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March 18, 2007
101 Bonehead Mistakes Every Manager Should Avoid
We’ve all heard that “To err is human, to forgive divine,” but how many of us realize the truth behind that old adage? We tend to make more than our share of mistakes, and most of our compatriots show that they are 100 percent human and zero percent divine by never letting us forget our trespasses. And in case you’re a manager or superior of some kind, the divinity aspect goes flying out the window. There are eyes watching you from all directions, waiting to see if you’ll trip up, either over your own feet or over those extended by others.
Being the perfect manager is akin to walking on a minefield, you have to watch your every step carefully or you risk being blown off your pedestal and/or losing the respect of your subordinates. The rules to succeed are simple, mostly a concoction of a large amount of common sense and a smaller dose of shrewdness and people sense. But what with common sense being not all that common, we’ve prepared a list of mistakes that we think should feature high on any manager’s avoidance list. And without further ado, here they are:
Negate the negatives…
DON’T:
1. Think you know everything there is to know. The learning process never ends, no matter how high you’ve climbed up the corporate ladder.
2. Hesitate to admit your faults and mistakes. Nobody’s perfect, we can only try to bring down the number and learn from them.
3. Try to prove you’re the boss. “Do this because I said so” will neither cut the ice nor win you brownie points with your employees.
4. Think that just because you’re the manager, you’re smarter than all your employees.
5. Be rude. Being a superior just does not give you that right.
6. Shirk responsibility or transfer it to your employees just because they are not in a position to refuse you.
7. Be afraid to do anything. Have enough confidence in yourself to know you are capable of the work entrusted to you.
8. Abuse your employees. Taking them to task is one thing, shouting obscenities for a work-related offense is entirely another.
9. Overburden them with work. They may do it, but once the quantity goes up, the quality of work starts suffering.
10. Keep changing the way things are done. Some managers equate change to progress, and so, make changes, for the sake of change alone.
11. Take the blame when your subordinates make mistakes. It’s a magnanimous gesture on your part I’m sure, but then, they need to learn to accept responsibility for their own actions.
12. Deny your employees the opportunity for further training. It will make a huge difference to the way they do their jobs.
13. Fail to recognize/appreciate/reward work well done and tasks completed ahead of schedule.
14. Hesitate to ask for help when you need it, either from your peers or your subordinates. A little humility and signs of humanness go a long way.
15. Use business jargon and buzzwords that only tend to confuse and go above your employees’ heads. Some managers resort to bombastic language to cover the fact that they do not know what they are talking about. Speak in plain English (or in your native tongue) so that you are understood without any ambiguity.
16. Be inconsistent. Saying one thing one day and singing a different tune the next will not endear you to either your colleagues or your superiors.
17. Undertake any endeavor without sufficient planning. With even the best-laid plans going awry at times, the importance of planning for all situations cannot be emphasized enough.
18. Make hasty decisions. On-the-spur choices without considering the pros and cons often lead to disastrous consequences.
19. Deny your employees the basic (and not-so-basic) tools and gadgets needed to do their work efficiently. IT department heads are notorious for asking their employees to “get by” with the software they have presently, deeming an upgrade unnecessary.
20. Think you have to keep doing something all the time. You have to actually be productive, not just run around trying to look busy, while actually doing nothing useful.
21. Lose focus of corporate goals and objectives in all your activities.
22. Neglect long-term plans for growth in the course of dealing with short-term day-to-day tasks and problems. A company thrives on growth, not stagnancy.
23. Miss out on opportunities. There’s a truth to the saying that opportunity knocks but once, and if you’re not ready, it goes through the open doors of your competitor. Grab half-chances too and try and work things out to your company’s advantage.
24. Remain detached from the proceedings and activities around you. You may not be involved in all the tasks going on, but try and keep an eye on and be aware of what’s going on around you.
25. Fire your employees through a phone call, email, or worse, text message. Give them the bad news face-to-face.
26. Hide from them the reason for their dismissal.
27. Sugarcoat the explanation for having to let them go. You don’t have to be harsh or rude, just break the news to them gently while telling them the truth.
28. Neglect to follow up on delegated tasks. You are after all, responsible for seeing that they get done.
29. Try to change personalities and personal habits of your employees.
30. Snoop around your employees’ desks and personal paraphernalia.
31. Pry into their private affairs. An occasional interest in the family is alright without probing too deeply into personal stuff.
32. Try to be liked by all your employees. You’ll only end up pleasing nobody if you try to please everybody.
33. Play amateur psychotherapist. Your employees need you to be just their manager.
34. Live in the past. Our world is changing at a rapid pace, and to move with the times and get ahead, you have to embrace innovations and newness and adapt to it.
35. Keep apologizing for your actions. You need to preserve that air of authority about you.
36. Speak disrespectfully about your superiors or peers to your employees. be the optimist all the time
37. Forget that to motivate your people, you must first gain their respect and support.
38. Promise your employees perks you know you will not be able to deliver.
39. Take credit for your employees’ work. Give credit where it’s due, otherwise, you end up taking away their motivation to work and losing the respect they have for you.
40. Withhold payment from your employees as a means of punishment for some misdemeanor.
41. Gossip about your peers or subordinates. It does not set a good example for your employees to follow.
42. Assign staff members who cannot tolerate each other or who do not get along well to the same team. You’re only hindering progress.
43. Be critical without being constructive. If you chide your employees regarding a particular task, tell them not only what’s wrong, but also what has to be done to do things the right way.
44. Give orders. Requests yield better results.
45. Be too polite or let your employees pull the wool over your eyes. Some employees may take advantage of and walk all over you. Don’t earn a reputation as a soft touch.
46. Try to control the method your employees use to carry out their tasks. 
47. Be swayed by flattery.
48. Encourage employees who rat on their counterparts.
49. Pit your employees against each other. They need to be able to function well as a team to enhance your department’s productivity.
50. Try to be your employees’ best buddy. It’s an awkward situation when you try to bond too much with them on a personal level. Taking them to task and ensuring that they don’t overstep their limits becomes a problem.
51. Be too negative. An optimistic attitude rubs off on your employees as well.
52. Be too positive. Sometimes, pretending that everything will work out well no matter what has an adverse effect on your employees. They may need a small amount of stress and uncertainty to produce their best.
53. Lose focus of your customers. They are the mainstay of your business.
54. Recognize only your top, over-achieving performers. Others deserve appreciation too, if you feel they are putting in their best, even though they do not achieve spectacular success.
55. Neglect to provide continuous feedback about their work. Waiting for an annual/biannual performance appraisal may not allow them to hone their skills and work on their negative aspects.
56. Avoid risks. Take calculated ones and know how to manage them.
57. Make fun of one employee ganging with a few others.
58. Discriminate against your employees on any basis, be it racial, cultural or personal.
59. Look down on people from other countries, especially if their accents, customs and clothes are not the same as yours.
60. Remain detached when a bunch of office bullies gang up on one person.
61. Assign jobs to people least-suited to them.
62. Base appraisal decisions on very recent performances. Take their overall service to the organization into account.
63. Vent your ire on your staff when they’re having a bad day without knowing the reason behind the poor performance. They may be going through a rough time personally – a relationship may have come to an end, a loved one may have passed away – cut them some slack before you take them to task.
64. Insist on your employees being jacks-of-all-trades.
65. Assume that things are going well. Keep constant tabs on the status of all the tasks and projects going on under your management.
66. Remain aloof from bad news, especially when you have to break it to a subordinate.
67. Suck up to your employees when you’re short-staffed or be arrogant with them when you don’t really care if they quit or not.
68. Disturb them at home/ during vacations/off hours with trivialities.
69. Drop in unannounced at their residences and assign them work with the tag “To be completed by tomorrow morning.”
70. Accept gifts or favors from your employees.
71. Get your secretary to run your personal errands.
72. Sexually harass employees of the opposite (or same) sex.
73. Indulge in casual office affairs. They become real messy when they end, especially if they do so on unfriendly terms.
74. Have impromptu (or planned) sex on your office table.
Enhance the positives…
DO:
75. Plan for contingencies. Do not expect everything to remain picture-perfect all the time. Have effective and tested back-up plans in place.
76. Plan your work-day so that you are not left wondering where the hours have flown when it’s time to go home.
77. Set priorities. Do the things that are critical first instead of those that are not.
78. Delegate. Taking too much on your shoulders is the shortest route to disaster and confusion.
79. Take your employees into confidence in all issues that relate to them or the work they do. You’ll find that people work better when they have a sense of understanding and purpose to the job at hand.
80. Give your employees room to grow, both personally and professionally.
81. Practice what you preach. Don’t say one thing and do the exact opposite. If you expect your employees to be punctual, you have to make an effort to watch the clock too.
82. Invest time and effort in your people. You cannot run the show on your own. Nurture them, motivate them, and coax their best work out of them.
83. Document important aspects of your work. A good filing and document-management system is an asset to every good manager.
84. Listen when your employees speak. Don’t dismiss their ideas even before you’ve heard them.
85. Know how to effectively manage your teams.
86. Be ethical in all your dealings.
87. Set standards for your employees to follow. You are their leader; what you do sets the precedent for them to follow.
88. Treat your employees equally without playing favorites.
89. Focus more on the strengths of your employees, not their weaknesses. The more you get them to improve their strengths, the more their weaknesses fade into the background.
90. Utilize the individual strengths of your employees in forming your teams so that each team is balanced.
91. Make eye contact when speaking on a one-to-one level, especially when you’re handing out bad news.
92. Ask questions. Some employees, though loaded in talent and ability, are too shy to come out of their shells and ask when they need something or speak out when they face problems.
93. Know how to interview potential candidates so that you hire the best for your company.
94. Know approximate time estimates for each task. This allows you to set reasonable deadlines for your staff to meet.
95. Take a personal interest in the welfare of your employees. Remember to ask occasionally about their families or interests outside work.
96. Turn a blind eye at times to goings-on that are inconsequential to the work at hand. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.
97. Hone your communication skills so that you are able to handle all your interactions, with your superiors, peers, customers and subordinates, with ease. It does not pay to say the wrong things at the wrong times.
98. Set communication protocols – delineate the situations that require emails, phone calls or actual letters.
99. Encourage your employees’ creativity and applaud them when they come up with innovative ways to get tasks done.
100. Deal patiently and kindly with families of employees in times of emergencies.
101. Trust your employees to be able to work on their own without constantly supervising them.
March 06, 2007
Doing Business in India: 20 Cultural Norms You Need to Know
When doing business with Indians, Westerners sometimes have a hard time understanding their customs. This can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings. However, growth can flourish if an effort is made to understand Indians' ethnic values. It pays to follow the adage: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Read on for a primer on the formal and informal customs and conventions of India today.
1. A perspective on time: Indians are not particularly renowned for their punctuality; they are perceived as laid back people who only watch the clock when it’s close to quitting time. While that may be true for a small percentage of the population, such as government servants, the vast majority follow a different strategy. For most of the world, time is precious; for the Indian, it’s auspicious. One look at the Indian calendar should give you a clue–it’s never complete without the list of auspicious and inauspicious times and dates. Be it weddings, christenings, new ventures, C-section births, or just stepping out of the house for the first day on a new job–the average Indian allows auspicious times to dictate his activities. Don't dismiss this belief as superstitious nonsense. Remember that the West has its own superstitions: Friday the 13th, black cats and stepping on sidewalk cracks.
2. Addressing issues of respect: When compared to the numerous vernacular languages spoken in India, English is much less polite. Indian languages, unlike English, differentiate between peers and those who are older and command respect. That's why the average Indian tends to address people as “Sir” or “Ma’am,” or affix the title “Mr.” “Ms.” or “Mrs.” before their names: they don’t want to come across as disrespectful. English, on the other hand, is more informal: Americans generally prefer the use of first names. Remember that while most younger Indians will welcome the informality of first names, older ones may consider it an affront, especially if the speaker is much younger.
3. Comfort zone: A casual hug, peck on the cheek, or an arm thrown around a shoulder may not seem out of place in the West. However, in India, even shaking hands with a member of the opposite sex is only in the process of being accepted. The exception to this rule is a handful of metropolitan cities. With the younger crowd drifting to the cities in search of jobs with multinational IT companies and call centers, they’re adapting fast to the casual touch. However, their mates and spouses are often uncomfortable with this personal contact. Be mindful that your idea of touch may be too close for Eastern comfort.
4. Strikes–even when the iron’s not hot: There are times in India when all activity comes to a screeching halt: shops down shutters, people remain closeted in their houses, public transport is shut down, and private conveyances are stoned or pelted if they dare make an appearance. This strange phenomenon, termed a “bandh,” is a source of bewilderment for the foreign business houses in the country. They’re not sure if they should declare a holiday: if they do, their offshore work suffers, clients back home are furious, and precious time and money go down the drain; if they
don’t, they risk being the target of angry, irrational mobs. With political clout usually behind these bandhs, it's best to go with the flow.
5. The creaky wheels of bureaucracy: One of the downsides of the great Indian adventure is the political parties that wield a huge amount of power. Industrial ventures are not easy to set up. At times, you'll need to grease their palms. And just when you think you’ve won them over with your powers of persuasion and financial might, the next election rolls around and another party is lodged in the seat of power. No matter what progress you’ve made with their predecessor, it’s back to square one for you. It's extremely frustrating, but that’s the lay of the land.
6. Festivals: The flavor of sub-continental life: India has its fair share of religions, each of them with festivals. A few are short and sweet, but the rest are long, drawn-out affairs. Reasons for celebration range from the long ago slaying of mythical demons to the bountiful harvest that is reaped in the present. National holidays are declared for a few festivals that are celebrated by the majority, but there are others that often go unobserved. Overseas companies should anticipate and accept employees asking for vacation time around these days. It will be more appreciated at this time than around Western-centric Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year.
7. Marriages are made in India: An Indian wedding, especially one that goes on for days, is one of those things that you have to see to believe. In India, marriages are occasions for large get-togethers. They include not only the immediate family, but also the extended cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and new additions to the family. Keep in mind that it’s not just the groom or bride who’ll be asking for time off: even a distant third cousin will deem it imperative that he or she attend and enjoy this three or four-day affair.
8. Familial fraternization: The joint family system, prevalent in India for ages, is being nudged out by the nuclear family, a new discovery for the modern Indian. Even so, there are many who still have aged parents and infirm relatives living with them. A good Indian son’s duties include taking care of the elderly in the family. Understandably, a broken bone or heart attack will require the son's, and often daughter's, attention. Employers must be compassionate during these times of family crisis.
9. Sometimes the office is taken home: Invitations to the home for business discussions are not uncommon. Don’t be anxious if you’re asked to lunch or dinner. Indians are very hospitable; the woman of the house will go to great lengths to prepare something she knows you'll enjoy. On your part, you’ll earn brownie points if you treat your host’s family with courtesy and respect. A small gift is greatly appreciated when you’re visiting a business partner’s home.
10. Small talk is big: If you are hosting the business meetings, remember that Indians are not as direct as their American counterparts. They generally start with small talk and relatively unimportant topics before migrating to the main issue. They also place importance on refreshments during the course of the meeting, either at the beginning, or in the middle during a break, depending on the time of day.
11. Going by the book: While Americans are generally more results-oriented, caring more about the end result than the path taken to get there, Indians are sticklers for policy. They are used to following preset steps to arrive at a solution, usually because they do not want to get into trouble with someone above them in the hierarchy. Most of them are afraid of stepping out of line, but if encouraged to try new methods, they will be happy to do so.
12. Don’t toe the line: The word “queue” has no significant meaning to the average Indian. The country has developed in leaps and bounds, but a few of its citizens still think that leaps and bounds are the way to go when asked to queue up at a public facility. Even the most civilized person can be reduced to fighting for his rightful place when others form a mass of people all jockeying to be first.
13. Call them more than cards: Indians place a lot of importance on business cards, handing them out even for casual occasions. A stranger will offer you his card if you so much as ask him his name while you're traveling on the same train. He's not being pushy: it’s just his way of packing his name, profession, and other details onto just one card.
14. Transport traditions and travails: If you spend some time in India, you may be forced to test its public modes of transportation at some time or another. You’ll find that your fellow passengers will be more than happy to help when you find yourself unfamiliar with the local lingo or have difficulty deciding where to get off. On the other
hand, local auto rickshaw and taxi drivers may try to fleece you when they see you’re not a native. Familiarize yourself with the local currency and the approximate transportation costs before you venture out on your own.
15. Is that English? It’s the same language, but it’s spoken with a distinctly different flavor in each part of the world. Every country adds to the language or takes words from it for its own tongue. In India, the English language is spoken with an Indian accent, although it is not as pronounced as some other countries. You’ll find unusual expressions being used: “cousin brother/sister” (cousin), “co-brother/sister” (brother or sister-in-law), and “What’s your good name?” (What’s your name?). Most Indians are familiar with the Western accent, but it helps to speak slowly. If you don't understand what they've said, don't worry-they don't mind repeating themselves.
16. Not too good with paperwork: Indians are not very big on documentation; they generally have to be taught to maintain proper records. Official correspondence is usually long-winded with pompous language that the ordinary person does not understand. E-mail has become a replacement for hand-written or printed documents, but there’s a general ignorance of email etiquette. However, once shown the right way, Indians are adept at picking up any new technique.
17. The tower of Babel? India has a potpourri of local languages, with most Indians fluent in more than just their mother tongue. If you come across a group conversing in the local lingo, don’t take it as an affront-they aren't talking secretively about you. It’s just their way of connecting to people who remind them of home.
18. Herd mentality rules: Most Indians are not very confident speaking in public. If you ask a group of Indians to raise pertinent questions during a meeting, you’ll find that all the queries are posed once the meeting has broken up, by a small crowd that draws support from each of its members, and when the speaker is alone.
19. They mind their Ps and Qs, but differently: “Please” and “Thank You” are matter-of-fact for
the polite Westerner, but an Indian may not feel the need to mention them. It does not mean that he’s rude or impolite. Indians express their pleasure in a different manner: with a smile or a nod of the head.
20. Pecking orders matter: Most Indian businesses have an order of hierarchy that’s very important to those in the chain. When communicating with Indians, it pays to address the more important members first.
There’s an Indian adage that says, “It takes two hands to generate applause.” That’s especially true when two cultures meet. Both should be willing to accept the idiosyncrasies of the other and work together to reach a common point of agreement. Keep these tips in mind when working with Indian people.
February 26, 2007
Carnival of Business Intelligence #2
--By Sagar Satapathy
Welcome to the second edition of the Carnival of Business Intelligence. Here are some great posts that made the cut because of their quality and content.
Almomento presents Open Call For Project MastermindX posted at BurstCreativity. Ability to be creative in all of the aspects of our life can enhance it beyond belief. Since creativity enhances with practice, we have to put ourselves through an intense emergence into the world of creativity, to make a profound change in how we approach life.
Phil presents Rising Sea Levels « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity. By the end of this century according to Time Magazine, sea levels could rise by more than 4 feet!
Scott Lee presents Challenges and Powerful Potential With Network and Multi-Level Marketing posted at Dirty Mechanism. Multi-level marketing itself, in pairing with network marketing, is often looked upon as a giant pyramid scheme, or scam.
Anna Farmery presents It is not the words, it is the understanding posted at The Engaging Brand. Communication in business is not about telling, it is about understanding.
Alan presents Risk Taking - Living life to the fullest posted at Made to Be Great. Don’t play close to the fire or you will burn, don’t climb to high, you might fall; be realistic or you will just end up disappointed.
Wilson Ng presents Profits Straight to the Bottom Line posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife. Using MIS to understand your cost structure as well as in making pricing decisions are a must. but first, you must understand how it impacts your bottom line.
Murad Ali presents Ethics in business: How to make the right decision? posted at The New Business World. Ethical questions have plagued business owners ever since they have developed a conscious. The standards of ethics have changed over time and vary from culture to culture.
Praveen presents Review of "The Rich Jerk" - Get It Free, Plus $1 posted at My Simple Trading System. Learn more about the "Rich Jerk" marketing book.
Vahid Chaychi presents Viral Marketing Strategies - Learn How to Spread the Words for Free! posted at Internet and Search Engine Marketing. Do you know how websites like Hotmail and Google became popular and well-known? They didn't spend a single cent for advertising. They used the power of viral marketing.
That concludes the second edition of the Carnival of Business Intelligence. Thank you for promoting this carnival on your blogs through a link back. See you next time.
How to be a Terrible Network Admin: 25 Fail-safe Tips
You walk in to work everyday wishing you didn’t have to; you drag your feet all day long as you’re bombarded with complaints: “I can’t log into the system,” “I can’t access the printer (or drive or server),” “This software just refuses to work the way I want it to.” To top if off, you’re showered with the worst nicknames because you don’t seem to know what you’re doing. You are the terrible network administrator.
Rather than working with your users and engaging in practical IT security measures, the terrible network administrator enjoys doing next to nothing.
Here are the best 25 ways to make your tenure in networking “The Terrible Times,” not just for you, but for your organization and your end-users as well.
1. No priority for priority: Each new day in the TCP/IP world brings a host of new tasks, some trivial, others critical, and still others perceived as critical though they are not. Besides these, you also have items in your backlog folder that need to be addressed at the earliest possible time. So the best way to screw up your schedule (and that of your users) is to “run from pillar to post” attempting to set things right, without assigning priority to the most severe problems first, without tracking the status of all the requests that pour in, and without documenting the time, tools and methods spent on addressing and resolving each issue.
2. Be busy, not productive: The shortest route to this trick: do not automate recurring tasks, and under no circumstances should you find permanent solutions to common problems. You don’t need to know that you can simplify your work with tools – Neo, NetFlow, MRTG, Oak, TCPDUMP, ping – none of these are a regular part of your vocabulary. And you certainly don’t need to take the trouble to customize some of them using a scripting language. And finally, you don’t need to know that you can use the UPS in a major file server to send an automatic email each time there’s a power spike.
3. Say no to knowing your network: Monitoring your servers and your network interface is unnecessary, simply because you have no need to know how much traffic is traveling about your network. Regular observation of your network provides you with knowledge on normal, trouble-free usage, which in turn helps you identify problem spots and potential causes when you’re called to troubleshoot and plan for future growth. This is not necessary for a terrible network administrator.
4. Bye to Backups: Data is the lifeblood of any organization and probably the most valuable part of a network. Bad network administrators do not have reliable backup measures, do not backup data regularly, and do not have effective recovery plans for system data that is lost or corrupted.
5. Knowledge is dangerous: Identifying new security issues before they become problems is possible with a little research, yet incompetent network administrators are not concerned with such things. They don’t care to know when the new upgrade is out, or how to combat the latest forms of intrusion.
6. Take the “I’m Superman” approach: You’re having a lot of trouble dealing with a particular problem, but you are the know-it-all. You don’t need the assistance of any resource or reference, FAQ lists, or README files -- you can do it yourself.
7. Don’t Document: Writing procedures for troubleshooting a major problem is such a boring task. Terrible administrators fail to log hardware and software specifications and details, make notes on the methods they adopted for troubleshooting (both the ones that worked and those that didn’t), and document the potential causes for network problems. Doing so would save the network countless hours of time and trouble, but then they’re incompetent, who cares?
8. People equate to problems: How often have you wished that the human aspect of the job would just disappear? A terrible network administrator just ignores the users. Who wants to take the time and be patient enough to deal with users who do not understand technical jargon? You don’t need to develop different techniques to deal with individual needs and preferences, nor do you need to understand the procedures and politics that pertain to dealing with human beings. For the incompetent administrator, knowing your network inside out is enough!
9. Get lost in translation: There’s no need for you to listen to (let alone understand) user needs and applications thoroughly before you map them to the right hardware configurations. Network system planning and design are not the concerns of a terrible administrator.
10. Automation is not automatic: A terrible network administrator does not bother to automate. While a good one would configure a system that is capable of raising an alert the moment it detects an anomaly, the terrible one would prefer to read individual system events and system logs.
11. Wrong approach to rights: Employees come and go: they move across departments climbing and falling on the corporate ladder. Each move requires a change in user access privilege rights. Allowing wrong access to confidential and sensitive data is an IT department head’s worst nightmare. But, the terrible network administrator does not need to continually monitor user rights, thus inviting disaster into the network.
12. Bypass passwords: While correct password etiquette demands that your password is sufficiently long, uses a mix of characters, doesn’t include any personal information, and requires frequent changes, a terrible network administrator pays no attention to this subsequently inviting hackers in. How about using one of the five most-used passwords in the world?
13. Patchy patches: Network security is at the bottom of the priority list for terrible administrators – they don’t upgrade security software, don’t scan for viruses and other malware on a regular basis, don’t believe users when they claim to have critical problems, don’t update their operating systems, don’t apply regular patches from the software manufacturer – in short, they don’t protect their network at all.
14. Hacking is unethical: Of course it is, but when you’re a network administrator, you should think like a hacker in order to be able to catch one or thwart his/her attempts. It takes a crook to catch a crook becomes the motto here. Efficient administrators try to stay one step ahead of intruders by knowing how to hack into networks themselves. The incompetent administrator does not bother about knowing when an attack is coming though.
15. Prevention is not better than the cure: As a good administrator you have to watch for the signs that tell you an intrusion is being planned. Perform port scans and check if your system files have been altered. Stay on the alert for internal attacks from disgruntled employees who have access to information. Lock down your network room. However preventive maintenance is none of a terrible network administrator’s concerns.
16. Pay no attention to your users: Since the most common means of entry for malware is through private user email attachments and downloads from dicey websites, it makes sense to monitor users’ email and internet usage. The terrible network administrator takes the “everybody is entitled to their privacy and perversions” route – he follows a lax policy when it comes to a question of network security.
17. Successors don’t matter: The bad system administrators have no sympathy for those who may replace them some day; the good ones ensure that the system is repeatable. A good system administrator will work hard to develop a standard for deploying an operating system or software applications in the same way across all the systems on the network. Anyone can manually load each system one by one, but it takes a skilled individual to design a system to streamline the process.
18. Predecessors do: Terrible network administrators will automatically assume that his predecessor was an excellent administrator, and not bother to find out if programs are up to date, if there are airtight security and password policies in place, if there are detailed records of past attacks and intrusions, and if employee access rights are controlled and monitored on a regular basis.
19. Time and tide wait for the terrible admin: That’s because they are not bothered with completing tasks in the minimum time required to do them. Even the simplest of tasks like resetting passwords take ages, simply because the administrator does not want to do his job.
20. Integrity issues: Ever consider selling your network secrets and passwords on eBay?. A network administrator with no sense of integrity has.
21. Be here, there, everywhere: While a good administrator will try to remain invisible, secure in the knowledge that he knows the network well enough to make even the most difficult tasks appear simple, the terrible network administrator will appear to be in more than one place at the same time, though he will not get anything worthwhile done. A well-administered network is usually attributed to an admin who stays behind the scenes but knows exactly what's going on.
22. Cleanliness is not next to godliness: The terrible admin has his work easy – there’s no need to continually check and clean hardware, even if he knows that the procedures tend to extend the lives of the devices.
23. Fake facts for a while: While a good network administrator is generally adept at handling two or more operating systems and mail server programs and is familiar with the most common acronyms in the business, the terrible ones just fake their way through.
24. Jump to conclusions: When problems crop up in the network, the bad administrators do not consider the entire picture; they’re more focused on reaching hasty decisions. They don’t take the time to make notes on what has changed and what events have taken place prior to the occurrence of the problem.
25. Odds and ends will do: Why use products that are proven to work when the stuff on sale MIGHT be as good? Incompetent network administrators choose this policy: when the pencil breaks, the network will fall.
February 22, 2007
How to Be a Manager that Your Employees Respect: 73 Surefire Tips
You've got that look on your face, the look that screams charisma and style. You've got that air about you, the air that exudes confidence and capability. You've got the qualities that rake in the big bucks for your organization and your employees jump to attention when you appear making sure to work their butts off when you're around. You're probably not far off from thinking that you're the best manager in town.
But do your employees do their best when you're not around? Do they prefer to work for you rather than any other manager in the company? Do they make a beeline to get in on your team? Do they go that extra mile to do that task more efficiently without being asked? Do they have nice things to say about you, even when you're not within earshot? In short, do they respect you, both as a person and as their superior?
If you answered yes to most of the questions above, you're on the road to becoming a manager who's earned the esteem and admiration of all, or most of your employees. For those of you who did not, cast your worries aside; we've compiled a list of tips that, if followed, are guaranteed to win you the loyalty and respect of your subordinates.
Interactions - the lifeblood of any organization…
1. What goes around comes around: Treat your employees, peers and superiors with respect, from the lowest janitor to the CEO of the company.
2. Basic humaneness pays: Acknowledge that your employees are human beings first, and your employees only next; accord them their due dignity.
3. Know your employees: Using first names thaws a formal atmosphere and makes for a more harmonious work environment. Throw in a casual question about a child or a problem you know they recently went through.
4. Bring out their hidden potential: Tap your employees hidden talents and bring them to the front.
5. One man's meat is another's poison: What serves as motivation for one may not mean as much to another, use your discretion in getting the best out of your employees.
6. Equality among all: It's not wise to play favorites and show bias when dealing with your employees.
7. Don't be a Jack-of-all-trades: Delegate work. Your employees will welcome the chance to show what they are capable of.
8. Match the right job to the right person: Some people are more suited to creative tasks while others are better at the repetitive ones. As a manager, you should be able to sense when tasks and personnel are mismatched and set things right quickly.
9. Delineate responsibility: Establish boundaries of control for each employee so that blame or praise can be assigned accordingly.
10. Trust your employees: Do not monitor every aspect and moment of their working day. The realization that you trust them to do their jobs effectively without supervision will drive them to justify that faith.
11. Pay them well: Salaries should be on par or higher than industry standards. Adequate monetary compensation is one of the best motivators for hard work.
12. Reward exceptional performances: Acknowledge and appreciate every extra effort that your employees take. While money as an incentive is always welcome, I'm sure they'll also welcome professional advancement opportunities, a day or a few hours off, or just a pat on the back.
13. Praise in public, punish in private: Taking an employee to task in front of his/her colleagues, even though he/she may have erred, has the worst kind of demoralizing effect. On the other hand, complimenting them on a job well done in the presence of others serves to motivate them to perform better.
14. Loudness does not help: Do not rake employees over the coals for mistakes that happen inadvertently. Instead, help them understand the error so they don't repeat it. A loud voice and swear words will only make them tune out to the message you are trying to convey.
15. Personalization is the key: Each of us is different; while some employees may appreciate you following an informal approach in all your interactions, others may not take kindly to the familiarity.
16. Lend a ear: Empathize with their personal problems without getting too involved in their personal lives.
17. Make them feel they count: Every employee likes to know that he/she is making a positive contribution to the company and is not just a decorative piece that is dispensable. The fact that they make a difference will drive them to be more productive.
18. Family matters: Allow your employees time for their families and personal issues when the situation warrants it. Support them in times of emotional upheavals when you know they may not be able to turn in their best work.
19. Constructive criticism works: If you feel that an employee has the potential to do much better at his/her job, take them aside and tell them how you feel. Sometimes, the belief that a superior has in you pushes you to achieve more.
20. Be a mentor: Anyone can be a superior, but it takes a special person to be a mentor to people working under him/her. Encourage your employees' positive aspects and help them eliminate their weaker traits.
21. Don't hold too tight: Allow your employees to pursue both professional and personal opportunities to advance. Holding them back only shows your pettiness. Help them further their education or broaden their horizons in work-related skills. This builds both respect and intense loyalty.
22. Flattery will get you nowhere: Do not flatter your employees to get them to do their job. A good manager (or employee) knows the difference between praise and flattery. The former is welcome, the latter, a definite no.
23. Ask and you will receive: Get suggestions and opinions from your employees. Ask them for better ways to go about work and newer methods to improve productivity. Besides improving their respect for you, it will make them feel part of the whole process.
24. Mistakes happen: Allow your employees room to make mistakes and you'll find that they do a perfect job. Running a tight ship will only make them nervous and lead to a lot of errors.
25. Give credit where it's due: Do not ride piggyback on your employees as you take the path to success. If a brilliant concept was the brainchild of your employee, accord him due credit, especially in front of your superiors.
26. Group dynamics: Learn to manage your team well. Know which people work well together, who does which tasks the best, and who is capable of what, in order the get the best results from team work.
27. Feedback matters: Provide correct feedback. If the feedback is it's negative, don't let it demoralize your employees; if it's positive, don't let it go to their heads.
28. Share misfortune: Show your solidarity with your employees when they are forced to take a pay cut when the organization faces financial difficulties. It's difficult, but offering to slash your salary will win you oodles of respect.
29. It's a diverse world: Respect the cultural and social differences of your employees. Their religion and rituals mean a lot to them; belittling them will not win you any brownie points.
30. Show interest: Indifference is as bad, if not worse, than too much interference. Take the right amount of interest in what your employees do.
31. Allow them to complain: Hear them out before deciding if their complaint is genuinely valid.
32. Different people, different styles: Each employee has his/her working style; recognize this and allow them that freedom as long as it does not affect the job being done.
33. No technology needed: Break bad news to your employees in person. If you have to let them go or ask them to take a pay cut, do not resort to hiding behind an email.
34. Equal work, equal pay: Distribute work evenly so that no one person feels he/she is unfairly burdened.
35. Judge not: Don't play favorites in employee quarrels and misunderstandings; you're not Solomon the Wise or the Supreme Court judge deciding who's wrong and who's right. If it's work-related, try to smooth things over without taking sides; otherwise, stay out of it.
36. No tattletales wanted: Don't encourage employees who carry tales about their peers.
37. Time flies: Don't set unreasonable deadlines knowing fully well that your employees will have to give up every second of their free time to get the task done on schedule.
38. Disseminate information: Keep your employees within the loop. Inform them of all decisions that will affect and be affected by their work. Don't treat them as mindless machines that are used only to get the job done.
39. Keep your distance: Don't become too friendly with certain employees even though you feel you're on the same wavelength. Others may suspect favoritism, even when there is none.
40. No "I" only "We": Don't flaunt your authority; "You have to do it because I say so" is not the way to go when you want your employees' respect; you may get the job done but lose your employee's esteem in the process.
Work out work and vacation issues…
41. Do not overburden them with work: Just because you know your employees are not in a position to refuse your demands, do not dump work on them. You stand to anger them and run the risk of a poorly performed job.
42. Vacations are personal: When your employees have time off, do not demand to know where they're going or who they're taking along. Do not invade their personal space.
43. Keep the office at the office: Avoid calling employees at home or during vacations unless there is an emergency of the direst nature. Seek prior permission to call in such cases.
44. Avoid last-minute tasks: No one likes to start a task at the end of the day, especially when you have other plans for the evening. Do not throw work at your employees just as they are about to call it a day.
If you are male…
45. No adult humor: Do not crack vulgar and offensive jokes at the expense of female employees or the wives/girlfriends of male employees.
46. Accord respect: Treat your female employees well; do not look down on them or show chauvinistic tendencies.
47. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: Remember that male and female physiques are different. Cut your female employees some slack when they have special needs during pregnancy, childbirth, maternity and PMS.
If you are female…
48. No false pretenses: Do not take perverse pleasure in putting down male employees just because you feel the need to assert yourself.
49. Clothes maketh the (wo)man: Dress appropriately. Clothes that reveal more than they cover will only make you the butt (no pun intended) of office jokes.
There's always room for personal improvement…
50. Be the best: Employees automatically respect managers who are good at their jobs and who know what they are talking about. It's very difficult to listen to an employer that doesn't make very much sense.
51. Manage your time: It pays to be organized. Plan your day and chart out your activities so that you don't have to rush around in front of your employees.
52. Ethics matter: Be ethical in all your dealings, from the most trivial to the most important. Your employees will not only hold you in high regard, they will also follow the example you set.
53. Be proactive, not reactive: Take control of events and happenings. Don't wait for things to happen before you decide your course of action.
54. Admit your mistakes: It's hard to swallow pride and admit that you're wrong, especially to your subordinates. Doing so will not only make them admire you more, but also make it easier for them to admit their own mistakes.
55. Rudeness does not pay: Learn the art of being authoritative without appearing to be rude.
56. Neither does arrogance: Do not swagger around in the mistaken knowledge that just because you are their superior, you have the right to do what you want.
57. Waste not, want not: Do not waste your time in trivial pursuits, even if you do not have important work to do. Idle chatter on the phone, browsing the Internet for fun, or chatting on the Web are better left out of the office, especially if you don't want your employees doing the same thing.
58. Humor works: A sense of humor, especially one directed at yourself, will go a long way in getting your employees to respect and like you as a person.
59. Focus, focus, focus: Stay focused on targets, both personal and the organization's. It's easier to shepherd your flock when you have a clear idea of where you're leading them.
60. Avoid the office grapevine: Do not support or join in gossip about your employees. The subject of the rumor (or truth) will certainly lose his/her last smidgen of respect for you.
61. Be one of the gang: Do not consider it below your dignity to do tasks that you normally ask your employees to do. Sharing their responsibility at times will help them relate to you on a more personal level.
62. Take love out of the air: Do not get romantically involved with or flirt with your employees.
63. Watch what you do: Inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment could end up costing you more than just the respect of your subordinates.
64. Don't suck up: Kissing up to your superior or boss will not put you in the good books of your employees. The ones that do approve your behavior will try to work their flattery on you to get on your good side.
65. Practice what you preach: Lead by example: come in early if you expect your employees to do so, stay late, work overtime, forgo vacations – anything you ask them to do, be willing to do it yourself.
66. Look and learn: Is there another manager that your team admires? Watch his actions – there are valuable lessons he can teach you.
67. Stand firm on your beliefs: Do not hesitate to stand up for what you believe is right, and do not cave in under pressure.
68. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again: Do not let failure get you down. Use your tribulations as stepping stones to success.
69. Stay firm on terra firma: Do not let success go to your head. Remember, life is full of ups and downs. Celebrate jobs well done and projects completed on time, but in an understated manner.
70. Be approachable: Let your employees know they can come to you with any issue and that you will give them both your time and a fair hearing.
71. Forgive and forget: Do not bear personal grudges against employees. It comes in the way of doing your job effectively.
72. Wisdom pays: Take decisions that are advantageous to both the organization and your employees; favoring one over the other will either make you less efficient or less popular.
73. Be there: You may not need to be around to get things done in the office, but make sure you are in everyday, monitoring progress and mapping out plans. An absent manager who comes in only to take credit for the work of his/her team is placed right at the bottom of the respect scale.
Being a manager, especially one that your employees respect and look up to, is certainly no piece of cake. Respect is one quality that is not innate, it has to be earned. Fame and fortune may come overnight, but not respect – you have to work at the qualities that make your subordinates proud to be a part of your unit, little by little, day by day, week after week.
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