THE VLSI HOMEPAGE

Effectiveness must be learned as an executive is paid for being effective asserts Drucker, the management guru. Effectiveness is the ability to get the right things done and is a habit, a complex of practices that have to be acquired. Outlined below are the steps that could make you more effective according to his book “The Effective Executive” ( A soft copy of this book is also available at Asiaing)

• Record where the time goes (Know thy time) and analyze the executive’s time (pruning of unnecessary activities) - this action alone will make a man more effective. He needs to be able to dispose of time in fairly large chunks for maximum effectiveness. Identify the time wasters which follow from lack of system or foresight. A crisis that recurs a second time is a crisis that must not occur again. The recurrent crisis is simply a symptom of slovenliness and laziness.

• Focus outwards on your contribution to the organization with concern for results rather than efforts and stress on responsibility. Think through who uses your output and what the user needs to know. Focus on contribution supplies four basic requirements of effective human relations : communications, teamwork, self-development and development of others.
  • What is the most important contribution I can make to the performance of this organization?
  • What self-development do I need? What knowledge and skills do I need to make the contribution and what standards do I have to set myself?

• Making strengths productive - integrate individual purpose and organization needs appropriately. One has a pretty good idea whether one works better in the morning or at night. One knows whether one works best by making a great many drafts or one meticulous session.
  • What are the things that I seem to be able to do with relative ease ? To be effective he builds on what he can do and does it the way hr has found out works best. One feeds the opportunities and starves the problems.

• First things first and one thing at a time. Identify priorities by
  • Picking future as against the past
  • Focus on opportunity rather than on problem
  • Choose your own direction
  • Aim High, aim for something that will make a difference.

• Effective decision concerns with rational action. Effective decisions do not flow from consensus of facts but from clash and conflict of divergent opinions.

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Imagine a workplace that you look forward to go to everyday - you hold the position you coveted for, enjoy the work and the benefits that come along with it, you are held in high esteem by your colleagues, have a say in the direction the organization is heading and pride on being very meticulous and effective in your work. Sounds too good to be true ?? Wrong !! You can and you should strive for it !!

In my opinion, too many folks short sell themselves or aim too low when it comes to work - they slip into their weekly routine, resist change and are quite content as long as their paycheck pays off their monthly expenses. At the other end of the spectrum, there are several professionals who are ambitious, hardworking and want to get ahead but have no clue how to do so.

This post initially began as a compilation of useful ideas from different sources to help me in my career goals and plans. I sincerely hope that this post will also help you in carving a niche for yourself in your career.

• The first step is to formulate a career plan - what your objectives are, what you would like to accomplish in the short term and long term and chalk out a plan to achieve these goals.

• Long term goals are important - We tend to overestimate what we can achieve in one month but largely underestimate what we can achieve in a year! Study the management structure in your organization and where you are placed currently. Analyze what you need to do to move to your desired position and any skills, knowledge that you need to acquire along the way.

• Short term goals include present deadlines, projects you are working on and actions that will benefit you and are in sync with your long term goals.

• Know your strengths and weaknesses - identify areas you excel in and have clear advantage over other colleagues. The clear way to do this is through feedback analysis - comparing the actual results from one of your decisions to the expected results. This feedback will be very valuable and you need to concentrate on your strengths.

• Know the difference between efficiency and effectiveness - efficiency is the art of doing things right while effectiveness is the art of doing the right things. Your boss will let you know how to do things right but it is upto you to figure out what’s the right job for you.

• Do NOT indulge in gossiping, tea break politics and other socializing in the workplace. Keep your eye on the job all the time, work hard to deliver high quality results - this is very important. Dont be complacent and always act one step ahead.

• Get your work noticed by your immediate superiors - one way to do this is to provide voluntary ideas or reports on how to improve design process, methodologies in the group. Always prepare well during presentations anticipating any problems/concerns that upper management may have and look at them as opportunities to cast a favorable impression.

• Three important words - “Act as if” Act as if you are the CEO of the organization, act as if you are running a team of individuals that you need to motivate to get the best out of them. That you are a junior does not matter, it’s the attitude that works wonders.

• Articulate and express yourself clearly during meetings, write well and be meticulous in documentation, records, reports etc. Be proactive and schedule performance reviews with your manager every three months for feedback and areas you can improve in.

• Dress well, groom yourself well and put on your best appearance. Too many folks neglect this but it counts.

• Plan your day ahead, split the work in tiny chunks of time and clock in the planned amount of time into that activity for best results. Sure, there will be emails/ phones ringing and colleagues dropping by for advice. A polite “later” from you and your colleagues will understand that you are in midst of something that is important to you.

• Always under promise and over deliver, this will also take care of any unexpected screwups and also aid in meeting deadlines you have committed to.

• Develop the right attitude, have a nice smile, be positive and cheerful and take pride on what you do. If you dont have anything nice to say, clam up. If some colleague moans about his/her job, be sympathetic and nod discerningly. Do not offer anything make more than that.

• Know your values and the organization values and check if they are compatible. If they are not, it is highly unlikely that you will enjoy your work. Never lie, do not take sides, stand up for your colleagues and develop team spirit. In times of need, your colleagues will stick to you if you follow these rules.

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