Nagesh Belludi

Written Communication Tips #2: On date formats

February 18, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Date formats and representations The interpretation of a date written in the ’02-12-06′ format can differ. For instance, a reader in the United States may interpret the above date as the 12th of February 2006, where as another from India or the United Kingdom may interpret the date as the 2nd of December 2006. A computer programmer may interpret the date as the 6th of December 2002. Avoid using all-digit date formats.

The most popular formats for expressing dates are 12th February 2006 (more formal,) 12 February, 2006 (the comma is optional) or 12-Feb-2006 (shorter, inexplicit form.)

The most significant part of a date is the day. Hence, write the day first, followed by the month (spelled in complete or as a three-letter abbreviation) and then include the year. The least significant part of a date is the year; you may omit the year in informal communication.
You can easily avoid confusing a reader about your intended date format by spelling out the entire month or by using a three-letter abbreviation for the month. Further, in speech or thought, we rarely express months in terms of numbers. For instance, while reading out a date, we rarely express February as the second month of the year.

Whatever format you choose to use, be consistent throughout a document: use an identical format all the dates in the document. Consistency in formats is important for both form and function of the dates.

P. S: International Standard ISO 8601 stipulates numeric representations for date and time. The international standard date notation is YYYY-MM-DD. Accordingly, you would denote the 12th of February 2006 as 2006-02-12. Clearly, this format does not impart order-preference to the more significant parts of the date, viz., the day and the month. However, this date format offers advantages in computer usage; I plan to cover these in a future blog article.

Inspirational Quotations #156

February 13, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The chief duty I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

Hail thy brother’s boat across, and lo! thine own has reached the shore.
—Indian Proverb

When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.
—Thomas Szasz (Hungarian Psychiatrist)

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.
—Walter Bagehot (English Businessperson)

The best rules to form a young man are, to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one’s own opinions, and value others’ that deserve it.
—William Temple

Don’t think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.
—Malaysian Proverb

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.
—William Temple

If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

In modern business it is not the crook who is to be feared most, it is the honest man who doesn’t know what he is doing.
—Owen D. Young (American Businessperson)

Unlock the Power of Communication: Start with the End in Mind!

February 12, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

How can you ensure your message hits the mark when you’re about to deliver a speech, prepare a presentation, write a report, draft a résumé, or compose an email? The secret lies in a simple yet powerful technique: beginning at the end.

Instead of diving straight into the content, take a moment to step into the shoes of your recipients or audience. Shift your perspective and view your communication from the outside in. To kickstart this process, ask yourself a series of intriguing questions about the outcome you desire. Don’t hold back—jot down every potential outcome that comes to mind without filtering or limiting your creativity.

Let’s say you’re gearing up for a captivating speech. Picture yourself standing before your audience and delve into their minds. Who are they? What burning questions do they have? What nuggets of knowledge or insights will truly resonate with them? Envision the impact you want to make. What do you hope your listeners will take away from your speech? What action do you want them to take after hearing your words?

Once you’ve gathered a rich array of intended outcomes, it’s time to prioritize and distill the essence of your message. Zero in on the core conclusions you wish to convey to your audience. This is where the magic happens. Now, take a step back and embark on a journey backward. Begin assembling your ideas, anecdotes, and compelling statistics that bolster your conclusions. Weave them into a seamless tapestry of thoughts that guide your audience to those pivotal “aha” moments.

By starting with the end in mind, you gain a distinct advantage—a great perspective that empowers you to shape the direction of your thoughts as you prepare your communication. This approach allows you to discard ideas that don’t align with your desired messages, enabling you to deliver a focused and impactful presentation.

Idea for Impact: communication is an art that revolves around your audience. When you begin at the end, you effectively zero in on the messages you want to convey to your listeners or readers. It’s like fine-tuning a symphony, ensuring every note strikes a chord in their hearts and minds.

Telephone Skills #2: Avoiding Telephone Interruptions

February 11, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The ring of a telephone is one of the most annoying of intrusions at work.

Productive work requires extended periods of concentration. Incoming calls impair your efficiency by breaking your concentration, especially during your productive work-hours. Additionally, a ringing telephone can easily interrupt a conversation, even if you do not intend to answer the ring. If you have a visitor, he or she may let you pickup a ringing telephone, out of courtesy: “Do you want to pickup the phone?” “No. Let’s continue.”

Here are two practices to avoid telephone interruptions.

Turn-off your telephone during your productive work-hours or when you are meeting somebody at your desk. Instead, use a voicemail system. The voicemail system allows you to pick the moments at which you pay attention to incoming telephone calls. Check voicemail once or twice a day and return telephone calls promptly. For example, at work, I unplug the telephone cable at my desk until 11:00am and check voicemails after lunch.
A large fraction of your unscheduled incoming calls are likely to be from specific people: a project manager calling you to inform you of customer specifications, off-site colleagues requesting help, or, family members updating you of some information. These conversations are probably not on pressing matters that require your immediate attention. Inform the people most likely to call you of times when you are not available to take their calls and request them not to call during these periods. People will respect your request if you inform them of your reason, viz., your desire to be productive during those times, and promptly follow-up on voicemails they may leave. For example, I request people not to call me in the mornings and encourage them to send email.

Your efficiency at work depends directly on how productively you use your work-time. Avoiding telephone interruptions thus provides a greater control over how you organize your time.

Inspirational Quotations #155

February 5, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.
—Stevie Wonder (American Singer)

In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.
—Thomas Szasz (Hungarian Psychiatrist)

I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
—Donald Trump (American Businessperson, Head of State)

I have yet to meet a successful business owner who has not failed before. What’s the difference between them and the owner-turned-9-to-5? They didn’t let one setback cripple their hunger for success. Don’t you.
—William O. Douglas (American Judge)

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves—there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.
—Joan Didion

The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (Indian Head of State)

It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards.
—Soren Kierkegaard (Danish Philosopher, Theologian)

Telephone Skills #1: Showing Courtesy to your Visitors when Talking on the Telephone

February 3, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Suppose you are talking on the telephone and a coworker visits your desk for a conversation. Do not make your visitor feel insignificant by ignoring him or her. Show common courtesy by following these simple steps.

Acknowledge the visitor’s presence with a wave and a smile. Then, gesture to him or her to take a seat close to your desk.
If you have an appointment with the visitor, your telephone call was probably unscheduled. Or perhaps, your phone conversation has been longer than you expected. In either case, if you sense your telephone call is not likely to end in a minute or so, defer your phone conversation. “Hey, Sharan. I have a visitor here at my desk. I have an appointment with her. Shall I call you back in the afternoon to complete our discussion?”
If the visitor is unscheduled or if the telephone call involves an important topic, defer meeting the visitor by writing a small note. Hand over your note to the visitor with a smile. “Sales review till 2:00pm. Will visit you or call you.” Alternately, if you believe your call will end soon, write down “Two minutes, please.” You can then continue to concentrate on your phone conversation.

Practicing these good manners will enable you to prioritize the visitor over the telephone call or vice versa, as appropriate.

Job-Hunting Tips #1: Your Online Presence can be an Asset or a Liability

January 31, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

MySpace is Everybody’s Space

A friend I spoke to last night mentioned an interesting experience with a college candidate he had considered for a full-time position in his organization. After determining that the candidate possessed first-class credentials, my friend searched for the candidate’s name on Google. He discovered that the candidate’s MySpace pages had contents that were in poor taste and lacked professional maturity. My friend said he immediately rejected the candidate from further consideration.
Many employers search the internet, the blogosphere and social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for more information on job candidates. Information they gather from the internet on a potential recruit can be very helpful. Quite often, an employer can learn about a candidate’s extra-curricular activities, academic papers, recognitions, scholarships, etc. —information that may not be stated in his/her résumé. In other instances, as with my friend’s experience described above, an employer can discover content that may establish a negative impression of the candidate. Internet search, therefore, can easily provide pointers to a candidate’s talents and to how he/she may portray himself/herself as a member of an organization.

Save Yourself from Embarrassment from your Online Content

Here are three few simple precautions you can take to save yourself from embarrassment during a job search and during employment.

Clean-up your webpages. Search engines and other archival agents frequently archive content on the internet. Online content is also distributed through web-feeds, aggregators and other circulation channels. It is difficult or usually impossible to retract information you post online. However, you can minimize the chances of prospective employers discovering more information about you by getting rid of any content that may reflect negatively on you. Many professionals are usually busy or are not tech-savvy enough to do a thorough internet search. Further, do not disclose online any personal information (birthday, marital status, political affiliations, etc.) that you will not include in your résumé or mention in a job interview.
Watch what you write. You do not have any control over the information you post in public domain. Other netizens may distort or misinterpret your thoughts when they quote you or link to your content. As a rule, refrain from writing mean or crude postings, portraying organizations and individuals in negative light, bad-mouthing, plagiarizing content and posting extreme opinions on sensitive topics. Maintain a professional etiquette when posting comments on others’ blogs, in newsgroups and other interactive services. If necessary, use a pseudonym on newsgroups and online forums.
Post insightful content that appeals to prospective employers. Discuss your personal and professional experiences and present perspectives on topics related to your career interests. Include links to your portfolio, references to papers or articles you may have published, charity events you may have participated in and other content that will supplement your résumé. Organize the details logically. If you are lucky enough, an employer may develop an interest in hiring you after surveying your site. Use a mature, professional approach to enhance your prospects for landing a job you desire.

Conclusion

Employers can eliminate candidates from consideration based on information available in the public domain. In your job search, you can leverage the networking advantage of the internet by being conscious of the professional image you project online. Generate a positive first impression that can complement an employer’s perceptions from appraising your résumé.

Inspirational Quotations #154

January 28, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Affliction comes to us all not to make us sad, but sober; not to make us sorry, but wise; not to make us despondent, but by its darkness to refresh us, as the night refreshes the day; not to impoverish, but to enrich us, as the plough enriches the field; to multiply our joy, as the seed, by planting, is multiplied a thousand-fold.
—Henry Ward Beecher (American Protestant Clergyman)

More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams.
—Amy Grant

Be great in act, as you have been in thought. Suit the action to the word and the word to the action.”
—William Shakespeare (British Playwright)

Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all.
—G. K. Chesterton (English Journalist)

Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober, not to make us sorry but wise.
—Henry Ward Beecher (American Protestant Clergyman)

The finest lives, in my opinion, are those who rank in the common model, and with the human race, but without miracle, without extravagance.
—Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher)

The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
—George Boardman (American Baptist Minister)

Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead.
—Aldous Huxley (English Humanist)

Don’t smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.
—Italian Proverb

Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.
—George S. Patton (American Military Leader)

Judging People: Talent is more than Skin-Deep

January 25, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Perception and Reality are Often Poles Apart

At a non-profit organization, I work with two members of the support staff. Sally and Diane (names and context changed for anonymity) joined the organization five months ago and report to the branch manager.

Sally is young, energetic and talks loudly; however, she lacks initiative, has difficulty following-up on assignments and needs constant reminders. Diane is experienced, thorough at work and gets her assignments done promptly; she is quiet and has an introverted personality.

Sally recently had an opportunity to coordinate the visit of the Executive Director of the non-profit organization. The executive was impressed with Sally’s abilities and asked the branch manager to give Sally a raise with a promotion. The branch manager, who had not spent a lot of time with Sally, shared this initial assessment on Sally and agreed.

Having interacted with Sally and Diane extensively, I considered Sally’s promotion unfortunate. Diane was more deserving of promotion for her hard work, initiative and promise for advancement.

Learn to Look Beyond the Surface

Our first impressions are usually deceptive and incomplete. We tend to judge people based on their appearance, their mannerisms (smile, handshake, liveliness, etc.) and their tone. However, reality runs deeper than what is visible at the surface.

Know what you are looking for. Develop evaluation criteria and write them down. For instance, assume you are looking for a project manager to lead a new product development. Write down what skills and attributes a good project manager should possess. What should be the ideal background? Would you like the candidate to have had experience leading projects of similar size and scope? Did the projects complete on-time and within assigned budgets?
Do not judge people because you share common characteristics. An example: A hiring manager I worked with sometime ago brought a candidate onsite just because the candidate’s resume listed membership in the manager’s favorite charitable group. None of the other interviewers was impressed with the candidate’s leadership skills (among other attributes). The hiring manager realized his mistake and remarked, “I thought everybody that participated in [activity] with [charitable group’s name] was a natural leader.”
Check the opinions of others who may have had different perspectives in other contexts. For instance, in job interviewing, talk to all the references that a candidate provided and ask specific questions about the candidate. Talk to independent references wherever available. In particular, seek objective people who have long experience working with the candidate.

Conclusion

As professionals, we are often required to judge job candidates based on an hour of interviewing or induct team members based on minimal acquaintances. Hence, judging people for their talent and personality is a vital skill for managers. To discover others, we need to go beyond perceptions and learn more about their experiences, thoughts and actions to understand them better.

Question: Do you have interesting stories about judging people from perceptions? Please share them in the comments section.

Is Showing up Late to a Meeting a Sign of Power?

January 23, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi 2 Comments

Blog reader Devan from Kuching, Malaysia asks:

A new executive in my company habitually arrives late to meetings and appointments, even if he can be on time. Could he be trying to show off his power?

Devan, I am not sure. It is never easy to form an opinion based on a few observations.

It is true that power can corrupt: a few ‘powerful’ people tend to grow more oblivious to what other people think when they gain more power. Others think more positively about power and grow more generous as they gain more responsibilities.

The desire to feel important drives some to have other people wait for them before starting meetings or, worse, to restart the meeting upon arriving late. This is irrational behavior.

Is showing up early to a meeting a sign of weakness?

Another prevalent belief is that showing up earlier is a sign of vulnerability and that showing up later gives an ‘control’ in the proceedings of the meeting. Or that, showing up earlier is a sign of being too organized or overly anxious about the outcome of the meeting.

In reality, being punctual and organized in keeping appointments is a sign of respect for the value of others’ time and a critical component of professional behavior.

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Nagesh Belludi

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MySpace is Everybody’s Space

Save Yourself from Embarrassment from your Online Content

Conclusion

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Perception and Reality are Often Poles Apart

Learn to Look Beyond the Surface

Conclusion

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Is showing up early to a meeting a sign of weakness?

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