BlogiCON (www.iconplanners.com)

Travel Experience or Just attendence!

2011-09-03T04:34:00.001-07:00

Shopping, adventure, history, people, place and many more things want us to experience a place. Young girls tend to pick up just anything from bags to tit bits in jewelry , food junkies try as many different local cuisines , though most of the time they do not cherish the taste, but the buds likes them to try the new local flavor. Sport junkies might want to fall from some meters up to experience the free fall or bungee into the water, or go diving into the sea. Ironically, many travel just to check out a point. Travelers especially Indians get and are fond of spoon feeding and will only try if ; someone else is doing the same, if the service is for free, or they are requested like kings to try the same by flooring the service at their footsteps! Not to criticize but WE are not the go getters who will peek into the details and explore a new destination.
Many travelers, ROE (rate of exchange) becomes the decider for visiting that country. Never heard of any one yet venturing out to Pakistan or Bhutan that much, nonetheless, distance makes some attraction too. South east Asia is the most sought after area when it comes to shopping, food, adventure activities, sea and water and affordability. Pattern of travel- travelers in family to SE Asia will want to book all in advance and all inclusive, as it should have meet and greet, ready pick up in a private transfer from airport till hotel. So called guide cum driver should stop and show them around if possible, many travelers do not understand the local law and try to press hard on deviations enroute! One incident in London , where a traveler left his belongings at restaurant and wanted the return coach to stop enroute for him to get down on highway and fetch his stuff, unfortunately was a rude turndown from the stern driver.
Coming back to sightseeing in pre planned areas, where many travelers especially the young guns will venture out, but the oldies have seen the complete world in India, comment comes “yeh to dekh rakha hai” – or did you come here for just touch and go, attendance?

To experience a place, you need time, a good company of friends, well planned itinerary and good number of days, do not think of clubbing maximum in less time, the holiday becomes a curse! You will need to rest and recoup from this torture to come back to senses. Try the options by new entrants rather than big names in travel agencies. They will go out of their way to give you extra and deviations at your pace. Of course, bargain but to an extent, as loads of effort goes into booking and coordinating time wise plan for you on ground.

The new breed of travel, is more of participation as compared to just seeing, experiencing and not just attendance!

Get the Work Done

2011-08-25T00:52:00.001-07:00

How to Get the Work Done from a Team?

by V S Rama Rao on August 22, 2011

You can go on and on about what are the basics to successful team building. After all, there is no fixed formula to what makes a group of people click on different occasions. But there are a few principles that are followed by almost every manager. Here are some practical propositions to team building that can help:

It is very important for a team leader to be honest to his/her team. S/he should tell them exactly where they stand within the organization. A team leader should convey the right information in a positive manner. Once your team members know their exact position in the organization, they will take your instructions in a better manner. Honesty is the best policy.

Be consistent about your communication with your team members. Remember, you will lose credibility with your team members if you communicate the same situation differently with different team members. For instance, if you rebuke a team member for his/her mistake, and spare someone else when s/he does the same mistake, you lose credibility. Also, make sure that you manage your moods at work. If you project a professional behavior, no matter what the situation is, your team will surely respect you. Consistency is the key.

Always be frank with your team members. If there is any bad news coming for your team or the organization, make sure you sit down for a meeting and share this important news with them. Avoid using phrases like “The management asked me to keep it secret”, “I don’t have all the facts yet”, “I don’t think the employees can handle bad news”, etc. At times employees are aware of the bad news even before their managers get to know about it. Lastly, employees would appreciate whatever information you share with them. Remember, they can handle bad news as long as their managers are concerned about them.

When you emphasize on feedback and insist on giving/receiving constant feedback, you build a bond of trust that improves your team’s performance. Make feedback a thumb rule. Your team members work hard, and by giving feedback you show that you appreciate their efforts and the difference they make. Let them know that you value their feedback, to make the work environment a ‘win-win’ situation.

People go to work because they want to make a difference at their job, as well as their lives. One of the best ways to generate team support is to involve them in solution creation process. Be it staff meetings, one-on-one sessions, workshops, etc, create an atmosphere that lets your team members express themselves freely. Try this, and you will be showered with innovative, proactive and practical solutions that are better than what you imagined. In short involve your team in team building.

Office work reminders:

To enable one to complete actions required in day to day office work irrespective of position following supports can help in accomplishing the tasks:

* Post-it notes: Stick them onto your computer, desk board. Post-its are easy ways to remember matters, especially stuff like making calls, sending mails or couriers. You can keep different colored post-it notes for different projects.

* Diary: For those, who are in the habit of checking notes every now and then, there’s nothing better than maintaining a diary. You can keep detailed information in a diary but make sure you highlight important matters so that they do not get lost in the clutter.

* Mobile reminders: You carry your mobile everywhere you go. So, let your cell beep as and when required to remind you of certain tasks you need to complete.

* Personal assistant: You could request your colleague to help you out in remembering important things, if s/he has a good memory. Just tell him/her at what time you would like to be reminded that’s it.

* Time table: If you have a slight memory disorder, you can do with a simple time table. Take a piece of chart paper and write down all the important tasks with a marker. Stick it on the desk and look at it every now and then.

Working with teams is common to any positions call it team leader, middle management executive, departmental head and above. One should know how to motivate his team and get the work done in the best interest of the organization. Art of delegation plays a key role in getting the work done and motivating the team properly.

Get the Work Done

2011-08-25T00:32:00.001-07:00

Behavior at Work

2011-07-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

You work place is where you spend more than 8 to 10 hours every day. You should learn to get along with all the colleagues at this place.

A friend in the HR department means being in touch with the internal happenings of the company that are confidential, getting a head start on any company policy, if there’s to be any danger to your job and so on.

A friendly office helper can also help you in your work process and make it much easier for small things. A few polite words, greeting him every morning as a sign of recognition as a friend and a couple of smiles every day can do wonders.
A friend in the Accounts department will help you to get your dues cleared without delay. Get a friend in the accounts

Sometimes you just need to share your heart with someone. And if that someone is your close friend who is also your colleague, it is all the more advantageous. When you confide in your close friend, you know that you are understood better. Have a coffee break with him: It’s always great to have coffee and lunch with a friend. You may not have the time to socialize with your friends, so eating together or having coffee with your close friend at work can assist in making up for the lost friendship.

Most people spend their life at work. In fact with the growing working hours, increasing pressures and greater addiction to work, for some their job has become their life and their office has become their home. In such a scenario it’s difficult to maintain relationships out of the work place. Having a close friend at work can actually be a source of stress relief and joy. Here are some of the benefits of finding a close friend in your colleague at work.

To see someone you can relate with is an added advantage of being at work. Just knowing that someone you connect with is also around you, can add to the comfort factor in times of stress and pressure.

Discuss career growth with him/her and expect support and right advice. If your colleague is a friend, then career guidance and support becomes natural. It’s easier and meaningful to discuss your future with someone who knows you and your work and has your best interest in mind.

The world has become competitive today and you truly need someone you can confide at work who can watch your back for you and warn and guide you in your best interest. So go ahead and find a good colleague at work who can become your friend and you will find more fulfillment in your time and life spent at work.

Dealing with rude colleagues:
At some point in our careers, most of us are forced to work with colleagues, whose people skills are unpleasant, if not atrocious. The thought of having to regularly interact with such people, who are routinely negative, argumentative, stressed out or just plain mean can make your job a terrible and trying experience.

Well, while you can’t change them or control their behavior, you can control your own reactions to it. Because how you interact with rude colleagues can affect your career. Tactfully handling difficult personalities requires strong interpersonal skills and diplomacy, which can make you stand out for all the right reasons.

First, try not to let their rude behavior affect your work. Though it’s natural to dwell on such situations, you shouldn’t get too stressed about them, especially if they don’t affect your routine work or your career path. Focus only on your work and save your energy for those in the office who deserve it.

If their rude behavior does affect your work, try to spend as little time as you can with the person. Choose to work on projects with other individuals, and keep a distance from your rude colleagues.

The workplace is not a place to become dramatic or over emotional. If the other person is rude or nasty, try to still respond with dignity and define limits regarding the specific behavior. If you react with an angry outburst, you will almost make the situation worse.

Be firm when you deal with a rude colleague. Being too nice or easy going might lead to you getting walked over and having more rudeness directed at you. You can smile and be cordial, but don’t be a doormat.

Functionally Good Organizations -VS RAO,a good read!

2011-07-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

Functionally Good Organizations

by V S Rama Rao on July 23, 2011
Functionally Good Organizations

In the functionally good organization, activities are grouped together by common functions. Each functional unit has a different set of duties and responsibilities. In a University functionally good organization would mean a set of departments like marketing, management, business economies, finance, etc. Thus, similar and related occupational specialities are grouped together. Functionally good organizations try to incorporate the positive aspects of specializations.

Features of functionally good organizations

Functionally good organizations are characterized by the following:

Advantages of functionally good organizations:

Clarity: Functional design has the great advantage of clarity. Everybody has a responsibility. Everybody understands his own task. As a result, functionally good organizations bring order and clarity to organizational activities.

Economies of scale within function: It provides economy of scale within functions. It reduces duplication and waste. For example, the total floor space shared by several products in functional organizations leading to economy of operations.

Specialization: Each departmental manager is concerned with only one kind of work and can concentrate all his energies upon it with minimum diversion. Specialization being built into the organization brings about competitive advantage for the firm. By putting its limited resources into one specialized activity even a small company can compete with a giant corporation on quantity, delivery and price.

Coordination: Coordination within functions is easy. Centralized decision making ensures unity of performance.

In depth skill development: The functionally good organizations also promote skill development of employees. Employees are exposed to a range of functional activities within their departments allowing them to embody their outstanding skills in every activity of the company.

Suitability: The functional type of organization is best for small to medium sized organization producing one or a few products where the dominant competitive issue and goals of the organization emphasize functional specialization, efficiency and quality.

Limitations of Functionally Good Organizations

The weakness of the functionally good organization, unfortunately are legendary as the following list indicates:

Effort focus: Every functional manager considers his function to be the most important and develops a narrow dimension of the organization. He becomes so enamoured with his own specialty that he forgets the organization’s overall goals. In his anxiety to achieve departmental goals he may try to subordinate the welfare of the other functions. The lust for aggrandizement on the part of each function is the price paid for the laudable desire of each manager to do a good job. Again functional specialization my lead to extremely narrow, dull and boring jobs in the organization with routine technologies. Functionally good organizations also contribute to a short term perspective on the part of specialists.

Poor decision making: No one except the man at the top sees the entire picture of business. Consequently, decisions are easily misunderstood and poorly executed. Questions like who is right? Who has scored better? Force organizational participants into a tug-of –war.

Sub unit conflicts: As the functional organization balloons to a reasonable size, boundaries are erected between departments. The structure turns out to be a Berlin Wall building. Coordination among departments becomes a tough exercise. No one functional group is totally responsible for performance. As a result tendencies like buck passing, side tracking of issues etc. develop. Overlapping authority and divided responsibility adds to the confusion and chaos prevailing. Accountability suffers. If functionally good organization is employed, important projects may suffer for lack of focused coordinated attention.

Managerial vacuum: Emphasis on functional skills makes a man unfit for top management post requiring a broad perspective on the organization’s activities. A functionally good organization does not prepare people for tomorrow for it has no position in which a functional head can learn and prepare to handle complexities inherent in the chief executive’s position. In course of time a chronic shortage of top management generalists may be felt.

The weaknesses of the functionally good organization are legendary. As the functional organization grows in size it rapidly becomes an organization of misunderstandings, feuds, empires and Berlin Wall building. It soon requires elaborate, expensive clumsy management crutches, coordinator, committees, meetings trouble shooters, special dispatchers which waste everybody’s time without as a rule solving much! The problem of coordination between function becomes more difficult. The administrative distance between top management and functional department grows. Product organization structure helps in relieving this position.

Blackbox approach to desicion making..

2011-07-18T02:33:00.001-07:00

I am not talking of routine decisions even the juniors may take about the day to day work in this article. I am writing about important decisions to be made by a manager or a manager and his senior subordinates or members of top management along with the required departmental heads. These can be increasing market share of the company, increasing production, adding new products, expansion of capacity and buying of new capital goods. These are not made in one setting but several settings over a period of time.

Making decisions is not an easy task. So, does the mere involvement of more than one individual in the process make this process any easier as compared to an individual taking the decision.

Given the uncertain world we are in, solutions to decision making problems cannot be based on a purely black box approach. Though routine and mundane decisions can be easily delegated and even quantified more often than not, truly intellectual judgment comes only from knowing that you are independent to decide and can use your tools and resources as felicitously as an author would choose his words.

What kind of companies encourage such flexibility is another question that has befuddled researchers in the past. As one questions the superstructures upon which decision making models are built, founder and managing principal, Decision Options, it can be explained the underlying principles of an organization conducive to such flexibility. Companies, today, have to move away from traditional structures that follow prescriptive decision processes based on rules and regulations and design flat organizations with complete delegation of decision authority. Since one cannot reasonably predict the future, any decision process based on fixed expectations of future or extrapolations of the past are bound to fail. With flat organizations with complete delegation, companies can increase flexibility and thus are able to manage uncertainty rather than design actions for set expectations driven by a few at the top.

Clearly, one cannot take it for granted the freedom and must seek to build teams with substantial power to perform with maximum degree of independence, possible. Practically, an organization cannot function on centralized decision any longer because the scope and potential in the global economy is immense.

Though decision making autonomy is tough to realize, it is not impossible. In every business, the managers have to take similar decisions. But in order to increase the scale of operations, a good manager decentralizes decision making as much as possible, of course with due checks and balances. Keeping all the decisions to your limits your scope and delays result due to distance from the information center. A manager should effectively build teams monitor their decisions and maximize satisfaction. Every chain has a loose link, so will a team. That is where management action steps in.

For global organizations of today, a national subsidiary can function properly and take decisions as per the localized and other information available only when such rights have been made available to it. One of the relatively recent shifts in the International Business Environment is the transfer from HQ perspective to transnational network perspective whereby the role and function of MNC subsidiaries have been widely recognized. This results in autonomy of the subsidiaries in a way that makes them independent to take their own decisions to achieve global goals.

Chaos is a pattern of three states: equilibrium, disequilibrium and bounded instability. The task of decision makers is to keep the organization in the third state because that is where organizations can innovate. Decision making becomes a continual process of adaptation to forces largely beyond a decision maker’s control. It is like surfing a huge wave off Diamond Head, a wave that never hits shore.

Rational decision making proceeds on the belief that managers can transform a complicated web of facts, assumptions, objectives and educated guesses into a clear decision that people at the organization can act on. There is a strong faith in all this that the world can be influenced through manager’s mental capabilities. Decision making, then is an effort to exercise control over the organization’s destiny. This has been a distinctive management belief for more than a century.

In decision making as mentioned in the first paragraph the cost aspect, productivity, profitability and manpower are taken into consideration. If not feasible even the entire plan may be dropped irrespective of the time and settings. The company should increase on its profitability, productivity, market share and manpower ratio (should be decreased). A decision regarding automation can also be taken by the above members. The end result should be increase in profits and market share

Inception..

2011-07-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Incentives and Conference Planners was born out of the necessity to be willing and apply our cumulative experience of more than 15 years in this industry , to create a platform which have all the incentives and conference organizing tools and technologies. Our experience ,creativity, certified and professional staff represent the strong foundation of our company. Icon Planners is committed to remain focused on growth, expanding services and creative partnering. Our team of people enjoys distinguished reputation in the industry and among our esteemed clients. We are your strategic choice for any destination management requirement worldwide

Incentives and Conference Planners

Corporate Office

First Floor, DB 58, Sector 1, Salt Lake City, Kolkata,700064.India

Tel:+91 33 65671523 Tele Fax : +91 33 400438048

email: info@iconplanners.com. website: www.iconplanners.com

Registered Office:

129A, Vivekananda Road ,Kolkata.700006,India

Kolkata I Delhi I Hyderabad I Pune

teen tigada , kaam banaDALA..

2011-07-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

The day we made our 'logo'.

the logo is kinda sq in shape with a pretuding head and a tail, the head ofcourse depicts a human figure with the curve as the body! and doubles it up by making the 'i' as in Incentives and the kick of the curve originating as 'C' for conference. The planner is however not depected by any letter.

it did take a very less effort to make this, thou we had to constantly do the back and forth witht he designer guy Mr Osborne siting next to river Hooghly.. must say fast and to the point work did it all. indeed , we were in hurry too, the business was waiting-and we wanted a NAME and symbol for the recall factor.

Coming to the colors, they just strike well, gel well with the over all look and feel..blue is cool and green represents the ECO factor in it!Delivering Expectations came n quickly for the empty space under icon,as these words are seldom taken care by service providers like us, we thot of integrating them in our DNA!

Zara Hatke

2011-07-16T04:38:00.001-07:00

It is very easy to say “we are different”....but how many people can actually justify that they are different or the work they are doing is different or may be the way they are doing is different. In service industry MICE....being different means the way you do same things in unique style or you create a product which no one has heard about or done earlier i.e. Pioneers.... iCON does the same thing, we create those dreams....let people dream and we stand at what we are committed “DELIVERING EXPECTATIONS”....Dreams could be anything...it can be Destination oriented or service oriented or Price oriented....there are so many virgin destinations those have not been explored....there are so many service, which are never being thought about or offered like Wedding of the Grandparents organised by Grand children.....Team building projects for the senior management....Creating conference for the NGOs and many more....Have you ever thought about why the almost dead radio was given a brand look and packaged in a different way as FM and came out as RADIO MIRCHI! We all know its success story....it was the same thing packaged in a better way...Another example: have we ever thought why the TRPs are so high for BIG BOSS...becoz people see their Dream celebrities leading a normal life like them, they can relate to them easily....this is what in our opinion thinking out of the box!!!

Flying was a dream for all middle class or lower middle class people till Captain Gopinath came up with Air Deccan. It was a dream which many had but Captain made them see it and believe in it. Today we all know the success story of all low cost airlines. The size does not matter, if that would have been the case then Dinosaurs would have never been extinct, it is for them who can adapt with changing times they stay and rest would perish. iCON is here to stay, fearless of the competition & bigger brands!!

iCON does it in style..be it an Incentive group or a serious conference or just a meeting or may be a convention...we have a unique way of presenting these! Bank on iCON for that extra flavour in your monotonous/boring meetings, conferences and incentives programs, which can make it GOURMET OF THE YEAR! Think this way...u have so many tea stalls...but why do u go to a particular shop for having that hot cup of local tea...its not becoz he gives u that extra malai in your tea....its his smile, his warmth which makes you feel important and you take the pride as feeling his most important customer. For iCON every customer is the most important one....we make him feel the difference! iCON believe in making longterm relationships....and we know business will follow!!!

Morning shows the day

2011-07-16T04:33:00.000-07:00

'Morning shows the day....child shows the man’.....well known saying! If we look at an organisation, its the same, growth of the organisation is reflected by the way it is being nurtured. Developing an organisation is somewhat similar to rearing up a new born baby....just like the initial 2-3 yrs of a baby for all parents it is an uphill tasks they spend sleepless nights, make immediate arrangements when the baby is sick and rejoice for every new development that the baby shows! On the similar line, in the initial stages of building an organisation the most important trait that is required is patience and perseverance....for every entrepreneur! An entrepreneur have to be like mother, who knows what’s the requirement of her baby. A common fault which all start up organisation generally commit is going overboard buying new gadgets for the company, we should also learn just like if too complicated toy is given to a baby there is a choking hazard! So proper planning is required for the right time to put systems in place. During the initial phase of growth every second person gives some or the other advice, some may be good and some may have an adverse affect, but it is for the entrepreneur to understand and comprehend which advice is beneficial for his/her organisation. At iCON we do admire other successful organisation but are committed not to make a mistake by imitating them becoz we strongly believe...however beautiful the other baby may be....your own organisation is one whom you should love the most! At iCON we are thankful to our patrons and well wishers who has given us invaluable suggestions leading to our positive growth! A tree is also recognised by the fruits it bears....so tomorrow fruits of our growth will reflect the identity of iCON!!!