Getting Confident At Work-Place

Getting confident at workplace requires some personality traits. If you closely analyze successful and confident people at workplace, you will find some particular qualities. Let us understand few of those qualities one by one and also understand their impact on your confidence:

1. Highly successful and confident people are always result oriented. Your boss does not count how many work you started, but he does count how many work you actually completed. Completing your work is a matter of habit; you can start the same right from today.

2. Confident people have good communication skills. Communication is all about knowing nuances of communication and playing with words and voice through practice. If you can take little pain, you can start developing communication right away.

3. They are good in planning and time management. With practice you can develop these traits by and by. One of the best ways is find techniques on time management and planning on youtube.com and other sites and start applying those;

4. They are 100% focused on whatever they do. Now getting focused is just habit and practice. “Doing one thing at one time” is one of the best practices of time management also.

5. Success and confident people never hesitate. Just keep in mind through hesitation you will get nothing; if you leave hesitation you are creating 100% chances of getting things you really want.

6. They learn everyday to contribute better and have better market value. If you have a burning desire to learn and contribute, you can start learning new things and advance your existing knowledge right away.

6. Successful and confident people are highly disciplined. Observe yourself how many times you make calls, check mails, interact with others and roam around while completing a work.

7. Successful and confident people are proactive; they tend to do work without instruction and before deadline. You can do so by taking little pain and risk and this is one of the best ways to feel confident.

8. They are highly energetic and maintain their energy level. Having energy level is all about taking good diet, proper rest and work out; anyone can have this with little practice. 

Life skills training: infusing confidence in students

Growing concern over psychological problems faced by the students and the divide between school atmosphere and social issues has led to the introduction of life skills training in schools.

Educational reforms that focussed on holistic development of children by connecting knowledge to life outside schools was one of the key issues mentioned in the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (2005).

The need for life skills training was also pointed out by the Committee on School Health (Renuka Ray Committee, 1960).

World Health Organisation (WHO) defines life skills as ‘the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life'. WHO's Mental Health Programme supports life skills education in schools across the world.

Components

Problem solving, critical thinking, effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills, building self-awareness, empathy, and coping with stress and emotions are the 10 basic skills focussed in the programme.

According to WHO, the three components of the programme are critical thinking /decision-making skills, interpersonal /communication skills, and self-management skills.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) had adopted the life skills training module from 2003-04. According to CBSE, life skills, school health and wellbeing are valuable indicators of progressive schooling across the globe.

Objective

The objective of the programme which focussed on children in the age group of 10-18 was to empower students by helping them to develop a sense of self-confidence, eco-sensitivity and right approach towards life.

According to P. Elango Jayaprabhu, district coordinator of the programme and lecturer at District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Thirumoorthy Nagar, resource persons from the institute conducted training for one teacher and two students from each school, who would then organise the sessions in their schools. According to Elango, problem solving and creative thinking helped students address daily-life issues.

Students and teachers from over 560 Government and Government-aided schools in Coimbatore and Tirupur were trained under the programme, he said.

S. Ponkeerthana, Standrad IX, and N. Mohanapriya, Standard XI, students of Corporation Higher Secondary School, Ramakrishnapuram, said that the training provided them an opportunity to discuss many issues they faced without any hesitation. The training sessions helped to dispel a lot of misconceptions, especially on topics like HIV/AIDS, they said.

According to D. Prabhakaran, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sulur, weekly two sessions on life skills were conducted for students of all classes.

Parents did not show much interest in the programme because it did not fetch the students any marks. This attitude should change and children should learn many of these basic values at their home.

Parents should play a more proactive role in moulding the character of children, he said.

But, lukewarm response from many schools had raised concerns about the effectiveness of the programme.

Many matriculation schools did not show much interest in the programme, Mr. Elango said.

Many CBSE schools said that they did not dedicate separate class hours for life skills education but instead integrated the life skills training into other co-curricular activities.

Preparations on for Board examinations

The Directorate of Government Examinations is busy gearing up for the upcoming Board examinations. A detailed plan has been chalked out for the conduct of the class XII examinations, to be held between March 8 and 30.

The revenue district of Chennai, for administrative purposes, has been divided into three educational districts – south Chennai, with 32 examination centres, east Chennai with 25 centres and north Chennai with 44 centres. A total of 50,293 students in Chennai will take the State Board higher secondary examination, according to a press release from the Directorate.

A meeting in connection with the conduct of the examinations was held at the Collectorate on Wednesday. As many as six flying squads will be headed by the Chief Educational Officer. Each of the educational districts in the city will have four flying squads. Nearly 2,800 school heads will be involved in different capacities such as chief examiner, department officers, flying squad members and invigilators.

Severe action will be initiated against students indulging in malpractices, the press release said. In case students are caught copying, they will be barred from taking the examination for the next two years. Students caught for misconduct could be barred permanently from taking the examination or police action could be initiated. In case of malpractices involving an examination centre, disciplinary action would be initiated against the head of the centre. In case of a private school, the school's recognition would be cancelled and arrangements would be made for students to take the examination at another centre. Cellular phones will not be permitted in the examination hall.

Parents have also been asked to take good care of the students giving them healthy food and ensure that they reach the centre on time and safely on all days.

Research papers will be available in public domain

2012-13 was declared the year of science by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, and there is a lot of effort being made all over the country to not only intensify the quantity and quality of research but also ensure greater access for all. For instance, IIT-Madras plans to make available its research papers in all disciplines online, in the public domain. The institute already provides e-learning through online web and video courses in engineering, science and humanities streams through NPTEL.

The attempt now is to convince faculty members to upload their research papers into the institution's repository, says Mangala Sunder Krishnan, Web Coordinator (NPTEL). The move will not only benefit students and faculty members but will also help the circle of knowledge to be complete, he says.

What IIT- Madras plans to do is follow an Open Access policy that would make the access of journals and scientific research public and many other educational organisations plan to follow suite. “Most research publications stay locked up in commercial journals and are inaccessible to many. Open Access is the best way to ensure that research produced in the developing world gets wider visibility,” says Francis Jayakanth, a library-trained scientific assistant based at the National Centre for Science Information, the information centre of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mr. Jayakanth has been instrumental in creating an institutional repository ePrints@IISc that has over 32,000 publications by researchers.

Subbiah Arunachalam, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society explains: “A research produced by the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai which would be of great relevance to researchers, say in a university in Maharashtra, may not be even noticed by the scientists there. Both groups receive funds from the same source - Government of India - and yet what one does is not easily accessible to the other. “Open Access would bridge that gap and make information available to everyone,” he says.

Open Access repositories would help authors place their papers in an interoperable institutional open access archive and anyone with an Internet connection can access it. Researchers say that in most reputed journals, it takes almost six months to get a paper published, and most insist that the paper is removed from the internal repository of the author's institution once it is published. “But 70 per cent of the publishers are now fine with the authors taking the pre-print of their paper uploaded in the repository. And since in open access, every thing is peer reviewed, the quality is never compromised,” says Mr. Jayakanth.

While institutions such as IIT- Madras subscribe to over 2,000 journals, many colleges under Anna University and University of Madras have access to just about 1,500 journals. “There is almost Rs.10 -12 lakh that the institution spends on journal subscriptions so unless there is funding, many self-financed colleges prefer not to subscribe to journals and go for a few mandatory ones prescribed by AICTE. Students and researchers have no way to acquaint themselves with recent updates,” says D. Krishnan, professor, Anna University.

Even if you go through consortiums, you have to spend Rs.20 lakh which many smaller R&D organisations cannot afford to, adds P. Ramamoorthy, librarian at Sameer- Centre for Electromagnetics, a government-funded research agency. “The restrictions imposed by many commercial publishers do not allow one to legally share the published output of his result with his colleague. Open access will relive authors of such hassles,” he says.

Befitting Body Language

"He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of every pore."-Sigmund Freud

BODY language is a largely unconscious, yet a revealing aspect of our true selves. It's not what we say but how we say something is important. Many a time we speak volumes without even uttering a word. Communication is a package deal of verbal, non-verbal and vocal cues. Through extensive communication research, it has been discovered that words account for a tiny seven percent of a message's impact. The rest comes from non-verbal cues, such as voice tone and facial expression. It's only when we interpret all the cues, that we get the whole message - or what you end up with is a partial communication.

Remember how we've been taught not to believe everything we hear? Only believe what you sense and see, such as body language and its associated meaning. If someone compliments you with a smirk on his face, are you going to feel flattered?

Body Language is also the most powerful method of validating your words. Even if you say the most meaningful sentence with a deadpan expression, nobody will believe you. Your expressions, body, gestures and vocal pitch must match your words. Body language is what gives meaning to words; it causes the message to reach the heart and brain.

There are instances when words fail us in our efforts to convey a message. Often, we don't reveal how we feel about people or what we actually mean when we say something. Sometimes a `no' means a `yes' or a `maybe' implies `no'. So, to make the meaning of our words clear, we use body language. We use body language all the time.

Since humans are social creatures, when two people come into contact, they begin exchanging non-verbal communication signals. Just the very presence of another person marks the beginning of communication. It's not possible to be not communicating when amongst people.

Also related to non-verbal communication is self-presentation - appearance. Would you dress up in your best to go to the local grocery for milk? On occasions like interviews, public performances and formal events, one may choose to manipulate impressions in order to impress upon others about one's desirable qualities in an effort to strengthen self-image.

Culture is a strong determinant of body language - of how we use and interpret it. It is wise to remember that meaning of certain gestures varies from culture to culture. Workplace culture has its own set of rules and interpretations. Out here you really need to be more specific and meaningful, so your gestures should match your words.

Nobody has the time or patience to find out what you really mean, why you are behaving in a certain way, or what your underlying issues may be. There's a lot to be said about people at the workplace from the way they sit or stand, shake hands, look and speak, move and use their body. You can read people by observing their facial expressions, vocal qualities, hand gestures, body movements, posture, etc.

They can be judged at the intuitive level by observing all of these movements. Body language is especially important in the corporate world as it can be used to influence decisions and turn the tide in your favour.

In order to send the right messages at work, be conscious of how you use your body:

Don't be stiff: Use the body - it ought to move. It speaks when words fail you. One who says the right words but doesn't use his body to send compatible signals comes across as insincere, impersonal and ineffective person.

Don't gesticulate too much: Be aware of how much you are using your body. Too much gesturing can be annoying, distracting and makes you appear hyperactive. Remember to use your body to score a point, not lose one.

Don't just tell, show: When you're making a presentation, attending an interview or holding a meeting, show them how good you are. Use gestures, expressions and, in fact, perform to hold your audience's attention.

Imbibe mannerisms: Imagine which mannerisms you like and adopt those that best suit you and your purpose. If you like a certain way, work on it. Don't adopt mannerisms that are incongruent and awkward with what you are as a person. Gestures are meant to be natural, not artificial. Or the whole purpose of using gestures gets lost as they are supposed to substantiate and give credibility to your words.

Dress appropriately: Our outer garb is also a reflection of how we want to appear and what statement we are trying to make. Clothes should enhance your purpose, not distract it. These are conscious forms of body language wherein we try to make an impact on a select audience.

It is fascinating to understand body language and use it to our advantage. Apart from making communication more effective and interesting, an understanding of body language will go a long way towards improving our ability to make out when a person is lying and sense where one's opponent's interests lay.

Dynamics of interpersonal relationships

Raina, Seema, Ashwin and Prem were on the same team. Working in close quarters all day, they soon drifted to friendly terms and bonded over shared jokes and laughter. Slowly they took to hanging out together during breaks and often went out for coffee after work as well. Unfortunately, Ashwin was regularly admonished for below par performance and finally even cautioned that he would be dismissed from the job. Seema was worried for her ‘friend' and tried to support him by helping out with his responsibilities and coaching him to improve performance.

Very soon Ashwin expressed a romantic interest in Seema and while Seema was stunned out of her wits at the ‘sudden change' in Ashwin's expectations, the latter too was gob smacked by her deliberately misleading behaviour. Prem and Ravi, another colleague also joined in Ashwin's vociferous claims of the ‘calculated duplicity' of Seema. On the other hand, Raina quietly held that Seema's sympathetic intentions had clearly been misinterpreted.

Well, good relationships with co-workers is essential for developing a harmonious, trustful working atmosphere and especially critical when it comes to working cohesively as a team. It directly impacts the quality of work, job satisfaction and ultimately impinges on career success as well. But, with the growing ranks of working women, mixed-gender interpersonal relationships have entered the equation. This brings unique complications, primarily due to the gender differences in both communication and interpretation.

Cross-gender interpersonal issues

Men and women think differently, behave differently and also interpret things differently. Things that come naturally to a woman, like showing concern, encouragement, a polite compliment or friendly conversation is misconstrued time and again.

Added to this, women are generally better at interpersonal skills and can tune into others' feelings and nuances easily. They also naturally tend to show more care, affection, empathy, support and gratitude which give men a very misleading impression. Not to mention the penchant to share personal details and ‘connect' with everyone they work with!

Another serious challenge in these relationships is that men habitually associate physical contact with communicating sexual desire even while the woman may have no such intentions.

As Sonia Singh, a communications consultant in a marketing firm points out, “Some men may get mixed messages and get the wrong idea. For example, if I smile at my male colleague, he might think something different. So to save myself the trouble, I avoid it completely!” This may sound extreme but wrong interpretations can even lead to very dangerous consequences ranging from inappropriate expectations and unwelcome advances to harassment.

Drawing the line

Our workplaces being predominantly male bastions and largely gender-biased, the onus is on the working woman to safeguard her interests by adopting appropriate and watchful behaviour. The fact of the matter is that workplaces still have less tolerance for ‘typical female' interaction styles and women are left with little choice but to fit themselves into the male-dominated environment.

There isn't the liberty to completely avoid interaction with males or even opt for women-only environments. So, instead of unwittingly sending out the wrong signals and courting unnecessary risks, it is advisable to tread with caution and set limits right at the start.

Steer clear from violating a co-worker's personal space by say, sitting too close, hugging with excitement or asking personal questions and do not permit others to do the same either. An intense body language can also be construed as sexual overtones. While you should avoid becoming very conscious in your dealing with male colleagues, remember that there is the tendency to read casual jokes, teasing and other banter (with the most honest intentions) as inviting signals.

Also, be aware of the differences in male and female patterns in verbal communication. Men are objective, rational and operate from their intellect in concise and factual communication which renders feelings quite irrelevant.

Keeping these differences in mind will help you to avoid sending out welcome signals even inadvertently.

As software programmer, Shailaja Narang elucidates, “When I am interacting with men, I keep it to the point.

I do not discuss other points or subjects other than work.” Forget trying to ‘connect'!

Moreover, male interpretation is not just complex and subjective, but can also vary widely depending on the work environment, kind of people and above all, personal equations.

Sounds like a minefield for sure, but use the guiding principle of interacting in a natural yet controlled manner and you will get used to it soon enough.

And this does not mean that you have to watch every smile or curb every laugh, just be careful.

To sum up, till men are properly educated on how to interact and interpret the opposite sex in the workplace, women will keep facing these additional challenges and obstacles when interacting with their male peers!

Author: Payal Chanania

                 faqs@cnkonline.com

Listen, to serve customers better

Customer service has definitely become a top priority in most organisations around the world. After all, customers are the most vital asset and businesses go all out to support them and resolve their problems. They seek suggestions, solicit feedback and offer all kinds of gifts and offers to both retain customers and increase their satisfaction.

Yet, the most sincere and earnest efforts for providing top-notch customer service fall flat as most times, customers feel that they are not listened to properly! In fact, a recent study (published in the book ‘Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It' by Jill Griffin and Jossey Bass) reports that a whopping 87% of customers feel that the companies they have contact with don't listen to them good enough! Most customers end up feeling annoyed and exasperated at their ‘futile' attempts to get through to a customer service representative!

Customers literally crave effective listening with undivided attention. So much so that, the greatest compliment an organisation can pay a customer is to listen to them. Really listen - as if you mean it and what the person is saying really matters!

Tips for developing listening skills

The golden rule is: when a customer starts talking, drop everything and concentrate on listening to what he is saying. In face-to-face contact, tune out all distractions like other customers, conversations, etc. and maintain comfortable eye contact while the customer is speaking. If on the telephone, sit up immediately and forget multi-tasking like reading emails or even browsing the web. Do not even be preoccupied with what you will say next or how to counteract the issue as it will only cause you to lose attention. Avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, thinking that you already know what the customer wants.

Focus totally on the customer, paying attention to not just his words but also the accompanying tone, inflection, body language and other emotional cues. Crossed arms, tension in shoulders and facial expressions can hint at real feelings. Even pauses and silence can help you decipher the unspoken needs. There is the reflexive tendency to butt in with justifications, arguments or even brush away with ‘That's not my department' or ‘you need to talk to….' even before the customer can finish. Remember that abruptly cutting off a customer or challenging the issue is a grave sin. Instead of interrupting, wait till he is done and then paraphrase what has been said to avoid any misinterpretation. This will also demonstrate genuine interest, attention and comprehension; you can even jot down key points if needed. Change your mindset and move from a naturally defensive or challenging mode to a more opportunistic one by asking further questions to clarify the inquiry/complaint and elicit more reactions. Meanwhile, make appropriate affirmative responses like nodding, smiling to show that you are really listening and understanding the issue. You don't have to necessarily agree, just listen without judging and show that you empathise with what the customer feels and understand what he is trying to achieve!

Avoid resorting to stock or rehearsed responses as well. Instead, engage the customer in an interactive conversation by say, talking about how you can solve the problem or seeking suggestions. Even if you need to use practiced responses, do so in a natural and sympathetic manner. Another case in point: Control your emotions and be courteous, no matter how rude the customer might be!

Finally, the most caring and attentive listening will come undone for lack of proper follow-up. So, ensure that you take appropriate action. With this kind of approach, the customer will not just feel good about how he was treated, but also understood, respected, appreciated and valued. And, the ability to connect and build such a rapport works as the biggest differentiator in the marketplace (irrespective of company size and scale). Therefore, listening carefully will not only reap the expected benefits like identifying opportunities to help customers, improving product/service and anticipating future needs, but the customers will actually like you and you will have satisfied, loyal, trusting and committed customers who will gladly spread the good word about the excellent customer service. So listen well to sell more and serve better.

To sum up, most customer service representatives are good talkers. But it pays to shut up and listen carefully! After all, in the world of service, listening is far more important than talking!