Business Intelligence Lowdown

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.

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.