6 Ways To Make Effective Connects

This week has been super busy but at the same time very productive. We were able to get a lot of work done and what I realized is that if you are really busy, you actually get a lot of ideas to do things differently. On the other hand, if you are not busy, you are actually laid back and at times lazy. 

Here are some of the learning from a very busy week, which, I wish I knew earlier:

That Power point presentation are not the only way to engage people/ make impact

Yes, PPTs are a good traditional way to share information and make a good impact but they are not the only way. There are multiple other innovative ways  that one can use to not only share information but also make a bigger and better impact on the targeted audience. Some of these ways are:

Debates: A discussion forum or platform where people get opportunity to come and share their opinion. A well organized debate helps in more than one way, it not only provides a platform for the participants to come and speak but also becomes an enriching/ learning experience for the audience.

Group Discussions: This is a very effective format when you want to test the ability of your team to analyze a situation completely within a very short period of time. Largely executed in two different forms of (a) Roleplay and (b) Case study. In role play, the participants actually enact or play the role of a specific character based on the given situation. While in case study, they are given a case study and asked to read, understand and express their views. Thanks to Kaumudi Bhat for sharing this valuable information with me.

Quiz Competitions: There is nothing more exciting than to witness a group of talented individuals compete with each other. Quiz competitions organized on relevant topics make a good learning platform for both the participants as well as the audiences.

Speak your mind: Impromptu settings are the most challenging. This is where the ability to think and speak instantly comes into picture. A 5 minute speak your mind workshop is a good idea for people to come and share their thoughts on random topics which may prove valuable to the audience.

Sharing is caring, you can actually multiply your time if you work together as a team

I used to read a lot of books few years back but then for no good reason, I stopped. Few days ago, I was watching a video on Youtube, it was about the importance or value of reading. It really proved to be an eye opener. I quickly realized that I made a huge mistake when I stopped reading books. By not reading, I had stopped a very good external source of information or knowledge for myself. So I asked myself, how do I make up for the lost time? I cannot read more than one book at the same time. So I needed a smart solution. This is how I think the smart solution would work:
(A) Identify a group of people who are interested in reading
(B) Get that group together for some targeted reading.
(C) Each one can read a different book of their choice(between the agreed timelines)
(D) Once the set time period is over, the group comes together and each one shares the summary and learning from the book that they have read during that period.

Effectively, if there are 10 people in the group then at the end of the exercise you get to hear summary and learning from 10 different books. Wow, that's exciting. It is really motivating to see your thoughts in action and even more exciting if the group/ team participates with open mind and heart. Sharing is caring in real world of grown up children.

Biggest secret of Stakeholder Management is Stakeholder Connect

We all manage stakeholders in our respective roles at our workplace. Who really is a stakeholder? Stakeholder is someone who has a positive or negative impact on your work/ project. It can be your team member, your peer, your customer or a key decision maker. So you have stakeholders all around you. Have you ever thought, how to manage them? While stakeholder management is a bigger topic, one important aspect of it is Stakeholder Connect. How connected are you to your stakeholders? How often do you speak to them? How often do you meet them? if they are global stakeholders, do you utilize technology to connect to them via audio/ videos? Answer to these questions are the very foundation of stakeholder management. Here are few suggestions:

(A) It is vital that we identify all stakeholders with respect to our work. No one should be left out.

(B) Identify a way to "Connect" with them in a positive way. 

(C) Develop an attitude of Gratitude and appreciate the good work done by your stakeholders whenever there is an genuine opportunity.

Remember like attracts like, if you make the first positive move there is a high possibility that the other person will reciprocate in the same way. Make a bridge, go connect now!

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