Learn and Lead

Hi Leandro I guess for virtual meetings, the Be p...

2009-10-21T21:01:04.558+05:30

Hi Leandro

I guess for virtual meetings, the Be prepared would include ensuring that the equipment works. Ensure that plugins are installed well before the meeting. Ensure good connection (phone and Net).

In addition, there would be a set of guidelines for communicating (like waiting for your turn to speak, announcing yourself before speaking each time etc.)

very good article. We are making meetings with Web...

2009-10-21T20:31:46.073+05:30

very good article. We are making meetings with Webex because suppliers and customers are outside the city.

I think this article summarizes the key points for meetings, face or virtual. Do you have special topic for virtual meetings?

Hi Venkat "From the company perspective, keeping ...

2009-10-21T11:02:55.180+05:30

Hi Venkat

"From the company perspective, keeping status quo is their way of saving money, reducing cost, employee retention in a slow recessive economy."

Perhaps in a slow recessive economy, there aren't enough promotion opportunities. I personally don't believe companies hold back promotions to reduce cost or for employee retention. Companies won't have retention if they don't promote their best employees. It is however possible that not all companies have a large number of opportunities. So "promotions" may happen horizontally or other reward systems may be set in place.

Hi Abhinava Looking at why one is not moving INTO...

2009-10-21T10:58:28.183+05:30

Hi Abhinava

Looking at why one is not moving INTO a new position is another interesting way to look at this. And some of the reasons you mentioned are quite valid (maybe there isn't an opening, maybe one isn't ready for the next role, don't provide value for the new role etc.).

However these aren't just HT-spiel-ish parameters. As you mentioned "When the need arises (vacant position - new project - crunch) all these are forgotten in a haste to promote the most eligible upwards...". The key phrase in this sentenced being "promote the most eligible". How does one define who is most eligible? Usually it is traits like the ones I mentioned that are considered. Unfortunately not all these are easily measurable and people's opinions vary.

As for lateral hires, typically in interviews many of these qualities are evaluated, plus reference checks are done at senior levels. Of course it is difficult to fully evaluate these qualities for people who you haven't worked for before, but then that's why you need to be good at interviewing skills.

Have you ever thought why someone who is promoted ...

2009-10-21T00:30:43.381+05:30

Have you ever thought why someone who is promoted loses their value in the new position because they do not have the skills to bring value to the new position. For example a good salesperson who meets quotas does not necessarily become a good sales manager. Similarly a good writer does not necessarily become a good project manager.
Therefore my point is sometimes companies do not promote their best or even the status quo employees because they see the risk of losing current potential and they do not have a method of skilling the person for the new position.Also, companies may not necessarily grow to offer promotions to all well performing employees.

From the company perspective, keeping status quo is their way of saving money, reducing cost, employee retention in a slow recessive economy.

All this is reason why you are not moving OUT of t...

2009-10-20T15:41:59.932+05:30

All this is reason why you are not moving OUT of the present position... But what if you were to think What is preventing someone from moving INTO a new position (promotion)?

I would add one single overarching reason - you don't provide (perceivable) value to the new position.

See - the way I see it... you have some things on offer - and the company is paying you in return for those services... Basic Demand-Supply.

Now... you are a fantastic employee and you provide fantastic value at the present position - you provide consistent quality, on time every time (cost is imperative - you have a static pay)... but do you provide greater value in a higher post?! maybe not...
- Maybe there is no requirement - you really cant have all managers - no managed...
- Maybe your perceived value (proportionate value) at the position if higher than in new position - you might be indispensable in this position but not really khass in the next position
- Maybe you CAN provide higher value in next position... but maybe you cant be replaced (by value) in your present position.
- Maybe you don't have the necessary KSA to get into the new position

See... I know this can be cynical - but we have always seen that in crunch times 'being a leader', 'being visible', 'taking initiative', 'adding value' and/or 'resisting change' don't matter...

When the need arises (vacant position - new project - crunch) all these are forgotten in a haste to promote the most eligible upwards... Besides come to think of it... with these 5 HR-spiel-ish parameters, lateral entries will never be possible - all you can do is ASK if they have these 5 qualities... it is very difficult to establish these qualities in someone you haven't worked with.

And so ends my two pence... am tired of typing... :P

-A

You have hit the nail on the head. A very nice ins...

2009-10-20T12:43:12.017+05:30

You have hit the nail on the head. A very nice insight to those who wonder why they are staying where they are despite 'doing the job well'.
Jai

Great points. On a lighter note, there is a study ...

2009-10-20T09:53:57.611+05:30

Great points. On a lighter note, there is a study on how meetings are run based on where they sit at the table. The person sitting diagnol to the entrace to the meeting room is the leader. On the left are people who agree with the leader, people sitting opposite or to the right will oppose the leader. People sitting closer to the entrace are not interested in the meeting. Check it out next time you are in a meeting.

When you hit the paralysis stage of the analysis o...

2009-10-19T18:48:35.938+05:30

When you hit the paralysis stage of the analysis of the idea, your initial vision is blurred and faith questioned. Discipline to stay the course will deliver results even if they were not what you expected. Learning or the "a-ah" moment will definitely occur. Alas, the question is it enough to keep ploughing through - I think Yes.

You are right Kristy, phone or face to face conver...

2009-10-19T15:47:51.849+05:30

You are right Kristy, phone or face to face conversation is indeed preferable over email.

I'm a firm believer of avoiding meetings that are ...

2009-10-19T13:35:19.405+05:30

I'm a firm believer of avoiding meetings that are unecessary. I hate sitting in meetings that are unstructured and have no clear outcome other than 'Let's have another meeting', so I fully support the tips here. I agree with all the tips, but I would question the advice to do what you can over e-mail to avoid meetings. My experience is that excessive use of e-mail is the usual trigger for a meeting. Picking up the phone, or going to someones desk is invariably more effective.

There is a new web site offering links to free sal...

2009-10-17T04:54:06.664+05:30

There is a new web site offering links to free sales training resources. You should check out http://www.freesalestraining.com

Very nice clean site with links to solid resources, many of them are e-learning courses.

Interesting way of looking at things... and I am s...

2009-10-13T12:23:46.702+05:30

Interesting way of looking at things... and I am sure that she has loads of freedom online and all that... But think of it this way...

Many of us are the first generation internet users - our parents too picked up the internet after we did...

We were in an alien medium... pretty much figuring out what to do... (and sometimes what not to do)... We made our mistakes... we had moments of triumph.

We spoke to strangers... some of our best 'contacts' are people whom we have never seen... whom we nothing more of than their messenger IDs (twitter these days)...

We learnt... and some where I am convinced our next generation is wired to be smart on the web... true... it will spook the living day lights out of us... (more than it did our parents) cause we KNOW what is out there...

But just seeing how well they 'take to the pond' I am sure we are evolving to be an internet species... to be one with the medium... you can see it in the ease with which they have taken to mobile phones... or technology (DVD, iPods blah blah...)

Keep a tab... but I'd suggest you also do a trend study... as a learning specialist, you might just be surprised... ;)

-A

P.s I also hypothesize that online presences require the development of alter egos... what say?

you never stated how old she is, so i can't tell. ...

2009-10-10T08:25:00.557+05:30

you never stated how old she is, so i can't tell. But yeah if u trust her then layoff. The more u tell people (not just teens)not to do something the more tempted they get

Hi Manish, Am on Twitter too though I dont tweet t...

2009-10-08T19:04:37.228+05:30

Hi Manish,
Am on Twitter too though I dont tweet too much! :(
My email ID is pradyumnac@yahoo.com (pradyumna)
Regards
Pradyumna

Thanks. medical

2009-10-06T11:32:22.721+05:30

Thanks.

medical

Hi Sumeet Didn't forget. Just didn't know you twe...

2009-10-05T11:15:07.205+05:30

Hi Sumeet

Didn't forget. Just didn't know you tweeted. Added you to the list now.

Hi Friends, There are plenty of...

2009-10-05T10:19:52.764+05:30

Hi Friends,
There are plenty of jobs in India. Just post your resume and get your dream jobs soon. All the best for your future.

Damn! You forgot me Manish! Albeit, I'm not as ill...

2009-10-04T21:32:14.815+05:30

Damn! You forgot me Manish! Albeit, I'm not as illustrious a tweeter as the rest on your list ;-)

Twitter: sumeet_moghe

Hi I am shanath kumar from Sikkim Manipal Universi...

2009-10-03T07:20:56.022+05:30

Hi I am shanath kumar from Sikkim Manipal University and I head the department of elearning. Right now I am working on the learning design for our portal Edunxt.I am on Twitter and can be reached at shanathk@gmail.com

If you have people on board who have had a success...

2009-10-01T17:13:52.641+05:30

If you have people on board who have had a success in a certain type of endeavor, they'll bring all the experience into play and ensure that things go much like they did in a previous successful endeavor. Root cause analysis etc. happens when there is no prior experience and, as a consequence, the failure happens. For instance, imagine a project team successfully handling a client for some time and then the project is handed over to a new team. Now if the new team has some wisdom and humility, or the older team is altruistic (which unfortunately seldom happens), then past experiences can be used to good effect. But if things dont go as they should, then the new team will learn not from the previous success of the older team but from their own mistakes, which could have costed dearly too. Like Schank suggests, learning is not just about failing but failing in a safe environment (oh, the good old e-learning), which means that one shouldnt be taking chances and must learn form the success first. Even if it's someone else's success, it still is a success. (But if it's failure, it's only your failure! :) )

I think Web 2.0 is all nonsense. We've given a nam...

2009-09-30T19:16:06.265+05:30

I think Web 2.0 is all nonsense. We've given a name to something that existed earlier too, and I cannot see how it's going to affect learning more than it already has (people looking for information on Google, social network and all that). I think most people are keen to jump on the web 2 bandwagon without really understanding where it's supposed to be headed- it's spreading like a jungle fire for sure, and I'm afraid that the good old e-learning has been left to die. We exploited its potential as much as we could, without really contributing to its evolution, and now we're done and want to talk about web 2.0.

Thanks BunchberryFern and Amit. Learning from mist...

2009-09-23T16:53:26.523+05:30

Thanks BunchberryFern and Amit. Learning from mistakes is definitely winning this debate.

BunchberryFern, thanks for sharing the research. I...

2009-09-23T10:29:50.321+05:30

BunchberryFern, thanks for sharing the research. I am more in tune with this one than the one I quoted. Also, I too 'feel' that I learn MORE from my mistakes. Vanity it is I think!
Wondering - is it vanity that increases the energy levels - that Sonia refers to above?

(Posted this message as a comment on my own post i...

2009-09-23T10:23:01.161+05:30

(Posted this message as a comment on my own post in response to Manish and Shreya's thoughts)
______________
Manish and Shreya bring up a great point to this discussion.
I agree as organizations we are focused on learning from mistakes. And even though we celebrate success, we don’t really learn much from it. Celebrating success makes heroes out of the people/team involved in achieving the said success, motivates the team (and other teams too) to perform better in future, and hopefully that helps them trying harder for success by not make many mistakes. Unfortunately, celebrating success does not guarantee learning as, I think, there is no conscious attempt to achieve that. However, I do believe that individuals do pick up (in other words ‘learn’) best practices while attempting to achieve success. This is purely an individual activity/initiative and the organization has NO role in this. What organization can (and most try to) do well is to evaluate individual progress on KRAs, apart from celebrating team success.
Learning from success can (and should) be formalized in organizations. Brainstorming (as Shreya mentions) could be one good method. May be we could create Learning Documents after every project is completed & signed-off. The key there is to focus on both what went well and what didn’t. Bringing conscious focus to learn from a project could well do the trick.