A Facebook Status!!

It was usual working day when suddenly while waiting at my son’s day care I checked my Facebook wall…after all I was eager for the responses on my status update which said…

"what matters more in a job:content or environment?"

 

And amazingly enough this time there were more comments than just likes J and some came from long lost friends too. So this means content does matter!! Right or else why would you all take pains of writing comments rather than either ignoring or may be ‘like’ing as a social courtesy. But is it just that...I doubt if I would have got same response on Orkut scrap. Hmmmm…. so guess what?  Ignoring environment is ruled out too.

But going through all the comments you would notice not just variety but different permutations of two choices. And yes, Money I purposely didn’t mention as an option for in a way it is part of environment and one more addition in option probably would have not even allowed to capture  all the comments. So when I saw environment and first choice, could relate to my personal experience where as a recruiter many times I came across candidates ready to compromise on higher capacity positions just for a better brand name, which they felt would provide better environment and exposure. Not just that, need for better environment also makes people come on lower salary hence agreeing with those who voted for it was quite natural for me. But at the same time a recent discussion with a friend who actually opted for an environment which she was not very pleased with ,only for a job profile with a content of her choice. Infact she chose job profile against all the odds!! Not just her many people consider its only content which takes you up on the ladder but similarly there are people who imbibe positives for the environment and grow as a professional.

We definitely can’t ignore the fact that best is the blend of both but when it comes to make a choice it’s not just different for different people but it does change for any specific person with time. An individual’s choice would depend on his state of mind and vary with his priorities and preferences. But ultimately what’s important that whatsoever we might pursue but ultimately we all seek inner peace. Our choices are just a way to stabilize our urges which allows us to focus for our further overall development.

So next time when you choose something remember there is nothing wrong or right it’s just your outlook, so go for it!!

Boredom Kills

You think boring is good as dead? Think again! 

OR shall I say, look again. It's all there, and you arent seeing it! Cant see it still?

Then ask your team to make a list of things they hate at work & of things they like, you'd be able to see a common thread on the former list. Those would be all the boring things that you've stuffed out there and that's choking your enterprise motivation. 

Now start throwing them out one by one, boring can't be useful, and if its so useful, find an interesting way to accomplish it. Don't ask HR to do this, most of their stuff falls in that list, and yes no matter what they tell you, your Policy Manual don't make for interesting, neither do those Performance Management forms! In fact if you wish to enjoy true Bon-Fire & cheer, burn those forms first. So with most of your existing content burnt and thrown including your dress codes, wall paints, attendance register or even retina scanner!How do you run Business then?

Well ask your team again; out of fear of getting the PMS forms back, trust me they'll create Awesome stuff to manage it all. 

For an entrepreneur, driving exciting content and keeping boredom at bay is as critical to existence as is keeping away from Health food if you really want to live long. 

Unless of course you'd rather kill!

Love Letters

I was at my desk getting on with Monday routine when this arrived at my mail box. The sender of the mail had just proclaimed his love for me!!!

Well, when you are a mother of two and hitting mid-life pretty soon, such emails do "intrigue" but the sender of the message was a bigger shocker!

I opened the mail, unsure of what the contents could hold in store for me and how my love life was about to get exciting........ What I read thereafter brought smiles, warmth, pride all mixed up into one adrenaline rush. I have not stopped smiling since!

Now now, you might wonder what's this got to do with plugHR and why am I opening up my love life here. Humor me, I am making a point here!

The man who was proclaiming his unabashed love for me was none other than the Founder CEO of plugHR! Hangon… before you jump to conclusions about the impropriety of this, I want to quote from his love letter (strictly the uncensored bits ;) )

What had caused this you wonder? It was the plugHR bootcamp – a three day affair where the team lived together, played (games), fought (like kids at times) over points, ate, drank, danced, “karaoke-d”, introspected, shared, treasure hunted, then ate some more. In the bargain, came back invigorated, focused, sharpened, and of course…. Much in love!

If this isn’t magic, what is?!

When was the last time you wrote your team a love letter? Do it, ask us how.


Writer is Entrepreneur, running enthusiast, artist.

Do you Bake Cookies @ Work?

I am a “Workflex” mom and typically am running short on patience with kids getting extra enthusiastic about working around the house during my “working” hours.

Today was one such day. Early on in the day, my 10 year old decided that he needed to hone his baking skills, and TODAY was THE day he wanted to do it, and of course, now was the only time!

So we got into this argument about how it’s not such a great idea to do it at 9:30 in the morning on a working day and how it was wiser to wait until the maid got in and was around to assist, trouble shoot, clean up, etc.

Arnie (the aforementioned 10 year old), was of course having none of that and he resolved that he would brave on and do it all on his own…… So far so good! Promptly, out came the recipe book, pans, ingredients, weighing scale, spatulas, gloves, blender et al. I could feel my blood-pressure rise but decided, for the sake of my peace of mind, to allow this transgression!

And so it was that Arnie, who knew nothing about baking, had never baked alone ever in his 10 year life, had only rudimentary knowledge of kitchen implements, but who was never short on purpose, enthusiasm and chutzpah, baked the most delicious, gorgeous cookies I had ever eaten. And here I was, berating him for the mess he had made, the countless interruptions he had added to my work, the general chaos in the house with the dog getting frisky on all the food smells and a kitchen that was getting increasingly buttery and floury!

When I look back at this, what exactly did he learn?? Hopefully, he learnt that when you want to do something badly, just go ahead and do it, doesn’t matter if mom thinks of it as a good idea; And not – “Mom never appreciates that I am doing something Awesome!”

What did I learn? Well, there is short-term pain when there’s an enthusiastic hand around. But with some nurturing, how that hand can create AWESOMENESS!

Ok, now let’s extrapolate this to your organization… Do you have Arnies around? What do you do with them? Do you allow the overwhelming urge of playing it safe and keeping everything clean and perfect to dominate? OR Do you allow them to bake their cookies despite the mess they will surely make? In short, are you experiencing AWESOMENESS?

Would be keen to know!