6 Mistakes Every Leader Should Avoid While Managing Their Teams

A key understanding to leadership is that the people hire people, who hire people, who hire people and somewhere within those three generations of hiring, there are leaders who have to handle these people. There will be a lot of things you will learn from one of the Top 10 MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, but today we have come up with a list of mistakes you need to avoid making while managing your team:

 

          1. My Way Or The Highway (MWOH) : Everyone has something useful to offer in terms of thoughts, ideas and suggestions. MWOH is fueled by the insecurity of a leader who wants to create an environment of control. Ideas do not always have to flow from you because you are only one person and you can’t think of everything. By listening to your team, not only will you create a feeling of involvement but will also improve the overall performance of the team by encouraging a sense of  ownership.

          2. All About The Numbers : In simpler terms, if it is  not making dollars, it doesn’t make sense. But numbers only become a problem when you lay too much focus on them and forgetting the team of people who are making those numbers happen. In your race to put numbers on the chart, you may lose sight of the “how.” So always keep people supreme and focus on creating a healthy team.

 

          3. Talk But Don’t Listen : This is one of the major mistake, leaders make. They only talk and they don’t take the opinions of others. Studies have shown that if people are not heard, they will cease to say the things that matter.

          4. Change Things Just For The Sake Of It : Change is the law of nature but it should not be forced just to prove that you support change. It is a universal fact that any change that happens is difficult not only on leaders but on every single employee in the organisation. A good leader surveys the impact, timing and necessity of change before even planning to bring the change.

 

          5. They Just Don’t Care : This is one of the most common mistake a leader makes. Handling a team is no easy task. There would be always a temptation to stop caring about the team and just do what you think is right without taking into account the needs and wants of the team. Such mistake can go a long way in destroying your team and your leadership as a whole.  I’ll close with the words of John Maxwell, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

 

          6. Unwilling To Receive Candid Feedback : “I am a leader and I am perfect.” This is an ultimate ingredient to disaster of your leadership career. As a leader, if you are not open to a feedback from your employee, you are going in an extremely wrong direction. We all learn throughout our life and our resistance towards feedback hampers our ability to grow and further succeed in life. As a leader, if you really want to keep improving, be open to a positive feedback and try to lead your team with open mind.

How To Stand Out In A Meeting?

Meetings are part and parcel of a workplace. As a student of one of the Top MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, you might already be aware of the importance of meetings. In order to establish yourself as an emerging leader or the leader of the future, you need to stand out in important meetings. Such meetings can help you create a lasting impression and thus can help you move up the career leader. Standing out in a meeting helps you create your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader.

Once you have completed your MBA in one of the Best MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, the below tips will be very useful:

1. Know Your Agenda

The worst mistake one can make while attending a meeting is going unprepared. Doing your homework before entering into the meeting, not only will establish that you are serious about your work but it will also pose you as a responsible leader who respects his and other people’s time.

2. Know The Purpose Of The Meeting

A business meeting can be called due to any reason. Some of the purposes can be:

1. To make a decision.
2. To brainstorm over something.
3. To make an announcement.
4. To test out a presentation.
5. To create a process.

Know the reason before entering into the meeting as it will help you prepare yourself accordingly. Knowing the purpose of the meeting beforehand would help you keep the discussion to the point making it more effective and meaningful.

 

3. Identify Your Significance In The Meeting

This is extremely important as it will help you make your presence felt in the meeting in a much better way. For example, if the meeting is about brainstorming ideas on how to boost sale, you can use your experience in your department and come up with innovative ideas before entering into the meeting. A meeting  where you think you won’t be able to contribute in a significant manner, it is better not to attend or attend as a concluder who will listen to everyone, make notes and conclude at the end. This is a great way in making your presence felt even though you had nothing significant to contribute in the meeting.

4. Prepare Yourself Well

This is the key to outshine in a meeting. The goal should always be to contribute to the meeting in a way that reinforces your own agenda. Do a thorough research of the topics that will be discussed.

 

5. Gather Your Ideas

Gather your ideas before entering into the meeting and as the meeting progresses, take notes. Constantly look for the areas of discussion where you can add value, burnish your reputation, or push your own agenda.  

6. Read The Room, Then Contribute

The last and most effective trick to contributing to a meeting is to make your remarks toward the end of that part of the discussion. Speak confidently while expressing your views and in complete sentences. Take a sense of how everyone is reacting to your points and then act accordingly.

How to Drive Employee Motivation by Encouraging Ownership

One of the most important lesson you will learn in your PG Diploma in Business Management is how motivation can help you achieve the desired level of efficiency and performance in your employees. As a business leader, you are already responsible for a lot of things. You have to perform certain tasks as an important asset of the company at the same time keep your talented team motivated and upbeat on a daily basis.

You will come across a lot of management theories while pursuing your diploma from one of the Top PGDM Colleges in Hyderabad that will teach you how to keep your employees motivated at the same time urging them to work up to their maximum potential. While there are a lot of techniques of instilling motivation in your employees, one of the most effective technique is  encouraging ownership. Studies have shown that when employees have more autonomy at work, they are more satisfied with what they are doing and therefore they put in their 100% effort in the work resulting into increased productivity and a better performance.

So What Exactly Is Autonomy?

Joan F. Cheverie, manager of professional development programs at the higher education and IT nonprofit EDUCAUSE, writes “Autonomy is people’s need to perceive that they have choices, that what they are doing is of their own volition, and that they are the source of their own actions.”

In simpler words, it is a basic human nature not to obey orders. Every human has a tendency to rebel and thereby prefer to work in their own sweet way. Therefore a good manager is the one who allows his team to work whatever way they like as long as the work is getting done up to the mark and on time. This means letting go of  the control and make your team in charge of certain things. “Autonomy, in other words, is the antithesis of micromanagement.”

Cheverie says “Instead of focusing on the minute details, you now need to direct your focus to the goals and strategic objectives for each staff member. Let them take care of the minor details of meeting those expectations. If you are able to create autonomy while holding people accountable for stated goals and objectives, you’ll find that the details get done without your having to worry about them.”

You can encourage autonomy by doing the following.

1. Start With The Why - Why the work your doing is crucial for the company? The answer to this instills the employee with a sense of responsibility that if the work is not done due to any reason, the company is going to suffer and so will their future in it.

2. Allow Them To Speak Up - A good manager is the one who encourages a two way communication. Only then would you be able to achieve the sense of ownership in the employees as they would feel that they have been part of the work since the very beginning and that the work is not being imposed on them.

3. Leave The How To The Employee - Let them decide how will they achieve the task with an assurance in the background that you are there to assist them or support them if anything at all goes wrong. This sense of assurance creates a level of confidence that encourages the employees to take risk and work without fear.

4 Ways To Make Yourself Indispensable To Your Organisation

The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is “people”. — KamilToume, Writer & Thought Leader

Freshly out of your PGDM college, it is time for you to enter into the organisation world and make your mark. Where hard work and knowledge gained from PG Diploma courses are crucial, one thing that will help you and your company succeed is working towards constant self-growth and making yourself an important asset of your company. Here is a list of 4 ways to make yourself indispensable to your organisation:

1. The Power Of Relationships

Man is a social animal and life is all about making meaningful relationships. People make or break companies. People hire and fire people. Companies don’t perform these actions. It is important to work hard and be a competent and irreplaceable employee but you also need to be constantly likeable and try to fit in with the corporate culture. Maintaining a good relationship with the people who you work with, will increase your chances to get chosen for leadership roles or be part of groups within the workplace.

 

2. Over Deliver

In an organization, doing a tiny bit more than what is expected out of you will help you go a LONG way in the overall perception of your performance and would further increase your value. Even if he is not your direct manager, being proactive can help you make your way back to your superiors and create an impression that will last for a long time. Over-delivering or going that extra mile would help you establish yourself a thought leader and a responsible person that other people could look up to.

3. Expand Your Responsibilities

Expanding the second point further, it’s important to gradually expand your responsibilities as soon as the opportunity presents itself. There could be a new project coming up in the organisation or someone might be leaving the organisation and their role needs to be split up for the time being. Such opportunities are a great way to demonstrate your potential and establish yourself as a great leader. Volunteering to take on some of the additional work will position you as a team player, and will also make you a valuable and indispensable asset of the company.

4. Establish Your Expertise

This is an extremely important point that will not only make you an irreplaceable asset of the company but will also help you build your brand across the company. Becoming an expert at something would help you become an important part of the organization and will further make you an invaluable resource. In order to establish your expertise, participate in industry events, write articles for third-party publications, volunteer to carry out training programs and extend help to anyone who asks for it. A selfless help never goes unrewarded, especially in the workplace. It will help you become an expert leader and would create your brand in the company.

Why Networking Is Vital For Your Career Growth?

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

That is the power of networking and it is an art that is going to help you build your career once you are out of your PGDM College in Hyderabad. For those pursuing their PGDM in Hyderabad, networking is beneficial to your careers. It is often mistaken to be useful while you are job hunting, but connecting with other professionals can help you succeed in every aspect of your career.

There are a lot of benefits that comes with networking and proves that Networking is not an option but an essential element in your career growth. Here is a list of few of those benefits:

1. Makes You Visible

As we move up the career ladder, the opportunities get skewed and a fight for visibility and standing apart begins. Making yourself more visible in the workplace is both skill and hard work. One of the major benefit that comes with networking is that you become more visible thus helping you make better connections with clients, associates etc.

2. Opens Doors To New Opportunities

Second most important benefit of networking is that it opens new doors of opportunities for you wherein you get approached by recruiters as well as the people who would like to work with you on a freelance basis. Networking makes sure that an opportunity to advance your career will present itself and that too real soon. These opportunities would not only be coming from outside but would also present itself from inside the company wherein the boss of your boss notices you and see the potential you have to achieve bigger things in life and therefore would help you move up the career ladder.

3. Expands Your Support Network

Having strong networking skills help you build a strong support network that can assist you at every stage of your career. In other words, with a large interwoven network that is spreading across various departments, it would not be difficult for you to get any work done. This would not only help you achieve greater results in your present work but would also make you an ultimate go to person for any accountable work.

4. Gets You Promoted

So who do you think is going to promote you in your job. Obviously someone who knows someone who in turn knows someone else. The art of networking would help you be present in the eyes of those who are looking for potential leaders within the company. People who are ready to move up the career ladder and do bigger things for themselves as well as the organisation as a whole. Getting your point across all by yourself is difficult and is even futile at times but having a reliable source sending your message to the higher authorities can gain you a lot of credibility and thus open up brand new career prospects for you.

5 Tips For The Leaders To Manage Change

“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future” – John F. Kennedy

Quoted correctly here, this theory holds good for organisations as well. You can never see your company at a better position than yesterday till the time you are not adaptive enough towards the change that is happening around. One of the most challenging time to lead a team is when there is a transitional phase going on in the company. It is rightly said that change is the only constant thing in the world but sadly the resistance to change would always be there. People do not like to come out of their comfort zone and do something differently.

The other aspect of introducing change is that an environment of uncertainty is created amongst the employees which in turn creates an atmosphere of fear, low morale, and brings out the worst in people in terms of efficiency and productivity.  After completing your MBA from one of the top 10 MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, you can be faced with a similar situation. As a thoughtful leader if you can successfully address organizational change tactfully and immediately, not only will it minimize its negative effects on the organisation but would also create an environment of high productivity.

A guide by one of the MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, here is a list of 5 Tips that can help you manage the change in a better way:

1.Be Transparent

Keep your employees informed of each step and phase of the change in advance. This would eliminate the element of surprise thus giving you a buffer to mitigate the effects of change to a greater level. Keeping your team informed would make them feel a part of change and thus would increase the acceptability towards the change as well.

2. Be Excited

Change is good for both employees and companies and that is why it is introduced at the first place. Give your employees an assurance of security and also explain it to them how they fit into the picture. This would make them feel involved in the whole process and therefore would provide encouragement and positive vibes to them about the whole change. Asking them for their inputs in advance and collecting and inculcating regular feedback from your employees would make them feel a part of the entire process and hence would make them adapt to the change in the initial stage only.

3. Handle The Negative Aspects Smartly

Change can be harsh for some people and you need to be cautious while making them aware of it. Deliver all the hard news diplomatically and tactfully. Pick you timing and approach them smartly. Focus on the entire communication process and keep them informed of every update regarding the change.

4.  Set Expectations Beforehand

Defining expected results would create a level of expectation amongst the employees regarding what would be the end result of the change. Although this could not be definitive but would at least give time to your employees to adjust to whatever would be the outcome of the change.

5. Make Your Employees Feel Valued

Change is hard and those who were involved in any way in this change management, they need to applauded and recognised. This would make them feel valued during a tough transition and would keep them contented and satisfied.

What Is Stepladder Technique And How It Can Affect The Group Decision Making In The Company?

Decision making is a difficult process and is even more challenging when made in a group. The probability of conflict in a group decision making is very high as the everyone’s approach to a problem can be different. Some people may fight for recognition thereby overshadowing others in the process whereas a few might become over-critical or disruptive. Yet another category could be the ones who go into complete silence thereby leading to a loss in terms of idea generation.

You will find yourself in similar situations many a times once you have completed a degree from one of the top PGDM Colleges in Hyderabad. Dealing with such a situation can be a good learning experience. In your PG Diploma in Business Management, there would be a lot of projects that you would be doing in a group and hence you might come face to face with such a situation. Dealing with it in the right way can actually work wonders for you.  The Stepladder Technique is a useful method for ensuring a seamless group decision making.

What Is The Stepladder Technique?

It is a simple tool that was Developed by Steven Rogelberg, Janet Barnes-Farrell and Charles Lowe in 1992. It manages how various members enter the decision-making group and encourages all members to contribute to the decision making process on an individual level before they get influenced by anyone else. This technique helps in creating a wider variety of ideas and prevents people from "hiding" within the group. It also protects people from being "stepped on" by other louder members of the group.

The Stepladder Technique has five basic steps.

Step 1 : Before starting the group decision making activity, present the problem to each member individually. Give them sufficient amount of time to think of the possible solutions to the problem in hand.

Step 2 : Form a small or core group of two or three members and have them discuss the problem.

Step 3 : Add an additional group member to this core group and let him present the ideas to the former group. Let them discuss all the options before coming to a common solution.

Step 4 : Add on another member and let them come to a common solution. Repeat this process till the time you have covered all the members in the group.

Step 5 : Come to a final decision only when all the members have gotten a chance to present  their ideas.

The Stepladder Technique is a step-by-step approach that ensures equal participation where even the most shy and quiet members of the group also get a chance to present their ideas. It helps you ensure that all the members of a group are heard and no potential idea got left out. In this approach all the possible solution are put on the table and discussed and weighed without any bias.

4 Tips For Effectively Using Linkedin

Finding a job once you have completed your MBA from one of the Top MBA Colleges in Hyderabad is easier and faster when you exploit the full potential of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social network that has revolutionised the way people used to find jobs as well as the way companies used to find the right candidates.

LinkedIn is the most ideal social media platform for all professionals, but it is especially relevant and suitable for students doing MBA from one of the Best MBA Colleges in Hyderabad. Many big companies are frequently using the search tools provided by LinkedIn in order to identify the list of potential candidates having an MBA degree. Studies have shown that if you are found through LinkedIn, you are more likely to land an interview as compared to any other platform present online.

LinkedIn offers a lot of features that can help MBA students to find the companies who are seeking for the candidates matching their profile. So what exactly is the best way to use the features offered by LinkedIn in order to land your dream job. Here is a list of 4 tips that can help you maximise the appeal of your LinkedIn profile:

1. A Complete Profile

A complete profile ensures attention to detail thereby offering companies an opportunity to run a global assessment of all the potential candidates. In order to have a catchy profile, you need to develop an all-star profile. Look for examples and see which is the most sought-after profile by companies. The first and foremost thing to do in your profile is to upload a business-oriented profile photo, with all the relevant details of your skills. Clearly mention your educational background, as well as work experience in terms of roles and achievements. Summarise each role in clear job titles.

2. First Impressions Are Important!

Your LinkedIn profile is more or less like a formal introduction of yourself to the outside world.  In other words, it is the first impression that any company is going to have of you. Your profile  should open with a snapshot of your professional skills and personality. The summary/introduction section should clearly highlight your candidate’s strengths, using  clear and compelling communication style. This would not only help  capture the curiosity of recruiters but would also persuade them to continue reading and act on it.

3. Be Visible!

That is probably the first and the most basic rule of social media. Be visible. After all what is the point of having a good profile if it not being seen by people around.LinkedIn is a great way to establish yourself as a subject matter expert by writing on current topics in your industry and also contributing to other people’s posts in the form of comments. Companies often use Google to check out the list of potential candidates, so a search on your name should yield professional results. One perfect strategy in order to be found on Google search is to personalise your LinkedIn page URL with your name and surname.

4. Create A Network With MBA Alumni

Alumni is one of the best strategy to explore opportunities in the industry. LinkedIn is a great tool to find people from your college and connect with them. It would help you in two ways. Firstly it would help you connect with the oldest of the members of your college. Secondly it would open the doors of endless opportunities for you as you can approach various companies through referrals.

The 5 Whys Of Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is an often-used technique that is done in order to know why the particular problem happened at the first place. This technique is quite popular amongst analysts who try to identify the origin of a problem using a specific set of steps. There are a lot of tools associated with root cause analysis. Students doing PGDM in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune etc get to learn this technique by various problem solving assignments and projects.

A basic assumption behind the RCA is that all systems and events are interrelated that is in order for an event to happen, there must be something in the current system that needs to be improved in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. In other words, any effect is the result of a chain of actions that has happened back to back that is an action in one area triggers an action in other area, which in turn triggered the action in other area and so on. RCA looks at all the causes and investigate the patterns of negative effects by discovering the specific actions and finding hidden flaws that lead to the problem.

PGDM Colleges in Hyderabad lay special stress on RCA and it’s 5 whys. Asking “why” to a problem is not an easy task. The technique of 5 whys  is used in identifying the root cause of the problem. The fundamental of this technique is very simple. You simply ask “why” five times. This helps in systematically peeling off the layers one by one and once all the layers of symptoms are stripped away, the root cause of the problem becomes crystal clear.

How to Conduct The 5 Whys?

A stepwise guide to following this technique is as follows:

Step 1 - Write down the problem on a clean sheet of paper. Even though you know the problem but writing it down adds that ensurance to the fact that everyone involved in the RCA are on the same page and there is no difference in opinion.

Step 2 - The next step is to ask why the problem happened in the first place. Write down all the possible answers  to this in the sheet of paper.

Step 3 - The next step is to dig deeper. Go through the answers you wrote down in step 2 and ask the why to these answers in order to understand the cause better.

Step 4 - Repeat the process till the time you are satisfied that you have uncovered the truth. Studies have shown that it usually takes 5 whys or  less to uncover the truth but if you are still not satisfied, you can always dig in deeper.

The technique of 5 whys are one of the most effective and simplest forms of troubleshooting a problem. Not only it helps you find the root cause to a problem but also helps in identifying the process to a much deeper level. You can use this technique in improving the quality of your organization’s process as well as in solving simple problems.

5 Simple Tips To Help Improve Your Decision Making

Decision making is the part and parcel of our lives. Everyday, we make a lot of decisions right from small everyday decisions to big business decisions. PGDM Diploma Courses are designed in order to train students in the art of decision making. PGDM Colleges focus on a long-term objective of improving the overall decision-making process of their students by laying down a well thought of training program. While your institute is working towards improving your decision making, you can follow these 5 simple tips at personal level:

1. Don't Delay

Simple decisions are easy to make. You can simply tick them off and have the feeling of accomplishment. The problem arises when the level of difficulty increases. Delaying such decisions can bring more harm than good. Difficult decisions need to be tackled on priority. Dedicate a focused block of time to it each day. Work through all the pros, cons, risks and realistic outcomes of your decision. Be prudent and realistic about tackling the problem in hand. The problem is not going to solve itself so it is better to take it up in priority and get it done with.

2. Shelve Ego And Emotion

Decision making process can be overwhelming at times as you become too personally invested in the whole process. It bothers you to think about the overall outcome of your decision and what impact, positive or negative, it will have on the future of the company. You need to shelve your emotions and ego while making the decision. Be practical about your decision and think rationally while going through the entire process.

3. Ask An Expert

A famous quote by Warren Buffet, “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.” The decision which you are about to make has likely been made in the past. It is always good to ask an expert. While the problems in hand may be unique to you but it is highly probable that someone else must have gone through the same problem. The advice here is not to copy the entire solution but to improvise according to your problem. Seeking expert advice can be a good way to deal with the problem in hand.

4. Question Every Step Of The Process

The technique of “why” can be a great way in decision making as well. Question every step in your decision making process, the answers to which can help you become sure of your decision in the long run. Use research reports, industry trends, and seek experts in your field while building your strategy. Collect all the relevant data and try to make an informed decision. Take constant feedback from the stakeholders as well as experts in the field.

5. Plan For Doomsday

The final step to decision making is to note down the underlying risks of the decisions you make. In other words, plan for the doomsday. Give this process a bit of time to consider the absolute worst case scenarios. Ask yourself what exactly can go wrong in the decision you are making. Always have a backup plan to tackle such situations. No decision or solution to any problem could be 100 percent full proof. There would always be risks involved and taking these risks into consideration can be a good way of handling your decision making process.

4 Tips For Successful Resource Allocation

Once you are done with your PG Diploma in Business Management, as a future project manager, resource allocation will become a major part of your job. So the question arises, what is the best way of resource allocation? What all factors need to be kept in mind while allocating the work to various resources?

In order to lead  a high-performing project team, resource allocation is one of the most trickiest task to perform. You need to make sure that every member of your team is fully occupied at the same time working to the best of their potential. While ensuring the maximum harmony in work, there can be times when someone has to work on something that is not their core expertise area but never the same you need to assign the task to them. In such situation, what you need to ensure is that you provide them all the support they require while performing that task.

You will get to learn a lot about resource allocation in your Post Graduate Diploma in Management. For the starters, here are 4 tips that can help you in successful Resource Allocation process:

1. Skill

This is the topmost factor that needs to be kept in mind. You would not want to allocate the work to someone who has neither knowledge or skill to perform a particular task.

2. Experience

Now that you have accessed the skill of every member of your team, it is time to judge them on the level of experience. Have they performed the similar task in past? If you have two people with the same skill set to perform a particular task - one with experience and one without experience, it is a good idea to go for the experienced one as they won’t need much support to perform the task.

3. Availability

Skill and experience would help you categorise the work in a good way. Next comes the availability. Is the person you think is most suitable as per skill and experience is available to do the task in hand? There will be times when the person most suitable would be busy doing a task that is high in priority. In that case, you should always have a backup who can take up the task and be able to complete it with as little assistance and support as possible.

4. Location

The last most important factor to be kept in mind is where the task is going to be carried out? In today’s remote work culture, this factor is usually of no importance but there are likely to be certain tasks where location does play an important part. For example, working at a client location for a length of time or the task of configuring servers on site. In such case, you would want to pick the best person for the job from the pool of available options. In case of overseas location, you need to make sure that the resources concerned are willing to go.