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If you feel that your
position and status require a "calling bell" on your
table, watch out. You'll
be an arthritic patient in a short while.
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If you
can
create a
culture in which your juniors can pull your leg and you enjoy it, you are well on
the way to creating self correcting mechanisms.
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Most people in padded,
push back chairs tend to linger in them, push the seat
back and look down on the visitor. They also tend to create an
aura of relaxation
in an office rather than that of efficiency and drive. (Incidentally,
they are not good for piles, or for back problems.) These chairs take longer to get
into and out off. In a plane, seats are designed to kill
time; in an office they should help to save time.
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An extra large table is
no sign of importance; it could indicate a lack of confidence
in oneself and reliance on symbols to establish status. It
could also mean
that you need a barrier to protect yourself from another.
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A clean table is no sign
of efficiency. You could also be a postman who has distributed
work to everyone without getting a firm grasp of what is the problem and what the
solution could be.
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If possible, have your
secretarial staff on a different floor - climbing steps regularly through the day
will give your heart all the exercise it needs.
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Avoid cluttering your
office with papers and books. Clutter is contagious - your
mind will catch it.
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Carry papers and letters
around to colleagues yourself - they tend to attend more
quickly to papers you have handed them personally.
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Do not hold meetings
behind closed doors. All those who have a temporary problem
with you or those who are by nature suspicious will conclude
that you are
discussing them, and worse plotting against them.
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If you can't establish an
atmosphere of open access to colleagues who are themselves
in a position of authority but report to you -- you have got
your priorities
screwed up. The report you give priority to because you have
to submit it
against a deadline will soon be filed and forgotten; but a
colleague in a
responsible position, if asked to come later -- after the
urgent report is over
-- will loose confidence in himself / herself -- the effect will then
seep into the area
of his/her authority. Reports could quickly take priority over
people.
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By the same token, give
your time to newcomers -- they need to imbibe the culture
of the organisation and in turn feel wanted. Enquire regularly
about their
progress, visit them atleast once a week in their work place
during the first
month. Arrange for them to visit Bangalore office and another project -- it gives them a
feeling that they are part of a larger organisation, and
a certain sense of security. Do not be satisfied with a letter
of confirmation --
it only tells them that they have a job. Arrange a function and perhaps a gesture
which helps them to feel they are now a part of your family
and work consistently to strengthen this relationship.
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Be courteous and
hospitable to visitors who have positions of authority - in
MYRADA, Government and in
Dono organisations - but never be servile - you
loose respect and so does the organisation.
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Avoid keeping
confidential files especially on people - it creates an atmosphere of distrust. I
once had a colleague who had this habit - no one told
him the truth.
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Do not spend on
furnishing your office more than you spend on the offices of your colleagues in the
same building. If a visitor walks into the building he/she
should not be able to identify easily the room of the boss. If
your room is better
than those of the others -- watch out ! Others may aspire to
sit in it for the comfort, not for the responsibility; some
may even feel that
the same holds good for you.
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Spend as much time in
the offices of your colleagues as in yours (without being
a nuisance) and encourage your colleagues to do the same. If
two of your
colleagues feel the need to communicate through memos you have
a problem which if
not sorted out can become serious. People tend to talk more
freely in their own office, than in yours. This practice also
conveys the message
that all the programmes are important. If you are perceptive you may even notice signs
that there are underlying problems which have not surfaced
as yet. We once had an experience where a department dealing with administrative
matters wasdesperately trying to cope for over a year with a
heavy backlog and tried several methods - some not so
straight- forward.
The boss passed through this office daily since it was next to
his ... yet he did
not get a feeling that something was not quite right. He had never sat down to talk
with the staff of this department.
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If you have a large
secretarial pool (and some projects do)... try to do without
a personal secretary. She becomes a barrier to your
relationship with
other staff. Often she will refuse to work for others in your
absence; even if
she is willing, others may be reluctant to ask her especially
if she has been in
the job for a long time. Do not appoint a relative as your
secretary. Both an
established secretary and a relative may be the most efficient
persons around; but they
become an extension of yourself and hence of your authority;
it will be very difficult for them not to use it and for
others to pretend
it does not matter.
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If you have reached a
stage when no one can see you without sending in a "chit"
- start looking for another job; your own colleagues will help
you.
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Avoid publicity
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in the long term it is counter productive, and politics
- it is a different
ball game and symbolic gestures - do not lay foundation
stones, open the
building or inaugurate its use.
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Be wary of quick
remedies and perfect solutions - they seldom work; the people
who offer them have their own motives. By the same token do
not allow personal
attachments and prejudices to colour your judgement and affect office
relationships. Be more demanding on those you like best before they misuse your
affection and pull you down with them.
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Do not rush to put up a
show for guests. Cows distributed overnight and mushroom
nurseries convey different messages; a visitor (if perceptive
and experienced)
will see through your effort, if he / she do not, you have wasted your time. The people will
impute several motives to your actions most of them
uncomplimentary; they may even consider this experience the standard pattern of your
entire programme.
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If your ego cannot cope
with promising and competent colleagues you will soon
have dwarfs of your size around you.
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If you are prepared to
die for the poor and for your colleagues you are true to
your calling, but if you allow them to take you for a ride you
are a Saint - your
place is on a pedestal, you are just now in the wrong
position.
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Finally - once in a
while check to see if your Executive Director has read/forgotten
his note!