Conflicts with co-workers? You are not alone ...

Tweet

Do you have tough co-workers? Do you often run into conflicts with them? You are not alone. There is tough people everywhere. So, how do you handle tough people at work? Some tips to handle tough folks:

1) Do not 'fight' with them over emails. They won't stop. So, you are the one who has to STOP.

2) Talk to them in person & try to understand their perspective. See if you can influence them with your view points.

3) Often, you may not be able to convince tough folks. If you still feel that it is going to hurt the product/project, you have to escalate that to your boss.

4) Do not send emails to escalate 'people' related issues. Just go & talk to the concerned folks in person. You never know who the email would get forwarded to. It is better to be safe than sorry.

5) Try to develop some rapport with tough people - take regular coffee breaks with them, go out for a short walk with them, go out for lunch w/ them, share some weekend experiences with them. You don't have to develop friendship with them. But, don't be their enemy :)

6) Do not quarrel with tough folks IN-PERSON. Always, mind your words. After all, we are professionals.

7) Ignore tough people, if that will not affect the product/project

8) Don't try to 'back-stab' tough people. It is not in the best interest of you or them or the company

9) Don't complain about tough people to 'arbitrary' folks. Words travel fast.

10) Be assertive when talking to tough people - but don't be arrogant. Also, don't behave like you are trying to be 'submissive'.

11) People are tough when they think they are 'responsible' or if they feel that you are competing with them (or) if they are very 'attached' to something (or) if they are 'self-centered' (or) if they want to get 'recognized'. Try to understand why they are 'tough'. It will help you to handle the problem, better.

Dealing with tough people is often very difficult. All you need to do is be conscious about it. If you have adequate patience, you'll master the art soon.

Tweet

How to be a STAR performer?

Tweet

You are a person who completes all the assigned tasks on time. You check emails or work from home almost daily. You even sacrifice some of your weekends to complete the project. You travel for your company on a very short notice. You hardly have any time for you and your family. But, in spite of doing all this hard work, you don't get the rating that you wanted.

At the end of the review cycle, your boss says "You did a great job in completing your tasks. I wish you had done better on other areas also" or your boss says, "I personally wanted to give you the best rating. But, the top management didn't approve it". Does this sound familiar to you? Don't worry. You don't have to hear those statements again in your life. I am going to give you 5 simple tips to get the "best rating in performance reviews".

Tip #1: Understand your objectives

This is one of the important things to do to get the best rating. Are your objectives well defined? Do you know the criteria that your boss has to measure your performance? Are those agreed upon and documented?

Let me give you an example. Say, you have an objective like "Deliver a high quality product". The perception of quality varies between individuals. A person from Microsoft may think that a high quality product can crash or reboot twice a day. Whereas, a person from Apple may think that a high quality product should not crash at all.

Ask your boss this question "What should I do against this objective to get an Outstanding rating?" Get a clear understanding about your objectives and the measurement criteria before you sign-up for something.

Tip #2: Always go the extra mile

If you are expected to just develop a product/feature - go the extra mile - and do some extensive testing. If you are just expected to test a functionality/feature, - go the extra mile - and complete the test automation.

Your boss may come to you and ask "Eric, I know that you have so many tasks in your plate. There is a new hire who just joined our team. Will it be possible for you to mentor him?" Your boss comes to you because he thinks that you can help him. Do not disappoint your boss. Be willing to take additional responsibilities. Go the extra mile.

Tip #3: Be Consistent

At the beginning of the review cycle, you may be very excited and motivated to achieve your goals. But the motivation should sustain.
If you are expected to send "Weekly Status reports" once a week, send it without failure every week.
If your manager expects you to complete your deliverables on time - make sure that you complete them on time, every time. You should have the same levels of commitment and performance throughout your review cycle.

Tip #4: Have a few Bulleted/Star Achievements

This is an important thing that differentiates you from others. Imagine that you are one of the 5 mechanics who work for a car service shop. You check brakes, rotate tires, change oil, change filters and fix the issues with the car like every other mechanic. If you want to differentiate yourself from others,

- come up with a strategy to service more cars in less time,
- volunteer to train the new joiners in your team,
- learn how to fix issues with the new cars in the market,
- go beyond your customer's expectations

Don't just do what you are expected to do. There should be some star items (things that are not the USUALS) and those items should be BULLETED in your performance review form.

Tip #5: Project what you do

I've seen many people slogging day & night to get the work done, but they fail to project their hard work to their bosses. How would your boss know that you are spending extra hours unless you let him know? How would your boss know that you are doing the work efficiently unless you let him know? How would your boss know that you are completing things on time, unless you let him know? Typically, a manager has 10 or more people reporting to him. So, it is hard for the boss to keep track of what each & everyone is doing.

Make sure that you send your Weekly Status Reports. Have regular 1-on-1s with your boss. Send emails after completing tasks or let your boss know in person. Some managers don't read their emails. Make sure that your team also knows about your accomplishments. In many organizations, peer reviews are considered to rate your performance. Your peers should also acknowledge your work.

In order to get the best rating in performance reviews, you don't have to work for 12 hours per day. You don't have to sacrifice the weekend movie that you had planned with your family. You don't have to be super-smart. Just follow these 5 simple tips.

<>
I'm sure you all would come out with flying colors in performance reviews.

Tweet

Soft skills - A hard requirement

Tweet

Any job interview would focus on technical skills (your expertise on the subject matters) & soft skills (your communication, interpersonal skills, motivation, commitment etc.,). It is mandatory to have a proper mix of both technical & softskills. There are folks who do exceptionally well in technical interviews - but they still do not get selected because of the lack of soft skills (& vice versa).

What are some of the soft skills that employers look for? Some of the soft skills that people look for, are - communication, commitment, self-motivation, eagerness to learn, willingness to perform, creative thinking, hard working nature, team player, listening, punctuality, confidence, leadership, putting up your best etc., Employers can easily judge many of these skills during the interviews - so don't try to cheat. You should be able to give specific examples for each of your 'soft-skill'. For example, the interviewer may ask "Tell me a situation where you have to learn things on your own & perform". You should be able to give a specific situation as example. That will improve your credibility.

If you are a college graduate, you may ask "How do I groom my soft skills in college?" College life provides you several opportunities to shape up your personality & to develop your skills. You can organize/involve in all sorts of college activities. For example, participating in debates & speech contests would help in improving your listening/communication skills. You can also become a member of a nearby Toastmasters club to improve your communication/listening/leadership skills. Conducting various symposiums & organizing functions would help to groom your leadership & team playing skills. Conducting mock interviews would boost your confidence. You can also pick up some of the soft skills effectively by reading good books.

If you are out of college, you can get acquainted with non-profit organizations to do service or any kind of social work. You would get enough opportunities to hone your organizational/leadership skills.

Developing your soft skills is more challenging than learning technical stuff. Some of your characteristics may be in-born (or engraved during childhood days). It would be hard to get rid of some bad behavior. However, if you try consciously you'll be able to overcome your limitations.

Soft skills are a hard requirement for hi-tech jobs. You better develop them, when it is not too late.

Tweet

Standard of fresh graduates in India

Tweet

I interviewed a fresh candidate at my work, today. He had done B.E (IT). His areas of interest had "Operating System" in it. I asked him a simple question - "What are the functions of an operating system"? He answered "Scheduling". I asked "What else?". He was spell bound. He couldn't think of anything else. I was astonished. A guy who has done his Bachelors in IT with a score of 83% couldn't answer what the functions of an operating system are. I then started probing more.

Me: What is the OS you used at college?

Him: Windows

Me: What do you do with it?

Him: I write C programs. I execute some sytem commands in the "command prompt".

Me: How are the C programs stored?

Him: They are stored as "files".

Me: Doesn't the OS manage these files - storing/retrieving etc.,?

Him: Yes

Me: What do you call these devices as - monitor, keyboard, mouse, joy stick, & printer?

Him: Hardware

Me: Hardware is too generic. What do you call these devices as?

Him: Access devices

Me: Don't you use these devices to give input & get output from computers?

Him: Yes

Me: Now, what do you call these devices as?

Him:

Me: Don't you call them as "I/O devices"?

Him: Yes

Me: Doesn't the OS manage these I/O devices?

Him: Yes. Sir! I should've had a staff like you in college. I should've met you a year back when preparing for interviews.

Me: Well, it is not too late.

I told him that he may not be suited for the position that we are looking to fill. I then recommended him the list of things he should learn. I also gave him my contact number & email. I asked him to get in touch with me for any questions/doubts regarding interview preparation. I wished him all the best. 

Tweet