Pareto Principle: Management Funda; Jun'07

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What does it mean
The Pareto Principle also called the 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20%) are vital and many (80%) are trivial. For instance roughly 80% of your orders come from 20% of your customers. 80% of decisions come from 20% of meeting time. 80% of customer complaints are about the same 20% of your projects, products or services. You will notice this even in mundane matters like we wear 20% of our most favoured clothes about 80% of the time.

How did it have its origin?
In the late 1800s, economist and avid gardener Vilfredo Pareto established that 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth. While gardening he observed that 20% of the peapods in his garden yielded 80% of the peas harvested. After Pareto made his observation many others observed similar phenomena. Quality management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran in the 1930s recognized a universal principle he called the "vital few and trivial many" which stated that 20% of something is always responsible for 80% of the results.

What are its applications?
The Pareto principle has several applications. Some of them are listed below:-

Are there any limitations to using it
Yes, but we should view it as challenges which need to be addressed rather than limitations. One challenge is to identify which actions make up the useful 20% and that too in advance. The other challenge is to determine whether this useful 20% always contain more or less the same actions or differ in different times.

 How can I use it
So often we say “There is so much to do and so little time” or “What an unproductive day!”  Consistent application of 80/20 rule can help us dramatically improve our productivity.


To maximize personal productivity, realize that 80% of one's time is spent on the “trivial many” activities.  Analyze and identify which activities produce the most value and then shift your focus so that you concentrate on the “vital few” 20%. Similarly to increase department productivity, focus attention on the top 20% of activities or transactions by first identifying and ranking projects and purchases in order of risk and productivity; and then focus remedial activities on those select few. Assign or delegate the 80% “trivial many” to subordinates or reduce them to clerical processes.  Identify that 20% of all transactions which account for the greatest risk and concentrate on minimizing those risks rather than minimizing all risks at much greater time and expense.  To reduce costs, identify which 20% are utilizing 80% of the resources. 


So go ahead and identify that 20% in your work that really matter. Remember they are going produce 80% of your results.

 

References

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle.
  2. Callos, JD, “The Pareto Principle (a.k.a. The 80:20 Rule)”, http://www.4hb.com/08jcparetoprinciple.html.
  3. Savage,A, “How Useful Is the Pareto Principle” http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/how-useful-is-the-pareto-principle.html.
  4. Reh,FJ,“How the 80/20 rule can help you be more effective”;   http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Pareto081202.htm.
  5. Rain, L, October 2004, “PARETO'S PRINCIPLE”, http://naeb.org/Purchasing_Link/Commentaries/2004/Oct_LR_Commentary.htm.

Employee Speak: Sambit Bal, Editor - Cricinfo

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About the company: Cricinfo, the world's leading cricket website, ranked number one in all of its major markets has live coverage of all Test and one-day international matches, news and features written by world's best cricket writers and in-depth statistics of all the first class cricketers. The Cricinfo Magazine features insights, information and comments from the world's best cricket minds. Regular contributors include Harsha Bhogle, Sanjay Manjrekar, Peter Roebuck, Gideon Haigh and Patrick Eagar.

1. What does your organization do?

Cricinfo is an organization which acts as a complete one roof outlet for Cricket.

2. What is your role?

I am the editor for Cricinfo’s both online and offline website and magazine. I manage our global editorial operations spread across Bangalore, London, Australia, and Pakistan. Cricinfo is easily the world's biggest cricket website and we see ourselves as being the global voice of cricket. It’s not only our job to give scorecards and data, but also to make sense of everything that happens in the world of cricket. It’s our job to deliver all the news in real time without compromising quality.

3. What are the key challenges you face in your industry and specifically in your role? How do you deal with them?

 The biggest challenge is in the technology arena. It is important for us to constantly reassess our delivery mechanism because in our space technology is updating constantly.  The internet is the most democratic of mediums and users are always being presented with new choices. So the challenge for us to stay relevant and contemporary! And we must offer the users a wide range of choices.

4. What are the future plans for Cricinfo?

Cricinfo is the best in the global market and we want to increase our breadth by becoming best in all local markets. Cricinfo should be first and last stop if you want to look at cricket online or offline.

5. What motivates you at work?

Keeping people motivated, finding talented people and watching them grow. Also creating and maintaining a work environment that is informal, creative and challenging and empowering people to do their job to the best of their ability. I have received trust and freedom from my company to deliver the best that I have to offer and I believe in doing the same with my colleagues. What matters to me is what you deliver, not what you wear to work or what time you land up in the office. And in my experience, if you trust people to do their job they don’t let you down.

6. What have been some turning points in your career?

I started my career at the age of 19 and have been working for last 20 years. I have worked with newspapers, magazines and websites. I have had eight jobs, but spent more than 15 years in three of them, and those have been the places I have enjoyed working the most. This is my sixth year with the Wisden Group.

My most significant job before this was editing Gentleman, a features magazine for people who wanted to read. It covered literature, art, culture, movie, food and people.

My first job in cricket was with www.totalcricket.com  started by Mark Masceranhas who brought big time cricket television into India. He was Sachin’s first agent and was his agent when Sachin brought 96 world cup to India. When Wisden was setting up their business in Asia they asked me to join them as the Asian editor both for the magazine and website. I have been here ever since.

I always taken life as it comes and haven’t at any point planned my career. I never applied for a job.  I never ever made a CV. I have stayed in organizations for long only if I enjoyed the work there and was valued. I have been part of many start up companies especially dotcoms. I have enjoyed every bit of work though short term.

7. What has helped you succeed?

The most important thing about working is enjoying what you do. In a sense my jobs have chosen me and very often they haven’t felt like jobs because I have had such a good time doing them. The most important decision of my life was to become a journalist. I was studying commerce and couldn’t bear to imagine a life spent in numbers. Journalism provided me an escape route, and luckily this is a profession that brings freedom and fulfillment in good measure. If you enjoy what you do, and do it to the best of your ability, the rest follows automatically.

8. What are the challenges you face as a manager? How do you deal with them?

The biggest challenge is to keep people motivated and challenged. And keeping a balance between a relaxed and happy atmosphere and yet keeping everyone on their toes. Comfort zones are the enemy in a creative workplace, so you have to constantly create challenges for team members to ensure that they don’t slip into monotony.

9. How do you help your team members deal with stress?

By giving them work that they enjoy and making sure they are looked after. We have an informal and non-hierarchical set up. I tell them that we are equals, but the only difference is that the buck stops with me. They get credit for the work, but they know that if they have a problem, I am there to deal with it.

Managing Difficult Bosses: Feature Article; Jun'07

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In the book ‘First break all the rules’ the authors propound that employees do not leave their companies, but leave their bosses. It got me thinking. What if the boss is alright and the individual had not managed his/her boss effectively? I know what you are thinking….shouldn’t our bosses be managing us? Why do we need to manage our bosses?

Common sense tell us that parents manage their children. But ask any parent and he/she will tell you how his/her child manages him/her. And why does the child do that. To simply get his/her way!  Applying that logic we can say that we need to manage our bosses to get what we want from our work. Bosses can guide us, offer meaningful feedback, connect us with the rest of the organization, provide necessary organizational resources and motivate us to do better.

How do we manage difficult bosses?
While thankfully most bosses are not difficult (I guess that is why they are bosses!) there are some who are difficult and need to be managed accordingly.

The Indecisive - They are vague and flit between decisions. Figure out what triggers their indecisiveness. Is it avoidance of conflict or risk? Provide them the confidence that you will be able to manage the conflict or risk.  If you do not want procrastination, give them a hand by stating past problems encountered because a decision was not made Summarize the options considered and your criteria for selecting one option. Be clear what you expect from them. Do you want to simply inform, to decide jointly, to share the risk, to add one criterion or to re-examine the option.

The Control Freak - These managers micromanage everything not allowing you to think or function for yourself. Fear of failure or lack of confidence in you usually makes them want to control every little task. If you can reassure them that you are taking adequate steps to address risks and provide them as many details as possible, you can work well with them. Successfully executing a few projects will also automatically improve their confidence in your abilities.

The Absent One - This manager could be traveling across the globe or just has too many things on his/her plate. The trick is to squeeze yourself into his/her schedule. And once you do get face time with him/her make the most of it by preparing thoroughly beforehand. Summing up options and what decisions he/she needs to make, or direction they need to give makes it easy for them to deal with more in less time.  

The Politically Savvy - These bosses do not want to ruffle any feathers especially those belonging to the top management and are very conscious of what is politically right and wrong. They can be easily managed by helping them look good in front of their seniors. But it is important to watch your back.  Get written support for anything risky or controversial to avoid being a potential scapegoat.

The Whip-Cracker - The whip-cracker drives you hard. Ever watchful, he seems to know about every mistake that you commit or even the ones you are about to commit. He works very hard and does not seem to have life outside work. Unfortunately he expects you to work also the same way. If it is not a temporary phenomenon on account of a looming deadline, you need to reconcile to it. On the bright side you get to reap the rewards of hard work.

The Bully - Very rarely you could have a bully for a boss, one who is nasty and makes you miserable. But before you shout “Help!” look around. Is your manager singling you out? If you are the only one, maybe your working styles clash. Consider changing your style to match your boss’. If he is doing it to everybody then at least you know it’s not personal. Report it to your superior or an HR representative.

The Non Appreciative - You have worked hard and according to you, you have produced the best report possible. And there is no “Good show!” statement from your boss. If your boss is generally the type who never appreciates anybody then your best bet would be to ask him directly for feedback on your work and if you really did a good job he will have to admit it. Alternately you can ask for feedback from supportive teammates. But if he/she does appreciate occasionally then you know you only need to do better to receive that rare compliment.

The Inexperienced - Being a boss can be tough. Bosses have to deal with their own pressures and priorities. Added to that if they have just been promoted, they may still be learning the ropes of being a boss. Understanding this can make you more sensitive towards their problems. Due to their inexperience they may not realize the extent of direction that needs to be provided to subordinates. You can help them help you by articulating what kind of support you expect from them to do your job.

 

The Non Communicative - This manager communicates a decision and you are left clueless of the rationale for it. You are told to perform a task, but you do not understand the relevance of the same for the organization. You can ask for an explanation, but you are likely to not get one that satisfies you. Understanding your boss’ and organization's priorities may help you in this front. If you are new to the job this might be difficult, but over a period of time by observing trends and patterns you will figure out.

What about non difficult bosses?


Yes, we also need to manage them. Regardless of the type of boss we have we can have an effective relationship by following a few guidelines.

Appreciate realities: While some of us really do work for difficult bosses, most of us may only think we do. Check with your peers whether they also feel the same way. If not maybe you are being unreasonable. If you have faced problems with all your bosses maybe you need to reflect and see if the problem lies with you rather than the bosses.

Understand reasons for difficult behavior: As we saw earlier in the article, understanding the reasons for difficult behaviour helps in determining ways to deal with it.

Manage your own negative emotions regarding his/her behavior: It is important to do this so that you do not engage in self-defeating behavior like counter-attacking your boss.

Understand boss’ perspective: Look at issues from your boss’ perspective and not just from your own. Say your boss says ‘No’ to your dream project because there are insufficient funds, don't just complain. Understand from him/her what's needed to get it going and how you can help. By addressing the boss' concerns, you subtly influence him or her to work more on yours.

Communicate issues/concerns positively: If your boss generally behaves in a reasonable manner and his/her difficult behavior seems to be a result of stress overload, the behavior can be modified with feedback. While providing feedback, be clear about the issue and its impact without getting defensive or aggressive. Explain how the boss can resolve your concern. Ask for his/her commitment to follow through as agreed.

Use commitment based approach: Commitment-based approach with your bosses can provide good results. How this works is that you ask your boss to make specific commitments to you even if they are small. You follow up when your boss ignores or forgets that commitment by reminding him or her of the broken commitment.

Overcome fear: Often fear of how the person is going to react to you on discussing a problem prevents one from the broaching the subject. Overcoming this fear can bring things into the open and help sort out misunderstandings.

Be choosy about asking their opinions: If you ask your boss for an opinion, you will always get one. And the opinion may not always be the best one. However, once given, the opinion might seem like an order. So, if you don't want your boss' opinion to slow decision-making speed, or cloud the viewpoint, then don't ask for it. Well, don't ask if you don't need his/her opinion.

Don't just come up with problems: It is important to identify solutions to problems. So next time you take a problem to your boss also go with possible solutions. That way you are taking equal responsibility for solving it.

Educate: Agreed you are the technical expert since you spend all of your time on the issue. But you need your manager’s perspective because it is broader. While he/she may not know as much as you do, he/she can understand; so educate him/her. Educate by simplifying; using easy to understand language; by feeding him/her with articles, illustrations, best practices and summaries that help him/her see a perspective. By creating understanding, you relieve tensions; create trust that can lead to better decision-making.

Understand manager’s style: In managing your boss you should know her personal inclination, as well as your personal bias. If you are process oriented, you will tend to present issues in a systematic and orderly fashion, with pros and cons, chronology of tasks, etc. whereas he/she may prefer understanding the broad aspects leaving the detailing to you.

Be Trustworthy: Being trustworthy ensures that your boss has confidence in you and relies on you. And if he thinks you will help him succeed, he will make efforts to help you succeed.  Do not undermine trust by promising what you cannot deliver, by not delivering on what you promise, by surprising the boss with bad news without forewarning or by being sloppy in your work.

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Conclusion
The relationship we have with our boss is perhaps one of the most important relationships we have at the workplace. While we may not have difficult bosses, at some point we do face difficulties in our relationship with them. Effectively managing the difficulties we face in our relationship with our bosses can help us become more effective in our jobs.

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 References

  • ‘Managing The Difficult Boss’,http://www.net-working.com/full/0211/boss.htm.

  • Marilyn, PY,’Managing Your Boss’, http://www.healthyplace.com/communities/Anxiety/work_5.asp.

  • Lyndsay, S, ‘How to Deal with a Difficult Boss: Solutions to 7 Types of Bad Management Styles,http://www.mftrou.com/management-styles.html.

  • Horovitz, J, August 12, 2005, ‘10 rules to manage your boss’, http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/aug/12spec.htm.

  • Zweibel, BK, ‘Manage Your Boss Effectively’,http://hodu.com/manage-boss.shtml.

Ask the Expert: Aug '07

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I have just become a manager of a set of people and I feel I need to make some changes in the way we work. Unfortunately I am facing a lot of resistance from my subordinates, although I have explained clearly the need for change.

There is a natural tendency for people to resist change even if the changes one wants to implement are essential. Once people adapt to an environment and are sure of their role within it, any change will threaten the needs (comfort, satisfactory relationships etc) that are met by the status quo ie. the way things are. Some ways to make change easier are:-

  • Give your subordinates some time to accept you as their manager. They are still getting used to you. Acceptance of you will lead to a greater acceptance of the changes you propose. Once you demonstrate your job capability, your ability to lead them and your genuine concern for their well being, they will accept you.
  • Anticipate your subordinates’ concerns and address them. Give them opportunities to express their feelings. Answer their questions completely. Assure your full support in all implementation plans.
  • Share your vision for the change and for your work group. Emphasize the benefits the change will bring to each of them.
  • Involve them in decisions whenever possible especially those which impact them directly. They need to own the change to be able to implement it effectively.

 

One keeps hearing about how continuous learning is important to do well in one’s career. How do I learn without attending training programs which are expensive and time consuming?

You are absolutely right! To grow in your career you must continuously learn and develop your skills and knowledge. The will to learn is important. If you are in continuous learning mode you can learn every month, every week and every day. There are several ways to learn apart from a training program. Some of them are:-

  • Learn on the job by soliciting feedback from others about your work, doing some self reflection of what you did right and wrong, discussing with other colleagues and observing their work
  • Read relevant books and articles. Subscribe to relevant magazines to be in touch with the latest in your industry.
  • Be part of online/offline groups that hold discussions on your area of work.
  • Take an online course which will work out more economical and give you flexibility of choosing the time you want to devote to learning.
  • Find someone inside or outside the company who has already mastered the new skills to act as a coach and clarify your doubts.
  • Exchange questions and experiences with a “learning partner”, someone who is learning the same skill. If you cannot find a learning partner in your group or company, look for groups on the Internet who are interested in the subject.

However for you to successfully learn relevant skills you must identify what you need to learn. Make sure the learning areas directly help in improving your work related skills. Then develop a learning plan that includes what you need to learn, learning resources you will use, a schedule of learning activities and measures of learning achievement.

 

I know my top management is capable and have employees’ best interests at heart. But then why don’t they communicate important developments to employees. We have to rely on the grapevine to get company updates.  

While it is top management’s responsibility to communicate adequately with employees, don’t let that stop you from approaching them and clarifying any concerns that you have. When you meet them explain your concern positively. Try and understand their perspective on issues just as you want them to understand yours. If they say they will clarify later, ask for their commitment on the same and follow up on the same if you don’t hear from them.  

Mostly top management does not communicate for one of the following reasons:-

  • Certain developments may not be final and communicating it too soon may have a negative impact.
  • If there is bad news, they don’t want to alarm the employees by giving it immediately without having first formed a strategy to address the problem.
  • Overloading employee with information is not good. So, they have to be choosy about what to communicate and in the process topics you are interested in may get left out.
  • Some information by its very nature may not be for public consumption eg., financials of a private company. If you ask them they will explain it to you, but it will not be circulated to everybody to avoid leakage to outsiders etc.

Often information gets distorted through rumours. So, discount any rumours you have heard. You should definitely highlight your concern to top management directly. It’s likely that your manager will also be able to clarify. You may want to ask him/her first.

And, read carefully information about the company that is available to you - company highlights sent on emails and in newsletters, company news in media etc. Often one tends to read it hurriedly thinking it does not affect me.

Mind Mapping: Management Funda, Aug'07

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Mind Mapping: What does it mean?
Human brain works through associations. Every idea has a number of links attaching it to other ideas. Mind Mapping is a technique that utilizes this ability of our minds. By using mind maps, we can quickly identify and understand a subject’s structure, the way the pieces of information fit together. They hold information in a graphical format that our minds find easy to remember and quick to review. They help us avoid thinking linearly by opening us up to creativity and new ways of thinking. This can be best illustrated with an example.

An example of a mind map

Steps followed in making the above mind map:

  1. Write the subject title you're exploring in a circle in the page center. This is shown by the black rectangle (time management) in the above figure.

  2. As you come across major subheadings for the topic, draw lines from this rectangle. Label these lines with these subheadings. These are shown by the red lines (time wasters, effective use of time etc).

  3. As you go deeper into the subject and uncover another level of information ie., further facts belonging to the subheadings above, draw these as lines linked to the subheading lines. These are shown by the blue lines (focus, planning etc.).

  4. Delve further into the subject and uncover another level of information ie., more facts belonging to the subheadings above, draw these as lines linked to the sub-subheading lines. These are shown by the orange lines(diaries, priorities etc.).

  5. Finally, for individual facts or ideas, draw lines out from the appropriate heading line and label them. These are shown by the green lines (order of execution, allocate importance etc.).

How was it invented
Mind Mapping was invented by Tony Buzan following his research on note taking techniques. He tested how much was learned or remembered using each of the following techniques for taking notes:

He found that the ‘Least learned’ was 1 and ‘Most learned’ was 6. So, Tony Buzan came up with a new method for note taking based on the idea of making the notes brief and interesting to the eye.

What are it applications
Not surprisingly mind maps can be used in many different ways other than just simple note taking.

How can I use it
Want to show your team the big picture about the next assignment? Stuck with problem you are trying to solve? Getting bogged down by the loads of information about the topic you are researching? Want to come up with a new way of selling your product. Make a mind map! Thus you can use mind mapping to summarize information, think through complex problems, consolidate information from different sources and enhance creativity. You can easily find more such workplace uses for mind maps.

Once you understand how to make notes in the mind map format, you can develop your own unique way of making mind maps. For instance you may decide to use different colors to distinguish different ideas or use symbols and images along with words. So, try experimenting with mind mapping. I bet you will find mind maps effective.

References

  • ‘Mind Mapping FAQ’, http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Creative/Mindmap/mindmapfaq.html
  • ‘Mind Maps A Powerful Approach to Note Taking’, http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm
  • Dunn, S, ‘For Greater Success in the New Year Try the Miracle of Mind Mapping’, http://www.mind-mapping.org/mindmapping-and-you/basic-introduction-to-mindmapping.html

Employee Speak: Mukund Rao, Studio Manager, Dhruva Interactive, Bangalore; Aug'07

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www.dhruva.com

1. What does your organization do?

Dhruva is a pioneer in game development in India. Some of the AAA game titles that we have worked on are Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, TOCA PRO Race driver and Forza.

Dhruva is also into mobile game development and we have won the FICCI BAF Awards 2 years in a row for Slyder and Cricinfo Genie.

 

2. What is your role in Dhruva?

As Manager of the PC/ Console Art Studio, I manage the team and projects at the art studio at Dhruva. I facilitate art direction and internal production of games. I also interact with and manage clients like Microsoft and EA to name a few.

 

3. What are the key challenges that you face in the industry and specifically in your role? How do you deal with them?

The gaming industry has evolved such that the quality of art is very close to that of films. The challenge today is to strike a balance between quality of deliverables, timelines and the creativity among artists. Artists, by nature, have a creative mind and hence require the space and time to orient their thought processes into positive ingenuity and creativity. It becomes difficult for them to deliver within timelines specified by the client.

 

4. How do you foster creativity in your team members?

We spend a lot of time playing games and discussing game art. As a team we all try and derive inspiration from the pop-art scene at large. There is emphasis on people working on their pet projects during slack times. We also have started internal contests that are fun and help artists think out of the box.

 

5. What motivates you at work?

‘Game Art’ is interplay of art and science with endless opportunities. The challenge to be creative within the technological constraints imposed by the hardware platform motivates me the most.

 

6. How do you support and motivate your team members?

The ideal way to motivate my team members is by creating excitement around the work that we do. By highlighting some of the new project deals that have been signed up and the appreciation and positive feedback given by some of our customers.

 

7. Lastly, what is unique about working in Dhruva?

The constant demand for perfection and the open and non-hierarchical set up is what sets Dhruva aside from the others. The demand for perfection keeps us on our toes all the time, we innovate progressively and the sense of achievement that comes out of it is tremendous.  The non-hierarchical culture is a big boon, supporting employee communication at all levels.

Find Out How Optimistic You Are! : Quiz, Aug'07

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Optimism contributes to emotional intelligence and job success in the workplace.

  • If you are an optimist you see the world as positive, safe and enjoyable. You dedicate your thinking to solving problems and finding new approaches.
  • If you are a pessimist you may view the world as dangerous and likely to get worse. You probably dedicate much of your thinking to worrying and expecting the worst.

To determine how optimistic you are complete the following optimism quiz. If a statement describes the way you act or think more than half the time, write T otherwise write F.

Scoring Direction: 

High Five! The Magic of Working Together : Book Review, Aug'07

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I read somewhere the quote, “Divine spark is the difference between a crowd and a team.” from the book ‘High Five! The Magic of Working Together’ and wanted to understand it better.  That was when I read the book. And guess what I found - an inspirational account of how to build teams and what teamwork is all about. . . Drawing inspiration from sports which have produced some superb teams, the best selling authors of ‘Raving fans’ and Gung Ho!’ have spun a stirring tale of creating winning teams.

Alan, a good performer, is fired from work for being a poor team player. As he takes his son to his grade-five hockey practice, it is clear to him that his son's team, also knows nothing about teamwork. The team's coaches persuade him to join them, and ironically Alan finds himself responsible for teaching the players teamwork. What then unfolds is a journey worth emulating. With the help of a former girls' basketball coach, Alan and the team learn the value and power of teamwork.

 

There are some fundamental lessons of what makes good teams viz., “giving clear sense of purpose” and “continuously building individual skills”. There are valuable tips for good team building like “keeping the accent on the positive” and “repeated reward and recognition”. The book’s essence is captured in the line, “A team is wonderful thing. It allows us to achieve things far beyond our own ability, while at the same time keeps us humble.”I especially Iiked the idea that teamwork not only improves team performance but also improves individual performances.

What is wonderful about the book is the way the four simple techniques for creating great teamwork are illustrated through the trails and tribulations of the characters. There are some lessons which defy logic like having to let go highly skilled but non team players to improve team performance, teams can beat other teams with better performers, you don’t have to win to achieve and reward those who pass balls to others rather than hit goals themselves. The book provides practical suggestions like drawing up a team charter, measuring and comparing skills, not giving any negative feedback, having individual goals, cross training team members etc.

The story is touching, the style is engaging and the applications in an organization context is evident.  It can be read easily and quickly. The story is so charming that you may tend to read it like any other racy novel. But it is just impossible to miss the lessons. When I finished reading the book I desperately wanted to feel the magic of working with a team. I hope you do too.

Improving Effectiveness with Emotional Intelligence : Featured Article Aug'07

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Raghav’s superior analytical skills had once again helped him solve a difficult technical problem at work.  In his 6 year career, he had yet again proven his technical acumen and he felt on top of the world. What more did he need to succeed and be an achiever in life he thought? Actually, Raghav needs to supplement his high Intelligent Quotient (IQ) and technical skills, with just one more ability viz., Emotional Intelligence!

 
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Simply put, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships with others effectively. It has the following five aspects:

EQ

Research shows that the need for EI increases with increased levels of responsibility. It determines who excels in any given job and is essential for being a good leader.

Benefits of improved EI
In Raghav’s case, improving his EI will ensure he is more effective in his career and has a more fulfilling personal life by helping him….

  • Motivate himself  to do his best and stay focused on his goals
  • Strengthen trust with others to build productive relationships
  • Deal with everyday job stresses
  • Develop his courage to make difficult decisions
  • Have kindness to create great customer service
  • Build resilience to persevere through adversity
  • Ignite the best and most inspired performance from his team members
  • Have confidence to constantly change with the world around him

Clearly the benefits of using EI are many. But what if our EI is low, can we improve it? Yes, the good news is unlike IQ, which tends to remain fixed throughout our lifetime, EI can be improved over time. And there is more good news.  Most people's EI increases with experience and maturity. So what are some of the behaviors that demonstrate high EI? How do we go about improving our EI?  Let’s find out.

 

Using EI techniques to be more effective
While each of us needs to evolve specific strategies to improve the EI aspects we are not good at, there are some EI techniques that can be used by all to be more effective.

  • Understand and take responsibility for your emotions- When one fails to understand one’s feelings one tends to blame others or the environment for one’s emotions. Realize that you create your feelings of happiness or sadness and others are not responsible for them. Once you are aware of what you are feeling, the odds of successfully dealing with your emotions are greatly improved.
  • Develop constructive coping skills for specific moods- Learn to relax when your emotions are running high. When you feel angry, use the energy that the feeling brings for something that will release that anger, not feed it. Go for a run when you are feeling blue. Look for the silver lining, humor or a lesson in a negative situation.
  • Talk to yourself differently- When faced with challenges say to yourself, “I will try. I can make a difference.” instead of, “Why should I even try. It won’t make a difference.” Optimistic thinking is more likely to lead to successful outcomes.
  • Remember you are not your emotions- There are no “bad emotions”. So don’t feel guilty for feeling emotions which you think are not appropriate. It's how you respond to those feelings that matters.

  • Care for others- There is nothing like caring for others to release good feelings in oneself. To genuinely care for others put into practice the proverb "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you".

  • Have a supportive network- Build trusting relationships with friends, family and colleagues. By choosing the right people, you will be able to surround yourself with those who care about you and help you feel good about yourself.

  • Put yourself in others’ shoes- Try imagining what it must be like to see things from others’ perspectives. Ask questions and listen attentively to what is said. Paying attention to non verbal communication can help you empathize better. So, watch faces, listen to tone of voice, and observe body language.

  • Stop responding automatically- Take control of the way you think and act by listening to your emotions and thoughts. Find out why you react the way you do. Whatever you feel is giving you valuable information, either about the situation you are in, or about some event that has happened that you need to learn from. Mentally prepare yourself for improving how you think and act in future.

  • See meaning in your work- People who see meaning in their work are more positive than people who believe their work is meaningless. Do more of what is meaningful to you.
  • Use your energy wisely- You need immense energy to tackle life’s challenges. If you are constantly worried about things you cannot change, you will be left with little time and energy for things that you can change. So, quit fuming about those traffic jams and think of how you will improve your team’s morale.

Improving our EI

Understand the aspects of EI
The starting point to developing your EI, would be to understand thoroughly the various aspects of EI. Don’t just stop with reading this article, go ahead and read more on EI.  Read books on EI. Do some googling on the internet for articles.

Understand your current level of EI
Next step would be to know what your current level of EI is. Studies have shown that we usually rate our own Emotional Quotient (EQ) higher than what other people rate us since we have justifications for our behavior, in spite of the negative impact the behavior might have. Hence, though there are self-assessment tools available to assess one’s EQ, a better option would be a 360 degree assessment ie., your EI is assessed by people who know you well viz., family, colleagues, bosses, team members etc.

Choose behaviors for improvement
Now that you know what you need to improve don’t be over ambitious and attack all of them. It is essential to limit yourself to only one or two behaviors to work on at a time to ensure success. Also the more specific the behavior change planned the better. For example, you may decide to work on your tendency to avoid difficult colleagues. Though it is a good idea to select behaviors which impact your work and personal life the most, they may not be easy to improve. So start with those that can give you some quick wins.

Find alternative behaviors           
After identifying a behavior to work on, identify the alternative behavior you need to develop. Alternative behavior in our example would be not avoiding difficult people (that was easy :-). If you have always behaved this way, you must be wondering how you can change it. Hmm…this is a habit, not an innate ability. Habits can be broken. New habits can be learned and retained through intentional effort, practice, repetition and of course the motivation to change. Understanding reasons for the behavior and benefits of alternate behavior can help. It also helps, if you identify someone with a high EI and think of how he/she would respond to the given situation.

 

Conclusion
We are primarily emotional beings. There are emotions everywhere, at work, at home even on the roads. It is our emotional intelligence that will help us become more effective everywhere. Yes, it takes time, patience and a high motivation level to improve our EI. But it is worth it!

 

References