This is what i am missing and this is what i am not missing

A few months back, i quit my job to work freelance. This decision was taken so that i could spend more time with my son (Siddanth). 

This is what i am missing..

• Interacting with my peers and team members (especially the informal chats!)
• Working on stretch projects
• Fun, laughter and gossip over coffee.
• Training programs (those i was nominated from the organization)
• Being stressed about upcoming dead lines
• Looking forward to weekend after a challenging week
• Routine in my life
• Freebies from office (diwali gift, T-shirts, goodies etc)
• MONEY credited monthly into my bank account ! 
• Conversation with my boss on new ideas / process changes to facilitate employee engagement (in a coffee shop / adda next to office)
• Talking to employees and managers  - 'heart to heart'
• Facilitating training programs (especially interviewing skills and management skills)
• Sense of achievement ! 

This is what i am NOT missing..

• Being constantly disturbed on my mobile on week ends and late in the night
• Meaningless meetings that go one for ever (no results achieved)
• Late night staff meetings via telecon
• Being consumed by the email devil - constantly hitting re fresh button and responding to emails
  
• Staying back or working on weekends with no specific goal (just catching up on work)
• Team get together where everyone is bored and dying to leave
  
• Un healthy (read politically oriented) escalations (read noise).
• Creating presentations (for your boss) for some random meeting (that you are not a part off)

Having written this list, i am not sure if i should feel good or bad with my decision ! 

Women & Delegation skills

I recently did a survey amongst working mothers and asked them –

 ‘If you had to ask your spouse to support you better in managing your career and family needs, what would you ask for?

•  50% said they want their spouse to share the home / child responsibilities.
  
• 30% said they want their spouse to work flexi time (be available more to the kids)
• 20 % said they want their spouse to spend more time with the child / at home

In this context, one respondent made a comment – "let them become more active role in house-cleaning, food-shopping, helping with homework, making school lunches, etc. :-)"

Well if its our need as women , we need to do something about it

The challenge with most women is difficulty in delegating chores at home or to do with the kids. 

   I am not questing the intent;  its either that we give up too soon or dont do it right and end up feeling frustrated !

My suggestion , 'learn the principles of delegation' and apply them in this context

I guarantee you results ! 

These are the typical steps recommended by Management guru’s in delegating a task. Apply it step by step to delegate a specific task to your spouse

Here is an illustration - 

Delegation Steps	Example 1	Example 2
Identify a suitable person for the task.	Clearly here we are talking about the spouse here - this step is done !
Prepare the person. Explain the task clearly. Make sure that you are understood. Leave room in the task description for ingenuity / initiative.	Washing clothes Explain in detail, how the washing machine works, the need to separate clothes (principle of colour running, treatment of different clothes - delicates, wool etc), how much detergent, if any other features need to be used (example timer, delay start etc) Show it once or twice	Dressing up kid for school Explain in detail what all should happen prior to dressing up the kid (example taking them to the toilet, washing up, medicines etc). Show where everything connected with this ( school clothes , socks, shoes) are kept and how they are arranged. Do it together once or twice along side
Make sure the person has the necessary authority to do the job properly	Tell them you are ok with their decisions in terms of which wash cycle, how many clothes should  go in, quantity of detergent to be used etc	In case something is not available, ask them to take a decision- assure them you will not crib about it later Here is the catch, you need to be fine with it, accept it -have faith
Keep in touch with the person for support and monitoring progress. Do not get to close. Accept alternative approaches	I think this is where most women fail Accept the following facts -   Men need a lot of detail.  These are new tasks, they have never done it or forgotten how to do it They may ask the same question a couple of times - its ok They make make a few mistakes They will not do it the way you do it  The key is Not to say ‘ I rather do it myself’
Praise / Acknowledge a job well done.	This is also important, it may be something that you will not get praised for, but this is your need and dont forget positive reinforcement works  !

Go ahead, think of responsibilities at home or with kids you think you can start delegating. Remember to follow these 5 steps diligently and consistently and may success be with you

Happy Diwali 

 

 

Birthday Party

I recently celebrated my son's birthday. 

I used an XL sheet (attached below) to plan the various aspects of the birthday and kept tracking the party progress. Planning really helped me organize the event well especially since it was the first time i did something like this. I kept making notes of what I had done and what was left to be done.

What really helped me was the following -

a) Making a record of age, gender and interest of every kid I invited - helped me to plan customized return gifts - this was a big hit ! 

b) Keeping the food simple and stuff kiddies like – Tarts, Chips, Pizza etc

c) Make sure there were games and activities that can keep the kids busy - I called a Tattoo artist and organized a magic show which were great interaction points for kids and adults alike.

Some learnings (after thoughts !)

a)     Consider every kid = half an adult - Kids waste a lot of food !

b)     Don’t do too many activities – kids should have some free time to do their own thing

c)      Get the food out of the way early on so every one (including the host) can relax and enjoy

 

 Recently I went to another kid's bday party - what I really liked was

a) Personalized invitation card - designed by the kid  ! Nice way to involve the kid.

b) An SMS was sent as a reminder for all parents on the day of the party.

c)  The snack was mini pizza and superb cake.

d)  The number of invitees was less then 10 kids – really gave each kid personal attention

 

Name	Age	Gender	with Parents	Invited / Confirmed
						Party Planner
						Tattoo artist
						Party Games
						Game gifts
						Balloon
						Decoration items
						Finalize food order
						Magic show
						Food Items
						Mini Pizza			Juice
						Tarts			Cake
						Cutlets			Chips
						Sandwich
						Write numbers for giving order
						Return Gifts
						Age	M	F
						Less 1
						1-2
						2-3
						4-5
Total Invitees						6-7
Kids						8-11
Adults
						Numbers against each column