European Analysts Examine GTBank/Innoson Saga - The Possibilities

By now it is clear that the GTBank/Innoson/EFCC saga now involves every Nigerian including those in diaspora. Interestingly, a team of analysts in Europe, have carried out an independent analysis of the issues on ground and have established the facts. They decided to remain anonymous for now until the outcome of the court cases. 

According to them, the analysis was carried out through examination of evidences from both GTBank, Innoson as well as the Nigerian Police. Other persons that were interviewed includes, some top Managers in GTBank, Chief accountant at Innoson Motors, Customs personnel and others.

While all the details of the examination will not be presented, a summary that would enable you have a proper and comprehensive view is presented below.

Analysis if based on events from 2009 to 19th December

There are three primary issues:

Issue 1: Innoson's Case Against GTBank

Issue 2: GTBanks Case Against Innoson For Forgery

Issue 3: Innoson's Case With Customs and GTBank

Let's take them one after the other

1. Innoson's Case Against GTBank (Awka, Enugu)

• Innoson sued GTBank to court (Federal High Court, Awka) for unlawful deduction from his account. (FHC/Awk/ Cs/2012)
• The court heard the case and the final outcome of this was that GTBank was ordered to pay a sum of N4.77bilion to Innoson.
• GTBank appealed this judgement. (CA/ E/288/2013)
• The court of appeal made a ruling that ordered GTBank to pay a N6 billion to a an interest-yielding account in the name of Chief Registrar of the Court (this is the same as pay the money to the court, to keep until all is finalized)
• GTBank went to the supreme court. That is where this Issue No. 1 is currently.

The analysts continues to monitor this case, currently in the Supreme Court.

2. GTBank's Case Against Innoson for Forgery

•  GTBank sued Innoson for forgery through the Nigerian Police (FHC /L/565C/2015)
•  After about a year, the Police withdrew the charges and decided to first do an investigation
• GTBank sued Innoson to court, this time obtained an order for Innoson's account to be frozen. (Sept. 2014)
• This order was set aside a year after by Federal High Court, Lagos.
• At this point, Innoson believed that is have suffered losses during the months his account was frozen. So he sued GTBank to court for damages up to the tune of 30 billion Naira. This case is currently in the high court. 

 The analysts continue to monitor this case...

3. Innoson's Case With Custom and GTBank (Ibadan)

• Innoson sued GTBank and Customs Service to court (Federal High Court Ibadan) for auctioning his goods 
• The Court heard the case and ruled that GTBank pay Innoson 2 billion Naira
• GTBank appealed the judgement (CA/I/258/2011)
• The court of appeal heard the case and affirmed the previous judgement, ordering GTBank to pay N2billion to Innoson
• GTBank appealed to the Supreme Court
• The Supreme Court dismissed the dismissed the suit
• This is the current status of this issue

Involvement of EFCC

Effort was made to reach EFCC and they provided anonymously some information that we would like to share.

They pointed out that, Mr. Innocent have been invited several times but refuse to appear, therefore he was arrested. However, proofs of  the earlier invitations was requested but for now it has not been provided.

Possibilities

If Supreme Court affirms the decisions of the two other judgements, then GTBank have to pay the said amount. If that happens, then that increases the possibility of the N30 billion suit successfully scaling through and that would deal a fatal blow on GTBank as a financial institution. If this happens, then it means that the only way GTBank would survive is by the intervention of the CBN, which would always happen anyways

There are a number of other issues, but for now these are the summary. We would monitor the situation and provide updates as information become available to us.

How Handle Issue of Competition in the Workplace

 Competition is a common enemy that we all collectively have to fight. The hard part is that even those that compete still suffer from the same negative consequence of this trait. So let's discuss how to handle it, but first, we would look at why you don't have to compete and why some do it.

Why You Don’t Have to Compete With a Colleague in the Workplace
I am writing based on the many years of experience I have gathered from the work environment. I am actually writing not out a ill-feeling but out of a desire to let fellow employees learn from my wealth of experience.  

Why Some Persons Compete One question you always need to ask is why things go the wrong way, except that some persons are so engrossed in their jobs that they don’t take some time to consider things from various perspectives. Let’s first outline why some choose to compete instead of aim for excellence.  

1. Lack of Well Thought-out Goals If one does not have set objectives in our career, then one taking actions and decisions that lack focus. This is even worse when the decision impact negatively on persons in your team.

Typical Example
An example would be a team member in the ICT department that fails to improved his skills and knowledge-base to keep pace with the latest trends in technology. What happens when other team members tends to move at a faster pace? He would end up seeing them as a threat. But the truth is this: In the ICT world, nobody is a threat to anyone.
The fact is: No one can limit your growth in anyway. That is the case of where i worked in the ICT department. There’s this guy, a manager, a Nigerian that sees himself as the ‘Lord of the Rings’. But the real fact is that, he is just another technician. If he is actually a ‘Lord of the ICT Rings’ as he claims, he would not be in the local ICT department here, spending years connecting cables and troubleshooting network faults and harassing colleagues. He would be in Silicon Valley or maybe where I am currently or maybe carrying out a research. This guy saw me as his biggest threat when I actually have a focus beyond the walls of the premises. He continued writing reports against me which are actually not true with the aim of getting me out of the department. I would write on the full story on a different article  

2. Incompetent Persons in Position of Authority When you have an incompetent persons in position of authority, the result would be a team that is not coordinated. Especially when managerial skills is lacking, then he would not have a grip on the members of the team. When a more competent team member works on the team, he naturally sees him as someone to compete with. I personally have go grapple with this particular issue for a time in my workplace.  

3. Lapses in the Logistics/HR Department of the Organization The role of the logistics/personnel department of an organization is to handle issues related to personnel as well as relationship between members of the organization. If in a department, a not very professional technician is elevated above engineers, the result would be unnecessary competitions. I also experience a similar situation during the years I would with an Oil Servicing/Construction company. When persons are elevated to managerial positions due to their technical skills, the result is also unpleasant and is known as ‘Halo Effect’ in Project Management. Another serious lapse would be when the company lacks standards in terms of salaries of employees. Lack of standards kills productivity. Assuming there is no standard in terms of the monthly salary. Then you find out that an employee with a degree and several relevant certifications is paid a fraction of the salary of another employee with just a high school diploma.  

4. Preferential Treatment of a Female Employee for Whatever Reason Some employees in positions of authority have abused this position by allowing their rapport with a female employee to affect the job to the detriment of other employees and the job at large. I would stop here and hope you understand what I’m saying.  

Negative Impacts of Competition in the Workplace
1. Low Productivity
2. Lack of good Interpersonal Relationship among team members
3. Low morale for those negatively impacted
4. Lost time due to disagreements

My Personal Advice
I would like to give a few words of advice to my beloved colleagues in the workforce to enable them cope with this ugly trend. One thing to bear in mind is that you may not be able to change the existing structure of an unprofessional work environment. You can change your viewpoint and attitude towards the situation. The following points would help you cope.

 1. Define Your Goal in Your Workplace This is the first thing you need to outline possibly as soon as you take up the employment. Having goals you give you a focus. Do you want to work with the company for 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? Do you plan to spend the rest of your career life in the particular company? Do you aspire for top position of a manager? Do you want to learn on the job?  

2. Maintain Good Communication
Maintain communication with team members and with you superiors. Remember that an aspect of  

3. Acquire Some Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills also known as soft-skills allow you to maintain good relationship with your colleagues. This kind of skill tends to create to ease any tension that may result. This may means spending few minutes discussing general issues of life(not related with job) with colleagues or acknowledging his efforts or even a pat on the back. O maybe simply asking about the family.  

4. Grow Your Professional Prowess
This is one thing you need to do to grow in your careers. Spend time reading to understand the concepts of your jobs. Get professional certifications if possible and continue to make needed improvements in your field of study,  

Final Notes
We need to make needed effort to avoid making the workplace a competition ground. If we are caught in between, we need try to ease the tension created by applying the 4 points I made. Thanks a lot for reading and if you do thing that this article needs to be improved, feel free to leave a comment below on your views.

Steps to Finding and Managing Capital - Part 1

This is a paper presented at the Valedictory Session/Entrepreneurial Workshop for the Executive and Principal Officers of the 25 Local Government Council of Delta State - 18th and 19th October, 2017

Introduction
It is fair to say that at the center of any business enterprise is finding and utilization of capital. In classical econonic theory, there are four factors of production which are:

• Land
• Entrepreneur
• Capital
• Labour

In this list, capital is that aspect that bonds all three together. In many instances, it equates to cash but often, it means much more than that. It is the ability to mobilize enough capital to start a business that could make the difference between quick successes or a stunted growth. In fact, it could even mean the difference between commencing and not commencing a business at all.

In this article,  we would explore the various sources of capital that you can leverage on. The principle to bear in mind is that capital should strictly be treated as capital and not profit. Capital is meant to be a facilitator, an enabler - a means to an end and not the end itself.

In simple terms, capital should be spent strictly for business, not for pleasure or any other thing. One this principle is understood, then it will help you answer the next question

What Capital Do I Need
The volume or size of capital is not fixed, but dependent on two basic questions:

1. What kind of business do I want to engage in?
2. What facilities are available

1. What Kind of Business
In answering the first question, a background study of the different businesses or enterprise opportunities must have been carried out. In some Instances, this information can be gotten informally, especially if one is going into a well-known business direction (even then, effort must be made to obtain certain empirical specifics as to fund requirements outlays). Since no two businesses are exactly the same as they operate under different variables.
In other instances, a formal study requiring a professional input can be carried out. This is called feasibility study. Feasibility studies are meant to establish the capital needs of the business and its expectation or return capital.

What Facilities are Available
The funds available to be utilized as capital are generally categorized into two broad categories.

• Internal Sources
• External Source

We would discuss these two

Internal Sources: As the name implies, these are funds that can be sourced from within. They include personal savings, funds from family members, stocks and equities, inheritances and heirlooms. Monies drawn from these are generally uncollateralized and less stringent in mobilization and utilization. The monitoring and control processes to access their efficient utilization are less stressful and less cumbersome.

External Sources: These are funds from outside your personal cycle. A key feature of externally sourced funds is that they are formal. This requires formal agreement between the lender and the borrower. So in some instances, even family members can by the conditions attached to the release of these funds become external or formal sources of capital. A formal capital source can be in form of loans, grants, endowments or charitable advances.

We would now outline and discuss these sources of funds in the next part.
Sources of Capital

Give Me One Reason Why I Should not Give Specific Details!

Give Me On Reason Why I Should not Give Specific Details!

I would like to thank you again for stopping by.
I have been provoked to make this article in response to repeated call from different quarters telling me I should not give specific details of events happening in my workplace. The article have to do with “How to Succeed in a Challenging Work Environment”. I appreciate the advice of these well-meaning person. 
I want to point out that I write strictly for learning purposes and dissemination sound information.
But, I have a bad news, though. The fact is that I have dozens of articles with specific details including names of the company, the persons involved in the events, the phone numbers and other relevant details needed to verify any article I am going to write. And I am going to publish them, if not me, someone else would still publish all of them if necessary and at the right time. As for all these persons telling me not to include the specific details like actual names in my articles, my question for them is,

• What is one good reason why I should not do that?
• What would make your articles authentic if  it is not verifiable and contain specific details?
• Why should we be afraid of expressing our view in this information age? Or are we still living in the dark ages?
• Beside why should one not speak out especially in a situation that personally affects him?

I would like to point out clearly that the first step in giving advice is to first make effort to understand the situation and circumstances of the  person expressing his objections. Then you will be in the right position to give a well thought-out and informed advice.

Why I choose to Write
 I would take some few lines to let you know why I decided to express my views in writing.

1. My IT Background: As an Information Technology Professional, I feel the obligation to pass authentic and verifiable information to those who need it. I work as a Lead Software Engineer in the ICT Department and as such would not cringe in fear of expressing sound facts and relevant supporting arguments and details.
2. I have the Facts: Another important point is that I’m not just making up stories. I actually relate based on situations I have experienced or I have been through. As such I have the guarantee that the actual facts are presented as they are and lessons can be learnt from it.

3. I Feel a Relieve: Generally, if expressions are kept inside, it sometimes leads to depression or other more serious effects. So I found out that when I express myself in writing, then, I could feel some kind of relieve that some burden has been taken off my chest.

Reasons Not Why I Choose to Write This subtitle seems not clear  to me but I would like the point out that I’m not writing for negative reasons. So I would say the reasons below are not and never would be reasons for my writing. I strictly write for learning purposes.

• I don’t intend to undermine the reputation of anyone or any organization. As I repeatedly mentioned I write to teach and inform
• I don’t write to fight a cause. I don’t have anything to fight for, so I’m not writing to fight any authority or to draw some attention to some cause.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone that have advised me, I sincerely appreciate and for sure this response shows that I’ve carefully considered your advice. 

How to Succeed as a Sa1p3m Staff(in a Challenging Work Environment)

How to Succeed as a Sa1p3m Staff (or any other challenging work environment) Thanks for stopping by.

• I would like to share this update with you on how to succeed in a challenging work environment for  a professional.  What really is a challenging work environment? For me, Sa1p3m is not just a typical example, but an exceptionally challenging one and I would tell you why in a moment.

So some of the topics we are going to discuss includes the following:

• What factors make a work environment challenging
• How does a challenging work environment affect productivity and effectiveness
• What effect does a challenging work environment have on the workforce
• The role of management
• The role of staff union
• How to manage a challenging work environment

Let’s begin with the fir first point: What factors make a work environment Challenging ?

What Makes a Work Environment Challenging? Disregard for Standard Practices (Unprofessionalism): When an organization fails to maintain a certain level of standards, then you will find it challenging as a professional. A typically example is when job roles are not properly defined and you find the same employee working on different roles in a unsystematic way,  and you find yourself in the team, it’s going to be challenging to cope.

Incompetent Head of Unit/Unskilled Managers: Managerial skills which includes leadership and interpersonal skills is the key to managing human resources. When a manager is incompetent and lacks these skills, it would be a disaster for him to have persons under him. An example is a head of department would lack basic communication skills and resort to shouting and insulting employees under his unit. I a situation like this he would not have a grip on the personnel neither will he earn their loyalty

Manager being less qualified than Team Member: Example is a Technician managing a team made up of engineers!(I find these amusing). Unfortunately, that is the situation in some department in Saipem. Example is ICT department. I rest my case!

How does a Challenging Work Environment Affect Productivity and Workforce 

In simple terms, it reduces productivity as employees would be low on morale while other try to find a way out of the situation by looking elsewhere. 

  The Role of Management and Staff Union The bulk of the blame for having an avoidable challenging work environment goes to management of h organization. This is because they are aware of the situations that make the workplace challenging for their employees. They also hold the power to make necessary changes to improve the situation. Staff union also have the role of fighting to ensure that management does not exploit the employees in any way.

How to Cope

The few suggestions below has helped many cope with challenging work environment

• Improve your confidence by developing more professional skills: This you can achieve by getting professional certification in your field of study.
• Enhance Communication in Line With Corporate Standards: Make your concerns known to those in positions of responsibility but avoid any form of confrontation.
• Avoid Complaining: This would not help matters. Don’t spent time complaining or even discussing with team members who may not see the matter in an unbiased perspective
• Don’t Compromise Professionalism: No matter what, don’t compromise laid down standards or best practices. Don’t do things the wrong way just because every other person does it that way.
• Get Instructions in Writing: If you are given an instruction by an incompetent boss, make him put it in writing, say an email. This would ensure that he bears responsibility of the outcome.

I personally have applied these recommendations and have found the workplace not as challenging as it used to.

Thanks for your time and I hope this has been informative for you. If so leave a comment to let know how you feel.

How to Manage Difficult Situations in the Workplace

MANAGEMENT OF DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

Paper Presented For A Workshop For The Delta State Civil Service By Dr. Munonye O. M. Zonal Coordinator, (south south) Institute of Human and Natural Resources

Introduction

As in all organizations, the civil service can be full of difficult situations that task even the most patient of personnel. Since most of the time it is not possible for the worker to alter the difficult situation, the key lies in being able to anticipate possible difficult situations and them prepare beforehand to handle them when they eventually arrive.

Key Tips for Dealing with Difficult Situations

As a leader or manager you can be sure that there will be difficult situations to deal with from time to time.  These difficult situations might include:

• Dealing with poor individual or team performance

• Trying to improve an organization that is perceived to be failing

• A process that it is not working

• Staff or other resource shortages

• Adverse media coverage

So as a manager or leader what are the key tips for dealing with difficult situations?

Tip 1: Establish facts first

When difficult situations arise, it is all too easy to jump to solution mode too quickly.  While there may be a limited amount of times when fast action is absolutely necessary, your first step to successful resolution it to establish facts.  Remember that facts as opposed to hearsay or opinion are verifiable.

Tip 2: Ask lots of questions

Questions, especially the short powerful variety are a great way of getting to the core issue rather than all the detail that someone is trying to provide to you.  Think of it a bit like peeling an onion, each layer is getting you closer to the core.

Tip 3: Actively listen

There is little point in asking great questions if you are not actively listening to what is being said.  Resist the temptation to jump in before you have properly listened to the different points of view.

Tip 4: Avoid pre-judgment

We all, if we are honest will form some judgments immediately.  While these might be right at the end of the day, don’t let pre-judgment get in the way of establishing the real issues.

Tip 5: Act professionally

The challenge for you is to remain professional at all times.  A good test of this is to ask yourself how you would like to be treated if you were not the manager or leader but an aggrieved party.

Tip 6: Aim for win-win

While this is not always possible, you should aim to find solutions that don’t result in a feeling from one party that they have lost while another has won.  This might require some careful negotiation around what would constitute a good outcome for all those involved.

Tip 7: Remember there is no one size fits all approach

Each situation is different.  While there might be some common ground, remember there is unlikely to a one size fits all approach to difficult situations.   Adapt your approach depending on the situation.

Bottom Line – Handling difficult situations is just part and parcel of managing and leading.  So where do you need to focus your attention in terms of developing your competence?

Smart professionals know that yesterday’s strategies are insufficient for today’s challenges. In Managing Difficult Situations we authentically look at individual and environmental factors that create stress, meltdowns and burn-out and the habits and skills required to proactively manage for success. This course is based on time-tested technique as well as leading-edge thinking in neuroscience and cognitive structuring; it is designed to be interactive, instructive and entertaining. 

PERSPECTIVE OF DIFFICULT SITUATIONS AT WORK- THE CHALLENGE OF SURVIVING OR THRIVING: 

Managing in Today’s Work Environment 

• Manage for the uncertainty of today’s work world; achieving control
• Understand behavior patterns and how to work with your own perceptions and those of others
• Time-tested stress management strategies
• Leading-edge research in neuroscience – manage your brain to manage yourself and challenging situations
• Four-step process for interrupting old patterns
• Create the environment you want

Difficult People 

• Answer the age-old question: “why are difficult people difficult?” 
• Manage anger and emotions; negativity and anger in others 
• Style assessments: styles during stressful situations, adapting styles to create collaboration
• Create communication strategies to match styles and points of view 
• Artfully managing difficult people and conversations (creating rapport, win/win outcomes)
• Maintain professionalism and confidence in the workplace
• Develop creative solutions in maintaining composure and calm 

Communication Skills 

• Understand conflict – why it happens and how to embrace positive outcomes 
• Essential communication skills in conflict and collaboration
• Maintain confidence, composure and professionalism 
• Verbal and non-verbal communication

Building Positive Relationships 

• Create a positive atmosphere for communication
• Identify triggers
• Develop coping strategies 
• Create a “MAP” (Management Action Plan)

Some  Difficult Office Situations and How to Deal With Them

In order to maintain a high level of productivity, a positive work environment is absolutely essential. Although many aspects of the workplace are completely under your control, there will be occasions when you are essentially helpless, and the only control you have is how you REACT to a specific situation.

It is these occasions that typify what has been called “drama,” and by that, I mean the bad kind of drama.  While other types of drama–for example, the high school variety — can be fun in a guilty pleasure kind of way, nobody likes drama at work. It only causes problems and can eventually lead to you or someone else getting terminated. The following are 16 potential drama-causing work situations, and what you can do to effectively extinguish them.

1. A co-worker has the annoying habit of [blank] and you can’t stand it anymore.

Drama potential: Obsessively clicking pens. Playing music too loudly. Chewing gum like a cow munching on grass. They may seem like small habits, but they become unnerving when you have to put up with it all for eight hours or more on a daily basis. If you keep it all in, you may just lose it.

How to avoid: Before asking your co-worker to stop a certain behavior, make sure that you aren’t guilty of something as annoying yourself. Also, see what you can do block out the habit that annoys you. Invest in headphones, and try to focus on something else. If you really can’t put up with, then politely ask your co-worker to refrain. Tell them that you get easily distracted. Above all, be nice about it.

2. You suspect someone in the office is working against you.

Drama potential: Your paranoia gets the better of you. You’re put in defensive mode, and you begin actively working against the purported offender.

How to avoid: While there will always be the hyper-competitive co-worker, most people are not out to get you. Recognize that, and half the problem is gone. Dealing with the obnoxiously competitive worker can be accomplished by simply doing your assigned work the best you can. The only one who you are really competing against is yourself, and others will notice when you step up your work goals and accomplishments without stepping over others.

3. A co-worker tries to engage you in a heated religious or political conversation.

Drama potential: Politics and religion are almost always a big no-no in the workplace. Controversial conversations can quickly turn into animosity. Someone may feel offended and can rightfully complain to management.

How to avoid: Just don’t talk about religion or politics. If someone asks for your opinion, try to steer the conversation elsewhere, or laugh it off and say something neutral.

4. A co-worker or superior makes an inappropriate physical advance.

Drama potential: Similar to the broken office romance–but with potentially more nasty consequences–the unwanted pass can spawn gossip, discomfort, or even personal danger.

How to avoid: This situation needs to be dealt with early and quickly. Do not ignore sexual advances and assume that they will go away. First, tell the perpetrator–in private–that you aren’t interested, that you feel uncomfortable, and that you want his or her behavior to stop. Make sure he or she knows that you will file an official complaint if the behavior continues. This will almost always do the trick. If it’s your boss who’s doing it, consult with HR.

5. A co-worker incites you to participate in nasty office gossip.

Drama potential: Participating in gossip may be tempting, but it’s almost always ill-advised. The problem with gossip is its potential to hurt others’ feelings and lose others’ trust. When you participate in gossip, you run the risk of alienating the people with whom you work.

How to avoid: Stay away from notorious gossips. When someone tries to share office gossip with you, try changing the conversation, or simply tell them that you don’t like talking about others because you don’t like it when people talk about you.

6. Someone is stealing your food from the refrigerator. 

Drama Potential: The stealing becomes habitual. You decide to let it slide. You go hungry and resentment builds. Confrontation ensues.

How to avoid: Put your food in some sort of container, and make sure to label it with your name. If it keeps happening, ask, in a non-accusatory manner, if anyone has seen your food items. This usually does the trick. If all else fails, you can always purchase a small personal fridge and keep it under your desk.

7. It’s the company Christmas party, and you want to enjoy yourself.

Drama potential: You have too much to drink, and you make a fool of yourself. You offend others, spill secrets, or act inappropriately or aggressively. You think letting loose during social events can’t hurt? Think again. An acquaintance of mine actually got fired after an embarrassing Christmas party incident. Don’t let that be you.

How to avoid: If you can’t hold your alcohol, simply don’t drink, or drink very slowly.

8. You need a break and want to surf the Internet.

Drama Potential: You begin using your personal e-mail, social networking sites, and other entertainment sites. Before you know it, you’re surfing as you would be surfing at home, sending profanity-filled messages, and watching inappropriate videos.

How to Avoid: Most employers understand the need to take a break, and it’s probably okay that your computer screen isn’t always reflecting your work assignments. Still, keep personal Internet surfing to a minimum. Don’t write emails that you wouldn’t read to the whole office. And whatever you do, keep it clean. Rule of thumb: If your grade school teacher would object, then it‘s not okay.

9. A supervisor entrusts you with a secret, and you gab to just one “trusted” friend. 

Drama Potential: You tell one person, and you ask them not to tell anyone else. Of course, the person you told will do the same–tell one or two people, thinking the buck will stop there. Well, it never stops, and that’s how gossip gets so out-of-control in the first place. As with widespread gossip, telling one little secret has the potential to hurt others, perpetrate lies, and to make matters worse, you’ll lose your credibility.

How to avoid: If someone tells you something in private, assume it’s meant to be kept between you two. It may just be that a supervisor is letting you in to see how well he or she can trust you. Don’t blow it.

10.  You get romantically involved with someone else at work.

Drama potential: The happy couple breaks up, leaving the office environment tense. People feel forced to take sides, perhaps even harassment charges are filed.

How to avoid: Try your best not to get involved with someone at the office. If it does happen, then be professional about it. Hold off on the PDA until after 5. If your relationship dissolves, do not talk about it openly with others. Try to be civil during office hours. If you absolutely feel that you can‘t, ask a supervisor if you can be transferred to a different area of the office, where you won’t be confronted with the ex. While it can be difficult to deny an obvious attraction or connection with a co-worker, most office relationships are simply not worth the drama that they can cause.

11. Your boss overloads you with tasks that aren’t in your work description.

Drama potential: At first it starts out with little things, like “Do you mind doing [insert boss’s task here]?” Eventually, you become your boss’s slave.

How to avoid: Of course, most employees have a strong desire to please their superiors. But bosses aren’t perfect, and there’s nothing worse than having to take on two jobs but getting paid for only one. Sometimes, you just have to learn to say no. Meet with the boss to review your work description. If it becomes an ongoing problem, go to HR. 

12. You’re asked to work on a collaborative project with co-workers with whom you don’t see eye-to-eye.

Drama potential: Group projects can be trying because in order for a group to work effectively, there needs to be a good mix of leadership, people willing to take direction, and so on. Most of the time, groups aren’t formed on such a basis, so there will always be group members butting heads. Sometimes group disagreement can escalate to extreme levels.

How to avoid: If you know from beforehand that you cannot work with a certain co-worker, see if you can apportion certain tasks to each person, then meet only to put the separate parts of  the project together.

13. A very significant event occurred in your personal life. 

Drama potential: You just got married. Of course, we want to share significant events with all of those who are close to us, and that includes people at work. But think before you speak–a small conversation communicating your excitement can easily turn in to an annoying fixation such that no one ever wants to hear you talk ever again.

How to avoid: Don’t become the annoyingly solipsistic loudmouth at work. Keep talk of your personal life to a minimum.

14. You’ve had an argument with a Co-worker and you know you’re right. 

Drama potential: Even though you may be right all of the time, when there are unresolved issues among co-workers, everyone suffers. Refusing to apologize after an argument only keeps the cycle of workplace tension going.

How to avoid: Even if you are right, simply apologize. It is just as important to keep your boss happy as it is to be able to work well with your co-workers. Pride does not belong at work.

15. A colleague or supervisor is doing something wrong, and you want to complain to the company chief.

Drama potential: When something in the workplace is awry, sometimes your first instinct is to take your complaint to the top of the chain of command. Corporate hierarchy is the name of the game with most companies, so if you skip too many levels, you may end up aggravating many who work above you.

How to avoid: Make complaints only to your direct supervisor, and address your complaint as a “concern,” especially if the wrongdoing doesn’t directly involve you. If it is your supervisor who’s at fault, then talk only to his direct supervisor.

16. Work is tough and you have a desire to vent. 

Drama potential: What starts out as innocent venting about the trials of work can turn into full-blown complaining. A constant whiner will not only get a bad reputation at work, but he will also  foster a very negative work environment. This slows productivity. And people will eventually have only you to complain about.

How to deal with it: While there’s always a need to vent about your boss, or about your work assignments, don’t take it too far. Complain constructively.

Your turn/Assignment for incoming weeks

What is one difficult situation have you been in and how do you think you can deal with it?

CONCLUSION

Definitely the list of difficult situations presented here are not exhaustive, nor the suggestions given here totally conclusive, the primary keys to managing difficult work situations is to love your work. With that love will come tolerance of the people or situations that may be less than perfect.

Core Banking and Retail Banking - The Difference

My friends in the banking industry could not help but spend a few minutes in my brief analysis of the difference between core and retails banking.

One thing I let my subscribers know is that there is a subtle difference between doing the job and doing the job with a reason. In the first, you don't have much to do with the theoretical concepts of the tasks provided you get it done, possibly efficiently.

In the later, you get to know the concepts behind the actions being taken and that is what a being a professional means.

That is would like to highlight the concept of Core Banking and Retail Banking.

1. Retail Banking (aka Consumer Banking)
Retails banking also called Consumer banking deals with providing financial services to customers. Customers may be individuals or corporate organisations

Examples of Retail Banking Activities
a. A bank account is opened for a particular customer
b. School fee is paid by a student and processed
c. Someone withdraws money from the bank's ATM
d. A debit card is provided for a customer
c. A company account is opened for staff of XYZ limited

2. Core Banking (aka Corporate Banking or Consolidated Banking)
Core banking deals with the transaction between a bank and other banks or between a branch of a bank and other branches. It may also involve transaction between a bank and some other organisation.
In core banking transactions details is shared between entities based on network and internet facilities. Core banking tasks may generally have been programmed to run at some intervals without the intervention of the customer or banking personnel.

Examples of Core Banking Activities
a. Communication between a local bank and bank overseas when on travels to another country with a local debit card and uses it for purchases
b. A bank consolidates data to a central repository from many branches in different locations
c. Communication between an ERP used by organizations and monthly cash transfer eg. employees salaries are transferred to banks at certain point in the month
d. Multinationals remit funds to the Federal account