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!
Filed under: Work Life Balance
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.
Filed under: Executive Effectiveness
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.
Filed under: Personal Finance
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.
Filed under: Books and Authors