But this is what I have to say on this. A writing schedule is must for you if you are not highly motivated writer, and who cannot start writing on the word go. And guess what most of us do not fit in this description. We all need, therefore, a writing schedule to help us perform the work we have taken ourselves.

Yes, each one of us has taken writing work on our own, no one ever have forced us to do so. I know of no parents who want their sons and daughters to become writers. It is the calling we got from inside and now as you are sunk deep into it you have started to feel lethargic. This is where a writing schedule steps in and pushes us forward, and we trod until we gain momentum.

Why to have a writing schedule?

1. It helps us remain on course.
2. It makes us finish our job on time.
3. Following a writing schedule gives us freedom to do anything productive with rest of the day, which will not be the case if there is no schedule.
4. In the absence of a schedule we end of thinking about finishing our writing assignment throughout the day, which is such a waste of time.

This is all I can think as of now. I need your help to list down all the benefits of having a writing schedule. How else do you think following a writing schedule is going to help someone? Use the comment box and send your suggestions. I am waiting impatiently to hear your ideas.

Other findings of the survey

• 9 out of every 10 Indian (86%) think they are responsible for the safety of food they eat.
• 6 out of 10 think it is on the food manufacturers to provide food that is safe.
• 8% people interviewed think its retailer who should be responsible for food that is safe to eat.
• Government was found to be the most trusted entity in terms of safe food.
• Most of the Indians believe that the food grown in the country is safer than food imported from outside.
• 73% people believe that some countries provide safer food than other countries.
• 42% (6 out of 10) said they actively buy local grown food to support local farmer or producers.
• 19% believe that locally grown food are good for their health and the health of their families.

In the absence of sample size and sample mix, this study should be taken with caution. I am not sure how deep in Indian villages did the surveyors went. In the absence of which trusting these numbers is quite hard.

I bet each one of us has faced this situation once or more in our career, but some of us go through this many times in their career, and more often than most of us. I think I know why they go through such ordeal every time they are in there for the interview, and thus I am writing this post. I believe this guide will help them do away with interview syndrome, once and for all.

How to remain confident in an interview

• Do not lie: The major reason why people feel less confident during interview than they actually are because of the lie they tell to the interviewer and the lie they wrote in the résumé. There is no point in lying because even if you get the job by lying, you will not be able to do justice to the work assigned to it, therefore, you will provide poor work, which will translate into bad review followed by firing. Now, what’s better: no job, or a résumé with a small black spot?
• Reach the venue 30 minutes in advance: Not everyone lies in the interview, but most of us are susceptible to another flaw, which is equally harmful. Always reach your the interview venue 30 minutes in advance and familiarize yourself with the surrounding, so that you can feel at home.
• Research the company: You are expected to know a bit about the company you are into. The knowledge shows your interest in the work, and the absence of it suggests that the company you are in at that point of time is just one of the many companies where you just dropped in with a hope to get hired. No one likes to have discarded employee.
• Know your stuff: If you do not know your stuff then you should not go to the interview table. Your interviewer is your prospective employer, so he will ask you all sorts of questions related to the work you will handle in his company. If you fumble in answering to his satisfaction, consider the interview over, and do not wait for any call because there will be no call.
• Be yourself: I will not ask you to put a broad grin or ear-to-ear smile on your face, and I will also not ask you to sit too straight and crush the interviewer’s hand with the sheer power of your palm just to say how confident you are. By doing all this, you will sound nothing but just an idiot who does not know manners. Hence, I will suggest you to forget what you have learned from the success coaches and be yourself. Do not try to be anyone, you will never succeed. Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”

If you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys; if you pay carrots, you will get rabbits. This adage has nothing new to offer but it still amuses, and in this laughter and gag, management misses the point. They keep on paying peanuts and they keep on getting their back itched. This is the reality of the corporate world. Companies have lost the trust of employees and thus the loyalty is waning out. What is the reason behind this depleting loyalty? Well, one of the answers could be, or more precisely the answer could be a lack of a proper recognition and reward system in companies.

It is not uncommon to find people who complain about not getting credit or rewarded for the role they played and the benefits they bring to the company. Hence, the employees’ morale weakens over the period of time, and they hop to another job as quickly as they can. The reason behind this job hopping is the absence of any intangible (read quality) benefit, in the absence of which employees look for the money and money alone. If money becomes the sole criteria for taking up any job then there will be nothing like loyalty and long-term commitment.

A proper reward system is one of the things that can stop quality employees from leaving. A reward should acknowledge the importance of the work the recipient has done for the company. The person should get due credit for the work he or she has done. This will infuse quality at the workplace, and the appreciation they get in return of the work they have done will motivate them not only to stay with your company but also to better their performance. If your company provides better work environment, and promptly return the employees’ dues then the importance of money gets belittled. Money only works wonder if everything else is indistinguishable.

A proper reward system should be responsive and customizable. No one-size-fits-all strategy should be used for rewarding the employees. If your company indulges in this then always expect the same mediocre result from the people on the other side. You pay peanuts and you get monkeys! There will not be even a single star performer if all a best performer of your company gets are peanuts and carrots.

Star performers do not just help satisfy more customers but they also help in securing good investments. We should understand here the triangular relationship between, employees, customers and investors. One better employee will fetch at least 10 loyal customers and 10 loyal customers will bring 100 more like them. This way the customer base of your company will grow and with it will grow sale of your products. The more you will sell the bigger your company will become and the better employees you will attract. These high quality employees will breed more sales that give investors more confidence in your company and the more confident the investor will have the more he or she will invest in your company.

For investors, the size of the customer base of your company is indeed important but the quality of the team that you have assembled to satisfy the needs and wants of your company’s customers are more important. Employees, customers and investors are three sides of a business triangle, weaken one of them and your business will tilt and tip over.

]]> http://itlist.com/pay-peanuts-get-monkeypay-peanuts-get-monkey/feed/ 0 http://itlist.com/7-things-that-let-you-down/ http://itlist.com/7-things-that-let-you-down/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 02:20:43 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/?p=1319 Every day we make promises to ourselves and we even try to fulfill those promises, but the astounding amount of work around us lets us down. It happens with all of us. We plan, we try but we could not deliver. What is the reason? Well, this article is an attempt to tell you not only the reason but also the ways to get rid of such problems.

No priority list: This is the first thing in the list because I wanted to tell you emphatically the importance of having a prioritized to-do list. In the absence of such list you will not know what is more important and what can wait till evening. Hence, what you end up doing first in the morning is the thing that was not at all important.

A pile of task: This is almost always unmanageable. A huge list of work to complete will just immobilize you and you cannot accomplish anything, so bite only what you can chew, and leave rest on the plate for others.

Wrong Timing: This is important. Do the critical work in the morning when you are fresh, and push the less important works for the rest of the day. Checking mail in the morning takes away the time in which you could have accomplished many important things.

Untidy Mailbox: This kills your time more than anything else. Too many mails in your mailbox will not boost your productivity; rather it will stamp it down. You need to organize your mailbox by filing important mails in folders and deleting the unnecessary ones.

No Do Not Disturb Sign: This is very important. In the office, being accessible to your subordinates, colleagues and bosses is considered professionalism. It indeed will win you many friends and support, but at times this will result in delayed reports and missed deadlines. Hence, you need to put “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door when you have important work with a tight deadline to finish.

Working Long Hours: If someone told you that working for hours in a stretch will fetch you great result then he was wrong. You need to take breaks at equal intervals to recharge your battery. The more relax you will be the better result will come out. Working continuously does nothing but worn you out.

Stand Up and Say No: Saying no is a good thing. It says you care and that you know the importance of the additional work that is going to get assigned to you. If you say no when you are caught up, this way you will not only save yourself from missing deadlines due to overload, but this will also help your organization get the work done through someone else who is free at that time.