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Priming Effect

What is the first animal that comes to your mind when I say “Think of any animal except an Elephant” It doesn’t need any research to say, your answer is of course is an Elephant. In this example, I’ve primed you or I have used Priming effect on you. Which mean, I made you think in a pre-determined way. If you observe, I’ve consciously primed you but you have been primed without your conscious knowledge. Blame it to your lazy system 2 of your brain for leaving the task of thinking about the “animal” to system 1. As humans we consider ourselves rational in our decision making, without realising we are primed in our decisions. During COVID times we are primed with messages on virus and pandemic. The moment we hear about someone suffering from fever, without a blink of eye, we think it would be COVID. Did you read […]

February 9, 2021

8 Myths Vs Facts – Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH)

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act (also known as POSH Act), came into force in Dec 2013. Seven years later, the Act continues to call for debates in terms of its interpretation. An organisation with more than 10 employees is suppose to have a committee to build a culture of respect within the organisation. Here are list of eight Myths & Facts around the Act. Myth Vs Fact 1 There is nothing called harmless flirting. Oft times, flirting has much deeper impact on the receiver than what may be visible at the surface. This is specially true when the power differential between the two individuals is high. Sometime the tone itself may indicate flirting. Myth Vs Fact 2 If you are the person who forwarded it, you can be held liable, even if you are not the creator or the originator. Myth Vs Fact […]

February 9, 2021

Women please Seek “advice” & not “feedback”

Workplace feedback is critical for growth of individuals for them to align their goals to that of the organisation, to monitor if they are in the right direction, to measure if their actions are yielding results. When feedback is concerned, Women have to work smarter (and harder) , whether it is giving feedback or seeking feedback We are constantly getting feedback on our performance. While driving a car, the speedometer gives us feedback as to how fast / slow we are doing, the mileage gives us feedback how well our vehicle is doing vis-a-vis other vehicles of similar category. Reema’s Story Reema’s 8-year high growth career in customer support in a cosmetics MNC suddenly looks to be under question. The new manager, Rohan, who is from an FMCG background, seems to be targeting her. Six months ago, when Rohan was new to the organisation, he did everything feasible to built […]

February 8, 2021

Gratitude to 2020

What a year 2020 was ! We express our sincere Gratitude to 2020 What a roller coaster year 2020 has been. Ananya-Women@Work was no different. Just as we moved into our new office space, on the 8th of March 2020, the pandemic hit. Training programs were postponed, contracts cancelled, new business looked bleak, most of our clients moved from office to home based business and Diversity and inclusion initiatives were not a priority. New space – a blessing Like a few others’ when the pandemic started, we thought it is a temporary situation and life will go back to the old ways of being. However, it didn’t take us long to understand, world moving to new ways of being. The new space provided us with much needed privacy and we could maintain our COVID protocols including social distancing and avoiding crowded spaces. That leads us to our gratitude to the […]

January 24, 2021

Being a Trans Ally

13th November to 19th November 2020 is being celebrated as Transgender awareness week. This blog talks about being or becoming a Trans Ally During war the word “Ally (plural Allies)” is used to identify countries who are friends or are fighting the same side. Putting in perspective, a Trans Ally or a Transgender Ally is a person who does not belong to the Trans community not only openly supports them but also advocates for their rights. Before understanding how to be an Ally or what qualities you need to develop as an Ally, let’s first talk about the difference between sex and gender. Sex & Gender Sex refers to the a person’s biology which includes the chromosomes, hormones & the anatomy (reproductive organ). A person’s sex is assigned as “male” or “female” based on physical appearance at birth. Intersex are people who do not have we defined sexual organs at […]

November 18, 2020

Tune into your Privilege

Privilege is the unearned advantage that we have. It is also called “birth Lottery” and people who have it are blind to it. Recognising our privileges, realising the price associated with it, acknowledging those who are not as privileged as us and using privilege for collective good will make us better humans and the world a better place to live. Stereotypes, Unconscious Bias and privileges create an unloved playing fields for individuals including at our workplace. Understanding Privilege Imagine you are standing on an imaginary line, which is a starting point for a race. Before the race starts, the referee calls out couple of questions, the ans to which is only True or False. With every True you take one steps forward and with every False you stay in your place. Your upbringing was in metro city Both your parents were graduates Both your parents were alive and together at […]

October 3, 2020

Sharpshooter in Saree

What do the words Sharpshooter in Saree remind you of? Definitely not the Charlie’s angels or the Bond girl! Not even Wonder woman. It could however remind you of Prakashi Tomar & Chadro Tomar, sisters-in-law, octogenarians who made history of being oldest sharpshooters. The film Saand Ki Aankh is based on their life. Majhiyar should make it to history lesson Somewhere, tucked away in a Madhya Pradesh, a city called Majhiyar, in Rewa District, women took guns to protect their village from a dacoit called “Dadua”. While the men were away to earn their living, Dadua and his gang used to barge into the houses, harass the women and little girls and also steal the cattle. The women did not sit back waiting for authorities to take action. Twelve women acquired guns to protect themselves to guard the three villages they belonged to. Patrolling on the periphery of the village, […]

September 15, 2020

Being Inclusive During COVID Times

COVID times are difficult times. They are times of stress, crisis, difficulties, worries or what may be called as cognitive load. Under such circumstances when our system 2 is busy, system 1 takes over and our decisions may be biased. During these times it is more important to be deliberate an be inclusive in our behaviours. Bias Defined Biases are shortcuts that our brain creates to make sense of this world. At any moment in time, our brain is exposed to 11 million bits of data, and it has the capacity to process 40 bits. Do your maths and 11 million bits minus 40 bits is what is processed by our unconscious mind Without thinking too much try and answer the following : If the first think that came to your mind is Rs 10/- then you are part of the majority. This question has been asked muckiest Daniel Kahneman, […]

September 14, 2020

Participant speak

What better way to know the impact of our program than those who have attended it. Taking up new assignments is one of them. Another participant talks about how she made both in her professional and personal life. Being perceived as vocal was working against her. She says, she’s is still vocal but only in circumstances or situations where she wants to be or she should be. The participants from our flagship program also called Ananya-Women@Work. To know more visit our page on Women Leadership Program http://ananyawomenatwork.com/womens-leadership-potential/ If you want to know more about it do connect with us at connect@ananyawomenatwork.com

August 17, 2020

To Leave or not to Leave – Period

Period leave also known as menstruation leave #Zomato has offered 10 days of additional leave for women over and above their entitled leave. It means they can take additional 10 days off in a year for their period. Read more about it. Break the taboo In India Period talk is taboo talk and period leave (shhhhh …. no one in the office should know I’m having my periods). It’s a hush talk between women and a subject of mockery or derision amongst the men (well well …. not all men). Until recently, all the advertisements used blue colour to indicate blood on pad. The word PMS is used loosely to attribute women’s mood swings. An angry woman (or upset or any other related emotion) is assumed to be PMSing, Time to stop this and treat PMS as PMS and not explain every mood swing as PMS Moving a conversation around […]

August 11, 2020

Managing Difficult conversations during COVID Times

COVID Times are different times. Difficult conversations become even more difficult because we’re experiencing very high levels of emotions. From Work From home some us of have already moved to Work from Office or a combination of both. A little bit about emotions We label are emotions as positive and negative. Emotions are just emotions. Instead of labelling them as positive or negative emotions, let’s just call them emotions and deal with them in a manner which gives best outcomes. Times are different. All of us are juggling between childcare , eldercare, household chores, our regular office work to name a few. Uncertainties are high. People who staying alone are experiencing loneliness. Humans are social animals. We are missing the personal touch, the water cooler conversation, the hallway greetings, the bumping into each other, the coffee in the canteen. There is also something good that has happened. We are now […]

August 3, 2020

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