WORKPLACE FREEDOM DELIVERS BETTER RESULTS

BY DEBASREE BANERJEE

Workplaces worldwide are in a state of flux. Employees are clamoring for empowerment and freedom while managements are struggling to keep a balance between discipline and workplace rights. All the time, management control is imperative for productivity and profitability.

Workplace research has revealed that workers who feel they are free to make choices in the workplace, and be held accountable for them, are happier and more productive than employees who are more restricted. The problem, however, is that there is no universal cross-cultural and trans-national definition of autonomy.

However with the workplace constantly evolving and globalization increasingly important, cross-cultural research into workplace autonomy is more important than ever. Freedom for employees changes from one context to another, and has to be carefully defined to prevent abuse.

There is nothing that makes one happier than the sense of freedom. The freedom to flex your work hours to accommodate family life while still meeting organisational goals; freedom to air new ideas and opposing viewpoints with the management; freedom to do things differently, freedom to have a healthy work-life balance.

In the Middle East, however where managements deal with an expatriate workforce, employee freedom and flexibility has to be subject to certain checks and balances.

Global search giants Google for example offers a casual and easy work culture for its employees. The Google office reveals a colourful ambience--furniture and game boards--creating a fun atmosphere.

This environment of freedom is nurtured by a group of very smart people who are self-motivated, passionate to come out with innovative products which have a bearing on peoples' lives. Google has provided an environment without hierarchy and restriction, thereby giving abundant freedom to the employees. It has placed ideas above hierarchy and tried to make it easy for Googlers to make things happen. It's not uncommon for one person's interesting idea to grow to a larger, even company-wide, initiative.

While the walk to freedom has never been easy, workplaces are no longer "sweat shops", it's important to define employee freedom in different contexts and implement them for better profitability.

(ENDS)

HANDY HINTS

• Workplaces are no longer sweatshops
• Employees perform better when they are given options
• It is important to balance discipline with worker rights

Debasree Banerjee is the Corporate Communications Manager of Blue Ocean Academy.

WARMING UP TO ENEMIES AT THE WORKPLACE

“If you’re not making enemies, you are either doing something wrong or you are not doing anything at all ” goes the popular saying. No matter how innovative your ideas are or how hard you work to achieve the goals, there will always be people within and outside the organization who will oppose you.

More often than not, the enmity you will face will be due to your achievements and not for your limitations. If you are a high achiever, chances are that you will be favoured by the management and envied by your peers.

Anyone who has faced a rival at work—a colleague threatened by your skills, a superior unwilling to acknowledge your good ideas, or a subordinate who undermines you—knows such dynamics can prove catastrophic for your career, and for your group or organization.

The idea is not to get psyched out, instead learn a few rules of organizational conflict that will sustain you and help you navigate workplace conflict far more productively.

The mantra is to remain focused on your goals and objectives and not to get too perturbed by others’ actions and attitudes. When colleagues make rude and malicious comments, they are best ignored or responding to every nasty comment could become a full time job.

It’s also important to identify concerns that are worth a conflict. Fighting over things that don’t matter either individually or as an organizational goal will lead you nowhere. It is also significant that you develop an insight into others’ opinions and points of view. Insensitivity can kill relationships and make you vulnerable in the workplace.

Embracing your enemy, is another key point of survival.

Again you are likely to be caught on the wrong foot if you tend to stay away from your enemies. You give him a chance to lobby against you behind your back. Instead if you hold your friends close to your heart learn to hold your enemies at the workplace nearer. You will never know what your enemies are thinking or doing unless you engage with them.

Humour and tact are great ways of diffusing tension.

And sometimes it is important to either ignore or overlook issues for which you have no solutions. Finally enmity at the workplace is inevitable. Warming up to your enemies can cause you less damage than what you imagine.

(ENDS)

Handy Hints

• Enmity is inevitable at the workplace.
• High Achievers have the maximum number of enemies.
• It is important to engage with your enemies.

Warm up to enemies in the workplace

Mantra is to remain focused on your goals and not get perturbed by others’ actions

A Smart storyteller’s role in this digital age

They are hired to build a credible company culture and a corporate conscience

Multitasking? Time to apply the brakes.

The Side effects of doing multiple tasks at one time have life coaches worried

Curtain Raiser

Blue Ocean organizes Second International Conference on Global Supply Chain & Procurement

The region’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise is set organize its second international conference titled “Staying Ahead with Procurement Trends for Expo 20-20” on September 20, 2014 at the iconic Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, UAE.

The one-day conference will get together heads of Supply Chain and Procurement and important policy-makers from this region (who have played a crucial role in transforming UAE into the leading supply Chain hub that it is today) to analyse contemporary trends and pave the foundation for future innovation in the procurement industry.

Marketplaces worldwide are witnessing an unprecedented pace of change. As a result, businesses are rapidly re-evaluating their operating models and market strategies not just to withstand these market forces, but also to capitalize on them. The conference will focus on challenges and the missing links in the international supply chain as the world shrinks into a global marketplace.

Competent procurement professionals have stepped-up their game, fundamentally changing the way they work with the business and – as a result – are increasingly taking a leadership role in helping drive growth and reduce costs across the organizations.

The upcoming conference, a sequel to the First Blue Ocean International Conference on Procurement held in Qatar earlier this year, will feature eminent speakers drawn from different areas of specializations in global supply chain. There will also be an active participation from Blue Ocean Procurement and Supply Chain Forums.

The conference will help to create a “think tank” composed of industry specialists from all sectors, who will provide smart solutions to existing issues while determining the way forward.

“We are at a crossroads – it is important for us to look back at the country’s successes and not lose track of the concepts that made Dubai and the UAE into an international trading and logistic hub,” explained Mr. Abdul Azeez, Regional Director, Blue Ocean Academy.

Panel discussions will shed light on “Why benchmarking is important to Supply Chain” with speakers like Sara Lee from Weatherford Drilling International, Engineer Moustafa Ahmad Helmy, Head of Systems Support, Business Support Department, Procurement Directorate, Qatar Foundation, Ali Mohammed Saleh Al-Hussaini, Section Head – Procurement and Supply, Ma’aden Phosphate Company, Benu Chatterjee, General Manager – Purchase (International Operations), Sterling & Wilson, Rajesh M. Bhandari, Director, Arihant Education Foundation and Percy Jal Engineer, Regional Head, Corporate Relations, Blue Ocean Academy.

The speakers will focus on how companies need to make use of the latest technologies and the skills of empowered professionals to push profits in a resurgent Middle East economy. To improve their supply chain performance, companies are adopting new best practices. This session will highlight the ones that are making the greatest impact.

The second panel discussion will showcase international best practices in supply chain. The supply chain is everything between Supply and Demand and is effectively all of the “Buy-Make-Move-Sell-Stock” processes. Here we look at varied definitions and explain how the supply chain is involved (but is often not recognized) in the business practices of every organization.

Companies report that their top concern is the continued lack of supply chain visibility due to manually-driven processes. The second-highest concern is the uncoordinated nature of global supply chain processes across all the parties involved. Challenges with aligning multi-party actions and poor supply chain visibility result in an imbalance of supply and demand across tiers, leading to stock-outs, significant “just in case” inventory carrying costs, high transportation costs, and extended cycle times.

The panelists include Dr. Sathya Menon, Executive Director, Academics, Blue Ocean Academy, AmrTawfik, Region Logistics Manager, Weatherford Oil Tool Middle East, Ismail Hussain Al-Askar, Sr-Procurement Materials Specialist, Saudi Aramco, R. V. SrinivasRao, Manager Procurement & Logistics, Qatar Airways, VP Menon, General Manager, Career Institute, Dubai.

As Dubai readies itself to greet 25 million visitors for Dubai Expo 2020, the spotlight is on the new trends in international procurement and supply chain that will define its future. The Dubai World Central Logistics Park and the Maktoum International Airport has truly turned Dubai into an international trading hub. New jobs are being created every year in the UAE and in other Middle East countries. Challenging opportunities await those who can captain the industry in the future.

BLUE OCEAN’S 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN & PROCUREMENT: SEPTEMBER 20,ATLANTIS, THE PALM, DUBAI,U.A.E

Multi-tasking is High-Risk

By Debasree Banerjee

All working professionals, winning awards for versatility, beware! All that multi-tasking might be doing you more harm than good.

In today’s world of spiraling competition, lay-offs and mergers, serious side-effects of multi-tasking have had life coach experts more than worried.

Emerging studies are pointing to some well-observed truths: multi-taskers are prone to making mistakes, more likely to miss important information and cues and less capable of retaining information in their working memory. In a nutshell, attention deficit disorders are spreading like fire at the workplace. It’s time to apply the breaks.

Over the past decade, advances in neuroimaging have been revealing how the brain focuses, what impairs focus — and how easily the brain is distracted. It has also been discovered that the brain can be trained to ignore distractions.

The most important step to develop high-quality focus is to curb emotional frenzy. It is a feeling of being a little out of control, often underpinned by anxiety, sadness, anger, and related emotions. Emotions are processed by the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped brain structure. It responds powerfully to negative emotions, which are regarded as signals of threat.

Negative emotions interfere with the brain’s ability to solve problems or do other cognitive work. Positive emotions and thoughts do the opposite — they improve the brain’s executive function, and so help open the door to creative and strategic thinking.

The challenge is to improve the balance of positive and negative emotions by taming negative emotional frenzy by exercising, meditating and sleeping well.

It is also important to learn to apply the brakes. Distractions are always lurking: wayward thoughts, emotions, sounds, or interruptions. Fortunately, the brain is designed to instantly stop a random thought or an unnecessary action. Become aware of your options, you can stop what you are doing and address the distraction, or you can let it go. At the workplace ensure that meetings are distraction free and employees are giving undivided attention.

When you turn your attention to a new task, shift your focus from your mind to your body. Go for a walk, climb stairs, do some deep breathing or stretches. Even if you aren’t aware of it, when you are doing this your brain continues working on your past tasks. Sometimes new ideas emerge during such physical breaks.

Handy Hints

• Over achievers tend to multi-task
• Multi-tasking leads to attention deficit disorder
• Train your brain to avoid distractions

 Debasree Banerjee is Corporate Communications Manager of Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai.

A look into the future of UAE workplaces

More professionals are looking to create a brand new market space for themselves

Motivation is the Mantra for Success

Motivation is the Mantra for Success

By Debasree Banerjee

In today’s world of intense competition and multi-tasking, there is a constant need for motivation to pursue goals with a single-minded focus. The best way is to organize your life so that you don’t have to procrastinate, or distract yourself with trivial things.

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it,” says American Coach and Motivational Speaker, Lou Holtz. 

You should start with doing things for which you have a special passion and also develop a regular habit to do so. Without passion and discipline, achieving goals or delivering quality work on time becomes difficult.

If you have lost focus, it is important to “Go Back to Why.”When you are avoiding a particular task, it means, that it is time to just junk it and move forward. Start working for five minutes. Often that little push will be enough to get you going. Move around and show that you are motivated it has an impact on others around you.

If you are getting work in bulk, it is best to chunk it up so that it becomes more manageable. Are you demotivated because you are tired, afraid, bored, restless or angry? Maybe it is because you know for sure that you do not have the time to complete the delegated tasks.

Sometimes hidden fears or anxieties can keep you from getting real work completed. Isolate the unknowns and make yourself confident that you can handle the worst case scenario.

Your environment can have a profound effect on your enthusiasm. Computers that are too slow, inefficient applications or a vehicle that breaks down constantly can kill your motivation. Building motivation is almost as important as avoiding the traps that can stop it, so get the right tools.

The worst killer of motivation is facing a seemingly small problem that creates endless frustration. Reframe little problems that must be fixed as bigger ones, or they will kill any drive you have.

Find a few statements that focus your mind and motivate you. If you aren’t sure where to start, a good personal mantra is, “Do it now!”

Success creates success. When you’ve just won, it is easy to feel motivated about almost anything.

There are many ways you can place small successes earlier on to spur motivation later. Congratulate yourself for small achievements knowing that they are all small steps leading to the final goal.

Handy Hints

•          Develop a passion for the work you do.
•          Have a disciplined approach to deliver on time.
•          Get the right tools to remain motivated.

(ends)

Debasree Banerjee is the Corporate Communications Manager of Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai.

Make your voice heard in the workplace

Learn to speak up with confidence and a sense of purpose to be appreciated

Leaders must perform to motivate staff

Managers should inspire their people to excel and act with commitment

Make motivation your daily mantra

There is a need to stay motivated to be able to pursue goals single- mindedly

Attitude defines you at the workplace

Your level of profrssionalism affects work relationships and productivity

Blue Ocean Launches Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam Preparation Training

Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competence for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals — and thus, better compete in their markets.

Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam Preparation Training

Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification is the international standard for Project Managers and is the credential of choice in industries and organizations across the globe. Today, companies and clients are insisting on Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification from their project managers. Passing the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam is your first step towards the right direction.

Blue Ocean, the region’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise is a Registered Education Provider of  Project Management Institute(PMI®), USA to provide this prestigious certification Exam Preparation Training. This is an international endorsement of a professional’s project management skills.

Why Companies Need Certified Project Managers

In today’s competitive and chaotic global economy, companies are turning to project management to consistently deliver business results. Disciplined project management starts at the portfolio level, where the strategic vision drives initial investments and where value measures are established. A fully aligned project, program and portfolio management strategy encompasses the entire organization, dictating project execution at every level and aiming to deliver value at each step along the way.

Project management is, in fact, shorthand for project, program and portfolio management. And more companies are clearly seeing the payoff from investing time, money and resources to build organizational project management expertise: lower costs, greater efficiencies, improved customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage.

Economic downturn has heightened the value of project managers

An Economist Intelligence report showed that 80 percent of global executives believed having project management as a core competency helped them remain competitive during the recession. There is little doubt that a strong organization-wide commitment to project management leads to better results and long-term business value.

The delivery of business outcomes is realized through the success of projects, and in the essence that is the way that project management strategies drive organizational success.  

A survey by consulting giant McKinsey & Co. found that nearly 60 percent of senior executives felt strongly about building a strong project management discipline considering it to be among the top-three priorities for their companies as they look to the future.

Why Project Management Matters

Leading organizations have been steadily embracing project management as a way to control spending and improve project results.

Many companies look at project management shortcomings and forced them to do better. With little room for error and fewer resources to rely on, project is helping organizations streamline their delivery process, cut costs and sidestep risks, enabling them to ride out the recession and implement stronger project management practices for the future.

Tighter budgets and fewer resources mean less money for the innovative projects that help move the company forward.

Creation of formal Project Management Offices (PMOs)

Companies are also discovering that as their project management strategy matures, the business value derived from it also increases. To increase that value and ensure strategic alignment across the project portfolio, executives at many global organizations are creating formal project management offices (PMOs).

Keeping the project on track requires a strict management of metrics and project goals that extends across the project team and out to suppliers, contractors, the client and the stakeholders.

To keep that competitive edge, companies need to align their project management strategies directly with their strategic business goals. And PMOs can serve as a powerful bridge in creating and managing the link between strategy and results.

Project Management Professional (PMP®)

Project managers are the agents that drive success in organizations.  As the body of knowledge in project management grows at a steady pace, project managers need to stay on top of this knowledge and enhance their skill set.

The Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certificate from the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is geared for professionals, business analysts and business process managers from a wide range of industries and services in both the private and public sectors. Whether you are beginning your career in project management or want to develop and formalize your experience, Project Management Professional (PMP®) certificate will give you confidence and competency in the field.

Participants receive a comprehensive overview of project management along with the critical skills for managing small and large projects, the hard skills of cost, schedule, and implementation management, and the crucial organizational management skills necessary for long term success. You will build a solid foundation and prepare for professional certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI®).

Certificate Highlights:

• Become familiarized with the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) project management methodology

• Gain employer recognition and a competitive edge in the marketplace

• Formalize your project management skills and experience

• Understand how the Project Team and the Project Management Office functions, and the relevance of the Project Management Maturity Model.

• Learn how to build high performance teams; hone leadership skills; manage human resources and conflicts; and analyze organizational structures, cultures and influences on project management.

The role of Blue Ocean Academy in raising the bar of Project Management Professional (PMP®)-certified professionals in the Middle East

Blue Ocean is UAE’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise and partners with the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development and the Dubai Quality Group. Blue Ocean Academy is a Registered Education partner for Project Management Institute(PMI®), USA.

All Blue Ocean trainers are Project Management Professional (PMP®)-certified.

Keeping in mind the high-profile clientele, Blue Ocean Academy conducts all its training courses in five-star venues.

Blue Ocean: Assurance of Quality

·       The Stamp of Quality

·       18 years of training excellence

· 500+ Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam practice questions.

·       Limited number of candidates per class.

·       Computer/Laptop for each candidate.

·       Highly interactive workshops.

·       Free social media and email support for 3 months.

·       Personal Support & follow up




Disclaimer: "PMI", the PMI® logo, PMI R.E.P logo, "PMP", the PMP® logo, the PMI-ACP® logo, "PgMp", the PgMP® logo are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

Gulf News, April 3, 2014

Supply Chain Logistics Group Magazine, March 2014

Women are Driving the Optimistic Trend in Micro-Businesses

Women are Driving the Optimistic Trend in Micro-Businesses

 

By Dr. Sathya Menon

Do women make better entrepreneurs than men?  As businesses worldwide are persevering and adapting to a new economy, there is a new trend:  women are driving the new optimistic trend in micro-businesses. 

Many are setting up enterprises that they are easily being able to generate, operate and sustain from their homes.  From bead-making to human potential re-engineering, women are doing a great job of generating money through small enterprises.  “We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change,” said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook , explaining highlighting how women are becoming the new face of small and medium enterprises worldwide.

Using different innovative and cost-cutting measures, they have been able to sail through the recession and into happier times.  Not surprisingly, an increasing number of women juggling with home and work are now spurning regular employment and have conveniently created workplaces at their homes.

Reports from the US-based National Federation of Independent Businesswomen revealed that women will create over half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs expected to be created by 2018 and more and more will be doing this from home offices across the world.

The reason why women are being able to create and successfully control micro-businesses is because they are frugal and also innovative. Studies showed that controlling costs was the most popular strategy adopted among women entrepreneurs to get through the recession and there was a 52 per cent  increase in the number of women entrepreneurs using social media to boost business while saving on marketing costs.

In the Middle East, the global opinion that women work harder than men to be considered half as good remains contentious. However, statistics reveal that businesswomen control  more than Dh15 billion in investment and the funds are set to increase in the future.

The investments are concentrated mostly in equities, real estate and trade in the UAE and other countries. There are 14,000 women who manage more than 20,000 companies in the UAE, the second largest Arab economy and one of the world’s 10 top oil and gas exporters.

In the UAE and around the world, women are ushering a new revolution nurturing and developing small scale businesses. In the words of Michelle Obama, America’s First Lady : “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.”

 (ENDS)

Dr. Sathya Menon is Academic Director, Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai.

 

Blue Ocean newsletter (Oct-December 2013)

http://www.blueoceanacademy.com/Newsletter/index_1.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Ocean Joins Dubai Quality Group

http://www.godubai.com/citylife/press_release_page.asp?PR=86128&SID=1,52,18,19&Sname=Fashion%20and%20Lifestyle
 

Certified Purchase Professionals : Abu Dhabi, March 2014 Batch

Certified Purchase Professionals (CPPs) : Trained by Blue Ocean and certified by the American Purchasing Society (APS). In a resurgent Middle East economy, CPPs are acting as agents of social change, cutting costs and ringing in a culture of profit and sustainability in organizations across the board..

Middle East Ultimate Business Resource Portal : Middle East Info Publishes BO Press Release

http://www.ameinfo.com/blog/company-news/b/blue-ocean-academy/blue-ocean-joins-hands-dubai-quality-group/

Blue Ocean Spring Convocation Ceremony,MArch 2014

More than 400 students receive international certificates at a glittering convocation ceremony

 

 

PRESS RELEASE 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dubai : Blue Ocean, the region’s leading knowledge empowerment enterprise has joined hands with the Dubai Quality Group (DQG) to advance learning, promote quality improvement and provide networking opportunities among professionals in the region.

Mr. Abdul Azeez, Managing Director of Blue Ocean Academy made an announcement to this effect at the 30^th Convocation ceremony of Blue Ocean Academy held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Deira Creek recently.

“Professionals particularly in this region are constantly looking to learn new skills, and acquire international certification in order to keep pace with the constant changes taking place in technology and infrastructure at the workplace,” explained Mr. Abdul Azeez.

More than 400 students across different specializations from Human Resources to Six Sigma, Logistics and Supply Chain, Purchase and Commercial Contracts gathered to receive their international certificates, on the occasion.

“Membership with DQG is a clear demonstration of an organization’s commitment to quality improvement and business excellence,” Mr. Azeez said while showcasing the different learning platforms created by Blue Ocean to raise the bar of certified professionals in the Middle East.

The Blue Ocean Purchasing Forum and the HR Forum are important platforms created by Blue Ocean where professionals can meet and share their best practices.

 The Blue Ocean HR Forum workshop on “Change Management” evoked an enthusiastic response among certified professionals in the Middle East. The initiative of the Blue Ocean Purchasing Forum in highlighting the “Changing Face of the Purchasing Professional in the Middle East” recently was also very popular.

Blue Ocean, has played a stellar role in shaping the careers of thousands of professionals in the MENA region, training them to become experts in their field. 

It is well-known that knowledge doubles itself, every three years, so while at work, professionals need to constantly update yourself, to keep ahead of the game.  

“The success of Blue Ocean is measured by the professional achievements of its students. Most of Blue Ocean students have gone on to carve top-notch careers for themselves.  They have been sparked by the knowledge that they have gained at Blue Ocean to display rare leadership qualities in challenging scenarios,” Mr. Azeez added.

In the last decade, Blue Ocean has imparted futuristic skills to a new genre of industry leaders, shaping them into dynamic professionals in an increasingly competitive world.

Headquartered in the UAE with a strong presence in the UK, KSA, Qatar, Sri Lanka and India, Blue Ocean stands on an enviable reputation built on 16 years of training, 50,000 alumni worldwide, a global network of certified trainers, international affiliations and multinational partners.

At Blue Ocean you can become any one of these: Certified International Supply Chain Professional, Certified International Supply Chain Manager, Certified Business Administrator, Certified International Purchase Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Manager, Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified International Commercial Contracts Manager, Certified Human Resource Professional, Certified Human Resource Manager and Certified Project Manager.

All Blue Ocean courses are certified by apex certifying bodies like the International Purchase and Supply Chain Management Institute (IPSCMI), USA, American Purchasing Society (APS), International Quality Federation (IQF), American Certification Institute (ACI), Project Management Institute (USA), Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Dubai, UAE.

(ENDS)

 For further queries pls. contact

Debasree Banerjee, Corporate Communications;

Blue Ocean Academy;

050-1416435;

Debasree@blueoceanacademy.org

Caption for Pictures : Blue Ocean students receive international certificates at a glittering convocation ceremony at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai recently.