Home Office ? Are you Kidding me? Work from home does not mean no work!!! Give me a Break Guys!

I met an aunt today after long  many years and she was asking me about my office, work hours and said she would kill me if I say I am busy at work.  We are working for what we are paid and she is right.  But the expression she gave me when I said that I have an home office was totally undigested.   She sounded that work from home means no work getting done.  Probably after spending decades running to office every morning, the concept of home office is a not the zing thing for her.  And equally not to many of the people who still think work from home..is a paid holiday.   Give me a break guys!

There are two sides to a coin always.  The few positive sides of being in a virtual world of technology, connected from anywhere remotely is also huge and equally are the negatives of our lives in this environment.

The Biggest advantages of having a home office and also have a corporate that support the work from home culture are:

1.  Save on the travel time - commuting during peak hours of the day.

2.  Stay connected at different time zones.   Be it  IST, EST, GMT or what ever...You are there for the clients

3.  Reduce operational costs for Corporates by not consuming a full office, with parking, electricity, phone usage, transportation and security costs involved.  

4. Ensure safety of women working in odd shifts and giving them flexibility as diversity employees

5. Enhanced productivity that comes with alertness of being online for the full business hours

6.  Less distraction and cafeteria chat timings and giving more time to work.

7. Better work life balance with giving more time to work and personal things

8.  Staying virtually connected 24*7 helps in regular team collaborations, meetings, conference calls and there is no difference in the way we work

9.  People who work remotely are more engaged, focus on health and have lower stress levels

10.  More alert to work requirements, productivity, flexibility and availability increases at work force

The other side of the coin, where the pitfalls make work from home equally painful are:

1. Need continuous attention and keep increased watch on alerts for calls, meetings and deadlines making it stressful

2.  Distractions in case the home office is not isolated from the main living spaces and visitors

3.  Feeling of isolation when looking for business solutions that need brain storming and expert guidance

4.  Lack of people around to share moments of anxiety, team collaboration and participation

5. People who cannot draw thick line between personal and professional priorities have difficulty to separate work from home

6. Working hours are usually longer with very few or no breaks to refresh and work productivity

7.  Work place developments that are usually heard through grape vine is not available in home office

8. Danger of losing the visibility at work place by less presence in groups and office get together

9.  Work from home needs loads of self-discipline, proactive work atmosphere and learning to handle distractions and self-pity of being lone and working long

10.  People usually think that those working from home, are either jobless or lost their jobs and hanging at home, creating a embarrassment for families still living in running to work culture

However, like every situation that throws at us several advantages and disadvantages, Modern Home Offices are also still evolving with its own dimensions.  When people are high willed, strong determination with integrity and good professional values, working from anywhere doesn't really matter, as long as business outcomes are the same, client value is delivered, milestones are met and deadlines are not extended.   

Making your professional lives shine is all in the game of how you handle your visibility, performance, attitude, team work, stretching that extra mile and doing one bit more than others to prove your value adds to the growth of you and your organization.   

Appraisals are not what your managers decide for you and what companies give to you.  It is what you give to yourself for the money you are getting paid.  It is what you feel at the end of an hard working day fulfilling your obligations, responsibilities and duties both as a professional and also as a individual makes you what you are.   

Numbers, Money, Promotions, Awards or any other form of recognition is just another aspect in our lives.  Self-Satisfaction of doing your best, feeling the pride of achievement and sense of belonging-ness to your team, your company and your family is what makes you successful.  As long as these basic things are in place, it really doesn't matter, where you work from...Be it a multi-storeyed tech park, or an isolated factory shed, or from the couches of your home....what matters is business and its outcomes at large!

Happy Home Officing! 

 

Courtesy: Internet

 

 

Coping with Performance Review Anxiety

This is again the time of the year for Annual Performance reviews that usually act as the career-building exercise in Organizations. This is one of the times of the year, when there is lot of activity on both sides- for managers and employees.

During this time frame, employees try to be pleasing the managers keeping their ‘I’ factor aside so that what is fresh do not stay in the Manager’s mind during the D-Day that they wait all year long. Managers having the burden and anxiety to complete the process, hear to end less emotional outburst and keeping in pace with the facts/ details struggling to do justice to both their employees and other factors including Organizational Performance, account related budgetary constraints, identifying right talents and skills sets, giving due recognition amidst their own anxiety of this process with their managers. This struggle and anxiety is like in the food chain. Being in the top of food chain like said in the “Lion King’ movie gives managers an advantage of having the end word and keeps employees either motivated or otherwise depending on how they handle this whole process. Ultimately this is the time the either strengthen or damage the ‘Manager-Employee’ relationship in the organization and caution have to be adhered to for the benefit of the Organization.

Good preparation is the key for Performance Review discussions and they help the team performance taking it to the next level of growth for the projects and improve the relationship within the team members and those between the employee and the managers as well.

This whole exercise is highly stressful especially for the managers who have multiple reports and every member of the team have to be reviewed separately. Not carefully planned process can result in burnout for managers and displeasing results for employees. One year when I had close to 10+ direct reports to review, I ended up with weeks of planning, paper work, thinking and rethinking and in an ardent quest to strike a right balance. So can imagine the stress for managers having a bigger number.

Advice for Managers

What manages should remember is that though the process is stressful, with each of the employee, the process is critical and sensitive for them and it is one time exercise in a year that we all have to go through. Having multiple reviews to do, and having back to back sessions do not only result in a burn out for the manager, but also would lose the required energy and attention that is required to be given. Careful planning and giving time to think between meetings on the person on focus is very important not to give biased opinions that may ruin the whole process. The awareness that this is a nervous time for the employee who slog all through the year for some betterment in life and in career have to be heard genuinely.

It is very easy to keep a set of perceptions, organizational objectives, corporate strategy and self- advancement career path and go by those perceptions in your discussion. It is required to keep a caution on these factors and focus on the goals that have been set for the employee and review based on those goals and not just towards the events that happened at the end of the year. Any statistical data like the number of tasks completed, managed and efficiently done, appreciation or escalations received by the employee, financial impact of the performance in the organizational/project/program objectives become very key and important yardstick to measure performance.

There can be non-subjective factors like team work, attitude, client relationship etc. which can be considered. Non-objective yardsticks like how close you are to the employee outside office, how many times we had coffee together, family friendships, will the employee listen to whatever I say, and other actual factors that today hinder genuine discussions in the organizations have to be curtailed and purely controlled for the benefit of all. Evaluation employees based on the needs as a manager in the process of sharing the pie share that you have is a very common process in the corporates today. At the same time evaluation based on full year’s performance and based on their strengths, weaknesses and improvement areas will benefit the organizations in the long run.

Discussions often circle around the most recent past and it makes the key factor in decision making which is actually tough to stop but that should be made only one area of discussion and this should be the time to show appreciation on the good things done in the past and also provide guidance on the areas of improvement.

The important last word would be, Performance review is to be based only on employee performance and as one time measurement of what is achieved and what is not. Also important to plan the next year, discussion compensation and growth of the employee without any false promises or fake discussions that would surely motivate employees and would let them appreciate the management for their sensibility, professionalism and sensitivity in dealing with People…..After all, what you are working with are human beings…and not machines! Proudly called ‘Human Potential’!

Advice for Employees

The very important thing for the employees is to focus on the purpose of the review that includes goals review and performance objectives. Having details is important but getting too much into it would be a draining situation for both you and your manager, especially when you don’t arrive in consensus and end up in arguments. Having facts and entering into a healthy discussion is important for it is only between YOU and YOUR Manager. There should be no third party in this relationship. It is all about how you performed, where you failed and where you need to contribute and what you need to do to grow in the organization. It is like talking to a priest for god’s blessings???? Is it not??? Ending up in courter and useless arguments and debating with manager really will lead nowhere.

It is important to do your homework and be prepared to back up your proposal for your growth and good performance rating. Instead of giving a general note, it is important to have track of the specific details. And above all having clarity in your career goals is important and having achieved them gives you confidence to this whole process. To understand what was expected, what was performed and what is not achieved gives you a clear conscience of what you could be rated as. Anything away from your own assessment, is a probable result of other factors not within your line of control, probably within or without your Manager’s line of control of things as well. This means, fretting about the results that happened for what you are not responsible is being foolish. You would have given 100% but the project could have failed for so many other reasons.

Self-confidence, integrity and honest approach, on either side give a true meaning to this whole process. Any deliberate flaws will only result in employee attrition and dissatisfied managers resulting in draining away Organization’s best talents and causing unwanted financial impact and growth. So coping up with this anxious period with due caution is very important for the benefit of all concerned.

Appraisal Reviews- Should they impact what you are?

I always appreciate a strong performance appraisal processes managed in the Organizations. I believe they are the yardsticks that measure the performance of a person during the appraisal period. Having had an opportunity to review performance of the team who reported to me and also every year getting reviewed by my respective managers, I felt I should write my opinion on this that can help my readers with one focus- do not get impacted by the outcome. In fact, I was a trained performance reviewer where I attended a 2 day workshop in Courtyard Marriott in 2005, conducted by National Institute of Sales, India sponsored by previous company.
I think this training helped me at times when I faced disappointment after I was reviewed. Do not wonder, how can an consistent performance award winner be talking about an appraisal review disappointment. It happens. It happens because of various reasons, sometimes explicit and sometimes implied. It also can be because your expectations are higher than what is possible to your managers during that period. I am not trying to be modest here, but it is the truth. Logistics go a long way in the appraisal process. It is as simple as the CA Institute having a pass target as 0.02 percent every year. It doesn't mean that remaining 99.98 percentage of people have not aimed at Passing CA exams and have not worked towards its goal. Understand the realities behind this process. At the same, it hurts right! Its like getting centum in a subject in a board exam but still not qualifying for a state rank. You keep wondering what was that, that did not make you get that medal from the chief minister?? Similar case.
How to handle such situations as a Manager?
As a manager, you are trained to handle this delicate situations, for some people react silently, where as some people speak out with frustration. Those are the moments of anxiety for them for they have toiled for an year for this day. Understand them with compassion, handle them with care. Give an ear in detail to what they have got to say. May be your earlier judgement need to be re-reviewed and corrective action to be taken.
Human Potential is the strongest asset of an organization and as a Manager you have the responsibility to handle them carefully. You are not dealing with machines and just oiling them when needed. You are dealing with people's hard work, emotions, loyalty, commitment and dedication. You are handling some one's career, ambition and growth. Do not let your personal prejudice's come in way of a fair judgement. Be fair and transparent. If you are justifying someone that they are not efficient enough and ready for a promotion, solid hike or a next best opportunity, be subjective and specific. Talk to them with details, areas of improvement, and right statistics. Remember you are legally bound to answer their queries and help them understand the facts behind the decisions you made. To not give comparative statements, irresponsible answers and illogical reasons for why they missed the opportunity. To them its a waiting period of one another year, and who knows you may not be their boss as well, and they may have to drive this cycle from the beginning. As Azim Premji rightly says, major share of people leave organizations because of a wrong boss. Hope you don't get under this umbrella.
Be a boss about whom your employees talk great, get inspired, find you as a role model and always want to stick on with you for the comfort of delegation, authority and responsibility you give them and also an opportunity to prove their potential. Only when your team grows, you grow- This is the basic principle of management.
How to handle such a situation as an employee:
It would be one of the most disturbing days when your manager releases the appraisal report for you. Be prepared. Expect the unexpected and this would avoid any kind of disappointment. Even before the cycle to begin, maintain a register or a log of what you have done during the appraisal cycle. Nothing helps you than valid data. Keep record of appreciations and special milestones that you made the team cross. Do not compare yourself to others, compare yourself to your last performance. Acknowledge if you have failed in any areas with a note of acceptance for improvement. Mistakes happen and greatness lies in making attempts to correct them and not let them repeat. Understand that your manager will be having all reasons why he decided something for you. Try to talk openly but firmly. Analyse what he or she has got to say. If you disagree, take it up with higher ups for a more transparent discussion. Do not point fingers or find fault with others in process but handle it with maturity and composure. If you are right, it will make your manager realise the same. This is one period where people jump into hasty decisions and leave the companies. Never do that. If you are not able to achieve, impress in an organization where you worked for sometime, how can you expect to make it big in the new place. People who sustain such disappointment, consistently work for the next opportunity and who prove that their managers are wrong at times, are the people who climbed top on the corporate ladders. Its not the people who hop jobs after every appraisal cycle, but are the people who are strong and who believe in themselves who make it big in their careers. Remember, its like an examiner correcting a examination paper, depending on his day, the marks come in, remember this happened in our school days, and our managers cant be much different!. Now don't hit me saying why should we be targeted because manager had a fight with his wife at home on the day of my review, or because he can only promote one person, or because he is not able to convince his higher ups, or because there is no budget to allow more hikes. Remember there can be more deeper reasons and which he do not need to share with you. Respect his decision making as long as he is transparent and provides your subjective explanation on why you were rated so.
Bounce back with more energy, regain enthusiasm, and work hard not letting them having any reason what so ever in future to let you down. Remember the Japanese Shoe Company, which produces more than what the owners can sell as part of their silent protest!!! Heads Up Guys, its time for next appraisal!!!