Category Archives: Work life

Making the switch


Posted by Skye

I can tell you now that this blog post is going to take me a long time to write. I’ve gone and done a drastic thing and… *drum roll please*… switched to a Dvorak keyboard layout.  I made the switch having developed tendonitis in my left thumb from carrying Nicholas around, causing significant pain when I type. Given that my job is all done on the computer (and typing), it made ergonomic sense. That said, I foresee hours being spent learning how to touch type again.

I spent my evening last night switching the keys around on my keyboard, and now I just find it funny that I was unable to successfully change the index keys. Like my dodgy fix?

Home made Dvorak keyboard

And does anyone have experience typing with a thumb/wrist splint on? Should I just go one handed?


Intellectual Property Irony


Posted by Skye

Please do not C create something NI heard something which made me laugh. A while back, I made a score card, to rate the impact of unauthorised vendors selling my company’s intellectual property in my region (South East Asia). I made it just for our region and made it primarily so I could work out which cases should be escalated to our global intellectual property (Global IP) team. If I may say so myself, it was a pretty awesome idea. It helped to put a value on something that was very hard to calculate – how much impact was company x, having on our financial results, when we weren’t always 100% sure of how much business they were doing. Anyhoo… I heard the other day that the Global IP team is using my scorecard. The IP team ripped off my idea! LOL.

I’m actually not annoyed, more amused. And to be honest, I’ve “borrowed” a few internal ideas here and there as well… In the context of work, I like to call it “using best practices” although I guess I could write a whole blog post on the lack of merits of using “best practice” (aka “old practice”). On the other hand, I do wish I could “charge” the IP team for the use of my scorecard. I think the aggressive (legal) pursuit of 5 unauthorised vendors in my region wouldn’t be asking too much. Would it??

Image from Atmostheory (link)


The cons of working from home


Posted by Skye

As my due date is rapidly approaching (we’re at the “any time now” stage), I have started working from home.

I confess, I enjoy working from home. I get a lot done with minimal distractions. The only big issue that I have is that I find is that when I’m at home, I don’t take as much time out to not work. I tend to sign in earlier because I can sign in while eating breakfast, and I tend to sign out later (because I don’t have to worry about travelling home). Furthermore, I don’t tend to stop working for lunch… This is creating a dual problem – the first is the obvious overwork, but the second more pressing one to me is the total lack of exercise!

So how to motivate myself to get out of the house and start walking around the block?

Since today is Friday and I’m feeling particularly exhausted, I think I will organise a nice lunch at Amici. Then not only will I get a nice walk, I will also have a yummy meal of Pasta! And maybe this afternoon I will go to The Coffee Bean and buy a soy hot chocolate. Again a nice walk, and a tasty treat at the end :) Of course, this could be yet another downside… go for a walk and come back with extra calories.

And yes, I’m aware of the irony of posting this during the working day. However that’s another part of working from home that I like. I’m also able to pace my brain when it’s feeling particularly tired and distracted :)


Selamat hari merdeka! Oh, and a few thoughts on how I approach problems at work…


Posted by Skye

First up, selamat hari merdeka to all my wonderful Malaysian friends!!

~~~

Despite the fact that it is a public holiday in Malaysia today, I just spent the last hour in a phone conference with some of the other regional managers to discuss some go-to-market strategies.

Today’s discussion reminded me of when my old boss told me that while it seemed like I didn’t say much in meetings, when I did say something it changed the whole outcome of the discussion. I told him the reason why I was often quiet during meetings was that I wanted to listen, understand, form an opinion, and then make an intelligent input into the conversation. It’s a strategy that has always worked for me when I’m in meetings with highly opinionated and outspoken people because I personally am a bit of an introvert. Since I don’t like to talk over people, I make sure that when I say something (depending on  the type of discussion) that it packs a punch or in the least, makes an impact and forces people to listen.

I’ve seen a lot of people take my less extroverted approach as a sign of weakness, and I’ve been amused countless times when they’ve realised that while I’m not overtly aggressive it doesn’t mean I can’t get my own way.

Lots of people have told me over the years that I need to be more extroverted in my approach to my job – also interpreting my approach as less effective. While I agree that the advice has been useful on countless occasions, today’s meeting has been a pertinent reminder that my own approach works as well – and in at lot of instances, gives me a lot more satisfaction. After all, there is nothing as satisfying at work as not only being able to get around a roadblock but watching it have to tear itself down as well.

The message in this? It’s always good to take on board other peoples advice as it helps to expand your area of influence :) However, if you find a technique that works well for you, recognise when its useful and use it. Just because someone else has a different approach doesn’t mean their approach will always work for you.


My name is Skye. Not Skpe.


Posted by Skye

Something has been really irritating me for the last few days at work. One of my colleagues (who works in a different country to me) is continuously spelling my name “Skpe” in emails. And to top it off, today he called me “Skype” on the phone.

So the reason why this irritates me is two-fold. First of all, my name is clearly “Skye”. I don’t see or hear a “P” anywhere!

Secondly (and this is why this is one of my biggest office pet peeves), I think it’s the absolute height of unprofessionalism and disrespect to spell someones name incorrectly in correspondence. Particularly when their email (which you have) and email signature (which you also have) and business card (which again, you also have) and all other instances of their name (available to you) are clearly spelled in a different way. To me, a mistake such as spelling someone’s name incorrectly shows that you don’t care about the impression you make and leave on other people – and the service driven world that I work in, this is an absolute no.

Now I concede that occasionally there are genuine mistakes. I’ve seen a colleague email another colleague using a completely different name, and I’ve had the odd email where people have genuinely made a typo because they have been in a rush (or emailing from their Blackberry). But when you have the extra 5 seconds that it takes to check your email for spelling errors, and you have a nice, clear monitor in front of you… And again I return to how unprofessional I think it is.

I will call out my team members if I see them doing this to other people, and if need be, I will lecture them because I want my team to be seen as a highly professional, service driven team.

Am I being too harsh?