People always think that they do not need to make too much of an effort in order to maintain a relationship, be it with friends, colleagues, spouses or business partners. But the truth is, if you don’t make an effort to maintain or improve the relationship, then the relationship will become from bad to worse. As simple as that. Relationship, in any forms, should never ever be 1-sided.

Let me give you an example. I think I’ve read this story from gapnap’s blog. I’ll modify it slightly since I can’t really recall the exact storyline.

Once upon a time, there were 2 good friends living together in a small village – let’s call them E and F. E was a very smart and cunning person but he was a bit lazy. So for most part of his life, he needed F’s help to do everything ranging from work to studies. F on the other hand, was a true friend. He was honest and most importantly, he loved to help his friends in need especially E who also happened to be his childhood friend.

After graduating from their university, F went on to become a well-respected doctor. E, being his ambitious self, started a pharmacy on his own. But he did not have enough money and clients, so he requested F to help him. F helped, without much hesitation. Few months later, E decided to grow his business and opened another pharmacy….and he went to F for help again. This process repeated itself, all the while E has been draining F’s energy.

Then something happened, F was involved in a legal case filed by a former patient. He was innocent, but the legal case did ruin his reputation and caused him a lot of money. He was depressed. And at that time, E did not offer help but instead, he asked for help from F again for his 3rd pharmacy. F was beginning to feel tired and told E that he did not have enough money and energy to help anymore. E was furious and yelled back at F “but you are my best friend!! We’ve known each other for so long, and we’re real brothers! How could you abandon me like this?” And E stormed off. Since then, E has never contacted F. F was disappointed by E but could not do anything as he himself was too tired to do anything.

Sorry for the lengthy story. I believe that most of you have heard something like this before, where one friend tried to squeeze everything from the other friend without even contributing anything. And not just in terms of friendship, there are plenty of good examples where customers tried to squeeze everything from the suppliers or bosses trying to demand 200% commitment from their employees while only delivering 50% of their promises. Things like this do happen and most often than not, they don’t end up well.

So to stop things from ending badly, it’s best if people can start to contribute more to any relationship they’re in. Fulfill more promises, catch up with more friends, have lunch appointments with subordinates, etc. Try to bridge any gap which has been formed in the past. Make the relationship a 2-sided one.

But also remember that if you’ve done your best to bridge the gap, and still there’s no similar response from the other party, then it’s time to cut it loose. This particular relationship is going to be too expensive for you to maintain in the long run, just like any 1-sided relationship. So just cut it off and focus on others.

Recession is nearly over (or at least, this is what most of us believe). For the past 1 – 2 years, we’ve seen many companies closed down and all of those which survived are franctically cutting cost (still). Cost cutting is not wrong but the definition of the so-called cost cutting is, in my humble opinion, not clearly defined in most companies.

How many times have we heard about such a scenario:

The big boss decided to reduce working day from 5 days week to 4 days week, removed the optical and dental allowances, and stopped the food and drink supply in the pantry. All these things have to be done in order to save the company from being closed down during this difficult period.

The big boss then flew to another country for business purpose, on a business class, and used the company credit card to have expensive meals. He also ordered the purchase of several high-end office equipments which were practically useless. Expenses shot up.

In the end, the company still did not do well and was forced to close down due to the high expenses. The big boss went on to find another job as the ‘big boss’ in another company and the best thing was, his bungalow and luxury car were safe.

In case you’re wondering about the shareholders, well, most of them don’t really look into all the details.

I’m sure some of you have experienced or have at least heard stories like the one above. Truth is, there are just so many bosses out there who don’t walk the talk. They’ll ask you to cut cost, but the cost cutting measures are not applicable for them.

The result? Almost everyone will end up unhappy due to the unfair treatment and this will actually force some good people to leave (maybe forcing people to leave without compensating them is part of the plan). If you’re one of the bosses, the next question is do you care about it?

If yes, perhaps there are few things that you really need to work on.

• Know that your responsibility as the boss is to grow the business, not (just) grow your own pocket.
• Earn respect from your employees. A boss who is not respected will not have good employees.
• Understand that what kind of employees you have depends on what kind of boss you are.
• Always walk the talk so that your people trust you. Too much empty promises will not do you good.

But well, I know it’s hard to do the things above. It’s just that, sometimes when the bosses or the company’s top management decided to cut cost by retrenching people, pay reduction, etc …maybe they should think about the entire cost cutting plan thoroughly as many people will suffer due to their decision. And having a bunch of top management people enjoying champagne and driving BMWs just add salt to the wound of those cost cutting victims.

Perhaps, in the end, the main question to the bosses is, do you know what are your responsibilities as a boss?

Few months ago, I went to this job interview with a local consulting firm. I’ve done my research on the company beforehand, and realized that the company’s operation is pretty much similar to Accenture’s. And that has made me even more curious about how the small consulting firm is planning to compete with a company as big as Accenture.

Here’s the question I’ve asked the interviewer during the job interview.

Alvin : Mr XYZ, I understand that this company’s operation is pretty similar to Accenture.

XYZ : *looks surprised* You’re right. We’re trying to be like the big boys in consulting world and one of them is Accenture.

Alvin : Hmm, I’m a bit curious here. How do your company actually differentiate itself then? Because without differentiating itself, the company is actually competing with Accenture, isn’t it?

Maybe that’s the finishing blow I gave because the interviewer failed to answer my question after that. And he got rather pissed at that last remark.

Actually, there’s nothing wrong for a small company to try and be like Accenture or any big companies for that matter. But for me, setting a company as your final goal also means you will never reach there. Remember the old saying “aim for the stars, so that you can land on the moon”? It’s like you set something as your final goal, and you work and work towards it but never manages to achieve that target. And even if you are the lucky few who managed to achieve it, what’s next then? Aim for something bigger than Accenture?

To be honest, if I were the client, I will ask myself these questions.

• What is so special about this company if compared with Accenture?
• Are they providing cheaper solution? If yes, how much cheaper? Will the quality be compromised? If it’s not providing cheaper solution, what makes them think I won’t go for Accenture instead?

Let’s face it. Most people want the original stuff as long as they can afford it. So the only bargaining chip you have here is to be cheaper. But how much cheaper do you want to go? I believe the last thing any company wants is to end up in a price war – red ocean, anyone?

So the next time you help to set your company’s goal, try to set something which is independent of any other companies. Again, I must say that it’s not wrong to do so. It just does not seem like the best way for me. I rather set goals like “becoming the market leader in the web 2.0 consulting world” or “integrating the world of legacy systems” or a simpler “becoming the leader in the niche market which the company is involved in”.

Compare those 3 with something like “becoming just like Accenture”….I think I rather chose the former 3. But that’s just my personal opinion.

p/s… For your info, I failed the interview. Guess my curiosity didn’t serve me well

p/s… By the way, a goal can be a direction and not the destination.

What happens when a workaholic employee works with a slacker in the same team, for the same project?

Chaos. Dissatisfaction. Misunderstanding…

… and maybe project failure if all these ill feelings are not under control.

This kind of scenario does happen from time to time and exists in most companies. The workaholic will be working day and night to complete the tasks while the slacker will still complete his tasks, but at a much slower pace. By the way, I’m not talking about those slackers who just don’t work – those people should never be in the company in the first place.

So what happens next? At time goes by, the workaholic will feel unhappy because he feels he is the only one doing all the work while the slacker will relax and do things slowly. On the other hand, the slacker will feel the workaholic is trying to show off and starts to push people around in order to follow his style. Thus, the gap between the 2 will become wider and in a small project team, this can have a very negative impact.

But is there anything wrong in this scenario? Should we blame the slacker? or perhaps it is the workaholic who is being too demanding?

In my opinion, nobody is wrong in this case provided both of them managed to accomplish the tasks on time. It’s just a matter of different mindset/mentality/attitude. The keyword here is to compromise and understand that everyone is different.

For the workaholic – he can continue to work hard and be a top performer but he should not care what the slacker is doing. If the slacker screws up, the leader/manager should be the one punishing him. And if you ever feel under-appreciated, then talk to your boss on how much appreciation/reward you think you should get and NOT on how unhappy you are that the slacker is so slow. Remember that he does finish his job, just maybe not as fast as you.

For the slacker – maybe you are the type who loves to do things at the very last minute, but do remember that there are times when things just start to go wrong. That is why some people like the workaholic prefers to do things faster. True, you might have your LIFE to go back to but you should never blame the workaholic for being…a workaholic. It’s just his style. And as long as your boss is comfortable with your style, then there’s no problem.

The reason I’m writing this post is that some friends do complain to me once in a while that they are working like shit but their teammates are not. I can only say that, leave it to the team lead or project manager. There’s really nothing much they can do. Different people have different working styles and as long as the task is completed, there’s no issue. And if the tasks are not completed……then the person to get the scolding should be the team lead/manager.

Conclusion? Respect each others in the team. Everyone is different and has his/her own working style.

p/s….. have a team of slacker, and your team will die. Similarly, have a team of workaholic is not a very healthy choice too.

Most business owners think that if their products/services are good, or if their price is cheap, then their customers will be happy to deal with them. Well, in some cases, yes. But there are also some clients who want to know more about your business in terms of how it’s being run, before they make any decision whether to give you their money or not.

I’m sure some of you don’t really believe in this but this is exactly what a friend of mine has encountered before. He’s a sales guy and the first question he received from the client (after his usual sales pitch) was “What’s the turnover rate in your company?”

My friend, being a sales guy, replied that the company’s turnover rate is pretty low as the company has a good employee retainment policy. Then one of the directors from the client side said “Is that true? From what I heard, a number of your manager have recently left due to some dispute”. And all of a sudden, my friend knew he was digging his own grave because his company’s turnover rate has in fact risen over the past few months.

Now, if you’re asking why are customers so concerned about something like employee retainment policy? Here are some of the reasons:

• Can’t handle project – If you can’t handle your own people, what makes you think you can handle the project well? Also, it does show what kind of management the company has.
• Project duration extended – If you can’t keep your people, then what if the team doing the project suddenly leave one day? Who is going to take over or even complete the project for the client?
• Bad project implementation – If there’s no proper employee retainment policy, it also means the people working for the project are most probably unhappy folks. Unhappy folks produce problematic project since they’re not giving their all.
• No support – Also, if there are issues with the project, who should they go to if those people who first implemented project are no longer there and there’s no proper knowledge transfer done?

From the 4 points above, you can see why the client is worried about something like employee retainment. Nobody wants to invest their precious money in a project which is going to cost them more needless money than actually helping them. Project delay, no support, bad project implementation and problematic company management are all showing obvious signs that my friend’s company is not doing that well. Besides that, it also shows the customer what kind of business partner they are going to deal with if they give the project to this company.

So, don’t think that customers only care about your products or your expertise because they also care for other things especially if they are looking for a long term business partnership (which is a very good opportunity for any company). And when there are so many companies competing with each other for the customers’ signature, it is a no-brainer that customers have the right to get what they want – good quality project/product, good price, good management, on time project delivery, trustworthy business partners, etc.

If you can’t give them what they want, then sorry, you don’t stand a chance.