Tips for Managing Time

Have always been following David Maister’s blog, Passion, People and Principles. Came across mention of Penelope Trunk‘s blog Brazen Careerist: Advice at the Intersection of Work and Life. I loved the title of this Boston Globe and Yahoo! Finance columnist’s blog.

Useful to read her post “10 Tips for Time Management in a Multitasking World”. I liked the point about “Dare to be slow”. There are issues /activities for which the fastest response is not necessarily the best one. It pays to take stock of priorities and time frames.

While you have to be fast where it matters, I guess not everything in the world is built around The Fastest Finger First!

People at Work & Play…100 not out!

Brian Lara’s retirement? Extreme jobs? Jayawardene’s match winning century?Investing in IPOs? Meeting Effectiveness?

What’s this blog about?

Significantly, for the 100 th post, I reflect on what this blog seeks to do. I would like to think of this as a medium to share thoughts, observations and views . About people, about management, about human capital….not only at work but also at play. Work-life balance is an area of major interest.

These posts are based on my readings, my own experiences and that of others.

“Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”- Norman Macewan

Leading from the Front

Sports is replete with examples of leadership- good and poor. Mahela Jayawardene demonstrated exemplary leadership in the recent semi-final against New Zealand in the on-going World Cup.

Here was one who led from the front. A role model. He came in when New Zealand seemed to have grabbed the upper hand. Ace batsmen Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were out relatively cheaply. Sri Lanka was 67/2 and 22 year old Uppal Tharanga was shaky at first.

Jayawardene’s batting performance- one of the best in World Cup cricket- was a stellar example of how to build an innings. His first 17 runs were scored in 47 balls with 31 dot balls. We wondered whether he too would flounder. However, he soon changed gears. The next 23 came of 23 balls and the innings stabilised. Then came the assault. The last 75 came in 39 balls. Sri Lanka scored 102 in the last 10 overs, of which Jayawardene’s contribution was 69 off 35 balls.

At the end, his unbeaten 115 had come off 109 balls. A match winning innings which helped his team beat New Zealand by 81 runs to enter the finals. A captain’s knock.

Meeting Effectiveness

Huge amounts of time are invested in meetings. Often, I hear executives complain that a large chunk of their work hours is caught up in one meeting or the other.

Meetings tend to drag on endlessly. Seldom do meetings start and end on time. I am sure you will agree that a well conducted meeting for 30 minutes can leave participants much more energized than a rambling meeting which goes on for hours.

What matters is not the amount of time spent but how well this time is spent.
Meeting facilitators/chairpersons sometimes forget the old adage” The mind can absorb only as much as the seat can endure”.

Here are a few points to assess the effectiveness of your meeting:-

• Do people come on time?
• Is there a clear agenda and objective for the meeting?
• Do agenda points have a budgeted start and end time?
• Do you have full participation?
• Are people open to new ideas?
• Are distractions/deviations kept to the minimum?
• Is consensus achieved with ease?
• Are participants clear of ” next steps”?

Meetings are inevitable. There will only be more of them. The idea is to get the most out of each meeting.

Well conducted meetings can achieve a lot, in terms of both goal achievement and people motivation.

Make your meeting management skills set you apart.

Extreme Jobs: On the Rise

Sylvia Ann Hewett founding President of the Centre for Work-Life Policy wrote of “Extreme Jobs” in “Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek” in the Harvard Business Review.

People in extreme jobs work for more than 70 hours per week, have frequent travel, highly unpredictable schedules, and are available to their clients on virtually a 24/7 basis.

One-fifth of high earners surveyed in the United States have such jobs, according to new research. We see many executives in India too fall into this category.

Today’s overachievers are cast as “road warriors and masters of the universe,” says Sylvia Ann Hewlett. Warning that their pace is not sustainable, Hewlett says, “There’s a lot of risk attached. The fallout in private lives is huge.” In addition, she says, women are being left behind because many cannot put in 70-hour weeks.

What makes them do these jobs and do them well?

• Personal ambitions.
• Globalization, which requires professionals to work across multiple time zones.
• Communication technology also plays a role, allowing them to stay in constant contact.
• Increased competition for high-level positions
• Declining job security

“There’s something deep in our culture right now which really admires over-the-top pressure, over-the-top performance, over-the-top pay packages,” Hewlett says.What distinguishes these overachievers is their passion for their work. Two-thirds of high earners in a range of professions in the United States and three-quarters of top managers in multinational corporations say they love their jobs.

“The big surprise of the data was just how much these extreme professionals love their work,” Hewlett says. “It is a knowledge economy. Millions of people are amazingly challenged and stimulated by their work. That is good news.”

IPO at Your Risk !

Every one wants to make a quick buck in an IPO ( Initial Public Offer). A young couple told me recently that they had planned investments anticipating a killing through investments made in a spate of IPOs. Their youthful exuberance led them to believe that they had a sure shot approach to almost instant financial success.

Yes, a Tech Mahindra gave you a 307 % increase climbing to Rs. 1483 on March 23, 2007 against IPO of Rs. 365. But all stocks don’t have such attractive returns.

Business Today has “Six Questions To Ask Before You Take The IPO Plunge”:

• Are the promoters known and genuine? Check out past records, promises and performances, and criminal proceedings against them
• What is the reason for the IPO? Is the promoter cashing out, or is the business in growth stage and needs to expand? Is the sector growing? The company should operate in an industry that’s growing at a decent clip or has the potential to grow
• Where does the company stand? Do a comparison check with its industry peers. Take an in-depth look at the financials, balance sheets, profit and loss, industry growth, products and compare with the big and strong players in the segment
• How is it valued? Valuations should be fair and profit visibility should be near-term. It should not account for profits that are two-to-three years down the line. Ideally, it should be valued lower than similar-sized companies
• Is the business scalable? The company’s business should have the ability to grow in size over time, both organically and inorganically

Ask these questions and then take the plunge. Otherwise, your plunge may, over a period of time, cause you more grief than joy.

Numbers of Note

A column which grabs my attention in every issue of “Business Today” is called “Numbers of Note”. Here are shown stats. on different subjects spanning the globe including some very interesting trivia.

A sample of numbers from the issue dated April 22;

1. 16 lakh (16,00,000) :The number of people living in penury in New Delhi. Translates to 1/10th of the city’s population.
2. 163 million: Total teen population of India. Nearly 1/2 of India’s 1 billion+ population is under the age of 20.
3. 2.3 million: The expected stregth of the IT/BPO workforce in India by 2010.
4. 250 million: Total number of users of Yahoo !mail worldwide. The highest amongst email service providers. Gmail has 51 million users.
5. 1 million: The number of tourists expected to visit India for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held at New Delhi.
6. 500,000: The number of jobs expected to be created in the tourism, hospitality, aviation sectors because of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

I have no doubt that our teen population of today, given the right environment and our value systems, will transform us to an economic powerhouse of tomorrow.

The End of Job Loyalty

Years ago, or should I say decades ago, it was fairly common for people to join an organisation -and stay there for the rest of their working lives!

What now are described as “old world” organisations thrived in a ” cradle to grave” culture where the loyalty of employees was pretty much assured. The reasons are not hard to find. Firstly, there were not too many opportunities. Secondly, corporate culture prevailing at that time, frowned upon transient job hopping. “A rolling stone gathers no moss” reflected the popular sentiment. In today’s world, most people do not subscribe to high levels of job loyalty. It’s the age of “Me. Inc”.

In a recent survey, almost 88% of the respondents said they are either actively looking to change jobs, thinking about looking or would take a new job if the opportunity presented itself. Not surprisingly, “more money “ranked as the No. 1 reason for moving to a new position. The other important draws ranged from more training opportunities, working with new technologies, more challenging assignments and a quest for more time for oneself to pursue interests and cater to non-job responsibilities. People who left organisations typically spoke of poor relations with their supervisor/others, broken promises, lack of communication and internal politics.

It was interesting for me , therefore, to recently meet a lady who continues to work in the same organisation for 34 years! There aren’t too many like her left.

Adieu, Brian Lara

Yesterday’s West Indies vs England match brought to an end the playing career of a truly great player. Brian Charles Lara has called it a day. Significantly, it was his 299 th ODI and unlike what most Indian players would do, he did not hang around to complete 300 ODIs.

He has achieved enough and more. 11953 runs in 131 Tests at an average of 52.88. This includes 34 centuries with a highest of 400 not out against England. This remains the highest individual score in a Test bettering the 375 he himself scored against England earlier.

Add to this, 10405 runs from 299 ODIs at an average of 40.88 with 19 centuries and a strike rate of 79.51.

He also hold the record for the highest individual score in first class cricket for his 501 not out for Warwickshire vs. Durham in 1994.

In his farewell interview, he asked the audience whether he had entertained them. The answer was a resounding ‘Yes”. He went on to say that he would prefer to be remembered as one who entertained whenever he played.

His policy” Leave when you are at the top”. As Ian Chappell said quoting Keith Miller, leave when people ask “Why are you leaving”? not when people ask “Why don’t you leave”?

Adieu, Brian Lara. Thanks for the great pleasure your batting gave viewers around the world for over 17 years.

"The No Asshole Rule"

Profs. in the US of A. have the knack of coining catchy names for their books. Or does this come from their publishers?. A title to grab your attention is the latest book from Bob Sutton of Stanford. Its full title reads:”The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t “.

You see them in every organisation. As Sutton says , they spoil the environment with their bullying and obnoxious behaviour. Check out his blog: Work Matters for heaps of information on the interesting subject. It includes typical behaviours exhibited to “put down” subordinates, team members and peers. One of his posts speaks of a checklist to help you identify whether your next boss could be an asshole. You will find this in Guy Kawasaki’s blog on “LinkedIn and the Art of Avoiding An Asshole Boss”!

Bob Sutton’s blog includes features like “ARSE” Asshole Rating Self Exam. Are You A Certified Asshole? and Send an ArseMail, (a Munnabhai-like concept in the Indian context) which helps a victim or apologizes for being an asshole.