Team building

Team building

Every time a new member joins a team, or a member leaves a team, or when a team is formed for a specific task/ goal, the need for team building arises. 

Even if the members stay intact, there is a need for team building on a periodic and regular basis to keep members engaged and fired up, or to realign members to the team goal. 

This being said, a team building event is an opportunity to align members to the common and shared team goal. 

Go Team Go!

#iWish

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Rejections are actually opportunities in disguise

Rejections are actually opportunities in disguise

When I am younger and less inexperienced, I used to view rejections badly. I used to feel that whenever I am handed a rejection, it was because I just wasn't good enough, or there must be something that I didn't do, or did wrongly...

Now, on hindsight, I can safely tell you that these bouts of rejections are actually opportunities in disguise. These rejections are a signal, to myself, to hold out for something even better. 

And most of the times, it is true. Whenever I am handed a rejection, it is almost always for the better opportunity to come rolling by into my lap subsequently. Imagine if I were not handed the rejection and got the offer in the first place, I wouldn't be able to accept the better opportunity when it came by subsequently. 

Then again, by offering the better opportunity subsequently, does it then mean that I am giving out on the next better and bigger opportunity? Perhaps, then again, how long do you want to hold out for? 

A philosophical question and food for thought for another deeper discussion, for another day perhaps. 

#iWish

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Lunch with wifey

Lunch with wifey

Well, today we had an unplanned lunch date at this korean restaurant.

This korean restaurant was my favourite, for it is reasonably priced, and yet delicious and authentic (it is owned by a korean family, and korean workers around the area frequent this place). 

However, the buffet it used to have have reverted back to set lunch sets. Although the prices for the buffet and the set lunch is the same, obviously the buffet will be more worth it. 

Anyway, we had the usual, and chatted through the meal. 

What is different this time around is that I had to take a bus to the restaurant (2 bus stops away) as i've recently moved office, and is located slightly further than where i used to be. 

Good lunch, satisfied!

#iWish

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The end of an era

The end of an era

A new beginning, a new start. 

Let's carry the torch and bring it to further heights. 

The toughest role for any leader is to plan for succession. 

For the greatest measure and legacy of a leader is not the achievements made by the leader, but in the system surviving and thriving long after the leader has gone. 

#iWish

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Business Lunch - Food Wastage?

Business Lunch

Had a sumptuous business lunch at King's Centre. 

Was eating at this china-themed old shanghai restaurant. 

The food was really good, had some really nice and famous items. 

There was some food wastage though, what to expect when this is a business lunch. Weird and true, in the Chinese tradition, it is customary to order slightly more than what the guests can eat in a business/ formal setting, so that it will appear as if the host is generous enough to order more than sufficient food for all. 

In the event that all the food is finished, it may signal that the host is stingy and ordered insufficient food. 

Thus, the tendency to over order, especially for business meals. 

What then do such hosts behave when they are at home or on personal meals? 

Well, they too behave like the general public, they order just enough and do their best not to waste food!

So, in today's World, I would wish for zero food wastage. 

#iWish

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Motivating a worker

Motivating a worker

How do you, as a leader/ manager/ supervisor, engage and motivate a worker? 

The simple answer is you can't.

You can only motivate the worker externally, through giving rewards or punishments. But extrinsic motivation doesn't last, and is not sustainable over the long run. How much more rewards can you afford to offer before you feel the heat? How much more punishment can you mete out?

What needs to happen is the worker needs to be intrinsically motivated, that it, motivated internally. And this is often easier said than done. As a superior, all you can do is to provide a nurturing and supportive environment, and equip the worker with the necessary tools, and then get out of the way so he/ she can do the job. Hopefully, in the nurturing and supportive environment you have set up, the worker will find his/ her inherent strength from within, and be intrinsically motivated. 

Long story short, the best and sustainable form of motivation is intrinsic. 

How do you achieve that? Well, unfortunately there is no simple answers to that, a lot of academic articles, research and surveys have been done to see if we can uncover what exactly is the recipe to create/ foster intrinsic motivation. 

Well, my advice, through my personal experiences...

1. Hire the right person

2. Make sure you can detect the genuine passion from the person

3. Create a nurturing and supportive environment

4. Equip the worker with the necessary tools

5. Empower the worker to do the job

6. Get the hell out of his/ her way!

#iWish

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Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

Went to Gardens by the Bay last friday for a company event. 

It was partly cornered off as it was a private event, but due to the open layout found in the Gardens by the Bay, there were multiple porous entrance points. 

Free food stalls were set up, and staff dined heartily. 

However, some passer-bys eventually made their way into the venue location and took the food meant for staff as well. 

They were subsequently caught (due to the nature that they looked like tourists, behaved like tourists, and came in buses meant for tourists, they even dressed like tourists with their bermudas, cameras, and all), and told off. But, the food has been taken and eaten, so nothing can be done to prevent it. 

This made me question one thing, that of moral authority. If there were placards indicating that this was a private event - there is no way you could have missed that! Would you still take advantage of the porous entrances and sneak in to get some free buffet food?

Would you? 

I know I wouldn't. 

But I can't say the same for others. 

But then again, everyone is fighting a battle you don't know about. 

So, do give them the benefit of the doubt. 

Maybe they are truly hungry?

Maybe they don't have enough to get some food? 

Maybe they couldn't read the signs, which are in English. 

Maybe, just maybe...

Or perhaps, why can't we just share the happiness and joy with one another?

Since there's plenty of food to go around... (last I checked, food ran out pretty fast, some staff couldn't get the food in time, so there wasn't enough food to go around, maybe we should have catered more...)

So, live and let live. 

Share the food. 

Share the happiness. 

#iWish

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Employee empowerment and delegation

Employee empowerment and delegation

Does the above two concepts go hand in hand? 

Are they sequential or simultaneous?

After you delegate, then you empower?

Or do you empower first before you delegate?

Tough questions...

Well, as leaders and managers, we often find ourselves in such a situation. 

More often than not, we should aim to empower our staff at all levels, so that when we do delegate tasks to them, they are already empowered to deal with the task at hand. 

Bear in mind that you can only delegate the task, but you cannot delegate accountability. If your staff screws up, you must bear the responsibility. This means you must equip the staff with the necessary knowledge and skill-sets, and the organizational tools, before you delegate the task. At the same time, make sure the staff is empowered to act on it, rather than curtailed in his/ her own approach to resolving the task at hand.

What is the worst kind of delegation? One where staff is dis-empowered - where the manager micro manages the process. True, you need to tend to the staff after you have delegated the task in the beginning, but bear in mind the fine line not to be crossed. You can be nurturing, but make sure you are not micro managing. 

Micro management - yucks!

Happy delegating!

Happy empowering!

#iWish

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Organisational Learning

Organisational Learning

The topic on organisational learning has been around for quite some time. Human Resource and Training practitioners have been pushing for organisational learning instead of individual learning when they send people for courses. However, this focuses on the aspect of how the employees can learn and contribute to the organisation, and yet the learning can be built into the organisation itself. This is so that even if the employees leave, the learning and knowledge can still be retained within the organisation. 

This concept ignores the fact on the pre-learning an employee brings when he/ she first joins the organisation. What about this aspect of learning and knowledge gained by the employees in their previous roles in other organisation? Can we make use of such pre-learning and knowledge and see if some are still relevant to our organisation. How then can we make use of such relevant knowledge and adapt it accordingly to the context of our organisation? 

This is food for thought. 

#iWish

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Good health

Wish for good health. 

Health is the most important thing. 

If you have good health, you get to enjoy life and have more vitality.

#iWish

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--

Peer pressure

Peer pressure

today, I want to discuss on peer pressures. 

the pressure to conform, and to stay within the social and peer norm. 

how great this peer pressure must have been!

the pressure to compare, among your peers.

it could range in many forms:

1. salary

2. position/ level

3. job opportunities

4. family obligations

5. personal goals 

6. etc

which brings me to my next thought. 

what happens then when you don't have a common topic to discuss and contribute, and to "compare" and "benchmark" with? such as a stay at home mum against her peers of working women?

will this outlier eventually get displaced from her group of friends, and not get invited to future gatherings? 

or will the group of friends conform and adapt to suit the stay at home mum friend? so they can discuss some other common topics instead of always going back to discussing on work issues? 

no wonder stay at home mums tend to find their own cliques of other stay at home mums, from meeting them at school events or school related gatherings. 

well, that is some food for thought. 

this might mean what cliques you form and change along the course of your life journey. 

#iWish

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employee on-boarding kit

Thought of having an employee on-boarding kit, where it will contain all the necessary essentials - such as:

1. a mug - for taking of water from the pantry

2. some cup noodles - for satisfying those hunger pangs during those late nights?!?

3. some snacks - for satisfying those hunger pangs in the day

4. a direction guide for places to eat, and to hang out with colleagues, that is around the office locations

5. maybe a USB fan? - as the employee may come back to work on a weekend where there's no air con (just saying)

What other items are essential?

#iWish

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A new beginning

A new beginning 

Have started on a new role since wednesday. 

So far it has been great. 

Benefits are good. 

So, any wishes for iWish? 

#iWish

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Godspeed

Last few days until a new fresh start to a brand new role

Now that I have handed over almost all of my tasks, I've been following up only on some really urgent stuff, and plainly just walking around the office and shaking hands, saying goodbye. 

Amidst the goodbyes, I've sincerely learnt and grew tremendously in this role, and as I bid this role farewell, I await eagerly and in earnest anticipation what my new role will bring. 

I shudder with excitement as I struggle to contain the anticipation. 

The unknown, the enthusiasm, the mystery. 

Well, onward I shall advance, for it doesn't matter how slowly I walk, as long as I never stop advancing, and never walk backwards. 

Godspeed!

#iWish

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Valentine's Day aftermath

Valentine's Day is over. 

Welcome to a fresh and short week on this joyous Monday workday. 

For some of you, today is a beautiful start to a fresh and relatively short week. 

For others, today might be black Monday because you either failed to live up to expectations for Valentine's Day, or you have forgotten about it plainly. 

If you did forget, then you ought to get shot, you can't possibly miss all the publicity, and marketing materials that bombarded your senses once you step out of your home? You couldn't have missed the large billboards and banners along Orchard Road...

Well, for others who live to tell another day, there's always the Valentine's Day for next year. That will be when you will have to up your ante, and do one better than you did this year. That is, assuming your partner is the same one. 

Well, happy post Valentine's Day. 

We live to fight another day. 

The restaurant and rose prices are back to normal now. 

#iWish

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"Honey, I will iron the clothes, you relax"

Spring Cleaning

As Chinese New Year is just around the corner, this leaves the last weekend to really spring clean up your house. 

For some, who have been putting in regular clean ups along the way, this task will be smooth sailing. For others, who have not been cleaning up regularly, and have been procrastinating the clean up, this leaves a huge and enormous task of a major spring cleaning exercise. Not looking forward to it. 

Then again, how do you split the housework between you and your spouse? Equally? or depending on whose area or forte is it? Or depending on which partner has more "passion" in doing which tasks? Passion is a funny word, and even funnier in the context of housework. 

"I love to do housework, especially ironing!" - said no one ever

Then how do you then allocate the work that needed to be done, between two participating partners? 

Love, my friend, is the answer. 

When you truly love your significant other, you will do the nasty task in lieu of thinking or imagining that your partner will have to do it otherwise. So, things get done. 

So, doing the unpleasant household tasks can be a form of gifts to your loved ones. 

Put and record it down on iWish, and use it to gift your loved one a pleasant surprise...

"Honey, I will iron the clothes, you relax"

#iWish

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Company culture

Company culture. 

Do you work in an environment that is friendly, conducive and receptive? 

Or do you work in an environment that is full of office politics, dis-empowerment and mis-trust?

Which work environment would you rather work for?

Would you have signed on to your current job knowing what the environment is now? Or thinking back, would you have stayed away at the interview stage?

Well, there is often a formal process, rules and policy dictated on how to behave and portray yourself professionally in a formal document for the organisation. However, there exists a sub-culture which is not usually documented or easily observed from the outside. Once you are inside the organisation, then you can begin to experience and witness the sub-culture at work. 

Most times, by the time you get to truly immerse and experience the sub-culture at work, you are already too far inside the organisation to get out. Most probably, you would have already signed the appointment/offer letter. 

So, in this post, iWish that all work environments could be more empowering, and receptive to employees. And that all employees will find joy to come to work everyday. 

Most importantly, that all employees are placed in a position for success. That they will be equipped with the right and necessary tools and beliefs, and built for success. 

#iWish

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Gift the gift of time

Gift the gift of time. 

For this upcoming Chinese New Year, do your best to spend a little more time with your loved ones. 

Visit your grandparents. Pamper your parents. 

Make sure you spend time with them. 

It is ok if you are merely sitting by while they watch tv, and you play on your phone. 

It is still better than if you are not by their side while they watch tv. 

Sometimes, it is already happiness to them to have you by their side while they continue doing their daily tasks. 

Even better, they will just talk to you endlessly. 

You will be the joy and special moment in their otherwise mundane and boring daily life of tv watching. 

So, humour your loved ones. 

Spend a little bit more time with them this Chinese New Year. 

Oh, be sure to head home for reunion dinner too. 

It means the World to them. 

#iWish

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pay attention to your health before it's too late

Health Check Up

When was the last time you had your annual health check up done? 

Any issues or problems detected from the check up? 

Hope everything is well, and you've been handed a clean bill of health. 

Well, the health check up or some call it, health examination is an examination of sorts, except you cannot rush and study for it just the night before and expect to pass with flying colours. 

It is one where your general health and well-being is being tested and assessed. 

When we are young, we sacrifice our health for money. 

When we are older, we spend our money to prolong our health. 

Isn't it true?

Make sure you pay attention to your health before it's too late!

iWish you good health, a life of abundance, and happiness. 

#iWish

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Will power juice

Clearing my stuff

Well, I am now clearing my stuff and mess accumulated over the 4 years I spent with my current organisation. 

Came across many interesting memorabilia, and got reminded of each project back then. One even achieved a patent from the effort. Nice congratulations letter from the law firm, of course, they earned quite a bit of money from the patent application project. 

Threw out a lot of stuff, stuff I used to keep (with the intention that maybe one day I may need to refer to it), and that I have never used or refer to them ever again. 

Stuff that I don't even know are in my possession, going to throw them all away. 

Those that can be recycled, I will recycle them. Those that are confidential, I will shred. Those generic rubbish, I will junk. 

That say a messy table reflects an organised mind, and likewise. Not the other way around. Reason is we all have a certain will power juice in a day. If one spent effort to organise and keep the desk clean, neat and tidy, he will have to spend some will power juice for that day to do that. Will power juice is a limited resource. So he will have lesser will power juice remaining to tackle the bigger challenges of the day itself. 

So, if you have a messy desk, it just means you are saving your will power juice for the decisions that truly matter everyday. So, you have an organised mind, as you have more will power juice to think and conceptualise. 

haha, at least I buy that idea. 

#iWish

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