Small Talk - Blog by Houratious Albert

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Four key actions to enable Diversity of thought

Culture, diversity, and sustainability are the defining keywords of the present-day workplace. Leaders and employees alike are searching for the magic formula to understand and theorise abstract and far-reaching concepts like culture and diversity. Current ways of achieving diversity that organisations and leaders adopt are to include observable diversity like ethnicity and background into consideration when forming teams. This is amazing progress compared to 10 years ago when I was rejected for jobs in small companies at the final stage of interviews because of “cultural fit” and not due to technical or leadership abilities. Today, that is not just unacceptable, we are in a world where people actively try and work against such biases. That is a pleasant and welcome change. Where the trouble starts is after the formation of a diverse team. Leaders and teams will not be able to harness the power of Diversity of thought if we are unable to fulfil the “Inclus

Closing an era with Readify / Telstra Purple, on a high note

Short Version (TL;DR:) Having delivery managed the team that won the IT News Award for health category 2021, on a very high note, I am moving on from Readify / Telstra purple as part of the current redundancies at Telstra. I am evaluating my next career move to join an organisation that enables me to contribute to a purpose that makes a difference. Long version: Last week, the project that I delivery managed, CHRIS, won the IT News award 2021 for the health category. The week before, I was confirmed of my redundancy as part of the current round of job cuts at Telstra along with 1400+ other colleagues. It couldn’t have been a better time, as it gives me the opportunity to end my current chapter in the organisation on a high note and with a swell of pride for my humble contributions, while walking among giants. From my early days at our tiny office in Docklands as a consultant, intimidated by the brainpower around me, to my current position leading the same state/squad in Victoria; I h

Three ways to advance your career

Here are three obvious but sometimes overlooked ways to advance your career. This is a short reminder post to help you land your next role. 1. Target a well-defined role. Understand the process Speak to people who have gone through the process Understand the expectations of the new role from the decision-makers. Find a mentor to keep you guided. Ensure visibility to the decision-makers. 2. Be prepared for chance opportunities. Look out for roles where your current skill set is transferable. for internal roles, you can look out for temporary positions especially if you are working for large organisations. Most organisations have an internal and external job board. Keep an eye out for new opportunities. 3. Create your own role Be observant to the problems around you. In some cases, you might find that there is a large gap in responsibilities that are not covered by any role. Carve out time in your schedule to take up one of these problems created by the responsibility gap and solve i

Your me, my me and the other me. A guide to be at peace with personal growth

This article is not a direct address to a problem statement, but a journey with me to certain philosophies that I have entertained in my quest for personal growth. There is a short and effective way to look at personal growth which I will come to in this article, one that I believe will help you to be more closer to peace with the practice of personal development. I am thankful to many people in my life, for instilling in me a desire for personal growth in my life. Both my parents have always been open to learning and cared to share some of their struggles with difficult choices and dilemmas associated with scenarios. A few school teachers stood out in vocalising their own personal learnings and set an example by embracing the incompleteness in spite of not being required to do so. I was fortunate to have attended a school that celebrated learning and instilled pride, largely thanks to the unconventional principal that held office there. The themes you can notice in these experiences

Think like a leader : 5 steps to making decisions

A big part of any leadership role, be it team management or managing a large portfolio, leaders are expected to provide decisions on various matters. Leaders would want their teams to be empowered in decision making, and making good decisions comes from preparation and practice. So, How do we make good decisions? Here is a cheat card of 5 steps to enable you to make good decisions. Let us take a hypothetical example. e.g. You would like to organise training for a few members of your team. Convert the activity to a business case and find the concepts This is the most difficult step. More often than not, as employees in an organisation, we expect us to be guided through a problem at hand. This is where thinking like a leader makes a person stand out. Instead of someone and receiving a decision we can look at the factors and concepts that will affect the scenario. Let us analyse our curre

Random things about workshops

I like doing workshops more than presentations. The main reason is that you get more engagement and if you can convey a concept by activity, it stays with you longer. A common trait I have noticed is that some people like to have clarity on how the workshop is going to play out, and some don't mind the suspense. Expectation management is important when starting the session. Feedback on activity-based workshops tends to be positive and sometimes, the participants request a follow up one. Almost all participants enjoyed the forced interactions and group activities. Showcasing or talking about team or individual outputs of activities creates a sense of accomplishment and ownership of the concepts/ideas. Some of the workshops I have done so far include: Design Thinking Empathy Mapping Project Handover Time Management