Explore books by Gerard M. Blair with our selection at Waterstones.com. Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25. Biography Gerard m Blair (SMIEEE)holds degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh where he taught for eight years, latterly as Senior Lecturer. Find Gerard Blair in the United States. We found 12 entries for Gerard Blair in the United States. The name Gerard Blair has over 11 birth records, 2 death records, 5 criminal/court records, 33 address records, 8 phone records and more.
Time Management
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Time is one of the most costliest things in this World. Once you lost you can not get it back. Time and tide never waits for anybody. Time is life and money If you waste your time, you are wasting your life and money. A street beggar or the President of United states get same equal amount of time of 24 hours. Irrespective of your cast, creed, rich, poor, gender, age or any criteria people get equal quantity of time. The person who wins is the person who properly utilize his time. Like sand slips through your fingers, time slips. It always moves forward and does not move backward. Time runs fast when you have fun and it drags when you are mundane.
What happens if you do not stick on to your time.
If you do not keep up the time, it creates lots of problems. An employ coming always late may lose his job. A student always coming late to school may lose the lessons and may fail in his exams .If a chief guest coming late not only make the function late but gives troubles to others.
Just imagine the day in which we got up very late. Everything we have to do hastily. Hastily swallowing food may lead to indigestion, we may miss our bus, train etc and also we will be put into lot of tension & stress.
Suppose you are the cashier of a bank .If the locker key is with you, and you are coming late to the bank, just imagine the attitude of the customers.
If we manage our time properly we can avoid all these problems.
The Pareto Principle, or the '80:20 Rule'. argues that 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio need not always 80:20. Ex: Suppose a Bank would like to get a deposit of RO.100,000. Instead of contacting 80 people with RO.1250 per head, it is better for the bank to get 20 people who can afford a deposit of R.O.5000/-. So instead of spending days in a frenzy of activity, which achieve very little , we must concentrate on the right things which can achieve more.
How much your time costs?
Have you ever calculated how much your time costs. You will be astonished to see that your time is very valuable. Let us find a formulae by which you can find the cost per hour.
If you work for an organization, calculate how much you cost it by way of salaries, perks, house rent, conveyance and other facilities etc. each year. If you are self-employed, work the annual running costs of your business.
To this figure add a 'guesstimate' of the amount of profit you should generate by your activity.
If you work normal hours, you will have approximately 200 productive days each year. If you work 7½ hours each day, this equates to 1,500 hours in a year.
From these figures, calculate an hourly rate. This should give a reasonable estimate of how much your time is worth - this may be a surprisingly large amount!
My friends, When you are deciding whether or not to take a task on, think about this value - are you wasting your or your organization's resources on a low yield task?
What are our time wasters?
- Excessive T.V watching
- Excessive sleep
- Watching long matches
- Gossips
- Junk mails & unnecessary telephone calls
Socrates was very cautious about using his time.
One day a person came to hem and said ' I want to talk about your fried something' Socrates said : ' Answer my 3 questions, then you can tell me'
1st question: ' Is the news true'. I am not sure. I heard from outside. He replied
2nd question: 'Is the news good'. No
3rd: 'Is the news is useful to me' . No.
Socrates said' If the news is not true, good or useful , I do not want to hear it.
Time Management skills are essential for successful people.
·Be always cautious about your valuable time.
·Spend 15 minutes of each working day for organizing the events of the day.
·Avoid Junk mails and un wanted tel. calls,
·Avoid excessive TV watching and long matches
·Avoid gossips and unwanted visitors
·Try to avoid wasting time in Queues
·Avoid arguments and unwanted meetings
· Eliminate unwanted work or duplication
Let me close this by giving you a famous quote by ETINE DEGRELLET
' I shall pass through this life but once,
Any good ,therefore I can do,
Or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature,
Let me do it now,
Let me not defer or neglect it,
For I shall not pass this way again'
by Gerard M Blair
Time passes, quickly. This article looks at the basics of Personal Time Management and describes how the Manager can assume control of this basic resource.
The 'Eff' words
The three 'Eff' words are [concise OED]:
- Effective - having a definite or desired effect
- Efficient - productive with minimum waste or effort
- Effortless -
Personal Time Management is about winning the 'Eff' words: making them apply to you and your daily routines.
What is Personal Time Management?
Download adobe premiere pro cc 2017 free. Personal Time Management is about controlling the use of your most valuable (and undervalued) resource. Consider these two questions: what would happen if you spent company money with as few safeguards as you spend company time, when was the last time you scheduled a review of your time allocation?
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Groups form a basic unit of work activity throughout engineeringand yet the underlying process is poorly managed.This article looks at the basics of group work andsuggests ways to accelerate development.In the beginning, God made an individual - and then he made a pair.The pair formed a group, together they begatothers and thus the group grew. Unfortunately, working in a group led tofriction,the group disintegrated in conflict and Caian settled in the land of Nod - there has been trouble with groups ever since.
When people work ingroups, there are two quite separate issues involved.The first is the task and the problems involved in getting thejob done. Frequently this is the only issue which the group considers.The second is the processof the group work itself: the mechanisms by which the group acts as aunit and not as a loose rabble.However, without due attention to this process the value of the groupcan be diminished or even destroyed; yet with a little explicit management of the process, it can enhance the worth of the groupto be many times the sum of the worth of its individuals.It is this synergy which makes group work attractive in corporateorganization despite the possible problems (and time spent)in group formation.
This article examines the group process and how it can best be utilized.The key is that the group should be viewed as an important resourcewhose maintenance must be managed just like any other resourceand that this management should be undertaken by the group itselfso that it forms a normal part of the group's activities.
What is a Group?
A group of people working in the same room, or even on a common project,does not necessarily invoke the group process. If the group ismanaged in a totally autocratic manner, there may be little opportunityfor interaction relating to the work; if there isfactioning within the group, the process may never evolve.On the other hand, the group process may be utilized by normally distantindividuals working on different projects; for instance, at IEE colloquia.In simple terms, the group process leads to a spirit of cooperation,coordination and commonly understood procedures and mores. If this is present within a group of people, then their performance willbe enhanced by their mutual support (both practical and moral). If youthink this is a nebulous concept when applied to the world of industry,consider theopposite effect that a self-opinionated, cantankerous loud-mouth wouldhave on your performance and then contrast that to working with afriendly, open, helpful associate.
Why a Group?
Groups are particularly good at combining talents andproviding innovative solutions to possible unfamiliar problems; in cases where there is no wellestablished approach/procedure, the wider skill and knowledge setof the group has a distinct advantage over that of the individual.In general, however, there is an overriding advantage in a group-basedwork force which makes it attractive to Management:that it engenders a fuller utilization of the work force.
A group can be seen as a self managing unit. The range of skills provided by its members andthe self monitoring which each group performs makes it a reasonablysafe recipient for delegated responsibility.Even if a problem could be decided by a single person, there aretwo main benefits in involving the people who will carry outthe decision. Firstly, the motivational aspect of participating in the decision will clearly enhance its implementation. Secondly, there maywell be factors which the implementer understands better than the single person who could supposedly have decided alone.
More indirectly, if the lowest echelons of the workforce each becometrained, through participation in group decision making, in an understandingof the companies objectives and work practices, then each will be better able to solve work-related problems in general.Further, they will alsoindividually become a safe recipient for delegated authoritywhich is exemplified in the celebrated right of Japanese car workers tohalt the production line.
From the individual's point of view, there is the added incentivethat through belonging to a group each can participate in achievementswell beyond his/her own individual potential. Less idealistically, the group provides an environment where theindividual's self-perceived level of responsibility andauthority is enhanced, in an environment where accountability isshared: thus providing a perfect motivator through enhanced self-esteem coupled with low stress.
Finally, a word about the much vaunted'recognition of the worth of the individual' which is often givenas the reason for delegating responsibility to groups ofsubordinates.While I agree with the sentiment, I am dubious that this is a prime motivator - the bottom line is thatthe individual's talents are better utilized in a group, not thatthey are wonderful human beings.
Group Development
It is common to view the development of a group as having four stages:- Forming
- Storming
- Norming
- Performing
Storming is the next stage, when all Hell breaks loose andthe leaders are lynched. Factions form,personalities clash, no-one concedes a single point without firstfighting tooth and nail. Most importantly, very little communicationoccurs since no one is listening and some are still unwillingto talk openly. True, this battle ground may seem a littleextreme for the groups to which you belong - but if you look beneath the veil of civility at the seething sarcasm, invectiveand innuendo, perhaps the picture come more into focus.
Then comes the Norming. At this stage the sub-groups begin to recognizethe merits of working together and the in-fighting subsides. Sincea new spirit of co-operation is evident, every member begins to feelsecure in expressing their own view points and these are discussedopenly with the whole group. The most significant improvement is thatpeople start to listen to each other. Work methods becomeestablished and recognized by the group as a whole.
And finally: Performing. This is the culmination, when the group hassettled on a system which allows free and frank exchange ofviews and a high degree of support by the group foreach other and its own decisions.
In terms of performance, the group starts at a level slightly belowthe sum of the individuals' levels and then drops abruptly to its nadir untilit climbs during Norming to a new level of Performing which is (hopefully)well above the start. It is this elevated level of performance which isthe main justification for using the group process rather than a simplegroup of staff.
Group Skills
The group process is a series of changes which occur as a group of individuals form into a cohesive and effective operating unit.If the process is understood, it can be accelerated.There are two main sets of skills which a group must acquire:
- Managerial Skills
- Interpersonal Skills
As a self-managing unit, a group has to undertakemost of the functions of a Group Leader - collectively. For instance,meetings must be organized, budgets decided, strategic planning undertaken,goals set, performance monitored, reviews scheduled, etc. It is increasinglyrecognized that it is a fallacy to expect an individual to suddenlyassume managerial responsibility without assistance; in the group it is evenmore so. Even if there are practiced managers in the group, they must firstagree on a method, and then convince and train the remainder of the group.
As a collection of people, a group needs to relearn some basic mannersand people-management skills. Again, think of thatself-opinionated, cantankerous loud-mouth;he/she should learn good manners, and the group must learn to enforce these manners without destructive confrontation.
Accelerating Development
It is common practice in accelerating group development to appoint, andif necessary train, a 'group facilitator'. The role of this personis to continually draw the groups' attention to the group process and to suggest structures and practices to support and enhance the group skills.This must be only a short-term training strategy, however, since theexistence of a single facilitator may prevent the group from assumingcollective responsibility for the group process.The aim of any group should be thatfacilitation is performed by every member equally and constantly.If this responsibility is recognised and undertaken from the beginning by all,then the Storming phase may be avoided and the group development passedstraight into Norming.
The following is a set of suggestions which may help in groupformation. They are offered as suggestions, no more; a group will worktowards its own practices and norms.
Focus
The two basic foci should be the group and the task.If something is to be decided, it is the group that decides it. If thereis a problem, the group solves it. If a member is performing badly, itis the group who asks for change.
If individual conflicts arise, review them in terms of the task.If there is initially a lack of structure and purpose in the deliberations,impose both in terms of the task. If there are disputes betweenalternative courses of action, negotiate in terms of the task.
Clarification
In any project management,the clarity of the specification is of paramount importance- in group work it is exponentially so. Supposethat there is a 0.8 chance of an individual understanding the task correctly (which is very high). If there are 8 members in the group thenthe chance of the group all working towards that same task is 0.17.And the same reasoning hold for every decision and action takenthroughout the life of the group.It is the first responsibility of the group to clarify its own task, andto record this understanding so that it can be constantly seen. Thismission statement may be revised or replaced, but it shouldalways act as a focus for the groups deliberations and actions.
The mouse
In any group, there is always the quiet one in the cornerwho doesn't say much. That individual is the most under utilizedresource in the whole group, and so represents the best return for minimaleffort by the group as a whole.It is the responsibility of that individual to speak out and to contribute.It is the responsibility of the group to encourage and develop that person,to include him/her in the discussion and actions, and to providepositive reinforcement each time that happens.The loud-mouth
In any group, there is always a dominant member whose opinions forma disproportionate share of the discussion. It is the responsibility ofeach individual to consider whether they are that person. It is theresponsibility of the group to ask whether the loud-mouth might liketo summarize briefly, and then ask for other views.The written record
Often a decision which is not recorded will become clouded and haveto be rediscused. This can be avoided simply by recording on alarge display (where the group can clearly see) each decision as it ismade. This has the further advantage thateach decision must be expressed in a clear and concise form which ensures that it is clarified.Groups That Work By Gerard M Blair
Feedback (negative)
All criticism must be neutral: focused on the task and not the personality. So rather than calling Johnie an innumerate moron, point out the error and offer him a calculator.It is wise to adopt the policy of giving feedback frequently, especially forsmall things - this can be couched as mutual coaching, and it reduces the destructive impact of criticism when things go badly wrong.Gerard M Blair Time Management Strategies
Gerard M Blair
Feedback (positive)
If anyone does something well, praise it. Not only does this reenforcecommendable actions, but it also mollifies the negative feedback which maycome later. Progress in the task should be emphasised.Handling failure
The long term success of a group depends upon how it deals with failure.It is a very British tendency to brush off failure and to get onwith the next stage with no more than a mention - it is a veryfoolish tendency. Any failure should be explored by the group. This isnot to attribute blame (for that is shared by the wholegroup as an individual only acts with delegated responsibility),but rather to examine the causes and to devise a mechanism whicheither monitors against or prevents repetition. A mistake shouldonly happen once if it is treated correctly.One practise which is particularly useful is to delegate the agreedsolution to the individual or sub-group who made theoriginal error. This allows the group to demonstrate its continuingtrust and the penitent to make amends.
Handling deadlock
If two opposing points of view are held in the group then some action mustbe taken. Several possibly strategies exist. Each sub-group coulddebate from the other sub-group's view-point in order to better understandit. Common ground could be emphasised, and the differences viewed fora possible middle or alternative strategy. Each could be debated inthe light of the original task. But firstly the group should decidehow much time the debate actually merits and then guillotine it after that time -then, if the issue is not critical, toss a coin.Sign posting
As each small point is discussed, the larger picture can be obscured.Thus it is useful frequently to remind the group:this is where we came from, this is where we got to,this is where we should be going.Avoid single solutions
First ideas are not always best. For any given problem, the group shouldgenerate alternatives, evaluate these in terms of the task, pick oneand implement it. But most importantly, they must also monitor theoutcome, schedule a review and be prepared to change the plan.Active communication
Communication is the responsibility of both the speaker and the listener.The speaker must actively seek to express the ideas in a clear andconcise manner - the listener must actively seek to understandwhat has been said and to ask for clarification if unsure.Finally, both parties must be sure that the ideas havebeen correctly communicated perhaps by the listener summarizingwhat was said in a different way.Conclusion
Groups are like relationships - you have to work at them. In the work place, they constitute an important unit of activity but onewhose support needs are only recently becoming understood. By makingthe group itself responsible for its own support, the responsibilitybecomes an accelerator for the group process.What is vital, is that these needs are recognized and explicitly dealtwith by the group. Time and resources must be allocated to this by thegroup and byManagement, and the group process must be planned, monitored andreviewed just like any other managed process.Gerard M Blairis a Senior Lecturer in VLSI Designat the Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Edinburgh.His book Starting to Manage: the essential skillsis published by Chartwell-Bratt (UK) and the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (USA).
