Is your team motivated enough?

Thank You Notes:

“I had received my last Thank you one week back to provide a platform to people to showcase their talents at a large gathering. It made my day brighter as I was recognized for my effort.”

Thank You note is a recognition game to make your life meaningful and beautiful.

Prerequisite: Team members should know each other.

Material Required: Pen, Sticky Notes, Whiteboard, Marker

Let’s Begin:  As you assemble team members in a room, make the setting friendly and casual. May be a small ice breaker game could be useful at this point.

We can start by asking members the qualities of an effective team/team member—Some answers you may get include effective communication skills, ability to adapt, accepting challenging roles, listening skills, positive attitude and so on. Note all these points on a white board and ask the team members to muse through the final brain stormed list. Now pass on sticky notes( 5-7, depending on size of crowd) and relate the qualities written on board to their team members/small teams

Final Task: Ask all to walk around the room sticking the notes at the back of a person, giving him a pat and thanking him for his effort.

In one of our trainings the back of the shirt was filled with notes and members started sticking on the pants and sleeves leaving the person to stand as a recognized paper man! To make it discernible to all, the notes can be stuck to a chart paper/wall in training room.

Happy Recognizing!!

Life can be Good!

Life can be Fun!!

13.04.2012

Thank You Bingo--- A game most of us played as kids with numbers in boxes striking each as we found similar matches. Thank you Bingo is with a twist, with less or no numbers but some facts written in each box and the winner turns out to be the one with most autographs from team members. As person gets a row/column autographed, he shouts THANK YOU Bingo—in a way thanking all for the appreciation he has received.

Prerequisite: Team members should know each other.

+ point----- As the person gets autograph; he gets to hear his achievements from his co-worker in a personalized touch.

 More than Fun, it is a tool to recognize a team member for his efforts and to improve camaraderie among team members. Happy playing!! J

A sample is shared with you all. You can customize as per team requirements/prior home work done.

Made you laugh	You got to know better	Showed you a different perspective	Surprised you	Is a good communicator
Gave you a hand	Kept an open mind	Is fun to be with J	Works well with others	Deserves a pat on the back
Did something amazing	Provided encouragement	Free	Made an improvement	Is a great listener
Has positive energy	Took a risk	Inspires You	Has a great attitude	Has good leadership skills
Is Creative	Played a different role	Is a good problem solver	Challenged you	Taught you something new

An attender turned savior

This is the story of P.U. Thomas, hailing from Neendoor in Kottayam district in Kerala, who started Navjeevan Trust- a nonprofit providing shelter and relief to the desolate and not-so accepted mentally and physically challenged people. Dressed in a white mundu and shirt, Mr. Thomas has a charisma which motivates people around him to look beyond the materialistic world and help the needy.

The story of Navjeevan trust started when he as a kid was admitted to medical college for acute stomach infection. Seeing the miserable condition of other patients who could not even afford food, he started sharing his food with them. Delighted to see the smiles on their face, Mr. Thomas started visiting the hospital more frequent and seeing his dedication the hospital granted him a job of an attender. 

                          (Mr. Thomas with Manu bhai(left)- after her recovery from the garbage pit)

His job did not end there. Later in 1970 he rented a small room at the medical college lodge with a nominal rent of Rs. 250 and named it- Navjeevan Trust. Three people including Manu Bhai(seen in the picture) were one of the first ones who were provided a home when the world was dark to them. Manu bhai was found in one of garbage pit 4 months pregnant. She was thereafter looked by the trust and her baby was adopted by a couple. The trust claims to have no support from the government players or foreign aid to which he asserts that if one has the willingness to give to others, help would come from the almighty. 

Today the trust provides food to almost 4000 people across 3 hospitals and spends close to Rs. 50,000 daily. The trust is built on a 5 acre land serving around 230 desolate people found in the roads and corners of the street. The MSW students form a major chunk of volunteer group. The kitchen is huge with state of the art technology to make rice and vegetables which are bought and made the same day. Mr. Thomas is blessed with 5 children and a wife and stay in their house near to the trust.

Brick making in traditional methods-- using mud and smoke

Sunset

The quest for a hidden lake- Tavarekere now a park

Now, I'm not really happy writing this post- there is a feeling of disgust and annoyance towards the water portal of Bangalore, which sent a post stating a video making competition on Lost lakes of Bangalore and later denied it to be the competition for the previous year!! Ignorance is indeed no bliss.
Aggravated by their mail, I shot them back a mail stating the loss of time and energy and ignorance on the part of organizers. Well, lot of my effort couldn't really show, so thought will upload it in my blog- Thought$ and make people aware of the indifference of the PSUs.

Awesome Weekend and my first 3D experience with Tangled!!

Saturday afternoon started with me curling my hair not because of any vital appointment—but I was all excited about my new electronic curlers. Taking strands of hair I rolled them, blushing myself looking at the mirror. All decked up, I was ready for the yatra meet with my fellow Bangalore yatris @ Mochas, Koramangala. After the long meet which mostly consisted of reintroducing ourselves we ended up deciding on a karaoke party at one of the yatris residence-- Quite a thoughtful decision!!

Late night, I moved to my cousins’ place where I was given the look- “Is this the time to come back??” Overlooking the looks, I focused on my chicken which was too luscious mixed with coconut milk and coriander leaves. Just then unexpected their neighbor walks in with his witty talks. Amused to see my cousin’s wedding album his observation was why all Malayalis have this thick moustache!! The answer to this question would not be known by my fellow mellu brothers also but all are proud to have one. After the tiring but fun day, I dozed off as I lay down.

OK…After this long story let me put in writing my first 3D experience!!

It was overwhelming----an experience to feel

 Though it’s quite late for my first 3D movie, it’s never too late. As the movie named - Tangled started I was all smiles like my yellow smiley stress buster. Put my glasses up and down at least 20 times to see the difference without the glass. Smile again. As the butterflies flew and lanterns rose in the sky my 9 year and 6 year old niece swayed from left to right in loud laughter trying to catch one, with me not much behind but showing off as if I caught one. Excited I even dropped ketchup on my jeans which didn’t really matter compared to the fun I was having. The movie ended with the princess getting back to her parents and finding the love of her life in a thief! Nothing astonishing, but it was my first 3D animated romantic movie, which I can cut down from my to-do list.

Cheers!!