Archive for the ‘Company blog’ Category
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Indore. June 7th. A lot of us have broken rules in school and college. And well it appears it used to be fun and a lot of times pretty harmless. However, breaking rules at workplace might not be such a good idea. And in order that you follow those rules, it’s best to have your own set of them in terms of good manners.
Dress sensibly: However casual the environment is at your office, you cannot go overboard in dressing casually. Create a good balance of formal and casual dressing. Reserve the casuals for the weekend. Dress is part of people’s perception about you. Avoid ostentatious dressing. Keep the comfort factor in your mind.
Cracking jokes: At workplace, you never know when you will have hurt someone with your jokes. While you may not intend it, a few times your jokes will have a lasting impression on people and this might affect your work relationships. Avoid jokes that may be hurting to a certain gender or race or creed.
Keeping distances: Understand that even if you like someone at your workplace, both of you are at a professional environment. Maintain social distances if you are involved. Try your best to not get involved with a married person if you want to save your integrity at the work place.
Take it easy: If you have failed in your targets, take it easy. But if you have succeeded, take it even more easy. That’s because a success will be watched by everyone in the office and you will be an object of jealousy. It’s good to celebrate but avoid showing it off. At the same time, don’t take success as an excuse to be late or keep others waiting or not doing your work on time.
Give credit: One vital work etiquette is to learn to give others the credit for what they have done. Even if you are jealous of a colleague, go ahead and congratulate him on his achievement. This will help you create healthy work relationships in your office. Similarly, if you are leading a team, avoid taking the credit yourself. Give it to the team.
Some of these rules will help you succeed professionally in the long run also. Your goal is to be good at what you are doing and get others to recognize it. Well, part of that is to create an image of yourself so you come across as a dependable person. And that won’t happen unless you follow some etiquette.
Tags: Your office and your manners!
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Friday, May 24th, 2013
Indore. May 24th. Use your brains! How often have you heard this phrase or used it on someone? Consider a few facts about brain and you will probably want to use this one with caution next time. Did you know that our brain uses as much as 20% of our daily calories? In fact, the brain cell uses two times more energy than any other cell in our body. Well it should be obvious since the brain is working even when every other cell of your body is sleeping. This means you need to really fill and re-fill your brain with essential nutrients on a daily basis, if you wish to excel in your performance at work place. Just so you know, brain usually needs a lot of glucose.
Start well: Give your brain a great start of the day by eating your breakfast. Techies in India are usually running to catch trains or buses or rushing to come earlier to finish a project. And as a result, often skip their breakfast. No wonder their performance at work suffers. Never skip breakfast. In order to focus better in the first half of the day, you need an amazing breakfast, meaning an amazing treat to the brain.
Control energy swings: Some foods give you a boost instantly but leave you enervated after a few hours. You ought to give your brain a reliable source of energy. Go for fibrous foods. In the Indian context, go for pulses and vegetables preferably at least one green leafy veggie in your lunch.
Drink water: At workplace, more than coffee, you must drink water. It keeps you hydrated, increases your energy level and refreshes you. Understand that coffee is a dehydrating agent. The only way to keep your body from dehydration is water.
Understand that your brain is almost over-working when it is not getting enough calories. Make sure you eat right so that the most vital cell of your body gets nutrition.
Tags: eating right at workplace, fitness tips for corporates, fitness tips for IT professionals, keeping fit in the office, office fitness, office fitness for techies, what to eat at work
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Friday, May 24th, 2013
Indore. May 24th. I find my fulfillment in things other than work, said Joan Halloway in the TV Show Madmen and Peggy Olson refused to believe it. How much do you find fulfillment in work really determines your happiness, like it or not. That has a fair reason of course. We are social animals wanting to belong somewhere. Work gives us a sense of belongingness. And since it occupies our minds at least eight to 10 hours a day, it does have a bearing on our daily happiness.
Fret not, however. There are some practical ways that can help in making work more fulfilling. Read on.
Do it to enjoy it: It’s possible that your job doesn’t always give you fulfillment. This means you need to understand the difference between your work and your job. Find out whether or not you enjoy your work. If there are things in your work you do like, you have a good enough motivation to enjoy it.
Set a goal: Of course you have got targets to fulfill for the month and the year. But face it, you cannot work better unless you have set your own goals for the day. Use sticky notes on your computer or have a daily task diary. Write down things that you ought to do every day, including personal things. And see how much of that you are able to fulfill. This will keep you motivated.
Set an example: If you set an example before others, this goes a long way in boosting your self-esteem. Nothing motivates you better than others following your example.
Tick mark it: As kidish as it may sound, but you ought to tick mark the tasks for the day on a daily basis. This keeps you going for the next day. Looking at your accomplishments will do your self-esteem a lot of good.
Think positive: Always have a positive attitude. This will particularly be an asset during stressful situations. It’s okay to fail or feel disappointed. But it’s not okay to keep thinking about it.
Don’t let your stress govern you. Find out ways to keep yourself motivated every single day and you will see many of them really working for you. It’s time to wake up.
Tags: AnyLinuxWork, learn to love your job, love your work, self-motivation, ways of self-motivation at work place, work motivation
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Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
Stress has grown seriously in recent years and has become a common word for every employee. Stress may cause due to frustration in challenging work pressure, career growth and relationship with colleagues and the employer of the company. Stress influences the quality life of an employee at workplace as well as personal life.
Stress in IT industry is increasing due to mental work pressure and physical strain. As work in IT industry is project based – means project have to be completed in time and delivered to the respective clients in the given time frame. If the employees fail to do so, it would make negative impact on clients as well as on the seniors. This pressure of work is the foundation of Stress which in turn gives the employee a remark of poor or slow performer.
Stress level is high in IT industry because of the nature of work. Employees have to stay back till late, to match the project delivery deadlines, to highlight themselves better in all terms in front of their colleagues, superiors and the employer. This leaves a great impact on employee’s performance as well physical and mental health. Constantly sitting at the same place for long hours and working on computer causes the health problems. This results in poor performance and sometimes high level of absenteeism.
Employees often compare themselves with other colleagues in terms of performance, salary, qualities, at times with their way of conduct with other employees and seniors. Every individual is different from others in all or in many aspects. Many employees try to imitate their colleagues which directly have a bad impact on their relationship with the employee, this in some way affect their performance also.
As per my experience in IT world, following if done can reduce Stress
Stress need to be managed in such a way it does not affect the performance and the relationship of employee with others.
Managers should pay attention towards the key points which generate stress among employees. Support from the seniors and colleagues can help to reduce the stress.
Employees should take few minutes break from their work.
Employees should discuss their work place problems with the seniors to avoid tensions and stress.
Employees should always try to manage their time at the initial stage of the project so as to complete the project in the given time frame.
Employee should try to do the things which are different from what they do in their professional life.
Exercise is also a good way to fight with the stress.
I plan to elaborate more on every point; comments are welcome so that we can create a Stress free IT atmosphere in our respective firms.
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Thursday, March 21st, 2013
Information Technology industry is challenging and growing. One of its biggest demands in a fast paced lifestyle, the ability to get things done. What is unfortunate, however, is that, these things are often done while sitting for more than eight hours in the office. Add to that a few of our daily habits that are affecting our longevity today. This article aims to warn you and take action.
Sitting for more than three hours: A study says if you sit continuously for four hours without break, your body starts to send harmful signals that, in turn, cause the genes regulating your glucose and lipose levels in the body to shut down. This can be fatal. The study has clearly stately that you are inviting early death if you keep doing this for many years. Next time, stand up, stretch yourself and take a walk every three hours in the office.
High heels: Girls, is it absolutely necessary to wear heels for office everyday? Can you avoid it at least five days a week? If yes, do it. Wearing heels every day to office, even when you have to sit for the whole day wearing it, is bad for your back, your knees and your thighs in the long run. Your back may bend permanently as you cross 50.
Coffee: If you are drinking more than three cups a day, you are damaging your immune system. It may also kill your appetite thereby resulting in digestion problems. These problems, in the long run, will lead to heart failures or high blood pressure.
Snacking: On a daily basis, if you are consuming Wada Paav, burger, pizza, samosa, kachori or any of these oily things, you are up for a big mistake. Even if you eat these things thrice a week, it has the ability to damage your body. Fast foods such as these are majorly responsible for obesity or just over-weight. They are hugely responsible for abdominal fat which is dangerous for your body as it leads to heart problems.
These are just some of your habits that have become part of your daily life unconsciously. Studies have revealed these are particularly bad for those leading sedentary lifestyle. Change them consciously and today.
Tags: health habits that kill, IT industry health, IT professionals health, killing habits of IT professionals, office fitness, office fitness habits., why sitting kills
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Saturday, May 26th, 2012
TECHIES, good news. Even if you have a family history of blood pressure, you can still do something significant out of it and that too without spending an extra penny. A new research suggests that if you do moderate exercises daily apart from brisk walking for 30 minutes, you can cut down the risk of getting a blood pressure despite the hereditary factors.
The results of the new study have shown that fitness can be so practical and healthful without much effort. A moderate amount of exercise that is walking for 30 minutes every day which amounts to about 150 minutes per week can be great for people who have a history of hypertension due to family history.
How does it work?
The reason why it is important to control blood pressure is that the heart needs extra effort to pump blood pressure through the arteries. This increases the size of the heart and you then get increased risks of heart attacks, kidney failure, stroke and atherosclerosis (buildup of plaque in the arteries).
Of course doctors will tell you to work seriously on your diet, cut sugar and rice, avoid fatty foods and too many carbohydrates and so on. However, all these things will not be enough if you don’t subject your body to a regular exercise or any physical activity.
Understand that one’s blood pressure is a measurement of the pressure of the blood flow in one’s arteries. Everyone has something called systolic blood pressure and the higher number tells us the pressure in our arteries when our heart is contracting and pumping blood out into the body. Opposite is the case with diastolic blood pressure. The lower number is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is relaxed.
Hence while we exercise or walk, our systolic blood pressure increases to improve blood flow, thus increasing available oxygen to the working muscles. Our blood vessels may also become more relaxed, or dilated and this allows for the increased blood flow.
The good news is that the new study has ruled out the effect of hereditary factors in at least lowering the blood pressure of a person. It clearly has stated that despite family history, if you start walking in your late 20s, you will reduce the risk of high blood pressure considerably.
Even older people who already are struggling with BP, can lower the risk by starting to walk every day, At the same time, if a person stops walking, say for a week, he or she would experience the old level of blood pressure. This means that every person with a blood pressure or having a family history of it, must make walking a regular habit. Nothing can be more valuable than health.
Tags: benefits of walking, blood pressure, family history of BP, fitness, health, health tips, health trends of 2012, walking, walking lowers blood pressure., walking regularly
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Saturday, May 26th, 2012
Pizza, burger, sandwiches, baked samosa are probably the most tempting foods more because they take less time to serve, are cheaper, can be consumed quickly and are convenient to carry. People in the IT industry almost thrive on these foods for days. Single guys and girls living outside their towns, usually worked up with pressures, prefer to consume any of these fast foods than healthy and properly cooked food. Many others are bored with the ‘dabba’ ingredients so much that they don’t mind surviving on Pizaa for months together.
Of course, anything done beyond the normal with your body, will not go without consequence.
If a report published in siliconindia.com is to be believed, fast food consumers today are more at a risk of developing depression than those who never ate fast food or ate very little.
The study was conducted by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Granada, Spain. Experts are saying that increased intakes of fast foods can actually lead to depression. People included in the study were mostly working professionals who consumed these foods on a regular basis, many almost daily. They smoked a lot, worked for more than 45 hours per week. Check out the consequences:
Depression: Consumption of fast foods was directly related to depression in at least 51 per cent of the cases. The fast foods are often not the cause of depression but people consuming them are more likely to surrender to professional and emotional pressures due to lack of the right kind of nutrients in their body.
Singles: Another striking observation of the study was most people living fast foods were more likely to remain single. A possible connection could be that they are so addicted to fast foods that they don’t feel the need of having a partner cook for them or with them. They are happy consuming these foods alone.
Lethargic: Most people consuming these foods on a regular basis were found to be less active physically compared to their counterparts not eating much fast foods. They were found with almost no zeal to take up new challenges or work.
The study comes as a certain warning to adults and children who are dependent on fast foods for their daily meals. The best way to consume fast foods is on occasions. Lets understand that fast foods were never meant to be balanced diets. They were more like ‘party foods’. Lets keep them for parties only and embrace our old and healthy Indian thaali.
Tags: balanced diet, corporate fitness, fast food, fast food disadvantages, fast food leads to depression, fitness, fitness tips, health, health tips, healthy tips, Indian thaali., nutrition, pizza causes depression, side-effects of fast food, tips to keep fit
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Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Jogging on the streets of Mumbai is probably the most non-Gujarati thing Anil Ambani would have ever done. Yet he is pretty particular about it. He was featured in a report published a few months ago in The Economist. The report listed many other ‘jogging bosses’ including CEOs of top-notch software companies of the likes of TCS and Wipro.
Since Indian Software Industry pretty much works as per the norms of the West, it is no less welcoming a trend that CEOs also want to look good in public. They want to stay fit to be more efficient and effective. They are often the ‘face’ of the company and that’s gotta be good.
AnyLinuxWork CEO is no different. He never misses his gym in the morning regardless of a previously fatigued day. He follows a disciplined lifestyle, meets his deadlines, sets examples and has plenty of family time too. In fact, it is his fitness consciousness that led him to get designed a plug-n-play product, a fitness portal called mFit. Well, that for later.
But what exactly works best for the CEOs? Fitness and health experts warn against going in for ‘targeted’ fitness goals such as losing a few kilos in a few weeks or trying to achieve too many things at a time. The reason why jogging works best for them is that it is usually an all-round exercise that has almost no side effects unless you already have a history of joint pains. They get plenty of fresh air in the morning that can be energizing for the rest of the day.
It’s almost ironic that they can afford the best of the gym any given day but most prefer to walk or jog. A very practical reason could be that gyms require a strict regimen to be followed on a daily basis. Since their lifestyles often require extensive travelling, going for a jog comes handy, almost anywhere. In addition, jogging helps de-stress – something that gyms often fail to.
Interestingly, quite a few research reports have been talking about a positive connection of jogging and ageing. It has been proven in most cases that keeping fit by jogging or cycling through middle age and beyond slows and even reverses the decline in muscle power, balance and co-ordination in later life. Google health articles and you might be surprised at finding how many of them recommend jogging as the topmost priority for health and fitness.
Psychologists have also stated that since jogging fights back stress to a great extent, it develops a better ‘self-image’ in people. This may be crucial for a top-notch CEO who is under a constant media glare almost all the time. Jogging increases self-confidence as it helps tone the body and provide it an athletic built.
That explains most clearly why a person in that position would do something as mundane as jogging. As for us back here at Team ALW, a great example has been set. And we have been following it for quite sometime now. What about you?
Tags: corporate fitness, everybody says’ we’re fit, fitness, fitness trends in India, jogging, jogging advantages, Jogging bosses, jogging CEOs, jolly good jog, merifitness, merits of jogging, mfit, why jog.
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Saturday, March 10th, 2012
One of the much hyped IT trends has been the ‘flexible work-hour-system’. No one cares what you do in the office as long as you complete your work within deadlines. Sounds pretty good in theory. However, in reality this exposes most software professionals to a work schedule which is practically not fixed. A practical implication of this is that most such professionals do not have a certain routine and they often find themselves doing only one thing – work.
The unscheduled lifestyle often takes its toll on health. And no one seems to notice this until much later when most people find themselves taking blood pressure pills. Here’s where AnyLinuxWork stands out. We have been following a fixed work schedule for many months now. And it has proved to be pretty successful so far.
Our objective is to ensure that our team members lead a stress-free life. We want them to have a positive personal life too. At the same time, professionally, it is so important to be able to learn time management in a way that you are able to have time for every priority. Thus, our team members hit work at dot 9 am every day and leave it at 7.30 pm. That way they learn to manage their time well while in the office and get to spend time back home too.
ALW has always believed in having its own ideas and work methodologies. And this system is one such idea that has struck a chord with our developers. People at ALW are more focused towards time now and are learning to manage their priorities well.
Tags: ajax, amazing working environment, AnyLinuxWork, client, client delight, culture, desktop exercises, Employees, Everybody says we’re fit!, fight stress, fixed office timings, forget boring days, fresh and happy employees, future endeavours, get rid of stress, global meltdown, great work culture, happy days, happy employees, happy hours, health of employees, healthy food, how to fight stress, how to relieve stress, Human resource, in-between meals, Indian IT company, IndiaSoft, Internet project, IT companies, IT companies in India; time management skills; IT trends; ALW changes IT trends
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Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
Revisiting an old stack of papers could be so much fun and insightful at the same time! It’s real fun to look back at the old targets in a rugged diary and feel proud over the ‘tick’ marks representing accomplishments. So here’s the lowdown of what ALW CEO Vivek Singhal found in his 2008 notes.
“I remember while I wrote them, I was fully aware of the challenges of recession which began that year. And that’s when I wrote about the three P’s, that I intended to work on, namely: People, Projects and Processes. These are exactly what an IT company is composed of,” he shares.
People – really develop and run a system. That way they are assets. If you have the most right people at the right place and in a right proportion, they become valuable assets. “I have realized over the years that a right mix is important. You ought to have opportunists, pessimists, optimists, goal setters, followers, leaders and so on to make a complete mix that can go a long way in helping an IT company really progress and keep moving forward,” he adds.
However, the people’s P wouldn’t be so effective without the projects’ P. If you don’t manage to get the right kind of projects, even the best of people wouldn’t be able to contribute efficiently. So a company needs the right kind of clients and the right pricing i.e neither too expensive nor too cheap.
Procedures or processes – without these neither of the two P’s can really deliver an output. This is the thread that really binds the company and enables its smooth running.
Incidentally, ALW is all spruced up for a performance evaluation this month and the three P’s are going to be guiding lights in the process. As always, the team and team leaders are committed to reward the best performers and fix new targets for the forthcoming better half of the year.
Tags: 3 P’s of success, ALW IT solutions, assets, attrition time, essentials of an IT company, IT company, people, performance evaluation, PHP company, projects and processes, recession times, things to remember in IT, what makes an IT company.
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