To scale the corporate ladder of success one must have a positive attitude at work. 

This is easier said than done, however, when one takes into consideration having to cope with umpteen ups and downs in one's daily work life.

BPO training expert Nasha Fitter who tackles issues ranging from how to maintain a positive attitude at work to striking the right balance when having a conversation with a colleague, tells Get Ahead readers how to look at the sunny side of any situation.

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Nasha is the CEO of Fitter Solutions, a communication and training company. She is an expert in vocational and communication skills management for BPO and service-based organisations. She is also involved with the upliftment and development of rural youth through basic education, vocational training and entrepreneurship, and writes for a variety of publications. She has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

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How can we have a positive attitude at the places we work? Any tips? 

-- Gopalkrishnan

This is a good question. Most of us forget that a positive attitude can take care of most of our problems. When work becomes frustrating and stressful, it is their positive attitude that makes successful people stand apart. 

Successful people are positive people. They view difficulties as hurdles they have to cross, not as roadblocks that will make them fall. When something difficult or bad is staring you in the face, look at it as a test; see how positive you can stay through it. Everyone is positive when things are going well, but truly strong people are positive when everything is going wrong. 

I also don't think there is anything wrong with failing, or doing the wrong thing in a situation. All successful people fail multiple times in their lives, but they have the ability to be positive and learn from each mistake, instead of being negative and dwelling on their misfortunes. 
 
I need to know about non-voice based BPOs and how I can be part of the industry.

-- Naveenathan

In a non-voice BPO, you would be doing back office work that does not require you to speak on the phone. For example, you could be doing data-entry tasks or writing e-mail responses to customer queries. 

Here, your typing skills, basic knowledge of working on a computer and written English would be important. I would suggest you check the Internet for a list of BPOs near you and apply to all of them for their non-voiced processes.
 
 
My problem is I cannot use the right word at the right time. At the time of conversation, I try and recollect words, but fail. While watching the news on TV, I try and catch each word, and promptly forget them the next day.

-- Chandrika Palakad 

It is a problem we all face. Many people think that if they see or hear a word and look it up once in the dictionary, they will remember it for life. This is not true. 

Take the example of an advertisement: according to research, for a person to remember an advertisement, he or she must see the same ad eight times. 

This statistic applies to our vocabulary as well. Just because we hear a word once, it does not mean we will remember it enough to incorporate it in our regular speech. What you can do is keep a running list of words. Every week, give yourself an hour where you run through the words and quiz yourself on their definitions. Force yourself, every week, to use at least one of the words in a conversation. 

If you are dedicated, you should definitely see an improvement in your vocabulary after some time. Do not be too hard on yourself or expect a drastic change quickly. Vocabulary improvement is a slow process, but one we should all be working on continuously.

Do you have a question for Nasha? Write to us!

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