How to handle annoying co-worker behaviors

By Dominique Rodgers
Monster Contributing Writer

“Oh great. Tad made his famous gourmet stink-bombs for lunch and he’s eating them at his desk.”

“Why does Kristy speak like there’s a megaphone attached to her face? Doesn’t she know how loud she is?”

Admit it -- you’ve had similar thoughts about an annoying co-worker at some point in your career. Nearly everyone has. The problem with these, mostly minor, annoyances is when they become so distracting they inhibit workflow.

If you’re finding yourself so frustrated with an officemate that your productivity is declining, then it’s time to address the issue. Here are some of the most annoying co-worker habits and suggestions on ways to improve them.

Blather Nonstop About Their...

Dog, child, upcoming vacation; the topic may vary, but the interruptions won’t. A recent Monster Meter Poll found 53 percent of respondents were fine discussing a co-worker’s wedding -- up to a point.

“Conversation along these lines might be nice for a moment or two but if they are persisting with this well into the day, it may be time to have a discussion of a different nature -- one that helps team members focus a bit less on themselves and more on the work they are there to do,” says Aron Grow, author and associate professor of organizational leadership at City University of Seattle.

Engage in Amateur Fundraising Activities

Cookies, wrapping paper, popcorn, this disease and that animal shelter -- the fund-raising opportunities co-workers subject you to can seem unending. Parents often end up doing the fundraising for their children’s schools or hobbies. A civic-minded co-worker may be raising money for any number of worthy causes. It adds up.

As this Monster Meter Poll shows, almost a quarter of respondents find this practice entirely inappropriate for the office, while 62 percent are fine with occasional requests as long as their co-worker isn’t pushy.

Make an Untenable Amount of Noise

Noisy co-workers are a common complaint and can result in significant loss of productivity. Over half the respondents in this Monster Meter Poll said that noisy co-workers disrupted their work “always” or “very often.”

“A lot of my work as a consultant for conflict resolution at work really ends up about helping people tolerate each other's quirks. The list of irritants is usually topped by loud phone calls, loud music or talk radio,” says Steve Albrecht, psychologist and workplace violence expert.

“I tell employees that successful people working in a professional environment should be able to give each other direct, non-personal, feedback about things that make it hard for them to do their work successfully.” If the noise bothers you, ask your co-worker politely to use headphones, close their office door, take their calls off speaker, or just lessen the noise in general.

Operate in a Constant State of Neediness

One of the worst ways someone can annoy their co-workers is by being needy. They require constant attention, assistance, praise or all three. This particular breed of annoying employee will “tell you what they had for dinner and then what they watched on TV last night. They ask questions that you know they know the answer to. They pout when you ignore them or don't invite them to lunch,” says Kathi Elster, an HR and business strategist with K Squared Enterprises.

She says the best way to deal with a needy co-worker is to address the situation head-on. “It's about setting boundaries. You cannot expect this person to get a subtle hint; you have to be straightforward without being mean.”

Sindhuja Rajaraman: Meet the 14-year old animator CEO

CHENNAI: Meet 14-year-old Sindhuja Rajaraman, the CEO of Seppan, a Chennai-based animation company launched only in October last. And we're not kidding. A ninth-standard student, she was adjudged the fastest 2D and 3D animator by software lobby Nasscom at the Gaming and Animation Conclave 2010 at Hyderabad. Interestingly, she is also a brand envoy of design software major Corel Software.

As head of this nascent firm, today she may give tough competition to some of the top CEOs when it comes to taking business decisions, that too quickly. But where did she start?

"It all started five years back when I wanted to take my mind off studies and do something new. My father, who is a cartoonist, instilled in me the passion to do animation and taught me the entire process," she says. "I have tried my luck with animation even before I started learning it professionally. I did my first mini animation project when I was in sixth standard. It was on 'do not disturb animals'," she recalls.

Early Months
After a few amateur moves last year, Sindhuja made a Guinness Book record attempt for the fastest animation film. The project was for Exnora, a Chennai-based non-profit organisation, to mark the occasion of 10-10-2010. "I created a three-minute animation film in 10 hours. It has gone to the Guinness team and I'm still waiting for them to announce the final results," she says proudly.

Things started rolling right after that when Sindhuja was offered by First Planet to work as Seppan's chief executive. With an investment of Rs 10 lakh, First Planet seeded the firm and the entire thing happened within a day. "I did not even know what a CEO meant that time," she says. And in a shirt span, she is handling three projects – Virtual Street, Garbo.in and First Planet.

The Virtual Street project is about Thyagaraj Nagar, the shopping hub of Chennai where Seppan plans to showcase the entire area through animation while Garbo.in is a job for a Chennai based NGO to promote waste segregation methods.

The third project is for her parent company. "It is a small animation film for freshers who want to join a new company. The film would speak about company etiquette and other things that a fresher should know," she noted.

The Team
"At Seppan, we are a team of 10 people and we will be adding more people as and when the need arises. Though my teammates are older they always take my assistance and, in turn, they also guide me. They have taught me what corporate world is and what team management is.

In fact, I draw a lower salary than them," she says and in a positive tone adds I think I'll be the only CEO who is paid less than the employees.
Even while talking she is very cautious and interrupts in between saying "please don't quote me on how much salary I draw."

People who work with her also have loads of praise. Colleague M Partheepan says: "Though I have five years' experience, there is lot that I have learnt from her. She possesses lot of technical skills which even I did not know." "She is very creative and comes out with ideas within fraction of seconds during our routine meetings," he added.
 
Her mentor Kumaran Mani, who helped her with the setting up of Seppan, says, "Initially she was a little uncomfortable being a CEO. But now she has learnt the tricks of the trade. When she meets a client she immediately shakes hands, collects their cards and neatly puts it in her folder." Software lobby Nasscom's regional director for Chennai, K Purushothaman, tells us that Sindhuja is very passionate and committed in what she is doing. "She has mastered the domestic animation skills. Now she has to sharpen her knowledge and skills on what's happening in the international market," he said.

To Stay An Entrepreneur
Though some firms have approached her to join them, she is not too keen. "I don't want to join any big corporates now. I want to be free like a 14-year-old girl should be. I don't want to be overloaded with work. After 18, I will take up bigger projects," she says.

Before signing off like every other professional, she says, "I want to make a mark in this industry. When I'm twenty-year-old, I want Seppan to have a turnover of at least Rs 1 crore."Her aim now is to study at the Vancouver Film School in Canada and specialise in animation.

But doesn't she want to go to school and play out like other kids? "My school has given me an exemption. I go for tuitions after work and go to school to write my exams alone. One needs to sacrifice certain things to chase dreams. I also like to play like other kids and that's why I chose to play with animation," she answers.

Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-10/news/28675551_1_animation-film-nasscom-chennai-based-animation
 

Corporates relying on ‘aReputation’ for positive media outreach

Business in the 21st century is undergoing a sea change, with commercial entities and their leaderships increasingly moving away from dicey and non-measurable marketing and public relation strategies to corporate reputation management.
There is a growing awareness in industry and management circles that in the warp-speed world of today, one wrong move can have you nailed, especially through social networking mediums such as Twitter and Facebook.
Proactive brand reputation management as opposed to enlisting public relation firms to deal with criticism and crises is the mantra for retaining a sound reputation and in turn possessing the potential to stimulate stock prices.
Given the existing market climate, a company’s success or failure is largely dependent on how it is recognized. Large enterprises are accountable to shareholders and investors. There is pressure to log in profit and more often than not, there is a wrong move. Slip-ups like reckless expansion and wobbly strategies can damage reputations and that is likely to lead to a deficit in public trust.
Large corporations are inclined more towards brand reputation management rather than launching new products and companies have started using their online reputations as assets to expand the flow of investments, gain customers and fuel market share.
Online reputation repair and risk management firm aReputation’s (www.areputation.co.uk) spokesperson David Miller pointed out, “India’s top 1000 corporate houses require end-to-end online reputation management, both as a reinstation to print and television users who also use internet, as well as a mechanism to reach out to the 100 million-plus internet users who spend majority of their waking time on the internet, laptops and smartphones.
“The public is now connected to the outside world in more ways than just TV. News spreads quickly online. Our analysis shows that a streamlined approach to managing a firm’s online reputation has a meaningful impact on customers and boosts employees’ morale. We don’t use smokescreens, rather, we strive to fix the issue.”
No image problem is necessarily permanent. With the help of a professional company, almost any person or enterprise can redeem himself or itself. Identifying the right reputation manager is not easy. The competition with regard to online reputation is stiff and only those who understand the larger picture tend to leave the rest behind.
Miller said, “We manage 120 of India’s 1000 largest businesses’ brand on various social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. aReputation manages and helps launch a business’ social media presence by developing brand strategy, creating relevant profiles and posting to and monitoring those profiles. Our USP remains online reputation repair and crisis management.”
Interestingly, aReputation not only has a handle on current social media platforms, but also monitors industry trends to determine what the new social media tools are, constantly updating tools and avenues. Managing negative content and helping to keep personal information private is also a service that is used on a large-scale by high-networth companies.
According to Forbes, the purpose of an online campaign is not just to be a soapbox for your brand; it’s about selling and promoting your brand to a wide variety of audience including investors, employee, customers, vendors and the general mass.

Reference: http://reputationbuilders.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/corporates-relying-on-areputation-for-positive-media-outreach

Facebook unveils new gender options for users

MENLO PARK (California): You don't have to be just male or female on Facebook anymore. The social media giant is adding a customizable option with about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender as well as three preferred pronoun choices: him, her or them.

Facebook said the changes, shared with The Associated Press before the launch on Thursday, initially cover the company's 159 million monthly users in the US and are aimed at giving people more choices in how they describe themselves, such bi-gender intersex gender fluid or transsexual.

"There's going to be a lot of people for whom this is going to mean nothing, but for the few it does impact, it means the world," said Facebook software engineer Brielle Harrison, who worked on the project and is herself undergoing gender transformation, from male to female. On Thursday, while watchdogging the software for any problems, she said she was also changing her Facebook identity from Female to TransWoman.

"All too often transgender people like myself and other gender nonconforming people are given this binary option, do you want to be male or female? What is your gender? And it's kind of disheartening because none of those let us tell others who we really are," she said. "This really changes that, and for the first time I get to go to the site and specify to all the people I know what my gender is."

Facebook, which has 1.15 billion active monthly users around the world, also allows them to keep their gender identity private and will continue to do so.

The change to the gender selection option is seen as a major step toward acceptance for people who don't self-identify as male or female, but the high-profile development seemed senseless to those who believe in two genders, no more.

"Of course Facebook is entitled to manage its wildly popular site as it sees fit, but here is the bottom line: It's impossible to deny the biological reality that humanity is divided into two halves - male and female," said Jeff Johnston, an issues analyst for Focus on the Family, an influential national religious organization based in Denver. "Those petitioning for the change insist that there are an infinite number of genders, but just saying it doesn't make it so. That said, we have a great deal of compassion for those who reject their biological sex and believe they are the opposite sex."

Masen Davis, executive director of the San Francisco-based Transgender Law Center, said it may be hard for some people to understand the importance of having the ability to select from multiple genders online. But he said many transgender people will be thrilled with the change.

"We applaud Facebook for making it possible for people to be their authentic selves online," he said.

In the past decade, the transgender movement has become much more organized and outspoken, demanding the kind of civil rights and respect already sought by gay activists. During this time, the transgender umbrella has been growing well beyond transsexuals to encompass a wide variety of gender identities.

The move by Facebook came after years of lobbying from users, some who started Facebook pages to petition for the change. Google+ offers male, female and "other" as choices, but transgender advocates said Facebook's many specific options puts the platform well ahead of any other online community. About 1 percent of Google+ users identify as other.

The idea of expanding gender choices percolated at Facebook for about a year and started to come to fruition during an in-house brainstorming four months ago, project manager Lexi Ross said.

Transgender activist Nori Herras-Castaneda, a spokeswoman for the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center in San Jose, said her community has been waiting for this to happen for a long time.

"We always talk about how gender is a spectrum," she said. "I can see a lot of people being extremely happy about this."

At this point, Facebook targets advertising according to male or female genders. For those who change to something neutral, ads will be targeted based on the pronoun they select for themselves. Unlike getting engaged or married, changing gender is not registered as a "life event" on the site and won't post on timelines. Therefore, Facebook said advertisers cannot target ads to those who declare themselves transgender or recently changed their gender.

Users also can separately indicate whether they want to be referred to as he, she or they.

Facebook came up with its range of terms after consulting with leading gay and transgender activists, and the company plans to continue working with them. Facebook started the options in the US and plans to take it global after working with activists abroad to come up with terms appropriate in other countries.

Herras-Castaneda said she did expect some anger.

"Any time the transgender community makes advances, there is backlash, and this is a very big advance, so yes, we'll face some problems, no doubt," she said.

At Facebook, staffers said the expanded options were never questioned, from CEO Mark Zuckerberg on down.


"Really, there was no debate within Facebook about the social implications at all," said Alex Schultz, director of growth. "It was simple: Not allowing people to express something so fundamental is not really cool so we did something. Hopefully a more open and connected world will, by extension, make this a more understanding and tolerant world."

source: Times of India- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/

Aspada investing $1.6M in supply chain solutions firm ThinkLink

Bangalore-based early stage investment firm Aspada, which is backed by US-based Soros Economic

Development Fund, is investing Rs 10 crore ($1.6 million) in Gurgaon-based supply chain services firm ThinkLink Supply Chain Services, as per a statement.
ThinkLink provides turnkey project management, design, skill development and staffing services in India’s logistics and supply chain sector. It will utilise the fund to strengthen its professional development, vocational skills and staffing division ThinkLink Learning.
“Supply chains across a number of sectors in India are becoming more complex and sophisticated due to the scale of operations and the entry of larger and more organised players in the market. Increased sophistication can be seen across verticals such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, agriculture, retail, e-commerce and basic utilities, providing significant business opportunities for ThinkLink,” said Saurabh Goyal, CEO of ThinkLink Supply Chain Services.
“Aspada’s investment will help ThinkLink to scale its mission of creating new and sustainable employment pathways for blue collar and entry level employees in a sector that is critical for sustaining India’s economic development,” Aspada Investment Company’s board member and Vice President of the Soros Economic Development Fund, Fawzia Naqvi, said in the statement.
Aspada Investment, led by by Kartik Srivatsa and Thomas Hyland, provides early-stage risk capital to businesses that help expand market access, improve livelihood and create large-scale employment opportunities in underserved communities. It makes both equity and debt-like self-liquidating investments and backs agricultural supply chain companies in an effort to support small farmers. Its target sectors include healthcare delivery, agricultural supply chains, education, logistics, and financial services.
Aspada announced its first investment last April in an end-to-end fresh vegetable supply chain firm Lawrencedale Agri Processing, which operates in the Nilgiri belt in southern India.
In April, Aspada Investment also raised $10 million from US-based Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF).
Earlier, SEDF had created $17 million SONG Fund, along with Omidyar Network, Google and Indian School of Business. Aspada also advises the portfolio of SONG Fund.

10 myths about insulin

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, and are afraid of taking insulin, this is for you. Most of what you've heard or read about taking insulin is probably untrue.

Many people who get diagnosed with diabetes fear the thought of taking insulin because of what they have heard, seen or read before, most of which is not true. We hope this post helps you to change your outlook towards insulin therapy as well as helps you to overcome your fears about starting one.

1. Myth: Insulin is addictive

Fact: Because insulin is something that diabetics are instructed to inject themselves, there is a wrong belief that a person can get addicted to it. But the fact is, insulin is just something that your body should have produced naturally. You cannot get addicted to it.

2. Myth: Carrying insulin is difficult because it needs to be refrigerated

Fact: If you have a bottle of unused insulin it should be stored in a refrigerator. But once you have opened the bottle, you can keep it at room temperature for upto 28 days. But never keep insulin shots in a place which is too hot or too cold. Freezing renders insulin useless whereas exposing insulin to direct sun (while travelling) can cause it to lose its potency. Read more about using insulin pumps instead of injections.

3. Myth: Insulin is expensive

Fact: Diabetes, on the whole, is an expensive condition. But, if you consider only insulin, it is less expensive than other oral medications. The prices vary depending on the brands and suppliers. 

4. Myth: Taking insulin means diabetes has turned serious

Fact: Diabetes in itself is a progressive disease, something that you should worry about. But, just because you have been prescribed insulin doesn’t mean it is getting worse. Insulin will just help you to control it better. Read more about treatment for diabetes.

5. Myth: Insulin therapy means I will have to take multiple shots daily

Fact: Not in every case. There are long-acting insulin shots that are to be taken once in a day (usually at nights). If your blood sugar level rises tremendously after having meals, then you may have to inject insulin several times in a day (before eating). Here’s more information how to use an insulin pen.

6. Myth: Once I start taking insulin, I will have to take it forever

Fact: The fact is, no matter how much you depend on medicines, you will have to bring changes in your lifestyle. If you lose weight, exercise regularly and follow a strict diet you may no longer need insulin. Also, sometimes, insulin may be needed temporarily if it is diagnosed during pregnancy.

7. Insulin will make me fat

Fact: Although diabetics taking insulin therapy do tend to gain weight but insulin is not the cause for their weight gain. Insulin enables your body to use food more efficiently. Therefore, along with following insulin therapy, it is important to follow a proper diet plan and exercise programme too. 

8. Oral medicines are better than taking insulin

Fact: People say that because they haven’t understood the dos and don’ts of insulin therapy. The fact is oral medicines do not work for every diabetic. But insulin is something that will work effectively. Here’s an interesting piece of information on the possibility of insulin pills.

9. Insulin can cause dangerously low blood sugar

Fact: This is possible only if you don’t take insulin in a timely fashion or as recommended by your doctor. Eating right at the right time is an important part of living with diabetes. When you’re taking insulin, you need to be aware of the signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) like shaky hands, urge to eat or sweating. If you take active measures and eat at proper time with timed insulin, this problem will never occur. Here’s some information on adherence to insulin treatment.

 10.   Myth: Insulin is a cure for diabetes

Fact: Surprisingly, a few diabetics believe that insulin is a cure for their problem. They totally depend on insulin to control their sugar levels and ignore the importance of exercise and diet. 

As of now, diabetes cannot be cured but some day we might see a permanent solution to diabetes. Insulin is a substitute when beta cells of the pancreas cannot produce insulin by themselves. So, it’s a just a way by which you can control your sugar levels and manage diabetes. You cannot depend on it. You have to be committed to your health and live with a positive outlook towards life. Read expert views on whether diabetes can be reversed. 

By Shraddha Rupavate | Health.India.com

Satya Nadella is not a win for India but a loss

Why do we keep doing it? Why do we keep patting ourselves on the back in self-congratulations when what we are really doing is stabbing ourselves in the back?

Every time an Indian – or a person of Indian origin, who no longer has Indian citizenship and is not strictly speaking Indian anymore – gets appointed to an eminent office abroad we go ga-ga with patriotic pride. Take the recent case of Satya Nadella, the 46-year-old ex-Hyderabadi who has lived in the US since he was a post-graduate student. When he was made CEO of Microsoft – the macro giant of IT founded in 1975, headed by Bill Gates and one time billed as being the most highly valued company in the world – the Indian media and Indians in general, went over the moon with self-satisfied joy.

INDIA MAKES A POWER POINT, blazoned a six-column headline on the front page of The Times of India. Most of the other media was similarly overcome with euphoria.

Nadella’s case is not the exception but the rule. Whenever any person of Indian origin – even individuals who left the country may years ago, or perhaps weren’t even born in India – wins any kind of recognition abroad, India goes overboard about what is seen as a surrogate victory for the country.

Why do we do this? And why do we think of such success stories as victories for India, when what they really represent is a loss for the country?

Why do we tom-tom the success of Indians living abroad? Perhaps it’s a reaction to our colonial past when we were ruled by a foreign power for over 200 years. When an Indian – a person of Indian origin – succeeds in the western world we feel a sense of reclaimed self-esteem, a salve to our sense of national pride, injured by the legacy of foreign rule.

Perhaps this is not just an understandable but also an inevitable response, given our history of having been colonised and the consequent need to show ourselves and the rest of the world that we are not inferior to anyone.

But such vicarious ‘victories’ are really defeats for us. Instead of lauding the success of an Indian who has left the shores of this country to live, work and win laurels elsewhere, we should ask ourselves why such people feel it desirable, or necessary, to go abroad to find success and fulfillment  in whatever their chosen field is, from IT to academics, from medical science to politics.

What is called ‘the great Indian diaspora’ is a phenomenon that most of us take great pride in. See how many of us Indians have gone abroad, see how many of us Indians are doing so well there.

It’s a great feeling. But there’s one nagging question: wouldn’t it have been better for India if instead of having had to go to a foreign land to achieve success such people had pursued their careers here, to the benefit of our own country?

So by all means let’s raise a collective toast to Satya Nadella and his well-earned success, and wish him all the best in his assignment. But let’s also realise that Nadella, and people like him, don’t represent a victory for India; they represent a victory for their adoptive country which managed to lure them away from India by the promise of better prospects than their home country could offer.

Nadella represents a gain for Microsoft and for the US in general; for India he represents a loss.

jug.suraiya@timesgroup.com

Source:http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/satya-nadella-is-not-a-win-for-india-but-a-loss?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral