Every body has dreams, plans and goals, when it is met, they feel happy. When they see hindrance to it, they are sad.
In organizations and management, this comes under motivation. Though not a management graduate, there are things that experience and life teaches us.
Different people look for different things. The needs of people vary and Abraham Maslow had put forth this as:
1.Basic needs: (security, Food, cloth, money), Safety needs (security), Social needs (Affiliation), Ego (Esteem), Self Actualisation needs.
To be more precise, some work for money, (to meet their basic needs), some because they need to show them selves off in the society, some because they love to work.
All have needs, though not the same, and therefore their attitude, desire and view vary, which are more or less like, steps, satisfaction of one need leads to the next, and so on. Every people look for different things, and in whatever levels a person is, they may have, professional and personal lives, and each life of theirs they have their own plans and desires.
As management do not like having surprises, even the employees, do not like hearing surprises.
It is really frustrating for the female employees, to know that they need to compulsorily work, even when, they are not feeling well or when they have whole weeks work planned kept pending at home. For men too they have their weekend plans, to be completed. Especially married, people are more frustrated when they do not have understanding employers because, they have to keep a balance between their personal and professional life, more than the bachelors/spinsters need. Removing an employee, with neither one months notice, nor salary for one month, have really demotivated the employees, in the sense, now they have begun to feel that there is no safety in working here, and the employers here will leave them at any time with no prior notice. When they ask me I just ask them could you give me the guarantee that you will not die today? But I know this is a harsh question, which some may not like to hear. Moreover it is funny to see that employees need to sent a leave letter, for a holiday……….
What the employees expect are:
1.Meaningful and interesting job.- Employees are here to work and not to plan, All things cannot be delegated, Planning has to be done by the top management, and once tasks assigned, there should not be constant change in priorities, what is said, urgent and they are made to work sitting late hours, they would like to see it implemented, or next time, when they are given, some important urgent task, they would be reminded of the old problems. There need to be planned and specific, goals & objectives.
2.Career advancement. This could be by job enlargements, job enrichments,
3.Supportive top management. -Generally it is said, follow the leader. Practice is better than precept. People work better and best for those, whom they see working. Not always shouting and creating problems work.
4.Participative decision-making- No doubt decisions are to be made by the top management, they need to make the employees, understand the requirements, preferably documented, but they would have a sense of satisfaction, when they are consulted in decision making. For example in project plans, dates have to be determined, by top management, and then consulted with subordinates for confirmation.
Motivation Carrots Rewards Monetary
Sticks Punishments Non Monetary.
This works if and only if:
a. Emphasis is more on carrots.
b. Sticks are to be administered skillfully and sparingly.
Many organizations cannot demarcate between the two, many a times what is implemented as a motivator turns out to be a demotivator in the long run. But decisions like, time, once made would lead to additional costs, to the company when reverted. For example is the performance appraisal. Now a days many organizations are suffering because of this decision made few years back. Once on the basis of good performance, a good increment is given to some employees, others are left behind. They how much so ever better they perform, cannot, easily earn the level of the first person, because, he in the future, if doest work, even a small increase, would be substantial for him. This is not only with respect to the monetary benefits but also with regard to the status, position and designation. In give the employees a scope for bargaining as to how he had reached that a level. Many organizations realize this, and right from start they decide to reward good employees by giving them some additional awards, cash/non cash prices for that year.
Just removing the trained employees, and recruiting new ones, would only add to the cost of the company, delay in generating revenue, and more problems.
“Which project is working best?”
Projects…………It was really surprising to hear that the best project moving as of now is Accounting package, I was astonished, shocked, and somewhat it was a joke for me. A project is a temporary endeavor, undertaken to create a unique product or service. It is unlike operations, which are ongoing and repetitive, with well-defined scope. For its success it should be within a predefined, quality, cost, and time paramater. The scope, time and cost should be predetermined. One needs to deploy the right resources in the right time-in right quantity.
One needs to prioritize things. Having highest priority for all means is no priority at all. Knowing the priority ranking helps project manager in proper planning. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Fine some of these where there with the accounting project. But there are still some things missing.
There was change in the management, person heading this team switching over to another project, unknown person like me checking in QA server, which is too slow, and needs help of tomcat, bull dog, time spent on chats. Calling people when they are on leave.
There should be proper allocation and demarcation of authority, responsibility and accountability.
Professional responsibility toward team.
Need to respect personal, ethical and cultural differences in order to ensure a collaborative project management approach.
-Understand the strength and weaknesses of different team members and blend them well in a team
-Understand cultural and ethnic differences
-Respect different work ethics and practices of team members.
-Keep the team members informed of the project progress and future course of actions
-Provide training where necessary
-Give the team members honest, timely and transparent feedbacks and be interested in their welfare
-Manage conflicts with fairness
-No bias on the basis of Nationality, gender, religion.
Good this is the project plan, it is there. But what about authority, responsibility and accountability? What about the quality, cost, time paramaters and the scope ? What is the control on these projects? When The CEO shouts or points something, there is a huge cry.
It is said that well begun is half done. Just creating fuss at the last minute will not work. People in general feel that, there are constant reworking of things, and all efforts go waste, for nobodys fault!!!! That is one of the reasons for the present frustrations and confusions. Prioritizing things and Communication is the link pin, for success of any project. Proper communication at the right time, and in the right manner is needed. Written communication is a must and required for the success of any organization, not just explaining things, and need to be the basis for every organizational activity. Moreover now that the offices are in two different places, proper coordination and sense of oneness & belonging that we all are one big family, has to be there. Not just blaming the other end/others. It is also seen that among some there is a feeling that this being an invested co. FZ LLC, company will go on what may, and once the present projects are completed soon, then there would be no work………..So delay…………I Don’t think any in India would have this feeling, because here it is a private company.
Another thing for sure, just assuming that the investors would always be there with us, and there is no competition, is dangerous. Though we need not return the share money in a company once it loses its goodwill, there would be no new investors willing to invest here. Having had good specs from people like, pinnacle, no doubt, there is leakage of business secrets, and anything can happen. Just removing the trained employees, and recruiting new ones, would only add to the cost of the company, delay in generating revenue, and more problems. Things really have to move in an organized manner and not in a haphazard way. Better late than never.
“Personal notes & views”
In the month of December I happened to see the movie Munna Bhai MBBS, in which the Dean/principal of the medical college says:
Though a successful doctor for years, his hands would shiver if he had to operate his daughter?
Why? It was simply, because he loved his daughter.
Moral of the story: Same as someone said: “Never love the organization you work for, love your work.”
Knowledge alone would help you reach your goals. You don’t know when the organization you work for will stop loving you.
Work and ask not what others can give you, see what you can give to them. When you do your duty without expecting anything, you will be happy. We leave life only once, (Though the scripts say of 7 lives, I don’t think anybody leaves for that) so why waste time being sad? Nobody will bring to himself or herself, sorrow or frustration, as all would like to be happy always. Moreover “Happiness and sorrow are mere states of mind……… It takes equal amount of effort to be happy as to be sad.” Many don’t realize this.
We need to work and leave for the present. Saving and working hard now, thinking that we will enjoy in the future is not fully right, though we need to have some savings for the future. No body knows when a tsunami, earthquake, flood, fire, bomb or by any other means death will embrace you. Live in the present. We work for decent leaving, what we get now only is ours; let that be from our employers. Because the happiness, the salary we get now, is only what we will have, once the organization stops loving us, everything will be that of the company itself, so also all the bad that the employees do. At the most the employer can leave the employee, but the result of faulty recruitment is the most for the employer.
Also LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOUNEVER KNOW WHEN COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU - Narayana Murthy
Undoubtedly, there is no greater teacher than Life!
The above-mentioned things are basic facts, which many fail to understand.
Moreover so far as I am concerned, I strongly believe that there is so much of good in the worst of us, and so much of bad in the best of us, that it ill behoves any of us to find fault with the rest of us. There are always scope and areas for improvement for all of us, and all would be looking for good and positive guidance. When an employee is seen not doing well in one area, there are always areas where he could do well. Once a person is recruited, before leaving him, there should be a policy of giving notices. Just asking them for the notice, when we do not keep the word, is not fair.
The first group of employees, here (Pritish, Hari) is more or less like the first group of employees there. (Sanjeev). Keeping them or leaving them is the managements choice.
Advantage: Sincere, Hardworking, Dedicated, Loyal, Have put good amount of hardwork during the initial days.
Disadvantage: Strong bargaining power in the long run.
Well all this can be seen in family lives too...........
Thats the story of when you divorce me, carry me on your arms.......Some relationship are built so much of love....But it takes only few minutes to break them...........?????? But why???
As the sms: In offices and at the time of Marriage why do two give hands or catch hands, when they meet first??- Is it like what the boxers do before they beging the fight????
Thought for the day: Happiness and sorrow are mere states of mind, it takes equal amount of effort to be happy as to be sad. We have only one life, why waste it, being sad.... Worry doesnot empty today of its sorrow, it empties, tomorrow of its strength. If a door is closed another will open, No body can change what has to happen....Once again....Expectation is the cause of all problem, accept things as they come........
