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How to avoid Office Politics

Prashant Shrivastava — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:15:52 +0000

by Prashant Shrivastava
If you love to get indulged into Office politics, day is not far when you will fall prey to it. Call it natural phenomena or anything else, bad deeds do return with worse effects. But, on most of the occasions you don’t realize that you have got addicted to politics.

How to keep out of office politics

If you love to get indulged into Office politics, day is not far when you will fall prey to it. Call it natural phenomena or anything else, bad deeds do return with worse effects. But, on most of the occasions you don’t realize that you have got addicted to politics. And when it gets too late, you realize but no one comes to your rescue as you have been a reason of their crisis without even knowing. So, here are 5 tips that you should follow in order to keep things easy and stress free at office. Take a check and keep away from such entangling circle.

Do not criticize anyone on their back

Be it boss or colleague, you criticism does reach to the person concerned by this way or that. You open your mouth in front of your trusted mates and they in return open their mouth to someone else and eventually the matter reaches where it shouldn’t be. If you are critical of someone, try to speak in front or better stay silent. You are not here to correct anyone but to do your own job. Mind that.

Refrain from flattery

It may help you get good response from your current and immediate bosses but others may well get sick of you. Flattery is a negative attitude which aims at claiming undue favors when you do not deserve. Many people take help of flattery even when they deserve something. Let your work speak. Remember at the end of the day, you work matters not those sweet things or gifts that you presented your boss.

Keep a cool head

Provocation is a dangerous thing. If you get into it, you will end up as a fool or looser. No matter what people around you are saying about bonuses, increments, or extra working, believe only what you see with your eyes. Not all but few people are there in every organization who simply aims to discourage others. Do not take them on right away, simply listen, nod your head and then clear your ears.

Clear the matter

If someone reports you of any conspiracy being done on your back against you, instead of handling it directly, try and communicate to the top officials. Better idea is to write an anonymous email so that initially you are not exposed but your concern goes through. Later you can politely confirm the matter. And if you are nice genuinely, the boss will surely let you know the fact. So you can take preventive measures.

Sincerity is the key

If you do not indulge into politics, still you must know what it is so that you can avoid yourself from falling prey to it. On your part, stay clean and sincere. Ensure your work is on time and as good as it should be. Arrive office on time and show all the motivation towards work and company.
It’s all about being strong and nice. Being strong will ensure that you do not fall prey to politics and being nice will ensure that you will not make anyone a victim.
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Office ethics

Prashant Shrivastava — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:10:39 +0000

Office ethics

Here are few best practices that I have observed and jotted down in my career so far. I follow each of these ethics and touch wood, I am happy at work. You don’t need to be a bad person or a cunning employee to face the axe. Even lack of some ethics and smartness would lead you to trouble. So better safe than sorry. Listed below are some paperless office best practices that you should keep in mind all the time.

Office ethics

Always be on time and properly dressed.
Keep your work desk clean and organized.
Start your day with a broad planning and note down all the important tasks to be done that day.
Make good use of communication mediums and clear all doubts before taking any action.
Once you’re done with the current assignment, take a break of five minutes and now look at your work critically. Make changes.
Always use formal and respectful language while communicating whether the recipient is senior or junior, male or female.
Avoid indulging into any kind of office critical discussions. Every office has issues.
Behave like a gentleman to female mates in particular. Avoid any sexual or embarrassing comments about their body, clothes, or culture.
Take regular breaks and keep stretching your body for proper body fitness.
If you are a female, dressing is the most important part of your work. Ensure your dresses are neither too fit, nor revealing, nor too outdated or old fashioned. Proper dressing means to look decent not hot or idiot.
Plan your day properly and try to leave on time. Longer working hours only will add to problems and won’t impress any seasoned boss. If you are in time in place, you show off more efficiency than those who stay late or work weekends.

Prashant Shrivastava

Bhupen Hazarika died

Prashant Shrivastava — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:02:52 +0000

Prashant Shrivastava

Kind of artists that we are losing these days is not the full stop to a person or his style but that’s a dead end to an era where Music was nutured with lot of dedication, each note was created after hard work of hours, and each word emanated from the last bottom of heart.

Music suffering loss of Bhupen Hazarika

We lost Bhupen Hazarika today. He was 86 and was suffering from from respiratory and kidney failure. He was admitted in a Mumbai based hospital.

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When to Quit

Prashant Shrivastava — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:26:49 +0000

Don’t quit till you succeed is the adage to be used carefully. Especially in today’s context when life is short and full of options. You want to do many things in a short span of time and if you stay stuck with one thing for longer for you couldn’t succeed hitherto, consider shifting to another idea or concept rather than staying stuck to one and ruin your entire life.

I know a couple who after 6 years of struggle could merry each other. Meanwhile many a times they fought badly, had family problems, and lastly I learnt that they wanted to merry just for the sake of knowing each other. The love had vanished. Now their life is not even okay. Sometimes success brings more sorrow than failure. A success can only be useful if it only opens gate of new way. If your success is a solid destination from where you cannot go any where further, it hurts and you begin to hate what you achieved because you reminisce all the pain you scored during the struggle. But other way round if you got a success from where you can explore new avenues, you feel good about the pain you took to achieve the success.

One of my friends bought a car after a struggle of over 5 years as he was salaried low. After all those hard times and savings when he got the car, he began to hate it for he had missed countless good moments just because he wanted this car. His expenses had increased and the tension of maintaining it made it all the more difficult for him to celebrate. While another friend lived a hard life to buy a house. Now this person is happier as his rent is saved and every rupee he now spent on house added to the value. with the time the value of property will rise and this will only make him richer. Now when this person looks behind, he feels as good as a thirsty man gets cold water and recalls those hot moments under hard sunlight.

After my school I struggles couple of years to get into an engineering college through Pre Engineering Test, finally my hard work paid off but then I realized that if I go with Engineering now, it will take another five years and I still be a Bachelor in Technology. I quit my seat in engineering college and appeard for Bachelor of Computer Applications and got selected. After that I did Masters of Computer Application and now my colleagues who had appeared for BTech are just bachelors degree holder and I am Master degree holder. We both have similar profile and same amount of paycheck we earn. The benefit I had was that I am master in the field where he struggles since he only read computers as a subject.

Take a daily life example. I love to stay ahead on traffic whether I ride my super Bike or Car. But I never take chances. The other day a girl challenged me for race. I knew it was a crowded road where traffic merges at several points. I humbly accepted that I can’t win and I quit. This quit saved me or may be her or someone else on the road.

It’s important to fight to the finish on many occasions but it equally is important to give up when you see it it makes no sense or the achievement after win would be dwarf in front of risks taken and efforts put in.

Be sensible. Being young and energetic not just means to take all challenges and win them all. Giving up, compromising, to forgive, to let go are not just words for cowards – They could be emotions and sensibility marks shows by the brave ones. Use your brain and see if the deal is worth falling in, else backtrack.

Jagjeet Singh’ demise – end of an era

Prashant Shrivastava — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:19:33 +0000

Media, channels, papers, blogs, and magazines are abuzz with the sorrow of sad demise of veteran Gazal singer Jagjeet Singh who took his last breathe on Monday October 10, 2011. This day has not just made us devoid of a golden and soulful voice that created emotions and which has been an integral part of many struggles of life and love.

Although the genre of Gazals still is limited to those who understand it, this man extended it’s sphere wider and ensured that not just experienced and old people but youngsters also listen to this. This way he not only gave new heights to Gazals and Rubaayee but also sprinkled life in poetry that has been missing from Indian Music for decades.

And era of Gazal ended!

The young generation when felt sad, these Ghazals sung by Jagjeet gave them shoulders to cry, became a companion when in isolation, and ensured that the burden of sorrow and loneliness was shared so that lost people could find the path back.

Like a normal teenager even I hated the Gazals when my Dad played it. But as i grew up soon I fell into love with poetry and when I looked towards Bollywood for soulful voices and music that could share my sorrows, it was Jagjeet Singh, Pankaj Idhas, and Udit Narayan who looked promising.

even before I read poetry by Mirza Ghalib in books, I listened to them in Jagjeet’s voice. “Dil e naadaan tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is dard ki dawaa kyaa hai” – This was perhaps the first Ghalib’s poetry that I listened in the soulful voices of Jagjeet Singh ji and his spouse and another marvellous singer Chitra Singh.

his rendition for Aamir Khan starrer Sarfarosh – ‘Hosh waalon ko khabar kya’ refreshed my senses every time I listened to it. I believed that with that a new era of poetry would begin but I was disappointed as Bollywood continued banking upon sexy item numbers.

I am not much sure but I think one of my favourite renditions by Jagjeet Singh ji was composed by himself. It was penned by none other than Javed Akhtar some year ago. It was like Mujhko yakien hai sach kehti thi jo bhi ammi kehti thi, Jab mere bachpan ke din the, chaand mein pariyaan rehti thi”

I missed one of his concerts in Udaipur but I was elated that he was scheduled to spread the fragrance of poetry next month in Udaipur city. But that will remain a desire unfulfilled always. May his soul rest in peace.

Prashant
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Get rid of dandruff

Prashant Shrivastava — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:01:06 +0000

by Prashant Shrivastava
I realized some dandruff in my head and that intrigued me as I like to look clean to my aesthetics. Instead of consulting a high profile clinic and accept a weeks long treatment for my dandruff and dry head skin, I consulted a local barber and that too in a regular conversation mode.

Get rid of Dandruff

He told me the key to get rid of dandruff. The method he applied with my head worked overnight and I found a clean hair and a key to dandruff free head. Here’s my experience:

• Take lemon and mustard hair oil is equal quantity.
• Mix them well
• Massage the solution to every part of head
• Repeat these steps for 15 minutes at a stretch
• Wash hair after some time
• Notice that you will have a clean hair

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At spur of the moment

Prashant Shrivastava — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:03:43 +0000

So that day I was so furious that I had decided to call it a day. A plan for alternate job had already been sketched in my mind. Co incidentally it was the day of my performance review meeting. I decided to spill all the beans as I was all set to wind up myself to other location.

At spur of the moment

There are people in every company whose job is to spoil mood of others with their disgusting and silly behavior. I too have many. One such moron disturbed me so badly that I was full of anguish that day. Worst thing for me was that he had all bosses’ support. So speaking against him really needed many strong evidences otherwise complain would boomerang. And here at work I am not supposed to fight with idiots. I am to perform my duties, improve with my job, and finally take away that paycheck.
So that day I was so furious that I had decided to call it a day. A plan for alternate job had already been sketched in my mind. Co incidentally it was the day of my performance review meeting. I decided to spill all the beans as I was all set to wind up myself to other location.

I entered the boss room. I was expecting him to be hot and angry too as the matter had already been communicated to him. But to my surprise, he looked cool and composed. He signaled me to take my chair and begun with general talks like how is life etc. I decided to reply in same manner. But I knew in some time, the bomb will explode and even was ready to reply in same language.
The time was elapsing. One after other, the performance review was being discussed. And in the mid of conversations, at times he shared his personal experience and even made me laugh at some points. In no time the time for meeting’s end had come. I left the room and still was wondering what that was?

I was hoping a hot and probably decisive discussion and here the picture was so rosy. I again believed that now again he will call me up and that issue will be raised. But it never happened. In the end the day proved to be good and it gave me an important learning that in any case you should not lose your composures. Unless my Boss was a wise man and kept calm that could have well been my last day in the company.
In all situations, the one who keep his cool wins. Whether it’s a overjoyed scenario or a tensed moment, tell yourself that you can handle it. And exactly you can. Anything that comes up to you is meant for you to handle. Be it excessive success, long time failure, or sporadic and small moments that affect you, the nature sends you only those things for which you have been given guts and power – so never feel that this is something not meant for me or I should better quit. Go step by step, take one thing at a time, and then you will see that it gets resolved easily.

First of all, take a deep breath and tell yourself – Yes, I can get through in flying colors. Then the very next moment, start working on it. As you get yourself busy, you won’t panic. Believe that this is just a little exaggerated form of a normal situation and then work on it. Quitting comes last but that means that you have exhausted all your options. And believe me, if you have actually tried all your options positively, you won’t arrive at a situation where you need to quit.

Like in office, in case you think that now is the time to quit. Right at that moment, take a small pause – say of a week. Meanwhile work your best and try to correct your issues and leave a positive impression on others. Because if you leave when your bosses made you feel that you are win a bad taste, somewhere you will carry a negative feeling in your heart and that will force you to feel that you were not competent enough.

So if you are not good enough, improvise. And if you are good enough, then show it up. Do not leave as a defeated warrior. If you follow the composure and prove-to-yourself idea, chances are that you will not be needed to quit at first place. And even if you quit, the employer will regret losing you.
Prashant Shrivastava
Office politics, managing work life balance, how to work better in office, avoid office anxiety, concentrate in work, better productivity at work.

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The Hindi Diwas

Prashant Shrivastava — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:33:56 +0000

One of the most venerated persons in my life sparked a new debate which forced me to write this article. It’s about today – The Hindi Day or Hindi Diwas.

Isn’t it more than ironical that we the people of India who speak Hindi more than anything have only one odd day to celebrate the Hindi Diwas. And even on that, I have seen no buzz around anywhere. We’ve become so obsessed with the English today that talking in Hindi is considered down market. Even though we are not fluent in English or have a poor vocabulary of the alien lingo, we strive for it. Well, it’s not a fault of this generation but the ambiance that has been made by previous generation is wholly responsible for this. Why we need schools that teach all subjects in English instead of Hindi?

We hold the credit of being one of the oldest civilizations in the world. We’ve been mentor to the World and proudly held the distinction of being called Vishwa Guru. So what we taught to the world? Instead we got changed and learnt the English language and not just learnt but assimilated it to such an extent that if you ask someone to speak only Hindi in general conversation just for an hour, they’re most likely to fail the test.

If we could learn English, why couldn’t English or Americans learn Hindi? Yes, they can but we never pushed our mother language hard enough. Recently Akon sang a song for Hindi Movie Ra.One. I was surprised to hear his pronunciations – clear and very natural.

You must have noticed more than once that when tourists try to talk to our people in Hindi, they end up with a fun kind of talk. But when we reply to them in English, We’re more polished and try to be perfect. But they don’t try. They know that even if they continue to flaunt their English skills, Indians will not only understand but will also learn and speak. This is how and this is why English has become a universal language and Hindi is losing itself fast.

Bike OveR Car?

Prashant Shrivastava — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:52:42 +0000

by Prashant Shrivastava

bike or car?

It was much fun to face the fresh air against the direction. And that was only possible today for I commuted to office on motor Bike rather than car. I always have liked my Bike over car for many reasons including the one I just mentioned. Besides being an fuel efficient option, it also saves lot of time as it you need less space to cut the traffic and most of the times where Cars are stuck, a bike can be taken through because you have the privilege of tilting the vehicle up to a great extent to ensure the sideways can be saved and you do not touch the vehicles running next to you either sides.
Jaipur city is getting ready to start a metro rail facility and for that, poles are being erected in mid way. That has left the road as shrunk as it can only accommodate one car at a time. But if you have a bike with you, you can still take advantage of some irregular road structure where there is some gap between sidewalk and the car running beside you.
Car obviously has added advantage that you can carry all your stuff easily and enjoy a more comfortable seating that ensures that you do not feel the fatigue of commuting. It also keeps you immune from the pollution keeping your face clean and your health perfect. And on bike on the other hand, you are always vulnerable to pollution and more importantly accidents. Yes, in city traffic, at most, you can get a dent or scratch on your car but you and your belongings remain safe. While on bike, even a small cut by fellow rider or vehicle can lead you to hospital.
But one disadvantage that I always see while driving car is that you have to be extra cautious. At times you feel that the vehicle will be through off to a narrow passage but you end up either hitting someone or get a dent or worst, get a light or side mirror broken. But when it comes to bike, you have the advantage of even last moment adjustment. Until you are too bad or too errant rider, you are most likely to avoid the collisions.

One lesson that I have taken these days is that never ride the bike in an errant way. Because if you take a cut from the off side, you will surely be okay but chances are that the fellow car driver will lose concentration. Shifting a lane by car is not that easy especially when a mixture of traffic is there where a bike is running beside you and a three wheeler is following you and you are following a passenger bus etc etc. So now I ensure that I only over take from right side with proper indication and blow of appropriate horn.

Having compared car and bike that much, I still stand by my Hunk over WagonR. But I still love both equally.

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Real Dreams or Dreams’ reality!

Prashant Shrivastava — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:37:58 +0000

by Prashant Shrivastava

One of my new friends on Twitter tweeted that “the problem with women is that they fall for men who gives the sweetest words that they never really mean”. Now this would be a perception true for many women out there especially in the urban world. Men who make suffer their partner or spouse are guilty for sure but a pause, aren’t women responsible for this at all? Things that went wrong were actually the way of life that the respective men follow but women don’t. And there it starts the disturbance between the two which ends in separation, not always but most of the times.

Relationship needs care!

The emotional bondage that exists between the two is actually hardly seen by both the people alike. One would see it as connection of souls while other would simply reckon that as a responsibility or worst – a handcuff! Now anyone could be there on the receiving side not necessarily women.

The fact remains that we expect much more than actually available. We see a bunch of expectations getting fulfilled once we get into a serious relationship with the other. The other on the other hand sees that if someone is showing so much confidence in me, I think I can be what the person wants me to be.

This is how both get engaged in a surreal world of dreams and hopes. Life then gets real and paints of dream start to shatter and remains the real stone colored wall. Now since both are still in the wonderland, they get irritated when they see the dark side of life’s reality.

Sometime later one of the partners who promised based on faith of the other, starts realizing the fact. And then he or she starts an Endeavour to make the dream true but the other partner who is still there in dreams won’t except that the dream is not real and consequently they won’t believe or support the idea to resurrect the life to live the dream.

This is where the conflict starts to launch and if not taken care with, life can get a mess. The need is to stay real all the time and live on the earth and then try to lift you to a better level. You also must understand the limitations your partner has. You can’t simply push them to lift self without their heartily consent.

So I strongly feel that once you have realized that efforts would be needed to make the life as good as you had hoped for, there are two options – Quit or work. The later is the only good option because if you quit and get into another relationship with someone else, sooner or later, life again would prompt you to adjust. So when it has to be done, start now. In first place understand what the reality is and what could be done to make it better. And then work on it. Life’s gonna rock this way, I think.

Happy Living!

Prashant Shrivastava

prashant@friendstime.com

www.friendstime.com

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