Bulan Ramadhan - Bulan serba sederhana?

Kepada seluruh umat islam yg membaca blog ini, saya mengambil kesempatan untuk mengucapkan selamat berpuasa di bulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini.

Bulan Ramadhan dikatakan bulan untuk kita bersederhana dalam berbelanja tapi hakikatnya...bulan ini lebih banyak wang yang keluar, sama ada untuk juadah berbuka puasa di Bazaar Ramadhan atau untuk persiapan hari raya....adakah tujuan sebenar kita menyambut bulan ini tercapai? Tepuk dada tanya diri sendiri...ehehhe...Wassalam....

Vivac Sabah Activity - Labuan Trip Aug 2009

Vivac Sabah telah menjalankan aktiviti melawat Labuan pada 8-9 Ogos 2009. Program ini disertai 11 buah kereta Viva yang bermula konvoi daripada Kota Kinabalu jam 7.00pagi dan tiba di Menumbok hampir 2 jam kemudian utk menaiki feri yang berlayar jam 10.30 pagi.

Antara aktiviti ialah melawat sekitar Labuan sebelum TT bersama KCOC & Smallcarlife members Labuan di Gerai Petimah, Bukit Kalam pada malamnya. Selepas TT members Vivac telah dibawa ke kawasan letak kereta Seasport Labuan untuk berkumpul dan memperagakan kereta masing2.

Team Vivac telah berangkat kembali ke Kota Kinabalu dengan mengikuti feri jam 1.30petang

My trip to KL for M'sia vs Man Utd

I had the opportunity to visit KL from 16th -19th July to watch Man U play vs the Malaysian team.

We arrived in KL on 16th and stayed at the Legend Hotel, a hotel located near PWTC and situated above The Mall. It's a nice cosy hotel which made our stay very relaxing and convenient for us to get anything from the shops at The Mall.

Despite having the entry pass, we missed the training session the day before the match. On match day, we arrived as early as 2pm and the stadium areas was full of the 'Red Devil' fans wearing the Man U shirts (so much for Malaysian patriotism! LOL).

The match ended 3-2 in favor of Man U but it was very enjoyable and probably the best performance by the Malaysian team for ages!

Mai Home Cooking Restaurant

Mai Home Cooking Restaurant - Masakan Melayu Asli Kini Dibuka!

Restoran ini terletak di Putatan (sebaris dengan KFC Putatan) dan menyediakan pelbagai jenis hidangan. Antara "signature dish" restoran ini adalah seperti Nasi Goreng Mai Resipi Baru, Nasi Ayam Mai, Soto Ayam Kampung dan juga ikan bakar 3 rasa...

Restoran ini juga menyediakan perkhidmatan catering.

My car updates - June 2009 (2)

My latest update:-

Did sound wiring for my Viva &

2 12" Mohawk Crystal woofers

Mohawk 900watt Monoblock

US Thunder Pre-amp

Pep talks don't motivate staff; then what can? (The Star)

Pep talks don't motivate staff; then what can?

Psychology At Work - By Dr Goh Chee Leong

MORALE among the staff team is low. Productivity is low. Management decides that something needs to be done and quickly. So they get a trainer to give a “motivational talk”.

“Just come over”, they say, “give them a two-hour pep talk” and the expectation is that all of them will be inspired and motivated.

We want instant solutions for long-term problems.

If only life were so simple. If only leadership were so simple.

Don’t get me wrong. Words are powerful and when delivered by a skilful orator, they have the potential to exert an incredible amount of influence on a whole mass of people.

A good motivational talk certainly can lift the spirits for a moment, but therein lies the problem. Its effects are temporary at best.

The reality is that to boost motivation levels in the organisation on a more permanent basis, there needs to be more a fundamental change taking place in the organisation.

Research in organisational psychology has identified numerous organisational factors that contribute to workers’ motivation levels.

I have attempted to synthesise the various variables into four elements that, in my opinion, characterise the organisational culture of a highly motivated team.

Empowerment

People are motivated when they are given room to take ownership of their work process.

Read any management guidebook and it’ll tell you the same thing: Choose people who have the ability to get the job done. Set them clear targets and give them room to work.

Avoid micro-managing. Where possible give them freedom to make decisions about their work environment and their work processes. There are always boundaries and limits to freedom and decision-making rights of course, but the principle should be to give as much space as possible.

This is particularly important when you are dealing with your “top performers” and “high potentials”. These people are usually highly intelligent, highly motivated and full of ideas about how to get the job done. Nothing de-motivates them more than being straight-jacketed.

Sometimes as supervisors we make the mistake of over-managing perhaps, because they are trust issues.

Some organisations are overly bureaucratic, creating so much red tape that staff lose any incentive to implement improvements because it’s just too much trouble to change anything.

Some organisations regulate their processes and SOPs (standard operating procedures) to the point that staff no longer have any room to make any decisions or to exercise any discernment which makes the organisation rigid, inflexible and clumsy.

The danger about all this over-regulation is that it takes away a sense of control and ownership from the worker and this is de-motivating.

Growth

People are motivated when they perceive that the organisation is facilitating their growth and development.

Research seems to indicate that this is as important as financial remuneration especially for younger workers. They need to see that the current challenges they face are part of a personal development process for them. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

Good organisations have transparent career development pathways for their staff and they communicate these regularly so that everyone is clear about what level they are at and what level they can aspire to.

Good organisations also provide the means for staff to make this leap. Talent management has become less of a buzzword and more of an operational necessity at many organisations that wish to compete at a global level.

The bottom line is that people are motivated when there is something to aspire to in their careers and it’s got to be more than just the money. Most “top performers” and “high potentials” are driven people who have relatively strong ambitions. Show them how their current “suffering” is going to help them get to where they want and they’ll be motivated to climb mountains and swim oceans for you.

Clarity

People are motivated when they are clear about the goals, missions and objectives.

Good leaders are great at communicating the vision, mission and direction in a way that is both clear and inspiring. They are constantly “defining the mountaintops”.

High potentials like challenges. They want to be stretched. They seek a sense of achievement and accomplishment. That is why clarity of the mission is so important to them. Like soldiers in the battlefield, they want clear targets, clear objectives, clear victories.

Some organisations are poor at communicating expectations to their staff. As a result, workers have no sense of their performance indicators, their monthly targets, their scope of responsibilities. This ambiguity can be de-motivating.

Equity

People are motivated when they perceive that they are being treated fairly.

Nothing turns off a “high potential” more than the perception that “performance doesn’t really matter in this organisation”.

This is a problem that plagues organisations the world over. People feel that it’s all about office politics. It’s all about who you know rather than what you do. “As long as you’re close with the boss, they’ll let you get away with murder.”

In this kind of work culture, workers become experts at “managing” and “handling” their bosses, rather than improving their actual work performance. The name of the game becomes how to impress the boss rather than how to get things done. Once the worker sees a disconnect between his/her effort and the reward, you can forget about motivation, where the real work is concerned.

The solution of course is to put into place a comprehensive and well-executed performance management system that has clearly defined and measurable hard targets. I like the use of hard targets because it minimises manipulation.

The system needs to be fair and it needs to be seen to be fair.

Dr Goh Chee Leong is vice-president of HELP University College and a psychologist. We welcome feedback on this article. Please email to starbiz@thestar.com.my

My car updates - June 2009

These are my rides...simple...not much upgrades yet

Mohawk Orange woofer above is for sale..hehe

Windows 7

Windows 7 adalah OS terbaru Windows selepas Vista yang dijangka akan berada di pasaran pada Julai 2009. W7 dikatakan jauh lebih baik berbanding Vista yg mendapat kritikan daripada pelbagai pihak dan tidak ada masalah "compatibility" untuk menggunakan mana-mana program yang kini boleh digunakan dalam Windows Vista.

Sudah tentunya anda seperti saya sendiri juga sebelum kita ingin membuat upgrade kepada OS, kita ingin mengetahui apa kelebihannya berbanding OS yang ada sekarang dan adakah perlu sebarang "hardware upgrade". Sebenarnya Windows 7 tidak memerlukan spesifikasi yang tinggi dan biasanya PC keluaran baru sudah mempunyai spesifikasi sama atau lebih baik daripada seperti yang tertera di bawah:

• 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

• 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

• 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)

• DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Berikut adalah antara kelebihan Windows 7:

- Taskbar lebih baik & mempunyai "full screen preview"










- Jump List atau senarai shortcut kepada "tasks" tertentu




















-Desktop enhancement yang lebih mudah dan menarik.
















Pengurusan printer & devices (spt USB, external drive etc) yang lebih mudah




















-Memilih wireless network dengan lebih mudah




























-Lebih cepat dan mudah

-Penyusunan Libraries yang lebih mudah























-Dilengkali dengan Internet Explorer 8 yang lebih mudah dan menarik


-Gadgets yang lebih menarik






















Dan banyak lagi.....


Written by Rosli Shirlin



Untuk maklumat lanjut sila rujuk link di bawah.


*******************************************************

References
-http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
-http://technologizer.com/2008/10/28/windows7/
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

Situational Management Skills

1. Situation A:

You find yourself managing staff with more day to day knowledge of what's happening or with greater technical knowledge and skills than you. Frequently you don't have any clue of what is being discussed. How will you react?

The higher you move up the ladder into "management" the further you could be getting away from the jobs that people do. In a management role you often lose that expertise and spend your time doing other things, such as planning and controlling the work of your section. Try recognising it and do not try to fight it out. Identify and acknowledge the skills your subordinates have. Explore how they can help you and explain how you can help them. Ask for information and explanation if you are not sure what they are talking about and/or its implications. Encourage them to keep you involved.

2. Situation B:

As the new manager you identify areas where changes need to be made . However, these are met with stiff resistance. What will your aproach be?

Talk to them individually about the changes but do not be surprised if they behave much differently when they are with the peer group. Try to involve them in the changes planned and get their ideas. Try to sell them the benefits of the changes you are planning. Do not avoid potential problems, confront them. You can try a compromise, for the time being to take everyone with you.

3. Situation C:

On a variety of issues you feel that your boss is letting you down. He is not available when needed, directly goes to your sub-ordinate and doesn't give you any feedback. What will you do?

There could be a variety of reasons as to why your boss behaves the way he does. He might be thinking that your ideas won't work. He might be disliking you or might not be skilled at handling staff. He might be having a demanding job and is often pre-occupied; might not have grasped the total picture.

Could you present your ideas more successfully? Can you present things the way your boss would like them? Anticipate objections that he may raise and prepare yourself accordingly. Be businesslike and keep your presentations simple. This is bound to improve your communication with your boss.

4. Situation D:

You have a good performer as a sub-ordinate. Recently for no apparent reason, he appears to lose motivation. How will you improve his motivation?

Loss of motivation could be related to there being no more challenge in the job, not getting paid enough for the position and responsibilities, status not being recognised etc. Try making the individual aware of what he is doing and the effect it is having on the organisation as a whole. Find out what he is good at and what he enjoys doing. See what chances are there for his skills and abilities to be better utilised. Try to build in challenge into the job by making it broader and delegate some of your work to make the job interesting.

5. Situation E:

You have a sub-ordinate who is a poor performer. He never achieves his goals and can never be relied upon. When put under pressure the person panics. How will you handle this sub-ordinate of yours?

Be clear on what the person is expected to do and to what standard he should perform. Talk to the person and obtain agreement on what needs to be done, what help is needed and the timeframe of actions. Monitor the person's performance and take any action may be necessary, as you go along.

6. Situation F:

You try to build your team in a new organisation, but find lack of interest. People continue to work as individuals behaving in ways that conflict with your objectives of team working. What will you try to do?

If you need and want to be a team, try to-

-Look for opportunities to build teamworking into your daily activities, i.e. get people working together on projects

-Look for examples where teamworking has paid off within your organisation and publicise them

-Share information and involve your people

-Hand over tasks to your people, ask for suggestions as to how they could be done

-Put together some team building activities

-Encourage harmony-watch for "them and us" situations within your team

Reference : http://humanlinks.com/mansub.htm

AJK Vivac Sabah

Vivac Sabah telah mengadakan mesyuarat agung (AGM) pertama pada 6 Jun 2009 bertempat di Bilik Mesyuarat, Kementerian Belia & Sukan. Seramai 24 orang ahli telah menghadiri mesyuarat tersebut dan sebulat suara melantik AJK seperti berikut:




Pengerusi - Chairil Anwar Sibadon Pahirah (Mrchai)

Timbalan Pengerusi - Rosli Shirlin Abd Rashid (vandalheart)

Setiausaha - Jasson Kelly Lalong (Dayeh)

Penolong Setiausaha - Habib Arshad (Uncle Bob)

Bendahari - KIV memandangkan belum ada akaun khas. Buat sementara waktu Timb. Pengerusi akan mengendalikan tugas ini

AJK
Penasihat Luar - Razive Zakaria (Agip) Nurfahizan (Kawan27)
AJK Kewangan - KIV
AJK Pembangunan - Tan Hing Vui (alvinthv)
Pembantu Pembangunan - Adam Daniel@Steve (optimus)
AJK Pertandingan & Aktiviti - Martin Ukit (vivakidz)
AJK Tatatertib & Disiplin - Hamdan (Jease), Hamzalelah (mandang), Ardonis

Maintaining Discipline at workplace

"Discipline" ... exactly what kind of feelings this word brings to you? For most of us it brings negative feelings (especially those who were punished in the name of discipline at the hands of their teachers or parents). Childhood memories of disciplinary actions and penalties can urge people to resist even the thoughts of getting disciplined. Such behaviors are unfortunate to say the least, for the individual, the society he/she lives in and for the workplace where he/she works, because discipline alone is the most important ingredient in the recipe of success. We are bestowed with everything we need to achieve our goals; all we need to add is a little discipline (self-control).

When you are at the helm of affairs in your company or workplace, your first task is to maintain discipline in your office. Workplace discipline means regulating the employees, making them abide by the rules and policies of the company and follow guidelines. Simple, as it may sounds but it's not that easy. Managers have got to be strict, but not to a threatening extent. Excess of check and balance will irritate workers and they'd be looking to dump the job somehow. At the same time, some managers tend to lose all control while trying to create a friendly atmosphere. What, a good manager should be able to do is to keep a balanced approach, not overly strict and not too lenient.

As a manager or supervisor, the simplest and the most effective way to uphold discipline is to act exactly in the way you want your subordinates to precede. You want them to be punctual, impress them by arriving at time day after day, you want them to stop wasting time, show them how dedicated you are about the work yourself. Similarly, refrain from using profane language if you expect them to act levelheaded during working hours. Manager should always be an exemplary figure, by setting an example you don't leave any room for unruly behavior for your employees.

Every now and then, you have to deal with employees who are not ready to listen, no warnings, no disciplinary hearings seem to do anything. In order to protect other employees, company's interest and the office environment, you are left with no choice but to sack them. In developed countries (where you have laws and legislations protecting labor's interests), firing someone on disciplinary grounds can cause problems for managers. If the worker feels he didn't deserve to be dismissed like that, he/she may look to take some legal action against the authorities. That's why you should be having a record or documented proof of all the warnings that were issued before the employee was forced to leave.

- Article by William King

As a summary, the most effective ways to maintain discipline at our workplace is to lead by example, be firm but fair and to handle issues professionally -Rosli

Kelab Bermotor Perodua Viva Malaysia (VIVAC)

VIVAC adalah merupakan sebuah kelab yang berdaftar dengan Kementerian Belia & Sukan yang mana ditubuhkan untuk pemilik-pemilik kereta Perodua Viva bertukar pendapat dan mengeratkan silaturahim.

Untuk maklumat lanjut sila layari www.peroduavivaclub.com

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. This will be used as a medium for me to express my thoughts about everything. You may find posts about these general topics:

- Cars - most probably from Kelab Bermotor Perodua Viva (VIVAC) Sabah, since I am a member of the club and definitely pictures of my cars :-)

- General Issues i.e politics, social & economy

- Human Resource Management related issues

- Links, Intros, for sale items (probably car accessories) etc..

I will start with my first few topics soon. My postings will be bilingual :-)


Regards,

Rosli