Reporting, in today's times!

In today's times, reporting is not fair, and impartial.

You don't believe it, open any news paper or website right now. Read any article, opinion, and coverage; you will sense an inclination towards one side. You read the first para, and you know the direction of the rest of the article. Para after para, the article would just reinforce what you have read in the first para.

A writer has a specific narrative affiliated to a particular political party, one stakeholder, that he or she wants to communicate. In the process, they tend to twist or hide the other possibilities while writing an article...You can sense only one narrative, and there is no alternative. There is no effort to explore the "other" possibilities.

I'm not talking about the clarity that one should have at any point of time...This is not about the black, and white, one should be in a situation. You reach to a conclusion only after research, and only after acquiring facts.

Job of a reporter should be to present an unbiased opinion. In the absence of facts, a reporter cannot take a position; he or she should present the various possibilities.

Readers as well have become more smart today. Gone are the days, when they were loyal to one news paper, or website...A reader in today's times is looking for articles that either matches to the narrative that they appreciate, or the ones which are neutral in the assessment. They start ignoring those writers, articles, and to the extent news papers/ websites as well; which strongly enforce the opposing view.

I wish, and request all the intellectual writers to start presenting neutral, holistic and all inclusive view on any topic, or subject. Don't be prejudiced, or influenced by a specific party to the story. Absolutely take a stand, but only if it can be substantiated with facts. Else, such reporters would be labelled as paid media.

See, I have taken a stand myself, starting this article with a conclusion in itself. Isn't that what you see with every other article:)

Time for elections, and role for Shatrughna Sinha!

This year has been phenomenon for BJP, they have performed exceedingly well across the elections throughout the year. Be it assembly elections, civic body or gram panchayat; BJP's saffron flag kept flying high. Not getting the desired win at a few university elections may sound alarming, however they do not figure on a bigger scheme of things.

This time, it is all about elections of two more assemblies - Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Both the states are significant to the principal parties in India - BJP and Congress. They have applied their own strategies, and arithmetic at work to ensure that they regain the control of the assembly and increase their vote share. Amid all of this, I find it interesting to track which way Mr Shatrughna Sinha is trending.

Like all the previous assembly elections post the 2014 Lokshabha elections; Shatrughna Sinha is sending all the wrong signals. He claim to be speaking for the benefit of the party, but the language is more of someone who has sour mouth. He is not given any more importance on election campaigns, and has not been given any important portfolio or positions in the party. He probably knows that his shining  days in the party are over, and in most probability his parliament seat in the next election in 2019 is at risk.

BJP also seems to have not a clear strategy on how to tackle a high profile individual such as Shatrughna Sinha. The BJP leadership look to have made a decision to tolerate all the wrong-doings and outspokenness of him at the cost of impacting the party's image. They are probably waiting for him to make the first move.

I strongly believe it is time for the party leadership and Shatrughna Sinha to have an open discussion to allow an amicable end of this sourness. A change of party at this time for Shatrughna Sinha will not do any favors, and will only impact his image and dilute his contributions to BJP for such a long time.

Hope a right sense will prevail soon on both the sides.

Need of revamped Appraisal System!

Performance Appraisals are part and parcel of today's HR possesses, conducted minimum once a year in organizations. Objective is to evaluate employee performance for the term (mostly a year, this could be quarter, or half-yearly), provide feedback, and also use it as a basis to finalize compensation and promotions.

In today's times, appraisal systems have become mechanical in nature. In trying to introduce Objectivity, it has been made more of a computer game; the smarter the individual is, he or she can easily control and manipulate the final score...Subjectivity for that matter is not completely gone away. Still many of appraisals, and in many organizations, are addressed through the act of favoritism. 

So, is it time to revamp the performance appraisal systems? Indeed it is time to reason out the Performance Appraisal systems. Lot of time and energy is spent each year in managing this process year-on-year. Our HR theorists should come up with different ways to assess employee performance, and improve the morale and motivation across employees.

Wouldn't it be better to replace a performance appraisal system with Self-Assessment, and guidance from the management? Any negative performance or positive performance needs to be captured as they occur in the form of events. De-link the compensation and promotion from the performance assessment. While it will help to flatten the compensation structure, it also removes uncertainty and favoritism to a greater extent...Promotions need to be based on the capability of an individual. Capability evaluation needs to be based on System, Domain, and Technical understanding; coupled with future prospects. If an organization is really flat with fewer slabs of hierarchy, it makes it further simple.

In today's times, employees are more smarter, and expecting a lot from the organization and management. A complex performance appraisal system, only complicates the situation for the management. So, it is time to bring in simpler nuances of appraisal system, and replace the other components with what will keep employees motivated and attached to the organization.

Gandhi Day - Path of Truth!

It is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi today! A man, who mass-managed a mission to seek independence for our dear country! What we are today, and how we have achieved everything that we have until now; Gandhi's theology has an immense impact. I being a human being, and also being an Indian, have always admired him for how simply he defined and led his life.

When I was in school, I understood several facets of being Mahatma Gandhi. Be it non-violence, be it the doer and not being the preacher, cleanliness, and so many things...The one that created a huge impact on my life, is to follow the path of truth.

One can live a healthy life, if he is on the path of truth. There may be inconvenience at times, but you will never have a guilt of living a fake life. One can live with a clear conscience if you are on the path of truth!

Best Days of Cricket!

Cricket fans would love to see their base team always winning, and wish for un-predictables when the other teams play.

What we saw last two days, is exactly what a cricket fan wishes for. Two powerhouses in the world of test matches lost to lower profile teams.

West Indies came out as a winner against England, that was through determination and young heroic effort. West Indies is quickly getting into the groove, and they will be one of the tough teams to beat in next 12 months or so.

Bangladesh is another team, which has been challenging bigger teams time and again. They are already a power-house in one-day tournaments, and quickly sharpening their skills in longer format of the game. They were high in confidence when they beat comfortably and handsomely Australia, one of the top 3 teams in the world.

This is getting exciting...No team can take it for granted when they are playing against the other team.

Ensuring Project Success!

You envisioned a project, and now you want to ensure that it is successful, right? Absolutely yes!

Once there is an agreement that the project has specific purpose, and will help achieve objectives for an organization. Then we must ensure that the following 4 things are aligned before we get into its execution.

Identify a Sponsor
Right. Without a Sponsor, you cannot move a single step ahead. It is important to have a stakeholder preferably a business, who can sponsor your project, and help obtain the necessary approvals.

Ensure that the Sponsor has a budget
Yeah, a sponsor having no money in the pockets would not be of much help. You  must look for someone who already has a budget to fund the project, or can influence the budgets to secure funding of the project.

Sponsor's team supports the project
It is important to get a buy in from a bigger audience. A sponsor may help the cause, however your need to have a solid blueprint that can convince and align Sponsor's team.

IT has the resources to pull off the project
That sounds pretty basic. Yeah, but many projects fail at a later stage, because this aspect has not been thought through. Ensure that there is a mix available in the IT team to execute the various pieces of the project.

Being Simple in Changing World!

Change is constant, no-one disagrees with the phrase.
However, the speed at which we are undergoing change defines the moment we are in. Acceptability is into aligning ourselves with the rate of change.

Be it the employee demography, Customer mindset, or your own leadership expectations, it is changing at a fastest pace than one would think several years ago.

Digital innovation all across is adding to the complexity. Technological advancements in terms of IOT, Advanced Analytic and Predictive Modeling is bringing the paradigm shift, and a new normal norm.

With all of the complexities in the changing world, how should one cope up with it....It lies in the simplicity at which one adopts a change. All of us into management are perfectly aware of how difficult it gets to do things in a simple way. Isn't it?

While approaching change, introducing simplicity in the processes, people and tools aspects is the way go forward.

Hail the Supreme Court!

News websites in the mornings were filled with two important stories, which exhibit the autonomy and integrity with which Supreme Court of India functions! I salute to these judges with the conviction that they run one of the most important pillars of our democracy. They surely represent the ethos of the Indian President, who recently requested all Indians to be argumentative and not intolerant.

Ok, let me mention those two decisions that I am referring here.

The first one, where Supreme Court ruled that the electoral process cannot  be driven by religion and caste. Candidates must not try to seek votes on the name of religion or caste. If this is construed and implemented properly, it will go a long way in changing the fundamentals of how the elections are won today in India. It will set-up norms to run for elections on the name of development, social justice and ensuring peace. I think, in a long run if the limitations of this judgment are covered from time to time; it will also help in changing the perception and behavior of public in general. 

Again, kudos to our judges, Supreme Court and the process that they went through to deliver this judgment.

The other one is in reference to the game that most of Indians including myself hold closest to our heart. It is with Cricket and its governing body BCCI. Board Chief and secretary were removed with an order in an immediate effect. I highly recognize the need and efforts on part of Supreme Court to bring in transparency and highest level of governance in the functioning of Cricket board. However to me the latest judgment and the episode for last few months has been to the extent of interfering in the private matters of a private organization. To me all of this seem unfair, and BCCI seem to be subjected to such a treatment because of the whopping amount of money that they deal with is unparalleled not only in India, but also in the world...In last 10-15 years, what BCCI has been able to achieve is, very few private organizations (and public ones to) can boast of. They have set-up India on the world road-map, and we have gained so much muscle power in the functioning of world cricket. Whats happening today is just taking our Cricket to where we were several years ago.

In all realities, BCCI is and has always been a private party, and must be governed by the standards applicable to other companies operating in India. BCCI must be brought to norms with what has been already set in our Law; and not with an intent to set an example.

Let us see, how these two events unfold in the course of time!