Organizational development is a separate academic discipline for a reason. The scope of organizational development (OD) is vast & diverse. It seeks to study organisational change & performance (wikipedia). If you are managing an organisation, you know why do we say that scope of this area of study is vast & diverse.  Interestingly, the study
Running an efficient & growing business is hard. Without the knowledge of management concepts, it becomes a lot more difficult. With the help of some tried and tested management tools, teams can find their groove back. While they may appear soft & a bit too theoretical, there is elaborate research backing them. Â Imbibing the
Businesses always need a well articulated direction to succeed. This direction more often than not, comes from the company’s mission statement. Bought in by the entire company, a clear mission can set the business up for success. Potentially it can also overhaul public perceptions about the brand. The flip side of the coin is also
Burnout associated with chronic work stress is a growing global concern. It leads to a state of mental exhaustion at work & lack of motivation. Eventually it ends up reducing individual’s & teams’ productivity. In fact, after surveying nearly 7,500 full-time employees, it was found that 23 percent reported feeling of burn out at work. Either
We have all joked about meetings at work or rather the pointlessness of them. The flak that business meetings receive is not without reason, either. This infographic shows all the various ways people waste their time at work; workplace meetings are right at the top of the ladder. Don’t get us wrong, meetings are important. They
When an employee is leaving your company, chances are that you are entirely focused on getting in their replacement. While getting their replacement is a necessity, conducting their exit interview is equally important. Â Conducting an exit interview is a valuable practice that 91% of the Fortune 500 companies do. Information gathered at such an
Roughly half of all new businesses fail to survive the first five years. Many don’t even last the first 18 months. There are plenty of reasons that businesses fail but a recurring theme is a lack of a clear growth strategy. A growth strategy is more that a vision; it’s a concrete plan to grow
Managers play a key role in making an organisation success or failure. Even if they know it or not, these managers tend to have certain management styles. An effective manager knows what style to choose for what project. These choices also depend on the level of influence manager has on their team. As well as
Success or failure of an organisation is dependent on its leadership. To a very deep extent. Leadership at the helm is an indication of the team’s future. “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good
Change is inevitable. As organisations grow and industries evolve, companies need to adapt to stay profitable. In 2015, McKinsey compiled a report. This report ranked 1,000 organisations on the Organisational Health Index. According to it, companies that could find the balance between speed and stability performed the best. In other words, organisations that could manage
Ever feel that workdays tend to blend together into one incomprehensible mess? That’s not unusual. Many people find themselves struggling to define their achievements in the workplace. Setting yourself different types of goals at work can break the jinx. It is a fantastic way to provide structure, stability, and progression to your career.  There
What is Moral Integrity? Moral integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.  We know what is right and wrong, and we choose to do the right thing. Doing the right thing when it’s the easiest or the most profitable thing isn’t what matters, though. When things are easy, anyone can
Growth is fundamental in establishing the success of a business. For most of the for-profit companies this growth means increase in sales, introduction of new products and/or increase in market share. Whichever goals are set, companies need an elaborate plan that will guide them through. Â An organisational strategy is such a detailed execution plan.
There are many pieces of the puzzle when it comes to determining how your business performs. A company’s productivity depends on many diverse things. Like the technology in use, ongoing processes & systems. It is also also shaped by the techniques used in different functions. For example, how do you bring leads in, nurture and convert them into paying customers. One key piece
It’s not unheard of for managers to ask a lot from their employees. Often employees do their best to accommodate what is asked of them, but that’s not always enough. But at times, managers cross the line and start asking a little too much of their direct reports. This is the beginning of a world filled with
Businesses, employees, managers, take your pick: every entity needs a plan for success. Of course, a plan can take many forms. Consider a “back of the napkin” personal timeline or a formal business development document. The best plans combine two fundamental concepts: goals and objectives. Goals and objectives may appear similar on the surface, there is
Deliberately or not, group decision making happens in every team. Most teams look at the process of group decision making to improve quality of decisions. But they tend to overlook its potential for enhancing the company culture & collaboration. This article explores 7 different techniques to use in group decision making. It lays down the ground rules, advantages, disadvantages of these group
Organisations are in a state of flux. Knowledge & technology organisations, more so. Given that the technology & knowledge is always advancing, they cannot afford to lose steam. Continuous learning, is the key for them. Of course, the same applies to individuals as well. Don’t keep up with the new learnings & you’ve become stagnant
To many, modern performance management process may mean fairly straight forward & mundane – that’s what managers do, right? Unfortunately, most supervisors seem to have missed the memo on that one. According to Forbes, almost 80% of knowledge workers in the United States are not managed well. They do not feel encouraged, supported, or motivated
Whether you’re an individual contributor or a manager leading a team of individuals, effective feedback is crucial in the workplace. But what constitutes a quality feedback? What are the various types of feedback, and how do they apply in the workplace? While the article below is by no means exhaustive, it lists out a few
Communication is at the core of any business. Be it a one man owned grocery store or a large multinational software development firm. Failure to communicate your thoughts & ideas is a recipe for disaster. Now, there is nothing novel in this fact. Everyone knows & agrees to it. But few individuals at workplace pay
Success is a habit. Or better phrased, success is choice to make changes to your daily routine. Changes that are difficult, even uncomfortable. Develop good habits outside of work, and that is bound to improve your performance in the office. Figure out areas of improvement, make plans and stick to them. Developing good habits can
Knowledge workers dread meetings. With little planning going into them, meetings rarely produce the desired results. Follow Scrum or Kanban for project management & you are already a part of bunch of other meetings. Then there are town halls, team meetings & and other gatherings specific to your organisation. But amidst all this noise, one
According to a Glassdoor study, employees aren’t using their vacation time in its entirety. They are afraid of falling behind in their work commitments. Here it is not employees’ fault, as they are afraid of losing out on valuable time. Their company is to blame as well. If a company understands the importance of time-off
Everybody defines and measures success in their own ways. For some it could be measured by their salary or bank balance, the size of the house they own, ability to give back to society, etc. Many people seek to know the best ways to achieve their goals, be it personal or professional. Some are
Globally approximately 15% employees are engaged in their work. The numbers vary according to different countries but haven’t exceeded beyond 40% in any of them. Millions of dollars are being spent on employee engagement activities and yet the numbers haven’t increased yet. (Source) Another study reports that people’s well-being peaks are weekends and holidays,
Performance management has been evolving since the past few years. We are moving away from traditional practices such as annual performance reviews and closer towards agile performance management. The latter is a more collaborative, continuous feedback and development practice suitable for today’s fast paced environment. Employee reviews are now more holistic owing to 360 degree
We have written extensively about how OKRs are beneficial to the company. The methodology helps employees and managers set goals that are SMART i.e. specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and timely. As the goals are aligned throughout the organization, transparency increases to a great extent. Everyone becomes aware of what their teammates or other coworkers are working on and how
According to a Gallup study, only 14% of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews inspire them to improve. That is a remarkably low percentage. While there could be various reasons behind this abnormality, one of them stands out quite clearly viz. annual performance reviews. These reviews did work well to some extent in the
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence – two of the most trending words in the world today. It seems every other groundbreaking innovation relies on either of the two terms here. Artificial intelligence is increasingly being adopted across multiple industry verticals. It has transformed the way we conduct everyday tasks by providing platforms that are
Your co-workers can be a source of frustration if you hate them. You don’t get to choose them, but you end up spending 7-8 hours a day with them. If you have work friends in your co-workers, life becomes so much better. Work friends can increase your productivity. According to a study done in the
In the book Jack: Straight From The Gut, the legendary Jack Welch talks about how he heavily focused on creating a high performing culture at GE. Only those employees who conformed to standards he set, were allowed to stay. The rest had to part ways with the company. This book talks about how he did not
We need to talk. 4 simple words. Yet they are enough to make the best of us nervous. How often have we avoided talking to someone simply because we do not want a difficult conversation? Not just in personal, but professional life as well. Although in the latter, difficult conversations may be essential in certain situations.