QAspire blog has moved to www.qaspire.com/blog. I moved this WordPress hosted blog to custom-hosted WordPress. This will allow access to better themes, plugins to enhance user experience.
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You can check out the new blog by clicking here. I have also written a welcome post there. I intend to continue blogging on the new QAspire.com/blog.
Blogging has been a very enriching experience so far. I started this blog in April 2006 and today, the blog has more than 250 posts with an average daily readership of 80-100 unique visits and number of comments on each post. I have been able to keep in touch with lot of old colleagues via this blog and have made new friends. It can’t get better than this.
Thanks to everyone who contributed in making this blog successful and I do know that you will check out my new blog and continue your support.
Thanks again and see you at QAspire.com/blog.
May 7, 2009
Leader is a leader when people opt to follow him and managing people is one of the most important aspects of leadership. To communicate vision and values, it is very important to spend quality time with the team. Equally important is to supervise them and monitor the outcomes.
Here is an excerpt from “LeadingBlog” post “5 Leadership Lessons – Ultimate Leadership – Leading in Context” –
A successful leader never languishes in the comfort of a swivel chair. The most important of all troop-leading steps, yet the one most often neglected, is the last – to supervise. And you supervise by being out with and devoting the bulk of your time to our most important product – people. You can always catch up on what you thought was essential paperwork during the evenings or on weekends, but once neglected, you will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to catch up on people.”
Read the full post to know more about the other four lessons.
April 29, 2009
It is unfortunate that I am not finding enough time since last couple of weeks to blog! This is also a reason why last few posts have been crisp and short. Till the time I find more time again (or manage my time better), I would continue to post short blog posts with some interesting snippets of what I read on blogosphere.
I have always loved Robin Sharma’s books, blog posts and now he also tweets. I read this short story at his blog:
Two workers were toiling outside of a huge new structure. The first one was exhausted and disengaged and uninspired. “What are you working on?” he was asked by a passerby. “I’m cutting some stones,” was the curt reply. The other worker was then asked the same question. “Sorry, can’t speak too long,” was the passionate response, “I’m in the process of building a cathedral.”
Day to day grind can be frustrating. It is easy to get carried away by the routine and loose focus. Stories like these help you to regain focus on goals you have set for yourself. Cathedral in the story above is symbolic of vision. Leaders are led by a vision and it is extremely important for leaders to keep their vision always in the sight.
What cathedral are you in process of building?
Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
April 29, 2009
Read these two great quotes on Twitter and thought of sharing! Without much ado, here they go:
“People are capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom redeem them.” – Walpole
“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” ~ Christopher Parker
Have a great Tuesday!
April 28, 2009
“Performance Management using KRA’s” has been one of the top posts on this blog. Well defined KRA’s act as a scale to measure performance of a team member.
Here is an excerpt from my earlier post:
Documented result areas provided us a path to tread. We knew what exactly is expected out of us and we performed accordingly. KRA’s deal with results and not with day to day activities and hence more quantitative the KRA’s are the easier they are to track.
In this regards, one of the readers of this blog, Gireesh Sharma pointed me to his article “Writing SMART Goals (also called KRAs) from Job Descriptions” which made for an interesting read.
Here are 9 steps suggested by Gireesh for setting up KRA’s/KPI’s:
- Go through employee’s Job Description. If Job Description is not updated talk to employee and his/her Manager or many be manager’s manager also.
- Try to find out exactly what the employee is supposed to achieve.
- Based on your reading and discussions, make a list of the functions and responsibilities which are critical to the employee’s job.
- Categorize these critical functions and responsibilities in two categories:
- (4.1) Which can be measured whether in numbers or percentages or yes/no.
- (4.2) Which cannot be measured in numbers and cannot be calculated.
- Ones in 4.1 are the can be be converted to Goals (KRAs).
- Make a list of all critical functions.
- Write a self explanatory (1 sentence ) definition of each Goal (KRA).
- If you plan to follow BSC (Balanced Score Card) Pattern, then categorize each goal into one of the following categories: Customer, Financial, Internal Business Process, Learning and Growth.
- There after describe each Goal (KRA). Make sure you mention a measurable target to be achieved and time frame for achievement of the Goal (KRA).
The article is very insightful and has very relevant examples to demonstrate how this 9 point process works. Read the full post here.
How do you manage results from your team?
April 16, 2009
“It takes years of experience to learn how to care for people” – says Barry Schwartz on his awe-inspiring talk at TED. It is so amazing that such knowledge and wisdom is now available to us free via mediums like TED. Enjoy the video. I have a few things to say about Practical Wisdom, but I reserve it for the future posts. Till then, enjoy Barry Schwartz.
April 14, 2009
Last week, I was talking to a group of 15 middle managers in our organization sharing my views on Leadership. One important thing I discussed with them was that leadership can only stem from doing something you really love doing. We can only express ourselves fully when we love what we do. With this expression comes a uniqueness in practice, understanding and learning. Result is excellence. Leadership stems from excellence. In a way, Leadership is all about excellence.
In this regards, I read a great quote “Practice of Leadership” blog:
“No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely – all your skills, gifts and energies – in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You, must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.” – Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
My key takeaways from this:
- Leadership is a result of doing what you love doing and pursue your calling.
- Leadership is a result of expressing yourself fully in your area of work to achieve excellence. It is about being yourself.
- Leadership without personal excellence is not possible.
Have a great day ahead!
Also read on this blog: Great Quotes: Work and Play, Follow your Energies, Passion Power, Actualizing with the self
April 9, 2009
Two years into my career, I had a colleague who was a talker. He would incessantly talk about what he did through the day, how he handled a situation, how he found problems with what someone was doing and so on. You get the point. He was an expert at tooting his horns and exhibit how much he was doing. He would ruthlessly take credits for things others do. Needless to say, people started equating his talk with his deeds. He was soon exposed. His ultimate resort was to really do things and then talk about it.
I am reminded of this colleague (and many other colleagues like him) after reading “Talking vs. Doing” post at Harvard Business by John Maeda and Becky Bermont. The post asks some thought provoking questions which unfortunately has no straightforward answers.
To extrapolate a bit, what she or he was pointing out is that it is a forum that caters to the “talkers.” Taken further, you could ask: What about the “doers” — those who produce great work, and let it speak for itself? Do we all need to broadcast our work?
I don’t think great work needs any broadcast. It speaks for itself.
It further says -
It’s easy for raises to go to those who ask for them, and for credit to go to those who repeat their accomplishments over and over. There’s nothing wrong with this per se, if the talkers are deserving. But how can we make sure we’re rewarding those who quietly produce results as well? What do you do to pull out the hidden gems in your organization and make sure they see the light of day? Must everyone be taught how to “talk”?
The post ends with a million dollar question - Does everyone need to be taught how to talk and exhibit their accomplishments? Can’t there be a system of performance evaluation where real doers are discovered and rewarded?
From a career perspective, it is important to strike a balance between how much you do and how much you talk. But here is the thing – When silent doers produce great results, results speak for itself. “Just enough” communication about it can make those great results “discoverable”.
Here is my takeaway –
- Doing much and talking just enough is the best strategy.
- Doing much and not talking about it (silent doing) is a long term strategy (if you are patient enough not to get frustrated and move on).
- Doing little and talking too much about it may seem rewarding in short term but is not a sustainable strategy for long term career success.
Do you agree with these? What have been your experiences? I would love to explore perspectives.
April 8, 2009
