I thought over what you said about my weight loss as an inspiration for the others.
At first I thought I will become a joke if I really did give my “before” and “after” pictures. But then to think of it, I realize that it is not a small thing and I should be proud of it. It is an inspiration to all those who give up and think certain things are impossible in life or are too late and difficult to achieve. I could do this in 6 months and I am sure this will be a pillar of inspiration to many others.
10 a.m. on Friday, 6 February 2010 at Gate No. 2, World Book Fair, New Delhi
The emptiness and peacefulness of the morning, while waiting for my colleagues on the day of my duty, provided me with a photograph of the gates juxtaposed against the sky, before the crowds started pouring in.
It gives me immense happiness to know that a whopping 100% people have voted in favour of the Recreation Club. Endeavours, such as these help us work collaboratively towards representing T & F India as a team. Great way to go!!
I'm in too...
I am eagerly looking forward to the selection of the organizing committee for the club and hope to see a lot of activities in the coming year.
It hasn’t been a very easy decision, choosing the best entries to be awarded for participation in the blog. I am extremely glad that the bog is a month old now and we had 28 robust entries doing rounds of the office in the month gone by. The younger lot is definitely more enthusiastic about writing and it has been a pleasure reading what they’ve had to say.
After having read and re-read all the entries, many times, I think it is only fair to first of all congratulate each one of you wholeheartely for participating in the blog and making it your own. As I was telling marketing, the two pre-decided awards, will not be able to justice to the range of creativity that you have exhibited. Therefore, in order to be fair to everyone, here goes who I think should be facilitated:
1.Best Picture Award: Goes to Marketing for the Go Green Poster that they have put up on the blog. It reiterates our commitment towards the environment and also showcases us an eco friendly publisher, managing paper from pulp supplied from sustainable managed forests. Congratulations!!
2.Most Interesting Read: Well, I’ll still say this, even at the cost of sounding biased, but I really liked what Disha wrote about her first job experience. We’ve all had these ‘cold feet’ moments but the way she upheld the company pride by talking to a hall full of veterans in IIC, beats every other read. And all that after Shafina told me how Disha had to be literally terrorized into writing. Congratulations Disha, way to go!!
3.Largest Number of Entries:Sangeeta Menon and Anjali Madan tie together for the largest number of entries. Congratulations to both!! Well Done!!
4.Sweetest Picture Ever: Definitely is Pankaj’s son telling us that she has finished all the milk powder dabbas!! A very sweet picture Pankaj, give our love to your son.
5.Special Award: For Nigel’s entry on 'What is Marketing'. The kick start and electric scooter do give us a worthwhile lesson.
Marketing seems to be the choice of January (well, its there birthday month). Two awards and Nigel's entry is also on Marketing!! I’ve also liked Rama’s article on Abraham Lincoln, Sanjay entry about my Journey in T & F, Sabiya Ashraf’s ‘Bhago Yahan se’, Sudhanshu Goyal’s entry on team work amongst many others.
Keep writing and keep connecting everyone!! February will see many more awards coming your way!!
P.S: You will have your prizes hand delivered in sometime!!
Haiti is a perfect example of how global warming is leading us towards mass destruction. Very unfortunate-what has happened! My heart goes out to people who have lost their near and dear ones.
Informa has urged us to make donations towards the cause and I think as TandF community, we should rise to the ocassion and in whatever little way we can, associate ourselves with the cause; perhaps by offering a day's salary or making individual contributions towards the same.
If you would like to make a donation, please email csr@informa.com directly. If you would want to contribute a day's salary to go through TandF office, please let your intention known to HR.
Let us remind ourselves that we, as a community, still have the conscience to stand up for a worthwhile cause.
Today’s life revolves around perfection at work and home and everyone is struggling for it. In the bargain we forget to address the true essence of life: smiling and laughing at the comic aspect of one’s life.
I usually travel by metro train. And, one can see that discipline prevails at the metro station. Everyone forms neat queues to enter the train. But the moment the train arrives, the queue transforms into a crowd of people all struggling to be the first one in, and the crowd pulls in even those who plan to avoid the mob and travel by the next train, thus forcing them to travel involuntarily with them. One need not wait and step into their train but stand where there is a gathering and one will find himself/herself enter and exit automatically. And that is the beauty of it all. Despite the Delhi Govt. trying its best to bring order at the metro lines, things eventually happen in the good old Indian way---by becoming a part of the crowd.
People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and my team, but few understand how to create the experience of team work or how to develop an effective team. Any group of people working together does not form a team. Thus, committees, councils and taskforces are not always teams. There is a clear difference between teams and workgroups. So let’s first find out what does the word “Team” exactly mean? A Team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, a set of performance goals and an approach for which they can hold themselves mutually accountable. A team based approach improves efficiency and productivity levels in an organization.
Generally the number of people in a team ranges from 2 to 25. A team of 50 or more members is theoretically possible, but such team will invariably break off into sub teams and will rarely function as a single and cohesive unit. Thus, a team with around 10 members can be far more effective than a team that has more than 50 people.
But what does it take to make a team successful? Dr. Warren Bennis, a pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership studies, conducted a study to identify the principles that made great teams successful. He studied a number of teams including some worth mentioning like:
The Manhattan Project - Team behind the Atom Bomb
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) – Team behind Computer Technologies like GUI and Ethernet
Apple Computers – Macintosh, iPod and more recently, Invention of the Year 2007: iPhone
Walt Disney Studios – Team behind those wonderful Animated features we all adore
Although all of the teams were extraordinary in their own ways, there were some principles which were common across all of them:
A Shared Dream - All the great teams shared the dream of making the world a better place to live in. They sincerely believed they would change the world for the better. These teams were obsessed with what they were doing and did not treat their work simply as a job, but a fervent quest.
Mission is bigger than Ego -During the Manhattan Project, two members were at loggerheads and one of them decided to leave. But the Project Leader reminded him that the mission was more important than individual egos and this made the team member rethink his decision and ultimately stay back.
Protection from Leaders - All the great teams had leaders who protected them from the corporate headquarters. These leaders managed to keep the headquarters satisfied and told their team members to remain focused on their work.
Fostering Enmity - A team with even the noblest of missions benefited when it had real or invented enemies. For example, in the heydays of Apple computers, its mission was to bury IBM and their cunning advertisements almost always reflected this enmity in one way or the other. An implicit mission such as destroying the enemy is more motivating than an explicit mission.
Daring To Be Different - Great teams generally consist of people who consider themselves as mavericks and are generally at the periphery of their disciplines. They like to operate on the fringes and according to Bennis, it is this sense of operating on the fringes that feeds their appetite to succeed.
Pain and Suffering - A place in great teams is rarely assured without personal sacrifice. The nature of work could demand intense pain and suffering from its team members, but it’s only the teams which actually hold on to their commitment and survive.
Strong Leaders - Though great teams are non hierarchical, egalitarian and open, yet they have strong leaders. Bennis observed that the leaders are not always the most intelligent or capable in the team but neither are they passive players. They are like curators who appreciate and preserve talent in the team. Great teams make great leaders.
Meticulous Recruiting - Great teams are a result of understanding what talent is needed in the team and spotting where it is available. The leader of the team and the other members consider recruiting a serious exercise. This ensures that the right people are in the right place.
Young and Energetic - All great teams had people who were quite young. Young people have the physical stamina necessary to withstand the arduous tasks involved. Great teams are also young in spirit, ethos and culture.
Great Teams Deliver - Great teams always believe in tangible outcomes. Almost all leaders reminded their team that their work was not good enough unless it resulted in a great product at the end.
Thus, belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than you. It has a lot to do with your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization. In a team oriented environment, you contribute to the overall success of the organization. You work with fellow members of the organization to produce these results. Even though you have a specific department, you are unified with other organization members to accomplish the overall objectives. The bigger picture drives your actions and your function exists to serve the bigger picture.
