Most Managers & Executives in
India are not trained or do not realize how unprofessional they are while
interacting with outsiders. Interactions with outsiders is not limited to only
the Sales & Customer support people, but most other internal functions as
well, like HR, Staffing, Facilities, Administration etc.
- When it comes to scheduled meetings, many have no sense of timing. Their planning is so pathetic, that they seldom arrive or join for meetings on time. This is true for face to face meetings and today’s fad is “Conference calls”. 80 % of these calls are a waste of time for all attendees. These are mostly rituals.
- If it is a first time meeting, they do not make proper introductions. Many are so stingy that they either do not carry their business card or often say “I am running short of cards”. Companies must realize that this is the worst branding act by an employee of the company. They do not realize that there is a lot of word-of-mouth branding. If one does not want to be disturbed by unsolicited calls on their mobiles, they can refrain from putting their number on the card. The Japanese & Singaporeans have a very respectful way of presenting their business card. This act does not only, takes less than 10 seconds but also leaves an impression on the recipient. Actually the humility and character of the person get exposed during this act of sharing the card.
- The meetings may not have a set agenda and the company folks who meet the visitors rely too much on their memory. Taking notes, during the meeting is considered a less intelligent activity and many do not take any notes. The result is that the meeting is a sheer waste of time, as only a fraction of what transpired get actioned.
- Most of them are explicitly clear about their roles & responsibilities, but do not have a clue of what the corollary of this is. They are never aware of their authority and hence do not take decisions. While companies find it easier to explain the roles and responsibilities and expect compliance, seldom do they spell out what the individual is authorized to do. This “Parental control” does not produce leaders and independent thinkers, but command-executors. Then Organizations spend a lot of money to become innovative. Innovation is a direct by-product of how much authority is delegated downwards.
Therefore, most meetings conclude
with the remark – “We will discuss internally and revert. “ If at all an internal discussion happens, all
the participants do not have the complete picture, as all the actors of the
initial meeting are not present and thus there is a transmission loss.
Who is a loser in all this? The
Organization
Change the traits and the
organization changes from bureaucracy to an agile and effective group of
professionals
