modesty. Be Humble


Some recommended articles:

Hard work will guarantee my professional growth? No?
Begin the Leadership Journey Here
How to Evaluate Managers?
Employee Feedback System
Seven Super Qualities You Must Posses


About Author: Junaid Tahir is a passionate blogger. He writes articles on Leadership, Stress Management and Life Enhancement subjects at his personal blog


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