Make sure you give full attention to a new boss

You may be a bit excited when you step into your first job. This excitement continues and at one point you may feel difficult during the first interaction with your boss. You may also experience this anxiety when your boss is the newbie. These situations not only become a challenge for you to face with but also provide an opportunity to create a wonderful working relationship with your boss.

The relationship that you create and manage with your boss will have a mounting affect on your career success. After all he/she is the person who guides you to prosper in the organisation. And more possibly you may not climb the career ladder without constant support and encouragement from your new manager. So, from now you need to make a good impression and get off to a good start.

Maintaining a good relationship with your boss is not rocket science but you should know how to get off on the right foot. Accept the fact that he is placed higher than you probably because he has better expertise, knowledge and experience, that is the first move you can make towards an effective boss management strategy.

Tips to succeed in your relationship with a new boss:

Accept: A positive step to maintain good relations with your boss is to accept him as your boss. Famous author and career consultant Andrea Kay says, “You have to make a mind shift to prepare yourself to say, ‘this is a new person'.” Also keep in mind that this new chief would be a different personality who comes possibly with a new way of doing things and expects the same from you. Demonstrate that he can trust you. Keep your word if you say that you will finish that project or complete that task by a particular time or day, ensure that you just do that.

Understand: Try to understand the boss's expectations and how he looks at different situations. You have your preferred way of working and so does your new manager. Find out how he likes to operate, and show him or her how you like to operate. This will lead to a better chance of getting together to work and be on the same page. Do considerable research to learn about his/her working style, work habits, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, personal and official issues of concern, challenges and desires as well as work life balance. It is also equally important to understand your company's culture to successfully manage good relationships without contradicting corporate values. Identify the areas where the boss cares about most and pursue results in those areas. Your job should be to shape your manager's perceptions of what can and should be achieved.

Communicate: Take the lead in maintaining relationships with your boss. Build good rapport and make it your duty to keep him informed of your work progress. Establish and maintain clear lines of communication between the two of you. Periodic meetings with the boss provide an opportunity for genuine performance evaluation. Discuss with him about the accomplished tasks and ask for feedback. This way, you show that you are willing to do all you can to ensure that your working relationship is smooth.

Your new boss will likely target several goals during the early weeks and months, because this will help confirm to upper management that they made the right hiring choice. Support him/her and show your ability to provide creative, innovative and proactive solutions to problems. Work hard and capably to show the boss that you do not need micro managing and he can trust you to get on with your work without worrying about what you are doing.

When you get a new boss take this as an opportunity to build positive and strong relationships with him/her to turn your career in to a successful one.

Author:P. V. Radhika

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article1481981.ece

Appreciating team members ensures your success

Studies have repeatedly shown that engaged employees are more productive. Also, they ascertained a direct relationship between engagement and appreciation. Employees working with managers who appreciate and encourage them for good work perform well consistently, learn and grow faster. Progress of employees contributes to the success and growth of the manager. So, the next time you are happy with the performance of a team member, make sure you go to him and pat on his shoulder.

A simple act of recognition can change the day of an employee. It makes him feel valued. It keeps him cheerful and focused. By appreciating employees whenever they deserve it and encouraging them to keep up the performance, you can change their approach to work. On the other, an indifferent approach to their efforts and achievements will bring down their morale and productivity. Eventually, absenteeism and employee turnover will increase.

Appreciation is a good way of nurturing healthy competition in the team. It can improve mutual respect and camaraderie among the team members. This in turn increases the overall productivity of the team, which adds to your performance. So, throughout your career acknowledge others for their efforts. The benefits of this practice will be evident on your career very soon.

However, appreciation will produce the desired results only when it is delivered appropriately. For this you have to follow some guidelines. They are as follows:

Build Connection: An individual will be positively affected by appreciation when he feels that it is genuine. That means your appreciation should make him feel that what he did really made a difference and someone has gained from it. You should impress upon him that you, the team or the organisation is thankful for his support.

This is possible when you connect with your team properly. For this you have to build a trust based relationship with them. As the first step allow people to understand you.

Attempt to understand the mindsets of each member in your team. Make sure that when you say or do something, they understand what you mean and what you intend.

Another important aspect of building connections is maintaining your integrity. People trust you when they see you as a person of integrity.

Appreciate appropriately: Appreciate the individual on time and in the most appropriate way. Based on how important his achievements are, appreciate him in front of the team or senior management, or send an appreciation mail. Sometimes appreciation should be followed by reward to keep up the spirit of the employee and motivate others to strive harder. Put some creativity into your recognition and reward system. Also make sure that you appreciate in time because as it gets late, appreciation loses its essence.

Be eager to celebrate: Be eager to appreciate your team and celebrate their success. Do not see it as a formality. Let your employees feel that you are genuinely concerned about their success and are happy to see them attain the goals. Keep checking work status reports of your employees to note achievements. Send appreciation mail immediately. This will make them believe that you are personally paying attention to what they are contributing to the team and the organisation.

Many managers feel that succeeding in their jobs is the duty of employees and there is no big deal about it. But it is human to expect appreciation for good work and be motivated by it. So managers should appreciate the staff whenever they deserve it. It is a part of their job! More importantly, the performance of the team determines the success of the manager. So, recognise the efforts of your employees and appreciate the appropriately whenever you get a chance.



Author:Nitya Sai Soumya

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article1481982.ece

Improve your image for better relationships

Sid has been managing a team of eight for over a year. The performance of the team was up to the mark. He believed that he and his team members understand each other well and share good rapport.

His boss was happy with his managerial skills. Things were going fine till the company hired a management coach, who asked all the employees to assess their bosses. Sid was shocked with the feedback he received.

Unlike what he thought, his image was not positive with his team members. They had issues with his management style and behaviour. Surprisingly, most of them felt that he was distant and opined that he should spend more time with the team to understand their work and the difficulties in it. Some even commented that he does not have proper control on the team.

The management coach, in his report mentioned that the team's potential was not being utilised to the full extent.

He blamed the manager for not motivating them and honing their skills. He proposed to send him for training in specific areas of people management.

Sid was just not expecting this kind of feedback. He never had the slightest clue that his team was not happy with him. Didn't he give them enough liberty to share their mind with him? Were his plans for them not up to their expectations?

This kind of experience is common for managers. They are often clueless about how their team perceives them. The feedback managers receive from their employees is priceless to their career. It gives them insight to their approach, and provides an opportunity to correct shortcomings and improve their skills. But for this they should receive it with an open mind, which is a challenge in itself.

Negative feedback from employees cannot be avoided completely. However, practising a few tips can help improve image. They include:

Maintain composure: Your mettle is shown when you maintain your composure in trying situations. So when you are in pressure do not yell at your staff. Keep watch on your tone because speaking loudly can sometimes intimidate the opposite person. It can damage workplace morale and bring down productivity.

Word mails properly: Most of the communication between managers and employees is through emails. Be thoughtful about how you word it. Spend sufficient time for it.

Managers usually send curt one-worded mails that imply a careless attitude towards subordinates. Such responses create confusions about the message and intentions of the manager.

This in turn leads to wasted efforts, misunderstandings and conflicts.

Talk in person: Whether it is appreciating a team member or sharing unpleasant information, talk to employees in person.

Be available for further discussion. This is essential to show them that you genuinely respect them and value their opinion.

Take cues: A bad boss's affect can reflect on the physical and mental health of employees. So if your employees are frequently, falling sick or taking leave faking sickness, check out if you are the reason.

Talk with them to find out if they have any issues with you. Instead of popping the question directly, begin an informal chat and extract information.

Keep deadlines practical: Some managers, who assumed the specific managerial role newly, especially first line managers, set tight deadlines for the their staff. The reasons are enthusiasm and lack of experiences.

If you observe your staff working overtime very often, then review your action plan for the team.

With the help of training Sid understood the flaws in his approach and learnt better ways of dealing with his employees. Practising them, he managed to build better relationship with them, within a few weeks. From then he began to interact more with his team to understand the kind of image he was projecting and to make sure it is right.



Author:Nitya Sai Soumya

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article1481974.ece

Self-confidence, an essential attribute for career success

In a fiercely competitive work environment, mere talent is not enough. Self-promotion to an extent is essential too. Unless you make people sit up and notice your skills and talents you cannot hope to reach the career heights that you aspire for. Quite often, people understand the importance of getting noticed but are clueless about achieving it.

Well, if you also happen to wonder how successful people always manage to create the right impression, here is the answer- an aura of self-confidence that surrounds them is often the secret of their success! So, start building the self-confidence necessary to take on the world! It is often said that, “who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.”

On the other hand if you put a small value upon yourself, the world will certainly not bother to raise your price! Hence you must note that unless you show an absolute belief in yourself you cannot expect others to believe in you.

If success has been eluding you for sometime, it is only natural for you to feel depressed and let down. While you sit brooding, your self-confidence embarks on a downward slope. The sooner you wake up to this situation the better because letting self-confidence slide down will only make matters worse. For, self-confidence alone can give you renewed energy to overcome setbacks. So, don't lose your confidence at any cost, it is too precious! Instead always work on giving it a boost. Here are some clues:

Manage your mind: Always think positive and stay optimistic about tasting success tomorrow if not today. Replace self-doubts with self-assurance and self-support.

Celebrate simple wins: Set simple targets to begin with. These goals need not be challenging but make sure that you exploit your strengths and minimise weaknesses. Enjoy reaching each target and celebrate the success. The resultant good feeling will no doubt uplift your self-confidence by a notch or two!

Define your career path: Identify your areas of interest and spell out your career ambitions. This will help you to direct your energies on to the right path. A strong sense of purpose behind every thing you do will enhance your self-confidence.

Build necessary competence: Make a note of areas of work in which you are good. Pat yourself for achievements in these areas.

But more importantly, identify also the areas that require improvement. Start working on your shortcomings. Take the help of your seniors or request your manager for training opportunities. Development of competence and mastery of skills is a sure way to uplift your confidence.

Embrace challenges: As your self-confidence improves try doing new things. Overcoming new challenges or solving fresh problems can be highly invigorating. However, make sure you don't give up but persist even when winds turn unfavourable. Success in every thing you do is not as important; it is making progress and improving competence that matters. Allow yourself the freedom to fail.

Viewing failure as a learning experience will help you to maintain your self-confidence at a healthy level. This will certainly give you renewed energy to turn failures into a successes.

Be happy: Always like yourself and accept you strengths and weaknesses with equanimity. Since nobody is perfect in this world, focus always on building your strengths to make up for any inherent shortcomings in other areas. However, if you still feel some of your weaknesses are hampering your professional progress, don't get depressed. Instead put in sincere efforts to overcome them.

If you have a strong commitment nothing is impossible to achieve. Trying to overcome a weakness is in itself a highly gratifying exercise and every little success achieved will undoubtedly boost your confidence.

Though life is full of uncertainties and adversities, nothing can stop people with strong self-belief from reaching their goals. “Success comes in cans and not cant's.” So, always think you can and you certainly will.



Author: N.Purnima Srikrishna,faqs@cnkonlin.com

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article1481975.ece