I love Biryani!!

mmmmmh mouth watering, really tempting...
I am in hyderabad for Eid/diwali vacation. Njoyin Hyderabadi delicacies esp. Biryani and Haleem.

I just don't want to forget this..

It is said that the gaps between our fingers are made so that the person who is made for us can one day fill those by holding your hand. I just don't want to forget this..

Importance of productive working atmosphere

Recently, I worked on two assignments. I was a part of a six member team. It was a great learning experience.

Here is a list of Do's and Don’ts which I have learned during this experience.

Do's

1. Every team member should give 100%.
(I was not able to give much time as I was doing a part-time job, but I worked hard to complete my tasks on time.)

2. Always keep in mind that we have to meet the deadline, in this way we will be focused.

3. Check the status of the work on daily basis. If daily milestones are not met, spend some extra time and complete the task.

4. Respect each member's idea.
(I am so focused on my own idea that I tend to ignore other's ideas. Henceforth, I will listen to others ideas and try to give feedback on his/her ideas)

5. Ask your team mate to review your work and give feedback.
(I have this sense of perfectness and feel that whatever I do is perfect. But since I am also a human I tend to make mistakes. Henceforth, I will ask my team mate to review my work. In this way I get feedback and also the end-product is error-free.)

Don’ts

1. Don't digress. There is lot of time for frivolous jokes, flirting, puzzles etc. after the job is done. A joke once in a while is fine but a person with an all-time jovial mood can be a project spoiler.
(I like solving puzzles, and often discuss with my colleagues. Henceforth, I will try not to discuss puzzles when I am a part of a team when there is a deadline to be met.)

2. Don't spoil the working atmosphere. You may be interested in listening songs, watching friends on ur laptop (Some even watch porn, so disgusting n cheap, don't they have self-respect), playing games on your laptop, or going out for a snack or a walk when the other team members are busy doing serious work. Firstly, if you are a serious worker, you won’t think of anything other than work and even if you want to take a break, move out silently without disturbing others.
(Sometimes, I feel like listening to a song. Henceforth, even if I feel like listening to a song, I will try to focus on my work and if I strongly feel like listening to a song, I will use earplugs to listen songs. In this way I won't disturb others.)

3. Don't shout or scream at your team member.
(Sometimes I am so pissed off when a team member is not focusing, I feel like shouting and screaming at him/her. Henceforth, I will try to control my temper. I have learned a better way to convey the message to the team member who is not concentrating. I ask his/her views about the point being discussed, in this way the team member himself feels guilty that he was not participating, and will try to avoid this in future.

Hey folks! That’s it; I hope my team mates too read this, coz this post is for them too. And I hope to be a better team member in my next assignment.

New Part-time Job

Hi all!
In my previous post I had written about an interview for a part-time job. Alhumdulillah, I got selected for this job.
I am very delighted to be a part of this startup company AASHMAM. www.aashmam.com
I will be working as a Business Development Consultant and Business Analyst.
Since this is a startup, lot of work has to be done in developing a prospect management system. This is quite challenging as well as interesting. This profile suits me as I have worked in the same position in my previous company, Bartronics. The best part is that I work from college lab. I attend classes till 3:00 pm and then start my work.

I came to know about entrepreneurship during my engineering and since that day I used to wonder how entrepreneurs work. Now, I am a part of a startup company - its very exciting.

I know I have a daunting task ahead, but those who dare to dream only succeed in life.

Will write more about my new job soon...

Memo to myself

I will never ask a person (with whom I am not that friendly) to buy me something.

My interview

Hi!
Two days back i gave an interview for a part time/ online job as a Business Development Executive 4 a company www.aashmam.com a startup IT company.
The interview was very intersting.
It started with questions related to my work experience and about my MBA, projects etc.
Two questions were very interesting.
1. How would u sell a comb to a bald person?
2. What strategy will you suggest for a startup IT company like aashmam which is competing with the tier 1 IT companies in India?

Seriously, I had not faced such questions before. The first one is like selling a fridge to an eskimo.
For the first question, I answered that I will ask the bald person to buy the comb as a gift for his wife, daughter, friend or any other relative.
For the second question I gave a 2 minute answer explaining about the competitive scenario in the indian IT industry and how to differentiate the features of the software product, low pricing strategy, developing relationship with the client's top management etc. But Miss. Mamta (the interviewer) was not satisfied with my answers. She reminded me that their company was a startup company and wz looking for an innovative answer.
Finally, she told that she will call back again and asked me to be ready with an answer for the 2nd question or she may arrange a personal face to face interview at her office in mumbai or pune.

Later on, I asked the same question to professor Sudin Apte who teaches Services Marketing and is the country head of Forresterresearch in India (www.forresterresearch.com)
He told me that a start up company cannot compete with tier 1 companies. According to him a startup company should look for a niche service. If it is competing with tier 1 company it will definitely fail.

I posted this question on www.marketingprofs.com and got some good suggestions.
http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=14025#89394

Professor Nene suggested that the company should offer the solution on trial basis without any charges.
But, Prof Apte told that nowadays companies dont have time to experiment.

If any one has any other innovative strategy, plz mail me at aleem.symbiosis@gmail.com

Comments are welcome!!

Team work

Hi!
I am doing MBA-IT from Symbiosis, Pune www.symbiosiscomputers.com
I got an assignment from my professor for the subject E-business strategies.
The assignment was to prepare a report on B2B exchanges by chosing 2 exchanges in a vertical of our own choice.
There are 6 members in my team including me.

I want to write how I enjoyed working in a team. Infact, I have learned what NOT to do during a team assignment.
Firstly, all the team members are different with different IQ, knowledge, ability to search the net and find relevant information.

Those who are familiar with the management jargon will understand well.
One member of the team wrote strategy under the sideheading Business Model. Well, we all know that strategy and Business model are 2 different things. The funny thing is that the professor explicitly mentioned in the class about this difference.
other member came and told me that he was not able to find the strategy for covisint.com and asked if he could write the vision and mission statements under the sideheading strategy.
What i like about these assignments is that we have to do a lot of analysis on our own and there isn't any readymade information available on net.
The professor asked us to describe the different processes involved in the B2B exchange of our choice.
This is the funniest part. One member wrote about the different types of services provided by the exchange instead of the processes.

I tried to correct a lot of information in our assignment, but i wz really pissed off. so, I submitted the assignment. I wonder what the professor will think when he checks our assignment.

My first posting

Hi all!

I am very excited writing my first entry in my own blog.
Its very interesting to have one own blog - where u can write about your life, write what u think and lot many things.
I think this blog will become a part of my life.
hope u all njoy reading..

Comments are always welcome..