Sherene Ellen Rajaratnam

Technical Consultant - Robotics, IOT & AI

PROFILE Technology leader with 15+ years of experience in project management and product design, specialising in robotics, AI, IoT, ERP, and telecom. Proven success in launching open-source...

Robotics and AI Integration: Exploring practical applications of robotics
Agile Methodologies in Tech Projects: Mastering Agile for efficient project management
Digital Transformation Strategies: Navigating businesses through technology shifts
Effective Leadership in Technology: Cultivating leadership skills in tech fields
Open-Source Innovations in Robotics: Developing scalable
modular robotics solutions.:

Meet the mentor

TALK SHOW VIDEOS

blog articles

“Find your space and claim it!”

Tricky Workplace Situation Handled

Ideas need to be validated to see the practicality and the usability of the product.

Talk to potential customers Use the mom test Have a prototype and see if its readily accepted

Experiences of how ideas i had were good but not sustainable

If we are not adaptive we will not have a product and even if we manage to have one it would be not good enough

How our product would fair in the market ? What are tye challenges the user may face and how we try to address them

working with the skills of available people Planning my batch 25 school reunion - working with the constraints Adapting to the needs of my role and upskilling myself Look for the gaps and find solutions to close it

My life experience

Blame game
Let not personal opinions hinder professional commitments.

Listening to their side with empathy/ curiosity

1. Facilitate the meeting of the Complainant employee along with the complainee. 2. Ask the Complainant if they would be comfortable if I complained about them behind their back,

Share my experience of walking through with the team to achieve targets even as they could not see eye to eye with some of the team members.

Listen with an open mind

Annoyed, irritated, angry, dissatisfied disappointed

Address the problem, Close sales Have satisfied customers

Share how we waste time and become inefficient when we choose to not listen with an open mind

1. lack of empathy 2. Taking accountability and finding a better way of servicing.[ may be the courier company has to be changed/ better packaging]

1. Add more customer service staff to have a short wait time. 2. Train staff to listen to the customers so they can hear the problem so that solutions can be found and customers are happy

Marginal listening Evaluative listening Active listening

Being present in the conversation, showing empathy

Narrate the time we delivered the wrong product because we failed to listen to the customer

The second one as His body language shows open, approachable, inviting with a positive attitude.

1 : Pro: Ready, calm Con: closed, timid 2: Pro: Commanding Con: aggressive, controlling

Showing their interest level by their actions. The first image communicates 'I am with you, go on'. The second image communicates ' I am not interested can you finish fast'

Be comfortable in our skin and close the gap between what we want to communicate verbally and what our body communicates.

Share experiences of how peoples body language communicated differently from their words and what it did to them, along with how it worked for people whose verbal and non verbal communication matched.

He did not ask for the customers requirement’s and was not forthright in what was available

Annoyed, frustrated, disappointed and dissatisfied

First find out what they want. Give them the ways our product can satisfy them Give them the possible options

Close sales and satisfied customers

Share my experiences and the failures

feedback poll, meetings, market surveys, social media

Improve and handle the negatives, target the relevant customer

Trust pilot

We try to incorporate the valid feedback. Customers drive the business
The sales improves as problem areas are handled.

Share experiences where feedback from customer helped us move forward.

Organisational change is about adapting to the changing political climate and customer needs especially with the pandemic

Look to see if the sales is reaching the right customer and see if the environment has changed that is affecting the sales to drop. Then look to see what changes the organization should make to close this gap.

Change is needed but the objective is not just to change but a goal to improve performance or adapt to the changing market climate. Having the right attitude will bring out the positive change the company needs.

Mobile phones took away the once considered stable business of having a public telephone booth. Many people lost their livelihood. They needed to adapt to maybe providing accessories and SIM cards for mobile phones.

Work with the team to understand the goals and work through the challenges. The team including the manager gets credit for a job well done. When results are not achieved the leader takes responsibility with the team explaining the challenges and proposing ways to overcome these in the future.

Humility is to be able to speak about mistakes and being authentic. Being a servant leader. Humility is not humiliation .

We will need to understand the problem better in the following areas to come up with an efficient solution.
I hear your thoughts, but what would you advice someone, if they came to you with this problem?
That’s a good idea can we work on it to see if it can help us achieve our goal.

We know what doesn’t work and needs to be avoided in future. Failure gives you a new to-do list, helps know which are usually the reasons for failure.

Setback 1: Having a distracting trainee - Tim should have encouraged the trainee to ask questions related to the discussion, and taken questions outside the training time in a friendly assertive manner. Setback 2: Being called by superior for correction - Tim would have to accept his failure, not necessarily to the extent described by the trainee, and come up with an action plan to avoid it in future.

Accept responsibility if needed, learn from the failure, move on, approach the next problem in a creative way.

Failures are stepping stones to achieving our dreams.

but achieve goals
to help as I lead
confidently, empowering those around me
see beyond
fairness to results
Yes. These are my personal principles I apply in my life everyday

Confidence is not about being perfect; but it is about being vulnerable, truthful and owning mistakes.

Cover up the truth; play safe, micromanage
Bring out the truth; take risks; empower and delegate

I would try to find the reason Mark and his team were underperforming . Some of the questions to help understand this 1. Is your team overloaded? 2. Is there a Knowledge gap which needs to be filled? 3. Would you like support from the management in any particular area? 4. What would have you done differently to avoid this scenario?

I had a team under estimating the time needed. I mentored the team to look beyond and make realistic estimations

Engaging with Customers positively definitely increases conversion rates. Overdoing it may also have a negative effect. The customer should always feel they are in the driver seat

More customers are ready to try the product as they can always return it if it doesn’t fit their needs.

Work on making sure the pros attract the customer as they walk into the store

Evaluate if the cons are true and stratergise how they can be addressed.

My experiences

Power hungry, selfish goals vs Company goals personality traits, cultural differences

1.Understood the problem - non judgemental 2.Suggested a solution - found a way to move forward 3.Thought about both employees - didn’t blame one 4. Helped appraisee see her problem

Yes, the important thing is addressing the problem and not the person

Be asssertive, lay out the tasks and expectations, have a conversation where the problem is the focus. And not people

Share my experiences .

Being respected, generation gap, tech challenged, connection

Generation gap. Resistance to change, wrong attitude

Talk about the strengths and why the older employee is valuable, and how his skills are needed to solve the current problem. Ask them for their opinion, and lead the discussion to get the best solution sparring with them giving them respect for their age and experience, while politely pointing out the gaps which need to be fulfilled and giving our ideas to fill them.

It is an asset to have experienced employees as they bring valuable insights from limitations and failures faced in the past. These along with the modern technology and ideas would help give niche products to the market.

The second one as it recognized the work done without shying away from the underperformance giving opportunity for turn around

Being assertive and positive while genuinely trying to help people who are struggling with a helping environment can help managers take away positivity

Yes, because i have seen it happen in my workplace and I have been able to make that change

Ethinic barriers, people trying to take over. Recognize everyone and celebrate victories together while taking my part of the blame for the failures

Share life experiences

No this doesn’t help in relationship building. They need to be friendly, listening and courteous. Have a environment where customers want to served

As a team they help each other and the company performs better

We learn to trust and understand our team members better. We also get to see peoples natural skills

Yes it is top priority as woking together helps us complete tasks efficiently and effectively

How I won the trust of hostile team members

Workload imbalance Unheard feedback from new employees

Paraphrase emphathise listen Calm people Conflict resolution

Praphrase the company vision Emphasize the role of each in reaching the vision Define roles and responsibilities Have fair, realistic, evaluation and feedback process so employees are motivated

Spend time describing the company goals and how their work fits into it. Assign clear tasks and work with the employee ( not micromanage but giving the needed support while listening to feedback)

Examples of people getting into conflict who lost opportunities for growth in their career

RTTU

Strech abilities but should be realistic

They were given unrealistic targets and the employee potential was not taken into consideration

Where SMART goals work and where they don’t work

Define roles and tasks Define corporate goals broken into intermediate milestones Celebrate milestones Promote team culture

We deal with stress by trying w find the root cause and addresing the problem.

My experiences along the way

Build better relationships with every department Use internal departments as inspiration for innovation Set measurable goals Fail quickly Leverage an outside partner

Understand our team and their strengths Understand the industry changes Come up with innovative ideas where the team can work on its strengths and become a market leader Recruit needed expertise

Most effective

Pushes the company forward. The internal team decides teh change so its more bottom up tham top down

Story of a watchmaker who moved from making watches to hospitality and created hotels to offer services of excellence even during a quarantine stay during the pandemic

Improve service Find blindspots

Social media Review sites YouTube influencers Feedback forms

Fix blind spots Make the experience better even if it was the best

Feel the customer Look from their shoes and answer jow uou would like to hear it

Stressed, rejected, mad, depressed, guilty and vulnerable.

He is edgy, curt, disconnected and maybe disrespectful. He would be grumpy, loud and unfriendly. In all probability, he will not get the sales as the customer would not be able to get what they want and is not comfortable asking the questions to help them make a decision.

I was upset and annoyed with what had happened and was trying to figure out the trigger.
I have learnt to compartmentalise home and work. Home stays at home and work stays at work.
If it get's too much, I acknowledge my feelings so people realise that they are not the problem; and I also breathe and bring my emotions under control.

We are likeable, comfortable people to work with, thereby improving our performance.

To take time and reflect on our responses from the other person perspective.

The objective is the whole truth in a balanced way, Subjective is an analysis and has a bias depending on beliefs and understanding.

This tells us if the person had personal bias against people or the environment he was working in. Also potential reasons he can leave the company in future.
We get different perspectives so it is not biased.
Helps understand his depth of knowledge.
Shows how inclusive the person is.

Looking to see how the company will help the candidate achieve his long term goal. Also recognising if the long term goal of the candidate is in conflict with Company vision.

Be aware of your bias. look from the other person shoes. Attitude is always better than skill. It may be impossible to change the attitude of a skilful person but those with a good attitude can learn a skill.

It helps us stay in context, staying relevant and achieving our goals

I could not assure the client, their objectives were met. I would have worded my conversation better.

Know the product, know your client and match the 2

Yes can identify the pain and take corrective measures such as weight shifting, squats and stretches.

To incorporate movement in their posture using the techniques of weight shifting, stretching, going for a short walk or just changing position.

Working through our vulnerabilities helps us to perform better; while pushing them aside demotivates us.

Find the triggers to our emotions and see if we can avoid putting ourselves in that position again.
My mentor/ best friend who is my sounding board and does not judge me.
I try to look at the situation from the other persons perspective and usually can come up with what I could have done better.
Have open conversations to understand each other better and draw boundaries.
Be their sounding board and accepting them despite their issues.

Vulnerability
connection and respect
damaged, wounded
reconfirming
tragedy

My vulnarabilities motivate me to be a better understanding person drawing boundaries so that we respect our differences.

I have moved from doing what people expect of me to doing my best. Usually, I exceed expectations.

The Client feels mistreated

They could have a place the customer could leave a recorded message and have the customer service get back to them. Give them the choice to wait if they really wanted to talk

1. Gave relevant information if in case the call dropped. 2. Found what the client wanted and made sure he got what he wanted. 3. Was involved rather than doing it mechanically. 4. Gave relevant introductions and feedback.

To be involved ‘In the moment’, genuine and understanding

I was waiting for the timer to go.
No
It was tough.
Others took my attention

Getting back to the workforce after a break of 15 years was possible as I developed the intention to get back, worked on the possibilities and took the opportunities.

When our attitude is good our intention is good which is constructive, but a bad attitude causes bad intention which usually is destructive.
Having a good attitude increases attention as we are conscious to our attention.
When a person's attention is not focused on the intention the task is undone or done badly

Constant disturbances via email and messages Justifying incomplete tasks rather than focusing on completing it Bringing divide between co workers Demanding rather than delivering Going back on their words

Justifying the undone work rather than finding ways to fix it

This is ineffective as the problem is not solved but the focus is on something else. Trust is built with actions not scrrenshots

Start with expectations and be consistent. Usually the toxic co worker will bring her own downfall

To keep work and feeling seperate. Make sure their tasks are completed and they have proof to show if needed. Use them only in absolute necessity. Be consistent and be careful that you are not bullied

Find and plug the gaps.

Never give up! Believe there is always a solution and work towards it!

Review every sale made and figure out what was lacking and work on it. Check the knowledge gap of the product which afftects confidence in sales

Did I answer the customer's query to their satisfaction

Focus on the customer; Ask questions; Listen; Understand their needs and first speak about how your product will fulfill them while gaining their trust

You need to be more than satisfied you have given your genuine best to every sales pitch. When you do this the sales will automatically happen.

Weakness as people can walk over you
Strength as it paves opportunity to mentor and empower people
strength as you can be flexible overcoming unplanned events
strength as you become dependable
Strength if channelled in the right direction of problem solving

We can find roles that use our strengths to propel us forward while working on our weakness

Analytical & logical reasoning;Problem Solving; People management; leadership; team player in multiethnic communities
numbers oriented; operational;

Accept them and use your strengths to propel forward not being limited by our weakness

Moving to project management and Mentoring was the journey I followed based on my strengths and weakness. I don't do strenuous physical activity as i have a damaged knee

The Customer agent should have steered the conversation. The agent could have summarised Janet's problem to make her felt heard. Transferred her to IT dept. right at the beginning as Janet had mentioned a technical issue upfront.

Janet went all over the place not sticking to the issue at hand which were the challenges of not being able to checkout

Life experiences of getting through to difficult customers who refused to listen but listening to their unsaid conversation.

Intrinsic - curiosity, interest, sense of achievement, love Extrinsic - Praise,Prize, bonus, money

Promotion, Bonus, awards

They are dissatisfied. Productivity suffers. Work is done without passion and joy. Organization drives the vision

Give them jobs according to their skills and passion. Right person for the right job. Empower employees to drive the company vision

My life experience

Sandra is showing disinterest in the applicant Just going through the motions of the interviews

Libby would think the conpany is not worth the time and skill she has

Purpose Self confidence

Prepare questions which find more about the candidate extending what we leant about the candidate from the resume Prepare questions to see how the questions skills can translate to the job they are interviewing for

My experiences good and bad

Self control Passion Perseverance

Martin needs to learn to follow his plan despite the obstacles faced. Learn ti expect the unexpected and working through them

7 There are issues which I have accomplished having the grit- change in lifestyle to reduce my weight, getting back into the software workforce after a 15 yr break, training my voice. However there are projects in the pipeline which are started and not finished after years because of the lack of grit podcast/ book written but not published

My life journey

solve problems and make good decisions

Empower people, form relevant teams; list of check and balances ( eg: 3 Signatures are needed to implement the solution);

Identifying the right people who have problem-solving as their strong skilll.

There is no one solution to a problem. Coming up with multiple solutions and finding which fits best for our requirements is the Skill very few have. Every problem has many solutions but one implementation or as I would call it the smart and efficient solution.

Facts are tested and proven truths acceptable by most people.. Opinions are untested feelings/ ideas which are subjective belonging to a particular person or group of people.

True; proven

I respect the opinions of people but would only believe facts. Decisions, based on facts bring confidence, which is lacking when opinions decide our actions.

Yes, when I can't prove my opinion I know that it is not a fact. I would always qualify my opinions saying we needed to find out if its a fact. When stating facts I would always point the proof.

It is a fact that I have had lunch at Shangrilla, In my opinion, the food was awesome, my friends opinion was that it could have been better.

Keeps us from doing our best Puts others in boxes Hurt organization performance

Putting people in boxes because of their ethnicity or culture in the hope to respect them

People don’t live upto expectations and then we are disappointed. We need to go through the curve of learning their individuality and helping them reach their potential

Share experiences of Biases based on resumes proved wrong in a work place

What are the overheads we face? What are some alternatives to avoid these overheads? How can we reduce the cost for a particular overhead?

Finding a solution to replace the faulty Microwave at home 1. Evaluating the cost of repairing a microwave vs buying a new Microwave 2. results show it is better to buy a new microwave than repair the faulty one 3. Identify the brand we would like to purchase and the location of the store where the product is available 4. Purchase the new microwave 5. Install the microwave. Now you have a working microwave at home.

I would share my experience where investigation led to unlikely solutions to the problems we faced.

Sound like that you actually care

The way the email Addresses the reciever Language used Signing off

Being empathetic and positive helps the customer feel wanted and hope for his problem

My experiences dealing with difficult cutomers

Decorative item Hold a collectable Stationary holder

Have a makeover Give an illusion of space with eye catching products at strategic points. Comfort and warm lighting Eager, energetic and engaging staff

We think out of the box solutions which may give simple and efficient solutions. They can be trendsetters

Different solutions for same feature across different products Find the common features Build a common architecture Adpat the products to use common architecture

Thinking out of the box usually helps us find a definite and sure solution usually simple. Sometime they do result in innovations.

Sherene Ellen Rajaratnam

Book Session With this Mentor

Meet the mentor

TALK SHOW VIDEOS

blog articles

“Find your space and claim it!”

Tricky Workplace Situation Handled

Why should ideas be validated?

Before the final step of validating and developing your idea, you must experiment and revise your product or offer. List 2-4 ways people can test their ideas.

If you were training someone on how to validate their idea, how would you explain it to them?

How does adaptive thinking impact our work?

Suppose you are thinking about presenting an important plan for the company. While you certainly want a clear idea of what your ideal presentation would look like, you want to anticipate potential unforeseen problems. What are some curveballs one might encounter during presentation?

Name at least three instances where you used your adaptive skills as a manager or a leader. What can you do to enhance your adaptive skills further?

If you were teaching your team on how to be adaptive in stressful situations, what would you say or do?

State some helpful actions that will allow employees to reach a consensus.

Watch the video and answer the question below: Mention at least two pieces of advice you really liked from the video?

If you were to teach this skill to someone else, what life or work experience can you share to bring this to life?

Watch the video and answer the questions below: What are some essential points we can take from the video?

What’s the benefit of listening to customers actively?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

How can the company improve the current situation?

Please watch the video. State the different types of listening skills mentioned.

How can you apply active listening to address client complaints?

If you were to teach this skill to someone else, what life or work experience can you share to bring this to life?

Look at the pictures. Which salesperson would you want to personally approach and why? (No right or wrong answer here. Your opinion).

The more “open” your body is, the more “open” you appear. Below are two professional body stances. Develop a pros and cons list for both postures.

Compare the two images . Obviously one is an example of active listening and the other is an example of closed, or uninterested, listening. What is each person doing with their bodies that display their type and level of listening in the conversations?

Watch the video and answer the question: What should we do to get fantastic body language and increase customer satisfaction?

If you were to teach this skill to someone else, what life or work experience can you share to bring this to life?

Watch the video and answer the questions below: What’s wrong with the salesman?

How do you think the customers felt?

What do you do to show customers that you are listening to them?

What’s the impact of active listening on sales?

If you were to teach this skill to someone else, what life or work experience can you share to bring this to life?

What are some of the sources for getting customer feedback?

What are some ways the information from customer feedback can be applied to enhance effectiveness?

What sources do you use to get customer feedback?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

Watch this video and answer what change means to your organization.

"Every business goes through ups and downs. Our situation is normal. There is no need to create new ideas for the purpose of bringing change." Is this an effective way of dealing with change? Why/why not?

If you were a mentor teaching an emerging leader on how to effectively deal with change, what would you say to them? Are there any life experiences that you can share?

Watch this video and answer the question below. What are some of the important things Michelle Ray mentioned in the video?

Write down one or two phrases a leader with humility would say in the situations below:

There are many cons to failure, right? Can you mention some pros?

Please watch the video and answer the question: To sum up this lesson, how can we manage failure according to the video?

If you were a mentor teaching a budding leader about dealing with setbacks, what would you say to them? Are there any life experiences that you can recall?

Complete the statements with your own words; make them empowering.

Watch the video and answer the question below What were some of the important things you took from the video?

What’s the difference between real confidence and fake confidence? Write down some characteristics of confident leaders and insecure leaders. Eg. Open-Minded, Closed minded

If you were a mentor teaching this skill of being a confident leader in testing situations, how would you do it?

Watch this video and answer the question below: How much do you agree with what Corin Birchall said in the video?

How can implementing and promoting a hassle-free return policy increase your conversion rates?

How should your company address the cons mentioned?

If you were a mentor teaching this skill how would you do so?

Please watch the video and answer the question below: State 3-5 things that impressed you about how the manager dealt with the situation and why (your opinion).

What other steps can you take to deal with employees who are lazy, misbehaved, and undermine your authority?

If you were a mentor teaching a young manager on how to deal with difficult employees, what would you say/do?

List as many challenges managers face when managing a group of people older than them?

Watch the video and answer the question below. What’s your take on the video? How did you feel? What is the reason for the employee's reaction to the manager?

Recall the last time you had to deal with an employee who was older than you. What was difficult about the situation? What advice would you give to yourself to handle the situation effectively?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill of managing older people to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

From employees' responses and actions to work procedures, toxic environments can be caused by many things. It is the responsibility of the manager to take measures to detect and eliminate these disruptive environments. How can communication impact this measure?

Please watch the video and answer the following question: Simon Sinek says “Be the leader you wish you had.”

What are some of the elements that contribute to toxic work environments at your company? What are some of the measures you take to prevent conflict at your company?

If you were a mentor teaching an emerging leader as to how they can eliminate toxic work environments, how would you do so?

How does internal relationship building encourage business growth?

Watch the video and answer the following question. What are some of the benefits of team building activities?

Do you work on building relationships in your team? Why or why not?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

Watch the video and answer the following question: What are the suggested ways for diffusing an employee conflict or complaint?

What are some of the measures you take to prevent conflict at your company?

If you were to teach this skill to someone else, what life or work experience can you share to bring this to life?

Watch the video and answer the following question. In setting SMART goals, what is meant by Achievable?

Some of the employees in the marketing department have been disgruntled by the unfair allocation of workload by management. They feel more overworked than others. This is not only causing tension between employees but also affecting company performance. What do you think caused this situation?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

How does your company deal with stress? Are there ways this situation can be improved?

What life or professional experience can you offer to bring this skill to life if you were to teach it to someone else?

Watch this video and answer the following questions. According to the video what are the 5 Ways to Promote Innovation within a company?

There were massive changes happening in our industry and my company tasked us with the project of creating innovative ideas to put the company ahead of this competitive industry. I had to create intrapreneurs in my team. What would you do in this situation?

Rate each sentence from the Most Effective to the Least Effective: