In what could have been a premonition of times to come, Rishad Premji, chairman of Wipro, recently spoke about the effect of startup culture on traditional business and the corporate world in general.
“If you are not thinking like a startup, you are staring at a shutdown. How do you continue to work in larger organisations with a startup culture? It is not easy,” Premji said at a panel discussion in Mumbai a few weeks ago, before the coronavirus pandemic sent corporates into work-from-home mode and the country under lockdown.
Wearing a grey suit and light blue shirt, he stressed on the need for older companies to adapt. “You have to have a mindset of learnability. And equally important, the ability to unlearn. Because often people who have been at [the same] jobs for many years, and been successful, [they] have a certain fixed way of doing things,” Premji said.
He gave an example from his own daily practice of putting learnability to use.
Rishad Premji stressed on the need for older companies to adapt.
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“When I interview people, I am looking for that skill. I am also looking for team work and the ability to work…The sense of empathy and vulnerability. Gone are the days of everybody having the right answers. The world is changing so quickly,” Premji said.
The ability to put people together to leverage what is outside of you and to bring it together are important for Premji and Wipro.
“We tried a certain planning approach [some time ago] where we wanted to have a base and an ambition target. It created a very different and distorted kind of behaviour than what we were anticipating. We said, ‘Hey, look, we made a mistake and we are going to change course’. We are not afraid to say, ‘We tried something. It didn’t work out’,” he said.
The way ahead is being able to overcome hurdles. “There is a mindset to try and then move ahead if it does not work. Not to get dog-headed about the fact that you tried something. You need to share failure as leadership — by talking about your own areas where things have not gone as planned. You can encourage your teams by sharing your own stories and having their back,” Premji added.
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Workplace Trends To Watch Out For In 2020: Lots Of Agility & Collaboration, No Corporate Ladders
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With the advent of 2020, all the proactive professionals are looking forward to workplace trends which will define the new year. The workplace trends in 2019 were all about gender equality, promoting work-life balance and faster pace of work. This year, there will be new expectations that employees will have from their workplace and we are here to help break down and simplify the trends you might get to see at your workplace next year.
According to workplace think-tank ‘Workplace Trends’, the trends that will dominate the office spaces in 2020 will be all about promoting collaboration, deconstructing corporate hierarchies and promoting flexibility and versatility.
Tushar Mittal, the MD of Studiokon Ventures and India partner in ‘Workplace Trends’, shares his take on trends that make a workplace versatile.
With the advent of 2020, all the proactive professionals are looking forward to workplace trends which will define the new year. The workplace trends in 2019 were all about gender equality, promoting..
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The workforce is becoming increasingly diverse and this is creating new synergies within the workspace. An agile workplace refers to flexibility, collaboration, offering remote work opportunities and allowing employees to find their own rhythm, pace of work and autonomy amongst other factors. The newer generations are taking great strides in changing how companies operate. Responding with agility is the only sure way for a company to successfully retain its younger employees.
The workforce is becoming increasingly diverse and this is creating new synergies within the workspace. An agile workplace refers to flexibility, collaboration, offering remote work opportunities and..
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Technologies facilitating collaboration have transformed the workplace. These spaces today, need to be integrated and support everyone from employees to contractors, freelancers to vendors and facilitate instant communication and productivity. Siloes have been steadily deconstructed and hierarchical structures are cascading down. Technology has brought in several advancements such as mobile working, global interconnectivity, the gig economy and tools such as teleconferencing that enable collaboration.
Technologies facilitating collaboration have transformed the workplace. These spaces today, need to be integrated and support everyone from employees to contractors, freelancers to vendors and facili..
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Flexible workspaces allow organisations to implement versatile space solutions. Such workspaces and options also allow companies to save on major investments and infrastructural costs.
A flexible workspace could offer employees work from home options which is the need of the hour seeing that most people today have difficulties juggling work, family and personal obligations. It could also offer employees telecommuting, part-time work from a physical office, shared office space.
Flexible workspaces allow organisations to implement versatile space solutions. Such workspaces and options also allow companies to save on major investments and infrastructural costs.A flexible work..
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AI is a conundrum for many with most not knowing which side of the divide they stand on. While it has certainly generated a fear of job loss and will disrupt certain professions, it is here to stay and can benefit us if leveraged correctly. AI will help employers study employee behaviour, devise business strategies and will create algorithms to boost innovation and productivity. However, for this, the benefits of AI need to be made widely available .
AI is a conundrum for many with most not knowing which side of the divide they stand on. While it has certainly generated a fear of job loss and will disrupt certain professions, it is here to stay a..
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For diversity, inclusion and collaboration to flourish, the corporate hierarchy has to give way and this is being witnessed increasingly. Instant communication and reaction requires a hands-on approach with all employees being on the frontlines. Leaders have to learn to assemble and form teams that can work in a collaborative manner without losing speed and respond to competition and challenges.
For this, there needs to be minimal bureaucracy whereby inputs from all employees is respected and everyone makes unique contributions. Without this, a disconnect will form. Thus, organisations will have to adapt and build cultures that permit feedback, sharing and exchange. When these channels of communication undergo change, the structure of the organisation or its DNA will also change to adapt to modern needs.
For diversity, inclusion and collaboration to flourish, the corporate hierarchy has to give way and this is being witnessed increasingly. Instant communication and reaction requires a hands-on approa..
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