Avoiding Conflict at Work

As you stand to take a plunge into the corporate world away from the comforting company of your friends and well wishers of college days, you may well find yourself dealing with people who are just not your type. And when it comes to working in a team you are bound to face conflicts.
We rely on and spend more time with our colleagues than with most other people in our lives: yet we frequently experience conflict at work. In a way it’s obvious and in a way ironical.
Conflict is such a broad term for what can be experienced, ranging from office gossip to outright being physically aggressive. In nearly every single office there are always going to be personality clashes at some point, and most of the time they will be fairly easily sorted out. However, sometimes they aren't and there is often no other option than to resign.
The real problem underlying this situation is that people really don't have the skills to deal with these kinds of situations. They frequently accept the problem when it is happening and then get really upset afterwards. I don’t say that you’ll come out winners every time but the five ways in which you can perhaps come out of the tricky situation are:

1. Avoidance (also can be known as Ignoring (I Lose / You Lose)) This is the most frequently used strategy along with accommodation. Here conflict is avoided by simply refusing to engage in the situation.

Example: Someone making a sly comment and the person it was aimed at simply walks away. While this obviously is not a good way of dealing with conflict the majority of the time as it tends not to help, it is worth being considered as a strategy for when the conflict is just not worth the effort of being addressed.

2. Accommodation (also can be know as Looking Good (I Lose / You Win)) Here you take the conflict and submit.

Example: Listening to unhelpful criticism and believing it. Again, very frequently used especially where there is low confidence and self-esteem. This is another not very successful method of dealing with conflict, but it will do if you know that there is a solution coming soon.

3. Compete (I Win / You Lose)
This one means that you play the person at his or her own game and work hard to get your own way in the conflict.

Example: Someone starts spreading rumors about you, so you do the same in return in an attempt to discredit the power of the other person's word. This can be very useful when the conflict is mild and you are passionate about your stance, but can lead to a vicious circle as the conflict escalates. Be very sure you want to use this strategy as lowering yourself to someone else's level rarely shows you in the best light.

4. Compromise (Illusion of I Win / You Win but not in real sense)

It’s more of an adjustment from both the sides....but the pinch is still there. A much more useful tactic to use. Here you don't give in to the conflict, but work out a solution somewhere between the two sides.

Example: Someone delegates a huge amount of work to your already over-filled plate, you respond by taking on some of it, and then recommending that this person parcel out the rest to other people. This is the strategy of choice for most untrained managers as this is how we frequently deal with children in real life - and so it is a behavior we all know about. This can of course lead to the obvious downfall of the actual solution leaving none of the sides happy. This is best to use when the goal is to get past the issue and move on - with the issue having relatively little significance.

5. Collaborate (Actually I Win / You Win)

This is the most effective and correct strategy to follow. You start working on Alternative Options. The most useful tactic, particularly with extremes of conflict such as bullying. The aim here is to focus on working together to arrive at a solution, where both sides have ownership of and commitment to the solution.

Example 1: You and someone else are at completely opposed viewpoints over a project.
You sit down with them and work out why they believe in their point of view, and explain your own. Clever and lateral thinking can provide a solution, which answers both sides, but is not a compromise.

Example 2: Someone is bullying you at work. You talk to this person and collaborate on modifying his behavior.

Use this strategy when the goal is to meet as many of the current needs as is possible. It’s the most difficult strategy if confidence is low as it involves actually naming the issue to the conflict-creator, which can cause huge anxiety and fear.
To collaborate successfully on an issue such as continuing conflict you need to follow few basic guidelines.

You must recognize that part of the problem is your own fault: you allowed it to happen and did not try to address it to begin with. You can use this aloud and actively take part of the responsibility, as this will put the onus onto the other person to take the other part of the responsibility. Remember that we frequently don't like in others what we don't want to see in ourselves, but find occasionally anyway. Be very sure that you have not committed the same conflict and that you do not in the future.

Manage yourself during the resolution attempt - learn calming strategies if you are hot-tempered or confidence boosters if you are shy. Do not to be emotional, as emotion will only make things escalate.
Don't believe that the best defense is a good offence - that is part of the Competing strategy.
Work the issue, not the person: this means addressing the behavior rather than the entire existence of that person. There is a different level of ownership for behaviors, and people will take less offence if you criticize their behavior than if you criticize them personally.

Never lay blame, as this will only fan the fires. If you are not getting anywhere, ask for further information from the other person about the reasons for their behavior, but don't ask the questions with 'why' at the beginning - if you do this will actively put the other person under the spotlight and they will get defensive.
Remember above all, that people who enjoy creating conflict are ultimately power-seekers who enjoy controlling others. Frequently this is because either they have suffered in a similar way before or feel that they have very little control over their own lives and does anything they can to feel in control. A little compassion will take you a long way both in resolving the situation and in putting it behind you when it is resolved. One of the most important strategies for collaboration is to start "Listening First".

 

Starting a Consulting Company

Starting a consulting business? If you have expertise and skills that others need, starting a consulting firm may be your ticket to the entrepreneurial ball. This article walks you through the process.

Before taking the plunge into consulting, here are questions that need to be addressed:

Do you need a license or other special certification?

Depending on the type of services you provide, some states may require a license or a special certification. In addition to the cost of obtaining the license or certification, you may need to meet coursework or seminar requirements. While some consultants aren’t required to be certified by law, they will still need certification in order to be competitive in the marketplace.

Are you qualified to be a consultant?

Consultancy may seem like a great way to make a living following a career setback. But somewhere along the way you need to ask yourself whether or not you are actually qualified to be a consultant. Keep in mind that your clients will expect you to be the expert. Being conversant in a subject area is a far cry from expertise. Unless you are absolutely confident in your ability to offer expert advice in your subject area, you may want to reconsider another vocational goal.

Are you prepared to market yourself?

Self-promotion is the lifeblood of consulting. You may be the world’s leading expert in your subject area. However, you’ll never make a dime in consulting unless you are able to market your services to the right people. As the owner of your consulting business, you will need to learn how to advertise, market, and network. At first, it may feel awkward “tooting your own horn” to prospective clients. But keep at it – it will get easier!

How much will you charge?

Deciding how much to charge for your services is crucial to the success of your consultancy. When you worked for an employer, the employer most likely provided fringe benefits such as health insurance and retirement benefits, as well as the overhead costs involved with running the business. As the owner of a consulting business, you now need to cover those costs yourself. As such, your fee schedule needs to reflect the added financial burden of your new business. Start by surveying how much other consultants are charging for similar services and decide where you want to be priced in the marketplace. Also, plan to charge on an hourly basis rather than a project basis.

Should you ever not charge for services?

Despite the need to charge a fair price for your services, you should consider offering free initial consultations to prospective clients. Increasingly, free initial consultations are becoming the industry standard. But more importantly, a free, no-risk consultation will give you an opportunity to establish trust and lay the building blocks of a successful long term relationship.

BITS Pilani Rajasthan Alumnus bags National Film Awards for Best Film Critic

Film criticism is much more than scribbling something here and other and page filling. For this Chemical Engineer, film making is an innovative process of converting raw materials such as story, actors, actresses, stars, starlets, music, etc in the most lavish fashion carrying out transformations of the Physical, Chemical, Mechanical, Digital, Emotional kind in a Directed sequence to a useful product in an attractive package.

He is intelligent and with an in-depth understanding he is capable of writing reader friendly reviews of popular cinema in length and breadth. Most importantly, he has the passion for what he is doing.

After getting an Engineering degree from a premier Institute in India, he had a copywriting stint at J Walter Thompson, Chennai and then took off to Marquette University, Milwaukee for a Master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations. He spent a few years with IT industry in USA and then got back to Chennai where he is freelancing now. His film reviews and other articles on arts, entertainment and humour have been published in The New Sunday Express, The Economic Times – Madras Plus, Man’s World, Simplifly and Seminar. His blogs can be found at http://desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/

Started in year 1954, the National Film Awards are considered the most prestigious awards of India. Many popular artists have retired from the film industry without getting a National Film Award. For that matter, King Khan, Shahrukh is the best example who has won the famous Filmfare Best Actor Award so for seven times, but is yet to win the coveted National Film Award.

In the recently announced and much delayed 53rd National Film Awards, the award for the best film critic went to Proud to be a BITSian Baradwaj Rangan who did his B.E.(Hons) Chemical Engineering from BITS Pilani. During his stay at Pilani from August 1988 to June 1992 as a student, he must have seen about 200 films in various languages in the grand auditorium of the Institute and built up the passion to be a name to reckon with in the film industry.

This good natured jovial chap was Baddy for his buddies and Shankar who is one of them is of the opinion that Rangan’s journey to the writer’s world is as stupendous as his writing. This award winning guy has the cheek to say that some engineering graduates remain engineers, some move to management, and some, like him, go on to career mismanagement.

Baradwaj Rangan who has integrated himself into the excellence circuit is indeed a proud alumnus of BITS Pilani and in the times to come, he is bound to climb more peaks.

Deployment of 4G Networks & Services

Consulting Opportunities

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Deployment of 4G Networks & Services

By Subodh

Features of 4G

4G promises to deliver those services that 3G could not deliver primarily due to the haphazard deployment and lack of interoperability among the standards. The present infrastructure does not allow data transmission fast enough to efficiently deliver next-generation services, such as GIS and Mobile Commerce (M Commerce). The telecommunication industry expects 4G to support a vast range of data transfer rates. 4G will offer services as demanded. A few key features envisioned for 4G are:

· Application-related technologies: Include next-generation coding and compression technologies, dynamic variable-rate codecs, mobile agent technologies, man-machine interfaces including intelligent mobile terminals, streaming data communication technology, content description language, and application development environment technology.

· New age services: 4G will deliver new value added services, such as Voice over IP (VoIP), all IP wireless connectivity, mobile e-commerce, and software-defined radio.

· Better wireless connectivity: Due to the increased bandwidth, 4G will deliver faster wireless connections. The time spent in searching for the cell will be negligible. The quality of service will be much better than those of the existing technologies.

· Better frequency utilization: 4G will use three-dimensional cell architecture. This will result in better frequency utilization. OFDM has ultra low latency rates. This will also ensure that frequencies are fully utilized.

· Better end-user devices: 4G will use advanced mobile devices. These devices will have a much longer battery life, low power usage, and features such as superior voice recognition. These devices will be made using the latest chips and memories.

Our Opportunities

From the view point of providing consultancy services we must analyze the challenges faced while developing 4G networks. The following envisioned challenges will be our opportunities for providing services :

1. Cooperation among various service providers

2. Cooperation among various device manufacturers

3. Allocation of spectrum

4. Availability of spectrum

5. Innovation in technology

6. Application development

7. Enhancements in switching mechanisms

8. Signal processing

Our Resources

The organizations involved in the research, development, and regulatory activities of 4G will form our valuable resource for us to provide our consultancy services. These organizations include Mobile Wireless Internet Forum (MWIF), Broadband Radio Access Network (BRAN), and Fourth Generation Wireless Infrastructure (4GWI).

· MWIF

MWIF is a nonprofit, international association of telecommunication companies. The mission of MWIF is to develop an open architecture of a mobile, wires Internet. This open standard will enable seamless integration of mobile telephony with Internet-based services, such as voice, data, and video. This standard will meet the requirements of telecom network operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

· OFDM Forum

OFDM Forum is an association of prominent wireless companies including software companies, hardware manufacturers, and telecommunication companies. The main objective of OFDM Forum is to ensure a global OFDM platform to deliver cost-effective devices on all wireless networks around the world. OFDM Forum has three working groups:

i. Fixed Wireless access

ii. WLAN and home multimedia

iii. Broadband mobile wireless

OFDM Forum also assists organizations involved in OFDM to develop markets. The main members of OFDM Forum are Sony, Philips, and Ericsson.

· BRAN

BRAN is a project that aims to develop and consolidate the wireless access systems that offer a minimum data transfer rate of 25 Mbps. These wireless systems may or may not operate in a licensed spectrum. BRAN addresses business and residential access applications.

· 4GWI

The 4GWI project proposes a comprehensive architecture for a 4G wireless access system. This architecture incorporates technical, economical, and regulatory issues. The issues that 4GWI covers are:

i. Analysis of services

ii. Cost structure

iii. Marketing

Twenty Habits That Hold You Back from the Top

Everyone's Bad Habits
Goldsmith's work centers on helping people identify and break the bad
habits that are getting in their way. The meat of What Got You Here Won't Get You There is thus his elaborate and revealing discussion of the "Twenty Habits That Hold You Back from the Top." They are:

1. Winning too much: Goldsmith notes that the hypercompetitive need to
best others "underlies nearly every other behavioral problem."
2. Adding too much value: This happens when you can't stop yourself from tinkering with your colleagues' or subordinates' already viable ideas. "It is extremely difficult," Goldsmith observes, "for successful people to listen to other people tell them something that they already know without communicating somehow that (a) 'we already knew that' and (b) 'we know a better way.'" The fallacy of this sort of behavior is that, while it may slightly improve an idea, it drastically reduces the other person's commitment to it.
3. Passing judgment: "It's not appropriate to pass judgment when we specifically ask people to voice their opinions ... even if you ask a question and agree with the answer." Goldsmith recommends "hiring" a friend to bill you $10 for each episode of needless judgment.
4. Making destructive comments: We are all tempted to be snarky or even mean from time to time. But when we feel the urge to criticize, we should realize that gratuitous
negative comments can harm our working relationships."The question is not, 'Is it true?' but rather, 'Is it worth it?'" This is another habit Goldsmith recommends breaking via monetary fines.
5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However." Almost all of us do this, and most of us are totally unaware of it. But Goldsmith says if you watch out for it, "you'll see how people inflict these words on others to gain or consolidate power. You'll also see how intensely people resent it, consciously or not, and how it stifles rather than opens up discussion." This is another habit that may take fines to break.
6. Telling the world how smart we are: "This is another variation on our need to win."
7. Speaking when angry: See number four.
8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": Goldsmith calls this "pure unadulterated negativity under the guise of being helpful."
9. Withholding information: This one is all about power. Goldsmith focuses on ways even the best-intentioned people do this all the time. "We do this when we are too busy to get back to someone with valuable information. We do this when we forget to include someone in our discussions or meetings. We do this when we delegate a task to our subordinates but don't take the time to show them exactly how we want the task done."
10. Failing to give recognition: "This is a sibling of withholding information."
11. Claiming credit we don't deserve: To catch ourselves doing this, Goldsmith recommends listing all the times we mentally congratulate ourselves in a given day, and then reviewing the list to see if we really deserved all the credit we gave ourselves.
12. Making excuses: We do this both bluntly (by blaming our failings on the traffic, or the secretary, or something else outside ourselves) and subtly (with self-deprecating
comments about our inherent tendency to be late, or to procrastinate, or to lose our temper, that send the message, "That's just the way I am").
13. Clinging to the past: "Understanding the past is perfectly admissible if your issue is accepting the past. But if your issue is changing the future, understanding will not
take you there." Goldsmith notes that quite often we dwell on the past because it allows us to blame others for things that have gone wrong in our lives.
14. Playing favorites: This behavior creates suck-ups; rewarding suck-ups creates hollow leaders.
15. Refusing to express regret: "When you say, 'I'm sorry,' you turn
people into your allies, even your partners." The first thing Goldsmith teaches his clients is "to apologize -- face to face -- to every coworker who has agreed to help them get better."
16. Not listening: This behavior says, "I don't care about you," "I don't understand you," "You're wrong," "You're stupid," and "You're wasting my time."
17. Failing to express gratitude: "Gratitude is not a limited resource, nor is it costly. It is abundant as air. We breathe it in but forget to exhale." Goldsmith advises breaking the
habit of failing to say thank you by saying it -- to as many people as we can, over and over again.
18. Punishing the messenger: This habit is a nasty hybrid of 10, 11, 19, 4, 16, 17, with a strong dose of anger added in.
19. Passing the buck: "This is the behavioral flaw by which we judge our leaders -- as important a negative attribute as positive qualities such as brainpower, courage and resourcefulness."
20. An excessive need to be "me": Making a "virtue of our flaws" because they express who we are amounts to misplaced loyalty -- and can be "one of the toughest obstacles to making positive long-term change in our behavior."

--An Article provided by Uday