Asian Tiger

Trust me, if you have a large team and make a lot of concensus decision while remaining confidential on the votes, get a tool called Audience Response System.  In a large team, many participants experience peer pressure if asked to raised their hands to vote.  Call it a inferiority complex or call it peer pressure, but for you, you get the wrong/inaccurate response when team members vote by raising their hands.

Making a wrong decision can be a costly affair — but with a discrete voting system, you get frank/real answers to the questions you pose; especially when a system is affordable and well within your reach.  Another simpler way is a ballot box.  Easy to implement and very mobile but takes a bit of effort and time to conduct and compile the results.

Reality shows are known to implement these systems to encourage their viewers participations in the program; shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is one of them.  Large training companies do adopt this to get participations from their “trainees” and a quick quiz from time to time keeps them on their toes — making the training much more productive.

Imagine coming home from work after a grueling 12 to 18 hours. The only consolation you had was that there was no traffic jam when you drove home. After a hot shower, you plonk yourself on the sofa and closing your eyes after turning on some soft music to soothe your brain.

All your sensory are recuperating from exhaustion except that of your smell. For some, they use aromatherapy, some use volcano vaporizer and some use the age old incense. Aromatherapy uses a combination of candle, water and essential oils. Certain types of oil are said to have certain healing and relaxation functions.

Volcano vaporizers are special devices used to vaporize herbs so that active ingredients and flavouring are released without any kind of combustion. Since combustion or burning of organic materials are said to be carcinogenic in nature, using a volcano vaporizer eliminates that possibility.

The ancient practice of burning incense is another popular method of relaxation.  Today, you will find many kinds of scented incense ranging from the traditional joss stick to incense cone. Some even burn raw incense over charcoal fire.

If you have not tried any of these, you should.  You will find that you relax and rest better.

Depending on how your performance is measured, there are a few ways to survive the dreaded appraisal period.

If your company uses balance scorecard and measurable KPIs for performance appraisal, you have no choice but to make sure you perform consistently.  Most balance scorecard that I have seen have a month to month measurement, so, you have a chance to buck up towards the end of every month to make sure you meet your KPIs.

If your company use the traditional once-a-year-superior-subordinate-mark-your-performance-based-on-how-much-the-superior-can-remember, you are in luck.  Most superiors can only remember 3 months into the past.  So, if you know that your appraisal is in June, just make sure you work hard from April onwards.  Try to recall your previous appraisals, think back about what your superior said; is it not true that he/she only mentions recent events - good or bad?

During your appraisal, just make sure you smile, dress proper, be extremely courteous and agree with what your boss says.  Compliment him/her whenever he/she mentions good points and take note when negative views are given.  Don’t create a scene and don’t make your boss angry or frustrated.  Most bosses will only recommend for promotion or salary adjustment after the face-to-face appraisal.  So, don’t piss him/her off.

Some bosses prefer to write in pencil and have you sign off the appraisal form in pen.  If this happens to you, it’s time to look for a job.