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Managing Difficult conversations during COVID Times

COVID Times are different times. Difficult conversations become even more difficult because we’re experiencing very high levels of emotions. From Work From home some us of have already moved to Work from Office or a combination of both. A little bit about emotions We label are emotions as positive and negative. Emotions are just emotions. Instead of labelling them as positive or negative emotions, let’s just call them emotions and deal with them in a manner which gives best outcomes. Times are different. All of us are juggling between childcare , eldercare, household chores, our regular office work to name a few. Uncertainties are high. People who staying alone are experiencing loneliness. Humans are social animals. We are missing the personal touch, the water cooler conversation, the hallway greetings, the bumping into each other, the coffee in the canteen. There is also something good that has happened. We are now […]

August 3, 2020
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Building Emotional Resilience during COVID Times

We are experiencing unprecedented times. How do we build our emotional resilience? The Work From Home has been a reality for a long time .. but it’s different now. Defining emotions How are your feeling today? or How is WFH treating you?The answers will vary from person to person. Some say they are happy as they are getting to spend time with their family, others say it’s tough. Some have lost their jobs, while others are anxious about how will they manage after the reduced salary. Emotions can be positive or negative. Either ways need to deal with them. Emotions are real. Emotions are us. Traditionally we’ve learnt to dismiss our emotions by saying words like – “it’s all going to ok”, – “you’re thinking too much”, – “Try and divert your mind” ,– “Stop watching the news, listen to some music”– “Forget the anger; ” Emotions Controlling us What […]

August 2, 2020
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Managing Personal Energy during WFH times

Managing personal Energy Vs. Managing Time What’s different in WFH during current time Work From Home (WFH ) is not something new. Some of us have experienced it personally and most of us know it. How is this WFH different from the pre-COVID times ? The shortest list possible: Children are home schooling No support in terms of domestic help Resources like Laptop and computer system have to be shared between office work and online classes for children Endless work meetings Internet connection issues And above all, without any time to prepare ourselves, we were thrown into the situation. As a result, we experienced high levels of emotional and physical fatigue while we were struggling to do justice to all that we planned for the day. Managing Time Vs Managing Energy The problem with Time management is that Time is finite resource – exactly 24 hours in day and 168 […]

July 20, 2020
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Manager mandate during online meeting

#lockdown #COVID19 #Workfromhome #meeting The country-wide lockdown (should I say world-wide) has changed the dynamics of workplace. Along with COVID-19 virus that we’re dealing with, we’re also made to deal with a lot of unknown. None of management gurus / management books have ever spoken / written about ways to deal with such a situation. Organisations have to think about innovative ways of dealing with the new normal. Soon we will see new models in BCP to keep the business alive. What’s different for the teams? Virtual teams are the new normal. Work from Home is the new reality. Stay at home is the new mandate. On-line meetings is the new way of work. How are on-line meetings from home different? Learning the new way of working has become inevitable. Platforms like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and other meeting software are becoming the order of the day. The industry is […]

April 14, 2020
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Making most of Work From Home mandate

COVID 19 has changed the way businesses work. This is specially true for the IT & ITes industry, where Work from Home (WFH) is an option. WFH is not an option for manufacturing, retail, construction and other services organisations like hospitality. Despite the difficulty, these industries are still asking the employees to use the time for skill upgradation, strategising, planning and other activities which will help maximising productivity post COVID period. In my last post for online meeting mandates for managers I spoke about what managers can do to make most of the online meetings during these times of uncertainty. The uncertainty around the Virus and the direct impact of it on the world and businesses, each one of us are also going through an internal turmoil. We’ve have had to adapt to news ways of working, building new connections, become comfortable with socialising using technology and many more… The […]

April 14, 2020
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I do Celebrate International Women’s Day

What’s the fuss about Women’s day? Do we really need Women’s day? Isn’t every day women’s day? What’s the fuss about women’s day? Women already have so many privileges like special berths in trains, quotas in politics, Maternity leave while in work … just to name a few, what do men have ? When will men be granted any of the privileges? Everyday is women’s day! Why a special day? About Women’s Day International Women’s Day (#IWD), falls on March 8 every year, celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also sets a reminder on the lack of opportunities for women and marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. This day I celebrate and express my gratitude I use this day to celebrate and express my gratitude to all those women who’ve made it big Those who made it in Sports despite all […]

March 1, 2020
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They is Gender Inclusive

Well you read it right …. Plural “They” along with singular “is” in a single sentence . Let’s first understand what is meant by gender inclusive language … before we figure out plural and singular. This is not yet another fad which will fade away. Instead it is an attempt to debunk stereotypes and acknowledge the contribution of every individual without preference to any gender. Our gendered language may be attributed to our unconscious bias (read more about unconscious bias in our blog)/ Here is a list of nouns which indicate inclusion (the list is not comprehensive).  Now, going back to the title of this blog, can we really use They as singular? Will it not be a treated grammatical error? Merriam Webster dictionary is here to rescue. Check out the definition of They particularly 3d. By using “medical attendant” instead of “nurse” and “firefighter” instead of “fireman” we […]

February 17, 2020
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Gender stereotyping by a Googler

James Damore, a computer science engineer, became an overnight celebrity with his internal memo going viral over the social media. The memo that cost him his job at Google and also led him to a job offers in other organizations, without even applying. James’s memo opened up an international debate, where he opines that women are genetically not suitable for tech jobs or take up a leadership position and that the Google culture is discriminatory against people who weren’t women or who weren’t people of color. This 10-page memo came in after he attended a “private diversity summit” at Google. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, went on record to say the memo “Violates the code of conduct of Google and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace”. He, along with Google’s leadership team, lost no time, in firing James. Sunder Pichai also went on to quote “A […]

September 21, 2019
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Artificial Intelligence and Bias

Artificial Intelligence or simply put AI needs no introduction. Biases are shortcuts that our mind creates based on the category. Artificial Intelligence and Bias .. what is the connect? Whether it is Alexa responding to your command, or driverless cars on the road, or your bank calculating your loan eligibility, or the machine identifying presence or absence of killer cancer cell in the body, or simply your browser throwing up ads based on your earlier purchases, it is AI which is working in the background and making itself smarter (in other words “more intelligent”) on the go. Modern day AI system typically uses Machine Learning to achieve a predefined purpose. Training data, relevant to that purpose, acts as an input for an algorithm. The said algorithm will in turn detect patterns in the training data and develop a model to make predictions or recommendations about new data. Our dependence on […]

May 10, 2019
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Mentee maketh a Mentor

The End …. or a New beginning The mail from Cherie Blair foundation, reminded me about time to end the mentoring relationship with my mentee Clare Appleyard. It’s been an year already! ….. seriously?…. Doesn’t seem so. A relationship which has blurred the lines of mentee-mentor, and moved into the realm of a relationship called friendship … could not end. It’s also time for me to reflect. It’s not too late to think, if it is fair to call myself a mentor! Clare tells me she has seen 35% growth in her business. Well .. let me also share … I’ve had about 95% growth in my business. My gains from the relationship has been far more than I could ever imagine. A flashback on the year that was. When I signed up for being a mentor with Cherie Blair Foundation (CBF) and wasn’t sure what to expect. The introductory mail informing […]

April 19, 2019
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