BUSINESS LUNCH ETIQUETTES

As schedules become more hectic, the business lunch continues to grow in popularity. Make sure to do things right when meeting over lunch with a prospective client or important associate. The last thing you want is for your encounter to be the final one.

Avoid extravagance. Pick a quality restaurant noted for its good food and reliable services.
Book a table that is in a quiet corner where business can be discussed without too many noisy disturbances.
Leave instructions at the counter to usher in your guests to your table.
You need to stand up when someone arrives and wait for them to be seated before you sit down.
If the client has a cocktail, follow his lead. If they order alcohol, you can too, but limit your drinks to one or two light ones. If they don't drink, you don't.
The most important people are the ones sitting in front of you. Remember to turn off all cell phones. If you answer a phone call and discuss other business in front of them, the meeting may be over before it began.
Order with care: Ignore your craving for the barbecue pork sandwich or any other potentially messy dish. By sticking to easy-to-eat items, you’ll save yourself the embarrassment of sauce dripping down your shirt. Also, don’t order the most pricey entrée if you’re not paying, and follow the lead of your host when it comes to appetizers, desserts and other extras.

BUSINESS MEETING ETIQUETTE

1) Reach the venue of the meeting well in advance. Whether it’s to be held in your own office or your client’s, make sure that you’re present there at least a quarter of an hour before the stipulated time. You can run over your presentation, check if all the equipment is in place and fully functional and be present in the boardroom when your business partner arrives.

2) Many a times a lot of people who go for client meetings invariably forget to carry their business cards with them or make the mistake of carrying just a few cards. Although this might not seem like a big deal, it really is. Your business card would be a physical reminder of you and your firm once the meeting is over. 3) Dress appropriately, perhaps a little better than how you would when you go to work. Remember that when you go for a meeting you’re representing your entire organization so you don’t want to come off looking shabby and underdressed. No matter what anyone says, clothes and outward appearances definately matter a lot. 4) Converse with your business partners either before or after the meeting. Many people prefer to do this a few minutes prior to the meeting as it helps them break the ice as well as makes them a little less nervous before the presentation. This is the best way to get your business partners to remember you the next time they’re interacting with your firm.

SOME BUSINESS ETIQUETTES

1) Keep it simple.

2)  Human touch

3) Down to earth Behaviour.

4) Build relationships: The first rule to any successful business deal is to understand the person on the other end. Take time to understand your international clients and build a rapport before rushing to the bottom line. Remember, long lasting business relationships are built on trust, which can only be developed over a period of time.





5) Understand the food basics: If you are hosting your clients for a meal, learn their taste and preferences. For instance, do not assume that your  clients only love their non-vegetarian food or want to guzzle alcohol.

Also, avoid talking about political, religious or personal issues. Just remember a little compassion and a kind approach is what it takes to build a great foundation with your  clients.

BUSY DAYS

Hi Friends,
                  Was really busy the last month of Diwali. Had a lot of things and events happening in my life and was enjoying it  all my work.
                    Was happy that we all Mumbai people had a WONDERFUL DIWALI. INIDIA winning 5-0 against England and the 1st Test win against West Indies today was Magnificant.REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO MASTER-BLASTER SACHIN TENDULKAR for his 100th TON.
                     The events in Amboli were really unfortunate. Let us pray that GOD BLESSES US ALL AND GIVES US WISDOM to ensure such things don't occur again.
                     As 2012 approaches; let us hope we all do our work well and enjoy SATISFACTION.AMIN AMIN AMIN

LOVE TO ONE AND ALL

Generating New Ideas :Think Differently and Spark Creativity

Generating New Ideas
Think Differently and Spark Creativity
"We need to think differently!"
"This needs some fresh ideas!"
"We have got to be more creative around here!"
Are messages like these popping up more often in your workplace?
Faced with complex, open-ended, ever-changing challenges, organizations realize that constant, ongoing innovation is critical if they want to stay ahead of the competition.
This is why we need to be on the lookout for new ideas that can drive innovation. It's why the ability to think differently, generate new ideas, and spark creativity within a team becomes an important skill. You need to work actively on building and cultivating this skill, and it can be done!
Often, though, we make the mistake of assuming that good ideas just happen. Or worse still, we get caught in the mind trap of believing that creativity is an aptitude: some people have it, others don't. Then there is the other self-defeating belief - "I am not intelligent enough to come up with good ideas."
These assumptions just aren't true: Anyone can come up with fresh, radical ideas - you just need to learn to open your mind and think differently. This article shows you how to do so.
How to Generate New Ideas
Standard idea-generation techniques concentrate on combining or adapting existing ideas. This can certainly generate results. But here, our focus is on equipping you with tools that help you leap onto a totally different plane. These approaches push your mind to forge new connections, think differently, and consider new perspectives.
A word of caution - while these techniques are extremely effective, they will only succeed if they are backed by rich knowledge of the area you're working on. This means that if you don't have enough information about the issue, you are unlikely to come up with a great idea, even by using the techniques listed here.
Incidentally, these techniques can be applied to spark creativity in group settings and brainstorming sessions as well.
Breaking Thought Patterns
Any of us can get stuck in established thinking patterns. To get unstuck, you need to break out of these, if you're going to have any chance of generating fresh, new ideas. There are several techniques you can use to do this:

• Challenge assumptions: For every situation, you have a set of key assumptions. Challenging these assumptions gives you a whole new spin on possibilities.
  
  You want to buy a house but can't since you assume you don't have the money to make a down payment on the loan. Challenge the assumption. Sure, you don't have cash in the bank but couldn't you sell some of your other assets to raise the money? Could you dip into your retirement fund? Could you work overtime and build up the kitty in six months? Suddenly the picture starts looking brighter.
• Reword the problem: Stating the problem differently often leads to different ideas. To reword the problem look at the issue from different angles. "Why do we need to solve the problem?", "What's the roadblock here?", "What will happen if we don't solve the problem?" These questions will give you new insights. You might come up with new ideas to solve your new problem.
  
  In the mid 1950s, shipping companies were losing money on freighters. They decided they needed to focus on building faster and more efficient ships. However, the problem persisted. Then one consultant defined the problem differently. He said the problem the industry should consider was "how can we reduce cost?" The new problem statement generated new ideas. All aspects of shipping, including storage of cargo and loading time, were considered. The outcome of this shift in focus resulted in the container ship and the roll-on/roll-off freighter.
• Think in reverse: If you feel you cannot think of anything new, try turning things upside-down. Instead of focusing on how you could solve a problem/improve operations/enhance a product, consider how could you create the problem/worsen operations/downgrade the product. The reverse ideas will come flowing in. Consider these ideas – once you've reversed them again - as possible solutions for the original challenge.
• Express yourself through different media: We have multiple intelligences but somehow, when faced with workplace challenges we just tend to use our verbal reasoning ability. How about expressing the challenge through different media? Clay, music, word association games, paint, there are several ways you can express the challenge. Don't bother about solving the challenge at this point. Just express it. Different ex-pression might spark off different thought patterns. And these new thought patterns may yield new ideas.

Connect the Unconnected
Some of the best ideas seem to occur just by chance. You see something or you hear someone, often totally unconnected to the situation you are trying to resolve, and the penny drops in place. Newton and the apple, Archimedes in the bath tub: examples abound.
Why does this happen? The random element provides a new stimulus and gets our brain cells ticking. You can capitalize on this knowledge by consciously trying to connect the unconnected.
Actively seek stimuli from unexpected places and then see if you can use these stimuli to build a connection with your situation. Some techniques you could use are:

• Use random input: Choose a word from the dictionary and look for novel connections between the word and your problem.
• Mind map possible ideas: Put a key word or phrase in the middle of the page. Write whatever else comes in your mind on the same page. See if you can make any connections.
• Pick up a picture. Consider how you can relate it to your situation.
• Take an item. Ask yourself questions such as "How could this item help in addressing the challenge?", or "What attributes of this item could help us solve our challenge?"

Shift Perspective
Over the years we all build a certain type of perspective and this perspective yields a certain type of idea. If you want different ideas, you have to shift your perspective. To do so:

• Get someone else's input: Ask different people what they would do if faced with your challenge. You could approach friends engaged in different kind of work, your spouse, a nine-year old child, customers, suppliers, senior citizens, someone from a different culture; in essence, anyone who might see things differently.
• Play the "If I were" game: Ask yourself "If I were ………" how would I address this challenge? You could be anyone: a millionaire, Tiger Woods, anyone.
  
  The idea is the person you decide to be has certain identifiable traits. And you have to use these traits to address the challenge. For instance, if you decide to play the millionaire, you might want to bring traits such as flamboyance, big thinking and risk-taking when formulating an idea. If you are Tiger Woods you would focus on things such as perfection, persistence and execution detail.

Communication Skills

Communication Skills

Human beings communicate through three ways

Ø                 Speaking 

Ø                 Listening.

Ø                 Writing,

Successful communication is an exchange, two people sharing insights on the same topic. Their insights might be diametrically opposed, but each expresses an opinion and listens to the response.

Many times the conversation instead of being a dialogue becomes a monologue. Only one person does all the talking and the other listens. This leads to breakdown in conversations. Good conversation like good tennis needs volleying from both sides.

So remember when you converse allow the other person to air his / her opinion. Try to understand his view if possible even if it is totally against your opinion.

How to make an effective oral presentation.

While hard work and good ideas are essential to success, your ability to express those ideas and get others to join you is just as important. Much of this is on one or in small groups but periodically you will be involved in more formal and public speaking in front of larger numbers. If this thought makes you nervous you are not alone. Many speakers lack the skills and confidence to make effective presentations. The fear of public speaking is the second largest fear in the world.

                                         Tips to improve your presentation:-

1)          Formulate a strategy for the specific audience:- Be clear about the purpose of your communication. Knowing the audience will be a critical determinant in what information is presented. Be concrete, specific, practical and relevant. Clarify your objectives-Is it to motivate?.. Inform?… persuade?…. Teach? Each calls for a different approach.

2)          Write the presentation in rough, never read from a script. You should know most of what you want to say, if you don’t then you should not be giving the talk! Prepare cue cards which have key phrases and words, Don’t forget to number the cards in case you drop them.

3)          Greet the audience and tell them who you are. Then follow this formula:-

Ø     Tell the audience what you are going to tell them.

Ø     Then tell them

Ø     At the end tell them what you have told them.

4)          Keep the time allowed.

5)          Use your hands to emphasize points but don’t indulge in too much hand waving. Move around. But don’t block the projector.

6)           Look at your audience and try to make eye contact with each person. Eye contact helps to move your presentation from “speech” to “conversation” involving everyone in the audience. Don’t lock your gaze with one person. That may be intimidating.

7)          Avoid too much information on the slides. Just display the points then elaborate them.

Some presenters fill slides with so much detail that the audience just reads the slides ignoring the presenters. By keeping the slides lean, you convey the essentials with greater emphasis and you force the audience to turn to you for detail. Use color on slides but avoid orange and yellow which do not show well when projected.

8)          Speakers, who pound the podium, jingle change in their pockets or do other things focus attention on themselves rather than the subject.

9)          Speak clearly. Don’t shout or whisper

10)      Stage Fright:- Following are some techniques to cope with this fright:-

Ø     Your audience understands your nervousness; they will forgive any honest mistakes.

Ø     Chat with members of the audience before the presentation. You will not find them that threatening.

Ø     Practice deep breathing exercises before taking the podium.

Ø     Rehearse your presentation a few times.

11)     Use language that can move people. Churchill might never have made such a strong impact on the world had he written “Essentially my contribution includes sanguinary composition, diligence effort and commitment”. Fortunately he spoke in language that could move people “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, sweat and tears”.

A to Z of STRESS MANAGEMENT

Always take time for yourself, at least 30 minutes per day.

Be aware of your own stress meter: Know when to step back and cool down.

Concentrate on controlling your own situation, without controlling everybody else.

Daily exercise will burn off the stress chemicals.

Eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies, bread and water; give your body the best for it to perform at its best.

Forgive others, don't hold grudges and be tolerant -- not everyone is as capable as you.

Gain perspective on things, how important is the issue?

Hugs, kisses and laughter: Have fun and don't be afraid to share your feelings with others.

Identify stressors and plan to deal with them better next time.

Judge your own performance realistically; don't set goals out of your own reach.

Keep a positive attitude, your outlook will influence outcomes and the way others treat you.

Limit alcohol, drugs and other stimulants, they affect your perception and behaviour.

Manage money well, seek advice and save at least 10 per cent of what you earn.

No is a word you need to learn to use without feeling guilty.

Outdoor activities by yourself, or with friends and family, can be a great way to relax.

Play your favourite music rather than watching television.

Quit smoking: It is stressing your body daily, not to mention killing you too.

Relationships: Nurture and enjoy them, learn to listen more and talk less.

Sleep well, with a firm mattress and a supportive pillow; don't overheat yourself and allow plenty of ventilation.

Treat yourself once a week with a massage, dinner out, the movies: Moderation is the key.

Understand things from the other person's point of view.

Verify information from the source before exploding.

Worry less, it really does not get things completed better or quicker.

Xpress: Make a regular retreat to your favourite space, make holidays part of your yearly plan and budget.

Yearly goal setting: Plan what you want to achieve based on your priorities in your career, relationships, etc.

Zest for life: Each day is a gift, smile and be thankful that you are a part of the bigger picture.

HAPPY AND A PROSPEROUS PARSI HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hello every one;
  

I would like to wish everyone a very HAPPY AND A PROSPEROUS PARSI HAPPY NEW YEAR

and KHORDAAD SAAL MUBARAK. Hope this is an excellent year for the entire Parsi Community and Happiness spreads all over the community.

I MYSELF HAD AN EXCELLENT DAY AND CELEBRATED THIS WONDERFUL DAY REALLY WELL.Life has been very busy this August but I am really enjoying myself and my work. Looking forward to Janmashtami and Ganpati Festival very soon.

GOOD LUCK; BEST WISHES;ALL THE BEST.

VT AREA MEMORY DEVELOPMENT CLASSES STARTS 12TH AUG

Hi Friends; Our next batch of Memory-Development Classes are starting on 12th August; next Friday. We are covering the following:

MEMORY-DEVELOPMENT CLASS OF MINOO JOKHI

The following are the contents of the course:
1) Introduction to Memory-Development
2) Laws and keys to a perfect Memory.
3) Link-System.
4) How to remember names and faces.
5) Yoga and Meditation Techniques for a perfect Memory.
6) Calculation Tricks to count faster.
7) Ways to develop a super-memory.
8) Concentration Techniques to overcome absent-mindedness.
9) Fast-Reading Skills for an excellent memory.

In addition to the above, There will be many practical things taught and there will be FUN CUM LEARN GAMES and the whole has one objective:

                                           LEARN ONCE AND REMEMBER FOREVER

 

The class in V.T. will begin on 12th August  2011.It is for 5 days i.e. from 12th, 13th,14th,15th and 16th August 2011. The classes will be from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on 12^th,15^th and 16^th August and on 13^th and 14^th August i.e. Saturday and Sunday it will be in the morning from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm  The classes will be held at Bai Kabibai School in Bora Bazar, near VT Station. The investment for the course is Rs 2,500.

MINOO JOKHI:
MOBILE: 9821407519
RES: 22182246
E-mail: minoojokhi@rediffmail.com
Website: www.minoojokhi.in

Please call me on 9821407519 after you read this mail. Also please forward this email to all your friends who can also do this exciting course. Thank you.

Minoo Jokhi

ps.... I also conduct Private training for students who can't come to the class; this is for your information. Thank you.

                             GOOD LUCK TO ONE AND ALL FOR THE WEEK AHEAD.

RAINY DAYS

Hi to one and all...............

Its been really long since I last blogged. Been busy with work and quite a few things.

Its really Raining a lot these days. Wow........the kids love to play in the rain and yeh ...at times bunk school. hey; did'nt you do and I do the same in our childhood.

July 2011 was a real eventful month.The very unfortunate Bomb Blasts; India's LORDS Defeat; Lots of Rain; Political unrest in Karnataka;etc. Lets hope August is a good month for one and all. Feel really Sorry for the unfortunate victims of Norway's killing spree...may GOD BLESS their soul.

See you guys...........BEST OF LUCK AND POSITIVE ENERGY TO YOU ALL

Minoo

MEMORY-DEVELOPMENT CLASSES IN V.T . AND ANDHERI

Hi Friends.....


I am conducting my MEMORY-DEVELOPMENT CLASSES IN V.T .AND ANDHERI this summer.We will be covering the following:

1) Introduction to Memory-Development
2) Laws and keys to a perfect Memory.
3) Link-System.
4) How to remember names and faces.
5) Yoga and Meditation Techniques for a perfect Memory.
6) Calculation Tricks to count faster.
7) Ways to develop a super-memory.
8) Concentration Techniques to overcome absent-mindedness.
9) Fast-Reading Skills for an excellent memory.

In addition to the above, There will be many practical things taught and there will be FUN CUM LEARN GAMES and the whole has one objective:

LEARN ONCE AND REMEMBER FOREVER


The next class will begin in V.T.Area on 29th April 2011.It is for 5 days i.e. from 29th, 30th April and 1st,3rd and 4th May 2011. The classes will be from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on 29th April and 3rd and 4th May and on 30th April and 1st May(Saturday and Sunday); it will be from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.The investment for the course is Rs 2,500.

The batch in Andheri will begin on 6th May.It will be from 6th to 10th May.The classes will be from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on 6th,9th and 10th May and on 7th and 8th May (Saturday and Sunday); it will be from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.The investment for the course is Rs 2,500.


MINOO JOKHI:
MOBILE: 9821407519
RES: 22182246
E-mail: minoojokhi@rediffmail.com
Website: www.minoojokhi.in

Please call me on 9821407519 after you read this mail. Also please forward this email to all your friends who can also do this exciting course. Thank you.

ps.... I also conduct Private training for students who can't come to the class; this is for your information.Thank you.

JAI HO

Hi to one and all:

Its been really long since I last blogged. Hope all is well with you guys.India's sensational WORLD CUP win over Sri Lanka was AWESOME; AMAZING.KUDOS to Captain Cool M.S.Dhoni.IPL has also began with a bang.I am sure this decade will hear echos of Jai Ho a lot more often.INDIA IS SHINING. Let us hope to maintain the momentum.

Its been really busy and hectic schedule for me but I am really enjoying it.HARD WORK REALLY PAYS.I look forward to the future with optimism.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL......................

Long since I blogged

Hi!! to one and all:


It's been long since I blogged.It's been a busy time with work.March is generally a busy time for me.

Happy that the Cricket World Cup has began; all my Friends here; do Cheer our M.S.Dhoni to the ultimate and hope we get the World Cup this time for sure.It's 28 years now since 1983.

Really sorry for the very unfortunate events currently in Japan.May GOD BLESS THEM ALL and may all our Japanese friends regain Happiness soon.Japan is GREAT; they regained themselves after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Explosions and will soon ragain Normalcy.

See you all soon friends...Regards,

Minoo Jokhi

Great time on my Birthday

Hi Friends;
I had a Great Time on my Birthday(today 6th Feb);it was one of my best Birtdays beyond any doubt.Got up early; jogged for one hour and went to the fire temple and prayed. Later held classes in the afternoon and went to see "dil to bachcha hai ji"in the evening. The day was full of SMS's and phone calls from my students and that really made my day and made me feel very very Happy.Really wish every day would have been my birthday.
I am determined to make 2011 a wonderful year of my life and work hard and fulfil all my goals.I hope the problems Egypt is facing at the moment is over soon.


GOOD LUCK TO ONE AND ALL

REGARDS

MINOO

Motivating Yourself

To motivate yourself, you must examine and understand your needs, so that you know what you find valuable and rewarding. Then, by changing your environment and perspective, you can find the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to complete those undesirable tasks. So, rather than relying on other factors to make a task more rewarding, you make it more rewarding yourself.
Here are some tactics that you can use motivate yourself:

Change your attitude and approach to undesirable tasks - For example, the task of reorganizing your filing cabinet may not be motivating in itself. But being seen as a competent and organized person might provide intrinsic motivation for you. By thinking of filing in this way, for example, you can connect completing the task with meeting your needs.
Think about why you do what you do - Sometimes you may start to think that your job is pointless, so why bother to do things? A great way to increase self-motivation is to list all of the positive outcomes of your job. If you're on the cleaning staff in a hospital, ultimately your job keeps patients safe from germs and disease. If you sell office equipment, you're helping people to work more efficiently.
Break your tasks down into smaller pieces - Organizing the entire filing cabinet may be too large a task to do all at once. Start alphabetically, or with the first section of files. Then, when you complete the first group, you can use your success with the smaller tasks to motivate you to finish.
Build in accountability - Tell you colleagues or manager about your task. It can help to motivate you if you know that someone else is expecting you to complete the task.
Master time management - Learn to take control of your time, and create a schedule that helps you to do things more efficiently.

Motivation is a complex subject, and motivating yourself can be difficult. By examining your needs, you can often change the way you view a task, and you can link completing it with something that's intrinsically satisfying. You can also provide your own rewards, and change how you approach undesirable tasks to provide more extrinsic motivation.

By using a combination of self-motivation tactics, you'll motivate yourself to get those undesirable tasks done. Then you can get on with the parts of your job that you really enjoy!

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Ten things God won't ask:



1...God won't ask what kind of car you drove;

He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have
transportation.



2...God won't ask the square footage of your house,

He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.



3...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet,

He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.



4...God won't ask what your highest salary was,

He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.



5...God won't ask what your job title was,

He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.



6...God won't ask how many friends you had,

He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.



7...God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived,

He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.



8...God won't ask about the color of your skin,

He'll ask about the content of your character.



9...God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation,

He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the
gates of Hell.



10...God won't ask how many people you forwarded this to,

He'll ask if you were ashamed to pass it on to your friends.





Read Carefully


Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.


Love Life

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL 2011

Hi; Friends wishing you all a WONDERFUL AND A GRAND 2011.Times really fly; 2010 is gone and let us all hope to m,ake this year AWESOME.

The ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP; the Elections in some states of India; IPL 4; India's re-entry in the Davis Cup World Group; this year promises a lot of excitement all through out.I hope to fulfill a long list of must-to-do agendas lined up for this year and I am hopeful we all get what we want.


GOOD LUCK to lakhs of students in their 10th Grade.Theior Preliminary Exams must have started in many schools by now and hope they all excel.It is 2 months of real real HARD WORK and INTELLIGENT HARD WORK for them.Good Luck to the 12th Grade Students as well.


TO ALL: HAVE A BLAST IN 2011.MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE.