Happy New Year to all. I hope this turns out to be a good and fruitful year. Hopefully, a year where most resolutions are kept! A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. If a resolution you set is not a realistic benchmark then you will feel that setting a resolution is a waste.

If I ask you "What is waste?", what will your answer be ???. Well I saw an interesting answer to this question. It says "Waste is something useful in wrong place in wrong form". I do not know who said this first. However we have to salute him. This definition gives a good indication about the power of waste elimination and helps us to resolve ourselves to make changes in our life. If we keep this useful thing (for an example, a right file) in the correct place, in the correct form, this will not be treated as a waste.

Most importantly it becomes the system of our life and the system will become the way of life. So think about this with the definition for the waste above.

Let's sort unnecessary things and keep them in the place that they belong to in this new year. By doing so, we move the things to a place where they will have a value. By doing this continuously we will not allow waste to appear in our system. So, a realistic commitment - a resolution, works to get double advantages in a single decision you make. First, it eliminates wastes. Secondly it cerates value by giving the waste the position it requires.

Here are 20 Do's and Dont's to reflect on the changes you want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes to race up your Corporate Success Ladder.

1  Learn Something New

Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you'll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year's resolutions to keep.

Thus prepared, shooting ahead in the buoyant economy of the country should be a cakewalk for anyone with ambition, drive and the right spirit. There is a lot of churn in the job market today and people are getting more responsibilities at an earlier stage than experienced a few years ago. Keeping ones eyes open for in-house as well as short term training courses offered in the market and making use of them certainly helps. Capability to plan, being able to manage uncertainties, good communication skills, being open to team members' concerns and sensitivities are must have qualities and skills if one wants to take one's career to the next level.

2  Think, Act and Behave like a CEO

In today's challenging environment, creativity and initiative are critical elements in solving customers' problems. Studies shows that employee ownership and thinking and acting like owners motivates higher creativity and initiative along with better performance for customers, and higher levels of customer satisfaction.

One of the reasons why others (employees) would join your company may be because of your company values and the employee ownership heritage. New employees need to understand your company's culture and the entrepreneurial spirit that drives it on Day One, and feel a part of the company's unique business model. This is key to sustaining your robust stock ownership with the new generation of employees.

3  Get to work on time

While this might sound trivial, the fundamentals are that you should be at your desk and ready to work at the time your shift starts. While everyone understands that once in a while you could be caught in a traffic jam, just make sure you turning up late doesn't turn into a habit.

4  Try to keep your voice down

Most offices have cubicles as a work space; your sharing is always interesting for the other person, right? Wrong. The occasional laughing or cursing fits you throw can be extremely disruptive to your co-workers. Not only do they get enlightened with things they never wished, but also get disturbed in their normal routine.

5  Stay away from office gossips

There's a fine line between polite conversations and down right nosiness. We guess you don't want to get caught in the firing range of all the back stabbing and never ending office gossips. Staying away from all this will ensure you work with a proper frame of mind.

6  Wear Your Attitude

Keep the ‘Ask' principle be the end in your mind before you start of anything. "Attitude, skills and knowledge - the three together make you who you are." Knowledge and skills have to be acquired, but the most important thing, is attitude.

A positive, confident attitude and treating work as worship are cliché that can never go out of fashion. "Great work can never go unseen.

7  The office phone is not a PCO

While most people blatantly use office phones calling everyone and anyone they know, it's simply not right. Do limit your personal phone calls to your mobile in office hours either receiving or calling. There's a difference in using the office phone in making an important appointment and calling your buddy and chatting for hours.

8  Usage of Internet

No Personal Mails be used in working hours. Would be appreciated by any management of the organization doing the same at the allotted time.

9  Leaving on time

It's perfectly Ok to leave on time, simply don't shut your computer down and sit by your desk waiting for the hour to strike. People notice these actions and it's not appreciated. Make a point to leave after your scheduled time.

10  Be Specific and Keep it Relevant

In all your conversation be specific and relevant about what you are communicating. Do not generalize. By doing so you can ensure no one feels you're a pain at work.

Look out for the other 10 tips in the upcoming Feb 08 issue of Businessgyan. In the meantime there is enough to start off with......Good luck! 

Sabarigiri Varadha is a Serial Entrepreneur and VThree Consulting Pvt Ltd happens to be the part of his series. VThree Consulting Pvt Ltd provides MNCs' the most complicated technology in the world... the skilled human beings.

Issue BG82 Jan 08