Progression / Promotion - is it a one way street?

Progression / Promotion - is it a one way street?

We always seem to think in linear terms - 
- Pay must always increase
- I should be leading more people
- I should be working for larger organization
- and, to an extent 'prices' always seem to go up :-)

This also seem to be the case with 'Promotion', isn't it?

One needs to be promoted from Team member > team lead > proj manager > delivery manager > General manager etc. etc.
In most of these cases both the organization and employee seem to be thinking in similar terms!


Why is it so?
Is Progress a forward moving line? if so for whom?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Being the Iron man of the house! (Work-Life Balance)

Being the Iron man of the house! (Work-Life Balance)

We are all looking for work life balance, aren't we?

Well, that's what i thought I when took a sabbatical of sorts to explore new entrepreneurial opportunities outside of a regular job.

To be candid with everyone, this topic still eludes me!

Surprised!?

Well, the reality is no matter how much time you have got, if your intent / purpose is not clear, you *will* not take the time out to enjoy the small pleasures of life!

When I left my earlier organization, many of my peers wondered if they would ever be able to make such a 'drastic' call.

So here is the good news.

There is nothing like perfect work life balance!

The entire essence lies in the intent to spend those crucial moments when your family needs you!

For example, I am called the 'Iron Man' in the house!

No, not that kind that you think of (being tough etc.).

I happen to iron my kids clothes in the morning as they are 'Perennially' late to catch the bus!

Now, this might be a small act, but your presence (i am sure) makes a lot of difference to them.

I know many of you might doing different things, like
- Dropping the kids till the school or the school bus
- Taking them to any extra curricular activity
- Cooking a dish that the kids love to have
- helping your spouse with any small chore
- spending dinner time with each other at any cost (no calls, no tv etc.)

etc.

So, set a regime (one that you can sign off with your spouse!) & stick to it!
Don't wait for PERFECTION!

PS: Do share your 'simple' ideas that have helped you, so that others can learn from them!

Training - The Pause button in your work life!

Training - The Pause button in your work life!

Many a times we are told by our participants - This will not work in our workplace!
or asked mockingly "Do you think these tips will help?"

Having been in the Business we all know the pressures that teams work under.

I was recently working on training topic "Annual Performance reviews."

The steps laid out for "Planning" for the Appraisal Discussion were mentioned as follow:
Stage1: Prepare the appraisee for the discussion (10 questions under this)
Stage2: Prepare yourself for the discussion (some more)
Stage3: Ensure both of you have all the information you need (3 more checklist)

Typically a manager (in the IT context) boasts of many reportees and imagine if s/he has to do the above for each of the members! 

One might rightly complain - What a waste of time? Or "I don't have time" to be more modest !

Which is true.

So the question is "How do we encourage employees to invest in training?"

One of the response that I was thinking of was as follows.
Training is a 'sandbox' where you experiment with processes, tools, techniques etc 
This happens in 'Slow motion'.
Time is not a factor.

However, in real life these tips, techniques needs to become their second nature!
So you will have to hit the 'PLAY' button (or Fast Forward!)

Any other thoughts?

Raju