Presentation Title: How to …… News articles from Harvard Business Review

Published in Dawn Newspaper from

February 16 to March 2, 2015

PRESENTED TO: MR. ABDUL MANNANPRESENTED BY: M. FAISAL KAREEM

HOW TO.. February 16, 2015 Not micromanage: Micromanagers are never satisfied with deliverables.Get frustrated when they could’ve done something differently.Intensely focus on details, feel proud to make corrections.They don’t have to drill on the details all the time, that’ll hurt team morale and productivity.To stop it, start letting go of focusing on small details, and do it a little at a time.Try to communicate final outcomes, focus on setting people up for success by providing support and resources and give credit.

HOW TO.. Set a bedtime for better productivity: Lack of rest worsens mood, weakens memory, scatters focus & increase anxiety.To perform our best, we need to rest.Get to bed early by identifying the exact time when you want to be in bed.Wind-down for 30 minutes before getting to sleep.Create relaxing pre-sleep ritual, read something that makes you happy.Lower the temperature and avoid blue light.

HOW TO.. Don’t put off people issues:People issues, most difficult challenges in project management.Rather than ignoring, denying or avoiding them, address them quickly and decisively before they get too big.Specify problem, think of possible causes, their impact on team and take action.Focus team members on Project goals, not on personal feelings.If team members are getting too friendly, reorganize subgroups to disrupt cliques.Pay attention to small signs, communicate daily and frequently to squash problems.

HOW TO.. Make engaging your older workers a priority:Older workers, a growing and valuable segment, need to be engaged to increase motivation, performance and loyalty. Ask them the problems they foresee in executing a specific task.Ask for their input before making big decisions.Give them jobs with more customer interaction or jobs dealing with internal customers. Form groups of young and older employees so they can perform well, as research proposes.At this stage of life, they are less competitive, make good allies with young ones because of their similar interests and are far more likely to help each other and form good teams.

HOW TO.. Don’t bring up Money during Job interview:Don’t talk about money during a job huntinguntil the time is right.Companies don’t hire such candidates who put money and benefits first.They are interested in your contribution, not in your wants.Best time to talk about money is when you’ve won them over, than you have leverage to talk to them about benefits.If asked about the salary during or after the interview, let the know shortly and professionally that “My requirements are negotiable”.

HOW TO.. February 23, 2015 The right way to finish a project:Final phase of Project Life Cycle is Phase-out.Recognize the team effort and accomplishments, whether the project completed in time or exceeded deadline.Debrief and document the process of project together, for future sharing and referencing.Post project meeting, to identify what went well and what went wrong.List down best practices, discuss what to avoid in next projects.Bring-in an outside facilitator for assessment to avoid biasness.

HOW TO.. Stay motivated:Motivate yourself to achieve your goals and improve skills.Know: What drives you personally and professionally?Ask: When sense of purpose in work was felt? What made it happen?Make a career plan: To help track projects and results, set goal for personal development.Goals help to learn and explore interests outside your job description.Evaluate own performance and ask for external feedback. Find mentors inside the organization for guidance and perspective.

HOW TO.. Not let group dynamic quash (suppress) critical thinking:Don’t censor yourself just because your opinion is different from the group.Leaders should avoid early views, which cause self-censorship.Show that you’re willing to hear different perspectives and disagreement.Don’t take an early position on a point, this will discourage open discussion.Encourage critical thinking.Restructure incentives to reward group success if people don’t participate.People are likely to jump in when they see some gain in good group decisions

HOW TO.. Assign new challenges to keep staff satisfied:Employees want their skills used as well as stretched.Challenge your team members if they are spending lot oftime helping others. Stretch them, not break them, offer guidance along the way.Increase difficulty by giving them high-stakes work, address more complex problems, more diverse set of stakeholders.Turn them into Rookies, give them projects they don’t have knowledge and skills of, to expand their comfort zone and to make them proud for learning new things.Pivot them to new problems, make them point their expertise at those problems.

HOW TO.. March 2, 2015 Build trust:Type A bosses: Driven, Successful, Demanding, Micromanage. Not easy to work under them.Speak up: Show your concerns, be direct. Voice your opinion, they’ll respect .Get to know your boss: Build outside of work relationship, share personal passions and goals, find similarities to build trust. Know that it’s not you: If you’re getting work overload and no appreciation, put frustration aside, ask your boss how she’s doing?May be she is lacking sleep or have to make a big decision, not that she doesn’t care about you.

HOW TO.. Keep performers happy by offering feedback:High performers are valuable, they are 4 times more productive.Their needs should be look out to keep them from switching.Feedback is a big factor in their job satisfaction.High performers expect monthly sit down, but only 53% managers deliver feedback expectations.To keep them from feeling underappreciated: Set up regular check-ins, ask them what they need, lay out career advancement options, give stretch assignments to gain diverse experience.

HOW TO.. Motivate your team:Set SMART goals for your team.Not too easy, not too frightening.Strike the right balance.Shift from Single number goals to High-Low goals.These High-low goals can lead to greater success

HOW TO.. Encourage innovative thinking:Internal competition, good way to be innovative.Can teach employees new skills, cross-department connectivity, amplify creative ambiance of company.To get idea from your company crowd; you should follow these tips:Frame competition around specific need.Create issue-centered challenge statement, solution of which will benefit your company.Be specific while mentioning your challenge, don’t be vague.

Thank you for listening to me!