Grooming means dressing well, to be presentable to others. One must give a little more attention to how you dress to work because what you wear may substantially affect the career path. Although nothing takes the place of talent, hardwork, innate ability and ambition, looking your professional best in the workplace can give you a competitive advantage. It simply means that dressing in a way that projects the image of the sophisticated, successful working individual you are and you would like to become.
Our college has a prescribed formal dress code for the student community to facilitate the transit to the professional world. The journey of thousand miles begin with first step. With this intent the college has mandated the change in the dress code. This article is a reinforcement to all the instructions the facilitators have given to the student. In this article, I will deal with the grooming for the male students and the female students seperately.
GROOMING MEN
SHIRTS
As a rule the simple the better. White, off white,pale blue shirts are preferred; though you may wear dark coloured shirts too. ( Given below are the colours prefered by professionals.)
Do not wear thick stripes and broad checks.
TROUSERS
They should preferably be dark though you may wear beige with a dark coloured shirt. Try to have at least one pair of black trousers ( you can't go wrong with black)
TIES
Generally ties are the only colourful part of the formal male attire. To play it safe choose a traditional silk tie. Given below are some well accepted colours and patterns.
It may be wise to avoid ties with images and designer logos.
Your tie should cordinate with your attire. The tie should be a perfect triangle.
SOCKS
Choose a colour that cordinates with your trousers (usually black, dark gray, dark brown or dark blue). Make sure they are long enough not to expose your skin when you sit down. As a thumb rule do not wear white socks. Wear clean socks to avoid bad odour.
SHOES
Wear a good pair of leather shoes- black and brown/tan shoes. Shoes must be polished everyday.
Do not wear shoes that look casual. Also do not wear shoes with worn out heels.
BELTS
Wear only a formal belts with a sleek buckle. As a thumb rule, match your belt with your shoes.
Avoid these buckles.
WATCHES
You can wear preferably leather strapped watches. If you have a metal strapped watch ensure that it fits well.
GROOMING WOMEN
You may wear salwar kameez/ formal shirts and trousers. Preferably choose small prints or self colours. Avoid plunging necklines, sleeveless and tight fitting clothes. You may wear a tunic with a formal trousers.
SHOES/SANDALS
Shoes with 1 1/2 inch heels are standard. You may wear a pair with smaller heel or a flat pair. Stick with a black or a brown pair. Be sure that your shoes are polished and the heels are intact.
Do not wear colourful sandals.
Avoid heels and sandals with bling.
Avoid white coloured sandals as they get dirty easily. If you do, clean them well.
BAGS
Apart from your working bag, if you are carrying an additional bag, preferably carry a black or a brown one.
OTHER ACCESSORIES
Earrings: Wear stubs or small rings. Do not wear hoops or dangling earrings.
Bracelets/ Bangles: You may either wear a bracelet or a bangle. Avoid wearing both. Avoid chunky bracelets or too many bangles.
Rings: Keep them simple and not chunky.
Chains: You may wear thin chains with samll pendants.
Do not wear ornamental or chunky jewellery even if it is the occassion.
We all want to be better at something. After all, self-improvement is necessary to getting ahead at work. But once you know what you want to be better at — be it public speaking, using social media, or analyzing data — how do you start? Of course, learning techniques will vary depending on the skill and the person, but there are some general rules you can follow.
What the Experts Say
Mastering new skills is not optional in today's business environment. "In a fast-moving, competitive world, being able to learn new skills is one of the keys to success. It's not enough to be smart — you need to always be getting smarter," says Heidi Grant Halvorson, a motivational psychologist and author of the HBR Single Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. Joseph Weintraub, a professor of management and organizational behavior at Babson College and coauthor of the book, The Coaching Manager: Developing Top Talent in Business, agrees: "We need to constantly look for opportunities to stretch ourselves in ways that may not always feel comfortable at first. Continual improvement is necessary to get ahead." Here are some principles to follow in your quest for self-improvement:
Check your readiness
When working on a new skill or competency, you need to ask yourself two things. First, is your goal attainable? "There are certain limits to what you can learn," explains Weintraub. "For example, you may want to be a brain surgeon, but not have the eye-hand coordination required." Second, how much time and energy can you give to the project? "It's not like going to the pharmacy and getting a prescription filled," says Weintraub. Self-improvement is hard work. Halvorson agrees: "Many people implicitly believe that if you have to work hard at something, it means you lack ability. This is rubbish." Instead, recognize that learning a new skill takes extreme commitment. Unless your goal is attainable and you're prepared to work hard, you won't get very far.
Make sure it's needed
Weintraub suggests you also make sure the skill is relevant to your career, your organization, or both. You may be jazzed up about learning how to speak in front of large audiences, but does your manager value that? Unless you absolutely need the skill for your job, or for a future position, it's unlikely you'll get money for training or support from your manager. Gaining a new skill is an investment and you need to know upfront what the return will be.
Know how you learn best
Some learn best by looking at graphics or reading. Others would rather watch demonstrations or listen to things being explained. Still others need a "hands-on" experience. Halvorson says you can figure out your ideal learning style by looking back. "Reflect on some of your past learning experiences, and make a list of good ones and another list of bad ones," she says. "What did the good, effective experiences have in common? How about the bad ones? Identifying common strands can help you determine the learning environment that works best for you."
Get the right help
Eliciting support from others can greatly increase learning. Find someone you trust who has mastered the skill you're trying to attain. And look beyond your immediate manager who has to evaluate you. Weintraub suggests you ask yourself: "Who in my organization, other than my boss, would notice my changes and give me honest feedback?" Then approach that person and say something like, "You are so comfortable with [the skill], something I'm not particularly good at. I'm really trying to work on that and would love to spend some time with you, learn from you, and get your feedback." If you can't find a mentor inside your company, look for people in your industry or from your network. "Ultimately, you want to go with the best teacher. If there is someone in your organization who is able and willing to provide quality mentoring, then great. If not, seek outside help," says Halvorson.
Start small
Self-improvement can feel overwhelming. "You can't take on everything. If you do, you'll never do it," says Weintraub. Instead, choose one or two skills to focus on at a time, and break that skill down into manageable goals. For example, if you're trying to become more assertive, you might focus on speaking up more often in meetings by pushing yourself to talk within the first five minutes.
Reflect along the way
To move from experimentation to mastery, you need to reflect on what you are learning. Otherwise the new skill won't stick. Halvorson and Weintraub both suggest talking to others. "Always share your goals with those individuals who can provide informational or emotional support along the way," says Halvorson. "Even if that person doesn't have the answer, he can help you and keep you honest about how much you're improving," says Weintraub. Talking about your progress helps you get valuable feedback, keeps you accountable, and cements the change.
Challenge yourself to teach it to others
One of the quickest ways to learn something new, and to practice it, is to teach others how to do it. So share what you learn with your team, your manager, or your co-workers. You can force yourself to do it by putting a "teaching" date on your calendar or agreeing to lead a formal training session a few months down the road. With objectives like those, your learning will be much more focused and practical.
Be patient
"Too often, we approach a new skill with the attitude that we should nail it right out of the gate," says Halvorson. The reality is that it takes much longer. "It's not going to happen overnight. It usually takes six months or more to develop a new skill," says Weintraub. And it may take longer for others to see and appreciate it. "People around you will only notice 10% of every 100% change you make," he says.
Principles to Remember
Do:
1. Select a skill that is valued by your organization and manager.
2. Divide the skill up into smaller, manageable tasks.
3. Reflect on what you've learned and what you still want to accomplish.
Don't:
1. Try to learn in a vacuum — ask others for guidance and feedback.
2. Rely solely on your boss for advice — you may want to involve someone who isn't responsible for evaluating you.
3. Assume it's going to happen overnight — it usually takes at least six months to develop a new skill.
The Time magazine has dubbed it as one of the best inventions of the year 2012. Time puts it best by saying, “Glass is, simply put, a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses, and it’s the device that will make augmented reality part of our daily lives. With the half-inch (1.3 cm) display, which comes into focus when you look up and to the right, users will be able to take and share photos, video-chat, check appointments and access maps and the Web. Consumers should be able to buy Google Glass by 2014.” The estimated price is $1,500 roughly INR 79,000.
Here is the full list of the top 25 inventions of the year by Time.
Perhaps you read the newspaper to catch up with what's going on in the world. You browse countless emails from colleagues. And you then read the books, reports, proposals, periodicals, and letters that make up an average day.
When you look at it, reading could be the work-related skill that you use most often!
It's also a skill that most of us take for granted by the time we reach the age of 12. After all, it seems that if we can read and comprehend textbooks, then, surely, we must be good readers?
Maybe not. And, given the time that reading consumes in our daily lives, it may be a skill that we can, and should, improve.
But what does becoming a better reader involve?
It means getting faster and more efficient at reading, while still understanding what you're reading. In this article, we'll look at how you can do this, and how you can unlearn poor reading habits.
How We Read
Although you spend a good part of your day reading, have you ever thought about how you read?
How do your eyes make sense of the shapes of the letters, and then put those letters together to form a sentence that you can understand?
When you actually think about it, reading is quite a complex skill. Previously, scientists believed that when you read, both of your eyes focused on a particular letter in a word. Recent research shows this isn't the case.
Scientists now believe that each of your eyes lock onto a different letter at the same time, usually two characters apart. Your brain then fuses these images together to form a word. This happens almost instantaneously, as we zip through pages and pages of text!
Advantages of Speed Reading
Many people read at an average rate of 250 words per minute. This means that an average page in a book or document would take you 1-2 minutes to read.
However, imagine if you could double your rate to 500 words per minute. You could zip through all of this content in half the time. You could then spend the time saved on other tasks, or take a few extra minutes to relax and de-stress.
Another important advantage of speed reading is that you can better comprehend the overall structure of an argument. This leads to a "bigger picture" understanding, which can greatly benefit your work and career.
Note: Speed reading is a useful and valuable skill. However, there might be times when using this technique isn't appropriate. For instance, it's often best to read important or challenging documents slowly, so that you can fully understand each detail.
Breaking Poor Reading Habits
If you're like most people, then you probably have one or more reading habits that slow you down. Becoming a better reader means overcoming these bad habits, so that you can clear the way for new, effective ways of reading.
Below, we cover some of the most common bad reading habits, and discuss what you can do to overcome them.
Sub-Vocalization
Sub-vocalization is the habit of pronouncing each word in your head as you read it. Most people do this to some extent or another.
When you sub-vocalize, you "hear" the word being spoken in your mind. This takes much more time than is necessary, because you can understand a word more quickly than you can say it.
To turn off the voice in your head, you have to first acknowledge that it's there (how did you read the first part of this article?), and then you have to practice "not speaking." When you sit down to read, tell yourself that you will not sub-vocalize. You need to practice this until this bad habit is erased. Reading blocks of words also helps, as it's harder to vocalize a block of words. (See below for more on this.)
Eliminating sub-vocalization alone can increase your reading speed by an astounding amount. Otherwise, you're limited to reading at the same pace as talking, which is about 250-350 words per minute. The only way to break through this barrier is to stop saying the words in your head as you read.
Reading Word-by-Word
Not only is it slow to read word-by-word, but when you concentrate on separate words, you often miss the overall concept of what's being said. People who read each word as a distinct unit can understand less than those who read faster by "chunking" words together in blocks. (Think about how your eyes are moving as you read this article. Are you actually reading each word, or are you reading blocks of two, or three, or five words?)
Practice expanding the number of words that you read at a time. You may also find that you can increase the number of words you read in a single fixation by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you'll read!
Inefficient Eye Motion
Slow readers tend to focus on each word, and work their way across each line. The eye can actually span about 1.5 inches at a time, which, for an average page, encompasses four or five words. Related to this is the fact that most readers don't use their peripheral vision to see words at the ends of each line.
To overcome this, "soften" your gaze when you read – by relaxing your face and expanding your gaze, you'll begin to see blocks of words instead of seeing each word as distinct unit. As you get good at this, your eyes will skip faster and faster across the page.
When you get close to the end of the line, let your peripheral vision take over to see the last set of words. This way you can quickly scan across and down to the next line.
Regression
Regression is the unnecessary re-reading of material.
Sometimes people get into the habit of skipping back to words they have just read, while, other times, they may jump back a few sentences, just to make sure that they read something right. When you regress like this, you lose the flow and structure of the text, and your overall understanding of the subject can decrease.
Be very conscious of regression, and don't allow yourself to re-read material unless you absolutely have to.
To reduce the number of times your eyes skip back, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, or a pen or pencil. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, helping you avoid skipping back. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer.
Poor Concentration
If you've tried to read while the TV is on, you'll know how hard it is to concentrate on one word, let alone on many sentences strung together. Reading has to be done in an environment where external distractions are kept to a minimum.
To improve your concentration as you read, stop multitasking while reading, and remove any distractions. This is particularly important, because when you use the techniques of chunking blocks of words together and ceasing to sub-vocalize, you may find that you read several pages before you realize you haven't understood something properly.
Pay attention to "internal distractions" as well. If you're rehashing a heated discussion, or if you're wondering what to make for dinner, this will also limit your ability to process information.
Sub-vocalization actually forces your brain to attend to what you're reading, and that's why people often say that they can read and watch TV at the same time. To become an efficient reader, you need to avoid this.
Approaching Reading Linearly
We're taught to read across and down, taking in every word, sentence, paragraph and page in sequence.
When you do this, though, you pay the same attention to supplementary material as you do to core information. (Often, much more information is presented than you actually need to know.)
Overcome this by scanning the page for headings, and by looking for bullet points and things in bold. There is no rule saying that you have to read a document in the order that the author intended, so scan it quickly, and decide what is necessary and what isn't. Skim over the fluff, and only pay attention to the key material.
As you read, look for the little extras that authors add to make their writing interesting and engaging. If you get the point, there's no need to read the example or anecdote. Similarly, decide what you need to re-read as well. It's far better to read one critical paragraph twice than it is to read another eight paragraphs elaborating on that same concept.
Keys to Speed Reading Success
Knowing the "how" of speed reading is only the first step. You have to practice it to get good at it. Here are some tips that will help you break poor reading habits and master the speed reading skills discussed above.
Practice, practice, practice – you have to use your skills on a regular basis. It took you several years to learn to read, and it will take time to improve your reading skills.
Choose easy material to start with – when you begin speed reading, don't use a challenging textbook. Read something like a novel or travel-writing, which you can understand and enjoy with a quick once-over.
Speed read appropriately – not everything you read lends itself to speed reading.
Legal documents, the draft annual report, or even the letter you receive from a loved one in the mail - these are better read in their entirety, sub-vocalizations and all.
If you need to understand the message completely, memorize the information, discuss it in detail, analyze it thoroughly, or simply enjoy the prose the way the author intended, then speed reading is the wrong approach. (Here, it helps to choose an appropriate reading strategybefore you start.)
Use a pointer or other device to help push your reading speed – when you quickly draw a card down the page, or run your finger back and forth, you force your eyes and brain to keep pace.
Take a step back and use the material's structure – this includes skimming information to get a feel for the organization and layout of the text, looking for bolded words and headings, and looking for the ways in which the author transitions from one topic to the next.
When you start speed reading, it's wise to benchmark your current reading speed. This way you can tell whether your practice is paying off, and you can impress your friends and family when you tell them that you can now read faster.
TITLE: Eat that Frog. AUTHOR: Brian Tracy. GENRE: Self-improvement. THEME: Ways to stop procrastinating.
“There is never enough time!” This could possibly be the answer to all whose works are ever heaped up. No matter however effective you try to manage all works in your “to do” list, it often ends up unproductive. Eat that Frog provides 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time. The metaphor, and also the title Eat that Frog, is quite catchy. Frog is regarded as an ugly, slippery creature that one wants to get rid off; taking that as a metaphor, Tracy relates it to the biggest and most important task that has to be primarily completed, and got rid off. One of the interesting methods the book suggests is to practise creative procrastination wherein one deliberately puts off tasks that are of low value, and does not need immediate attention to act to. Doing so, one gets ample time to prioritize works considering its vitality. Though we all know how to stop procrastinating, we seek some kind of reiteration of the same: self help books serves this purpose. To put it in a nut shell, there will be no limit to what you can accomplish when you learn how to Eat That Frog!
This easyread book takes just few hours to finish reading, however, Tracy offers certain bullet points and exercises that ought to be repeated on a daily basis. It is compact and can be carried in a briefcase or a bag.
Definitely yes! Death awarded by the State for a 'rarest of the rare' or heinous crime is a blessing in disguise for the cursed soul. After all, life is an arduous journey from birth to death. Leading life in the modern society is proving to be very difficult, with trials, tribulations and much provocations. The earlier one kicks the bucket, the more blessed is the soul. One can bid goodbye to the miserly earthly life without committing more sins. If death can be had through the graceful hand of the State, it should be all the more welcome.
Every human being after committing a dastardly act like rape or murder, regrets to the core. Given another opportunity, such beings aspire to turn into a new leaf, and lead a life of purity and chastity. A human being with a conscience, should lament over his stupid act. It is better for such a being to voluntarily accept the death penalty, and try to reach the lotus feet of the merciful Lord, rather then languish in gaol for years. Making appeals to higher courts and the President of the nation, is only delaying his chance to meet the Lord early, besides prolonging the agony of both parties.
His exit from the earth will appease the sentiments of the aggrieved parties. Even they will start prayers on his behalf. Maybe his parents and dear ones will undergo mental agony for sometime, but this should adequately compensate for the anguish suffered by the affected persons. Both parties can thereafter experience peace and calm.
If hanging by the rope is barbaric, then either cyanide or electric chair maybe good alternatives. The State awarding a death penalty to a criminal, after a fair trial, is not seeking “an eye for an eye,or a tooth for a tooth'. It is the most merciful and benign act, that could be meted out to a suffering being. If all the pending death penalties for committing heinous crimes in India, had been carried out without delay, it would save tremendous amount of public money, and the mental suffering of those languishing is gaols for several years and their relatives.
Therefore the debate on whether death penalty is needed or not should end here. As already said by many, it need not be considered as a 'deterrent' to check future crimes. It is neither a 'lesson' for would be criminals. With or without death penalty, the world will witness many more rapes and killings, because more and more Frankenstein-like monsters inhabit the earth!
Excerpts from the Book: "The Chicken Soup for the Soul":
An old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation was he.
Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"
At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second.
"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"
The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head. His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.
"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent. In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.
Most of you are on the threshhold of professional life which galores with meetings, agenda, deadline, targets and the likes. We will focus on Meetings and agenda in this article.
A meeting is a lot like a magic show. You have a group of people trying to reach a common goal. If you have good leadership and share the work, you can produce results that appear magical. To do that, remember and apply The Meeting Magic Formula:M + A + G + I + C=Success.
Meet or Not? – Determine whether or not a meeting is the best way to accomplish your goal by answering the following questions:
What is the overall objective? What needs to be accomplished? When does it need to be done?
Is there another approach that would work as well as, or better than, a meeting?
Is this work really best accomplished by a group activity? Who needs to attend?
What will the meeting cost? Will achieving the desired outcomes be a good “return on investment”?
Agenda – With the end in mind, prepare carefully to get what you want. Develop a detailed agenda (plan) that identifies the meeting purpose, location, start and end times, participants, topics and time frames, and desired outcomes. Distribute the agenda to all participants several days prior – along with a meeting announcement/invitation that identifies what participants should bring ... and how they should prepare.
Guidelines – Set and follow “ground rules” that will ensure you stay on track. For example:
One person speaks at a time – side comments will be limited.
No personal attacks. Discuss positions, not people.
Turn off cell phones and pagers – or set them on silent. Wait for the break to return calls.
We will stick to the agenda and scheduled times. If the group wants to extend a discussion or add a topic, everyone must agree to extend the meeting or defer other topics.
If we slip off the agenda, we’ll “park” issues for discussion at the end – if time permits.
Involvement – Encourage everyone to participate and contribute. Here are some tips for doing that:
Don’t try to do it all yourself. Enlist participants as recorders, timekeepers, group leaders, etc.
Use a variety of techniques that require participation (e.g., brainstorming, breakout sessions).
Do periodic process checks (“Are we on track?”) to create opportunities for participant feedback.
Target interaction: Ask for input from specific people.
Reward active participation with acknowledgments and simple “thank you” comments.
Act swiftly (and tactfully) to stifle any disruptors or dominators.
Clarity– Communicate clearly to help ensure success.
Use pictures, charts, and other visuals.
Explain any unique terms or acronyms that you use – and remind others to do the same.
Provide a glossary of new or technical terms.
Ask participants to paraphrase discussions, key points, and key learning.
Encourage questions.
Summarize/review all agreements, commitments, and future action items at the end. Be specific!
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Most of you are on the threshhold of professional life which galores with meetings, agenda, deadline, targets and the likes. We will focus on Meetings and agenda in this article.