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Knock, Knock! Who’s There? Inspiration – Top 5 Inspirational Short Movies

Knock, Knock! Who’s There? Inspiration – Top 5 Inspirational Short Movies

by | Nov 9, 2015 | Career, Communication, Managing Yourself, Motivation, Productivity

At Oorja Biz Ops, we understand that some days you just can’t get out of bed. All you want to do is stay under the sheets and feed the “I am feeling existential” monster, literally and metaphorically. We have those days too. But as a team, we have our ways of dealing with them and love to share them with you. We have a secret treasure chest where we store all the inspiration we come across, and if you were wondering, our posts on the movies, books and Ted talks are from that secret store. If you don’t have a long time to obsess about life’s worries and get ready to face the world again, and need a quick fix, here is a list of five Inspirational Short Movies which will leave you feeling motivated and up and ready even before you’ve finished watching them.

1. Glory Days (11 minutes) –

You feel like a hurricane has wrecked your life? Well, watch this movie and find out what it is like to really have a hurricane wreck everything you hold dear to your heart. But you never give up on what is dear to you, and no matter how tough the going gets, you get up and start building again. A truly inspiring movie on the football team of the Warren Easton High School of Louisiana and how they rebuilt their football program post the catastrophe of hurricane Katrina.

2.Rosa – These Storms (11 minutes)–

All about living, and living your dreams. Nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it and Rosa proves that to you. The movie is about a young Mayan woman, Rosa, and how she overcomes her past to live her dreams – what she thought was impossible being a woman in rural Guatemala.

3. Never Give Up (8 minutes) –

An award winning short film, it features a man with a partial disability with his legs, his struggle to overcome the disadvantage and his victory. A truly classic example of “where there is a will, there is definitely a way.” You can move mountains if your will power is strong enough, and here is an example of a man conquering a disability that medicine gave up on, through his sheer will power. Time to kick away the blanket then?

4. Vincent (6 minutes) –

This classic animation short film made by Tim Burton back in 1982, is still one of the best in this genre. Psychedelic, funny, yet thought provoking. This wonderful creation will leave you confused between what’s real and what’s imagined, and if we complicate our lives simply by imagining problems that don’t even exist!

5. The Gift (5 minutes) –

Portrayed against the backdrop of a futuristic Moscow, this movie also bagged an award at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. What is “the gift”, is it the redemption that humanity desperately needs? Watch to find out!

We hope you feel all better after watching some of these and are back to believing that there is no problem which is insurmountable. After all, as we keep reminding ourselves and you, all you need to do is be #HappyInTheNow! Onward!

 

To Do or Not To Do – Quitting Your Full Time Job to Work from Home: CONS

To Do or Not To Do – Quitting Your Full Time Job to Work from Home: CONS

by | Oct 26, 2015 | Managing Yourself, Productivity, working from home, World of Work

In our earlier post, we wrote about the advantages of working from home. However, working from home is surely not as easy as it may seem to be and it is not recommended for everybody. In this post we point out a few scenarios where work from home may not be the best option for you. By no means do we intend to confuse you. In fact, we hope these two posts together will bring some clarity to help you make an informed decision. Here are some reasons as to why it may be wiser for you to not quit your full time job to work from home.

1. Not for ‘procrastinators’ – If thinking of getting down to work reminds you of the tap that needs to be fixed, the room that needs to be cleaned and the cake that needs to be baked, admit that you are a ‘procrastinator’. Working from home will only make you procrastinate even more. To be able to work from home, you need to constantly motivate yourself, you won’t have other colleagues or your boss to do that for you, and need to be extremely self-disciplined. This is perhaps one of the greatest flip sides, that you may descend into the land of slackers and never recover!

2. Not for workaholics – If you are the opposite of what a procrastinator is, a go-getter and a workaholic, this may not be quite the right option for you either since you will have no office hours to limit your work to and will end up working crazy hours because you know your home is your work place. As a result, you will neglect your family, and/or have no social life at all.

3. You miss out on networking and office fun – One of the greatest disadvantages of working from home is that there will be far lesser or no opportunities at all for networking. In the process you end up losing out on knowing a lot of resourceful and interesting people. Also, there will be no scope for water cooler conversations and the office camaraderie, unless you plan on talking to your water cooler back home, which we explicitly forbid, since it would creep your dog out. You wouldn’t want that to happen since he might be the only company you’ve got!

4. There will be no office to ‘escape’ to – You chose work from home to be closer to your family, and to be a more responsible person who takes care of both family as well as work. However, what you probably don’t realize is staying at home 24*7 might get very depressing either because of isolation or because of having to give constant attention to people/things. In that case, office would at least give you a few hours away from home to help you recharge. Once you choose on working from home, you would no longer have that option.

5. Distractions – Yelling kids, needy pets, the constantly ringing door bell. Telephone ringing off the hook. Neighbour’s television. Your own temptations to take afternoon naps or swims, or simply to finish that “un-put-downable” book! There will be distractions galore if you work from home and it takes a very strong mind to ignore these, keep calm and continue working.

Besides, there is also the all-important “money” factor.  In some cases, opting for a work-from-home option may mean taking a substantial cut in the compensation. Most companies have not yet realized the full potential of offering remote or flexible working options and see this option as a soft or unnecessary perk (there are some companies too who reward their employees for opting for this option as it leads to considerable capex and opex savings for them).

If you feel the cons are nothing you have to worry about and the pros far outweigh them, we wish you all the very best. If you feel that the pros are not worth it, and having a full time job is much better for you, we wish you all the very best too! However, if you are still confused, we urge you to write to us and we will do our best to walk you through your confusions. Here is wishing you happy confusions! 🙂

P.S:

To Do or Not To Do – Quitting Your Full Time Job To Work From Home: Pros

To Do or Not To Do – Quitting Your Full Time Job To Work From Home: Pros

by | Oct 20, 2015 | Managing Yourself, working from home, World of Work

With the work from home trend gaining wider acceptance, it is no longer regarded as a ‘soft’ option.  If you hate starting your Monday morning stuck in a bumper to bumper traffic jam, dreading the company of annoying co-workers, this option may work out perfectly for you. However, like everything that sounds too good to be true, this too comes with some fine print conditions. Before making up your mind to quit your full-time job to work from home, make sure you have assessed the pros and cons in detail. Over the next two posts, we introduce you to some reasons why work from home may be the best option for you, and some reasons as to why it may not work for you. Happy reading!

1. More Flexibility: You will be able to work at your own pace, more or less. If you have kids or pets to look after this may be a great option for you. You can tend to your household chores in your self-awarded work breaks, and will be able to spend more time with your family. You may work in your jammies if you feel like it, no one will ask you not to. You can even binge eat while you work (maybe not such a great idea!). Essentially, you will have a lot more freedom in planning and executing your schedule.

2. No Commuting: This may be nothing short of a blessing for many of us who detest wasting hours of our precious time amidst blaring horns and toxic air. Working from home would mean saving those hours wasted stuck on the road. In other words, your life decisions will not have to be planned according to the “rush hours”.

3. Family Time: If you’ve always felt like you are constantly having to cut down on your family time because of your crazy work hours, you will now have more time to spend with your family. Work can get very stressful when your mind is constantly on what is happening back home, if your kids or your aging parents are fine and safe. This way, you will know for sure they are fine, can keep an eye on them and still get your work done.

 4. Economical: Working from home can help you save a lot of cash. You will save on transport expense, wardrobe expenses, food and unnecessary expenses because of workplace obligations (lunches, birthdays of people you don’t even know). Moreover, if you happen to be the founder of your own start up, working from home will also mean not having to pay the cost/rent for a whole separate establishment. You can manage your company or team remotely with as much ease or even more.

 5. Privacy: Once again, a lot of us simply long for this to become a reality for us. In a previous post, we mentioned how being “cubicled” is a “professional reality”. Working from home could be a boost for your productivity since you will not have to entertain or deal with annoying and nosy co-workers who keep inhibiting your progress through their nagging presence! You can work peacefully at your desk (or your own favourite work zone) and in an environment, familiar to you.

Hold on before you make the decision already, wait for our next post on maybe why quitting your full time job to work from home may not be that great an idea after all!

Office Etiquette: 5 Things NOT to Say to a Pregnant Colleague

Office Etiquette: 5 Things NOT to Say to a Pregnant Colleague

by | Oct 15, 2015 | Communication, Communication Skills, Managing Yourself, Office Etiquette, World of Work

Motherhood, and the whole experience, isn’t an easy one. And it can get especially tough for pregnant women at the workplace, warding of uncomfortable questions and awkward comments on a daily basis. Usually, talk about personal life and sex is off-limits at work, and this topic falls in the gray area in between the two. Knowing what you can and can’t say to a pregnant co-worker can be a little tricky. It all begins with awareness, and the fact that you are interested enough to know more, does earn you a brownie point. Respecting her privacy and personal space is key here. Read on to find out more about the things NOT to say to a pregnant colleague (irrespective of your gender!).

1. Was the baby planned?

This can be an uncomfortable question for her to answer, since you are asking her a particularly intimate one – about her contraceptive choices! While you may ask it very innocently, it may not be as well received as you would expect. Besides, imagine if the answer is “no”, wouldn’t the conversation get particularly awkward then?

2. You look huge, are you expecting twins?

This question has great potential to be regarded as an insult. Under no circumstance is it acceptable to make a comment on the size of a pregnant lady. They already have enough trouble negotiating all that extra body mass without people pointing it out! Another thing worthy of mentioning here is, never assume someone is pregnant just judging by their size, unless they’ve explicitly told you they are. Even if someone else has told you a co-worker is expecting, it is best you reserve any comments about the same, lest it lands you in an uncomfortable situation.

3. Are you excited about your maternity leave?

Not a very sensitive thing to say, since a maternity leave does not exactly equal a vacation, unless sleepless nights and nappy changes are your idea of a vacation! If given a choice, to deliver the baby without all that preparation, she would choose to work than take the maternity leave, any day! She’s having a tough enough time without having to respond to comments like these.

4. You should have this. You shouldn’t have that.

You know how when you have acne, you have hundred different people giving you all kinds of advice? Mostly stupid advice. This is almost like that, only much worse. Trust this that she is more concerned about her health and her baby’s health than you ever will be. So let her, and her gynecologist decide what she should or shouldn’t drink or eat!

5. Can I touch your belly?

Just saying that sounds so gross. Imagine how uncomfortable she will feel if she really doesn’t want random people to be feeling her bump, but says yes just to be polite! It’s different if she is excited enough to ask you if you want to feel the baby kicking. You might ask with warm intentions but it is best not to ask, since again, this being an extremely intimate experience, she may not want people touching her tummy all the time.

Things that you can say though (and that she will appreciate hearing from you) : a heartfelt wish – “I am so happy for you – congratulations!”, a genuine compliment – “you look awesome!” or a sincere offer to help – “Can I get you something from the cafeteria ?”.

The Top Five Ted Talks on Leadership

The Top Five Ted Talks on Leadership

by | Oct 13, 2015 | Career, Leadership, Managing Yourself, Motivation, Productivity, World of Work

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy

The Ted-Talks series which turned 30 in 2014, began as a one-time event and has evolved into a platform of sharing and receiving for professional and personal development, indeed a “star making factory”, by those who have been there, done that. Motivation and inspiration cannot get more real-time than this. With technology at our fingertips, we are now able to view these tremendously powerful talks, sitting miles away from the real venue and without any cost. We have written about must-read books on leadership, must-watch inspirational movies and now it is time for TED – a fantastic source for life-long learning, something that we at Oorja Biz Ops deeply believe in. To be a great leader, you have to be ready to evolve continuously, to learn and grow every day. We have picked our favourites here for the top five Ted talks on leadership. Read on and make sure you watch them, because they are all ‘real’ leaders, in the ‘real’ ‘world of work’, therefore trust what is coming straight from the horse’s mouth!

  1. Rosalinde Torres: What it takes to be a great leader – http://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_takes_to_be_a_great_leader

Leadership expert, Rosalinde Torres summarizes 25 years of her work experience of leading people, and seeing great leaders at work in 3 succinct questions for aspiring company chiefs, which are potentially questions they might as well lives their professional lives by. Indeed, “The world is full of leadership programs, but the best way to learn how to lead might be right under your nose”! [1]

  1. Simon Sinek: Why good leaders make you feel safe – https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe

“I try to find, celebrate and teach leaders how to build platforms that will inspire others.” — Simon Sinek. Which is exactly what he does in this brilliant talk. Sinek speaks about the qualities that make a good leader, the most essential quality being the ability to create trust in employees, or as he says, “being able to draw staffers into a circle of trust, especially in an uneven economy”. He talks about the importance of making your employees feel secure, and how it is directly proportional to their personal and professional productivity.

  1. Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off – http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time_off

The great poet William Henry Davies couldn’t have summed it up better – “What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.” Designer Stefan Sagmeister speaks exactly of this, only connecting it to our professional productivity and how “time off” affects our leadership skills. He speaks about how it is important to step back every now and then, take stalk, re-assess and re-plan. He talks about how every seven years he closes his New York studio for a year-long sabbatical and how this break re-ignites his creativity and helps motivate those working with him. 

  1. Derek Sivers: How to start a movement – http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement

And entrepreneur Derek Sivers shows you how to do that in just 3 minutes and 9 seconds with the help of the video of a funny man dancing in a park. He speaks about how important it is for a leader to be uninhibited, which is possible only if he believes wholeheartedly in his own idea and is ready to face ridicule and sarcasm. More than that, it also teaches us about the importance of the “first follower” and the importance of treating the follower more as an equal, and the idea then becoming about “them” rather than “his”, or “hers”. A brilliant talk to start your day with!

  1. Kare Anderson – Be an opportunity maker – http://www.ted.com/talks/kare_anderson_be_an_opportunity_maker

For someone who was diagnosed as “phobically shy” in her childhood, Kare Anderson has sure come a long, long way. In this incredibly powerful talk, Anderson talks about how she helped herself develop by helping other people. How she discovered her talents and passions by helping other people discover theirs. A truly noble and symbiotic insight into how more people should understand the concept of “leadership”.

Have your own favorite talks to share which we’ve missed? Do let us know what they are so that we can listen to them too! Happy Leading!

Five Career Strategies to Maximize your Potential and Performance on your Job

Five Career Strategies to Maximize your Potential and Performance on your Job

by | Oct 12, 2015 | Career, Leadership, Life, Management, Managing Yourself, Motivation, Office Etiquette, Performance, Productivity, World of Work

Do you believe that the Performance Appraisal systems in your workplace actually work for you? Chances are that you don’t and you are in “good” company here. A study done by Sibson’s Consulting found that Only 30 percent of the study respondents (750 individuals, primarily senior-level human resources (HR) professionals) reported that their employees trust the performance-management system. Given that formal performance appraisals don’t seem to be working as well as they should to give employees their due, one needs to take charge of his/her career and have a self performance management system in place to ensure career growth and commensurate rewards.  Just being good at your work, efficient and cooperative is not enough – it takes more than that to grow and be successful at the workplace today no matter what your job role or level is.

So how does one take charge of their own performance management and hence the rewards arising out of it? What practical steps and behaviors are needed at the work place to ensure a positive outcome at the job? Here are five career strategies drawn out from my experience and analysis with my team and peers of what works:

Career Strategy #1: Work Hard AND Smart – Yup, there is no escaping working hard if you want to be successful. People on the outer edges of the performance bell curve are usually workaholics. But you also need to be smart here – learn to say no to work or assignments that do not fit into your goals early on. Else you are sucked into the vortex of work alcoholism with no real benefit to yourself – doing work that you do not enjoy doing helps no one in the long run. If your heart is not in it, you will not be performing at your best levels. So choose wisely and then be 100 % dedicated to your work.

Career Strategy #2: Promote yourself – This was a hard-earned lesson for me. I had always believed that my work will speak for itself and rewards may be delayed but will never be denied. But then, who has time to wait? You cannot afford to be shy if you want your work to be recognized.  Be aware of your worth and don’t settle for less. You have to be your own marketing manager and actively market the value that you bring in to your manager, department and organization. Make sure people know who you are and what you do. Make your achievements and contributions visible as and when they happen and not just list them at appraisal time. A good way to keeps track of your achievements is also to make your resume a work in progress document that you keep updated as when you achieve a milestone.

Career Strategy #3: Get a mentor or two or three – The advantage of having a mentor at your work (or outside) is multifold. A mentor can help you see a situation differently, identify your key skills and where you need to develop yourself and be someone in your corner when you need some additional support. Look around you to find people who you admire and are role models for where you want to be. Don’t limit yourself to one mentor. You might look to one for  domain expertise, to another for industry expertise, and yet another for personal scenarios when you need practical and helpful advice or brainstorming. And if you are lucky to find a great mentor, invest in that relationship and make sure that you too provide support when your mentor needs it.

Career Strategy #4: Build a network early on – “No man/woman is an island” as they say and in the work scenario, this is amplified. Build a strong and trusted support system of peers at your work place. Draw upon each other’s strengths to get ahead and for back up when you need it. Stay close and vent, strategize and have plain and simple fun within your group. I have also found this to be a good antidote to fight against any negativity (read office politics) in the environment. As you move up in your company or switch jobs or roles, be proactive in building your contact base and staying in touch. You never know who may be of help in boosting your career (and this works both ways) and serendipity often strikes when you are prepared for it. Social media makes this easy nowadays and LinkedIn is a great place to achieve this. There is rich content on the web on maximizing your returns from LinkedIn and here is one from an expert to get you started (http://dngraham.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/five-points-to-consider-before-participating-on-linkedin/).

Career Strategy #5: Keep Learning and Stay Positive – Being a lifelong learner is essential for your career success when skills, technologies and market requirements are changing so rapidly. Not only do you need to be open to new experiences and keep learning to convert your weaknesses to strengths but also to be current and relevant in today’s job market. Set your own training goals for the year and make sure that you keeping adding new skills and knowledge to your repertoire. Limit your exposure to negative environments and people – these are energy suckers and if you are not careful, you would soon be working on fulfilling someone else’s agenda instead of your own. Remain positive and true to your own performance plan and keep moving forward on the goals that you have set for yourself – so much more productive than being distracted by negative office politics or complaint-sessions.

Maximizing your performance and potential on your job needs you to take control of your own career plan – be the CEO of YOU Inc. Be fiercely intentional about where you want to be, know your worth and be BODACIOUS (one of my favourite words – meaning a combination of Remarkable, Courageous, Audacious, Spirited) at work.

I leave you with these words from Abraham Lincoln: Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.

What would you add to the list above as necessary strategies to Thrive and not just Survive at work? What has worked or not worked for you? I would love to hear back and learn from you.