5-S reality in Virtual world!

The other day an intern requested for an industrial visit with me.

Normally, it's good to test such requests to know the purpose, their commitment and their preparation. So, I asked him to self-learn through some blogposts before he earns the privilege of the visit. He did do it and earned himself the industrial visit.

Having got impressed by the learning during the visit, he seemingly continued his self-learning.

"Sir I was thinking one thing.. how can we apply 5-S to the I.T. (information technology) industry where everything is virtual?"

I like questions!

Questions show that the mind-factory isn't on strike!!

What's the virtual world by the way?

Conventionally, virtual is virtual if it's without brick and mortar. Hardly anything in this material world is virtual in reality! Even in the spiritual world... where it is subtle though!!  The so-called virtual world does have some hardware, at the least such as, say, computer and corresponding devices for the I.O.T. (internet of things). The office itself that houses the table for the computer, the pendrives, the central processor room, corresponding SOP displays and spares, et all is a reality.

Of course, a typical virtual world primarily may have virtual files. Each file may have some words written on it. The words do get realised if corresponding thoughts are in place.

Good thoughts emerge if mind is free of clutter. Unneeded thoughts are the clutter that the Seiri step of the 5-S can help get rid off. Just as it releases some memory (brain) cells for storage of the needed thoughts, similarly doing Seiri of the virtual files and virtual folders releases some memory bytes and gigabytes for storage on the hard-disk of a computer.

A typical screen design: layout and positioning of information, color codes on it, etc. to make it look aesthetically attractive, and yet functional in performance, difficulty-free with maximum information display with optimised space utilisation, itself is about applying Seiton principles effectively and innovatively. 

Accessing the information just-in-time (JIT): easily in a single click without any waste is about applying 1-is-better principle of Seiri. It helps to keep information live and realistic so that real time changes can be effected while responding to the customer demands rather than based on forecasts.

It helps to keep information live and realistic so that real time changes can be effected while responding to the customer demands rather than from stocks based on forecasts.

Excessive stocks usually tend to be obsolete warranting Seiri on it to prevent obsolescence.

So, like in material world, all the principles of 5-Ss are equally applicable in the 'virtual and spiritual world' as well.

I could write this blogpost almost instantaneouy in reply to the query by the smart intern because Seiton of virtual files and folders was in place on my smartphone.

The picture of the book page that is in this post was handy because of its PEEP on my smartphone. I could accommodate many such value adding files on the limited space on my smartphone because of the Seiri of the unneeded 'unlimited' things (WhatsApp for instance) that don't find space on my phone.

A typical software programme itself applies Seiri technique to eliminate unneeded steps. That's why you see an APP getting smaller and smaller in (MB) size as part of its continual improvement.

So applying 5-S in virtual world is about 5 things:

5-S of the corresponding brick and mortar,
5-S of the corresponding Hardware,
5-S of the corresponding software programmes so that they become leaner,
5-S of the corresponding business related Big-Data so that extracting information out of it is faster,
5-S of the Mind (so that it helps attain meditative state faster).

Also read a few relevant blog-posts hereunder: Please do consider sharing this post or sharing your initiatives on above lines in comment box.

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow 
One-Is-Better for JIT 
How To Make A Difference 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms ! 
Nauseous Communication Gaps 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! 
Will It Work Here?  
Some Moron ! Some Great !!! 
That's How Morons Work 
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Technology in-place, security dis-placed
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?
Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 
Customer or Custo-Mer?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value?  
ABCD of India Shining
Beware Of Political-Presentations 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Hoarders Of Filthy Hoardings

Is the Free cheap?

It was TIMES (of India sponsored) SANSKRUTI time!

Thane loves anything to do with cultural (Sanskruti for Culture in Sanskrit and most other Indian local languages) activities.

Since a last couple of years, the year had been beginning in Thane with a big bang of cultural programmes representing art from across India... be it 'Kesariya' song from Rajasthan in West to Manipuri dance from the far East and Kashmiri culinary art from the North to the Katthakali dance from deep South.

Among many other programmes to choose from, the celebrity stage was to present the pop-queen of India 'Padma Shri' Usha Utthup on the last day.

I was left with a coupe of tickets extra since my friend couldn't join due to his last minute commitment.

So I offered the tickets to someone standing near the entry gate eagerly trying to catch a glimpse of the stage: I've got this extra. Do you want it? Free!

He looked at me with suspicion about the 'Free' and turned his head away.

Then I walked a little. Asked a middle aged couple if they were interested. It's Free I said. They shrugged as if I was asking for some favour.

Finally I found two young (college going) boys: I've got this extra. Do you want it? This time I asked without saying it's Free. My intention was not to make it appear Free.

Momentary reply was No cash sir!

Then I explained to them (why) it's Free.

They grabbed it. I'm sure they must have enjoyed their grandma like Usha Utthup sporting her trademark Bindi on the forehead with a look of a lady in her 30s, with a soulful but melodious and powerful voice none less than that of a 17 year young girl.

Hats off to the talented 'Padma Shri' Usha Utthup for her lovely-n-lively presentation to a jam-packed 10,000 strong audience at the age of 70 with the same enthusiasm and passion that of (her own) 1970's.

The questions that brushed my mind were:

Although it may be inconsequential to the first couple of pairs to whom I asked, they lost the 'Free' opportunity that came walking over to them just because they didn't hear attentively to what I offered. Poor communication (perhaps from me)! Perhaps I asked wrong questions!

Often people tend to perceive before even they hear completely! 

People hardly listen actively!!

People have no value for the things they get free and get them without any efforts!

People choose to think Free is (always) Cheap!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or consider sharing this post.

Listen To The Iceberg Beyond Tip

Big-Be Or Bug-Be !

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow

How To Make A Difference

Nauseous Communication Gaps

Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis

Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam!

Will It Work Here? 

Some Moron ! Some Great !!!

That's How Morons Work

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?

That's how some business partnerships work

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!

IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

Do You Ask Right Questions? 

Take your career in fast lane!

Talent-Is-Latent: Enable It! 

Crying? It's time to kick-it-off! 

Is Your Job Boring!

Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up? 
Eternally Happy! 
Take Habits For A Ride 
Are You Good If Others Are Bad?  
Want Need-Or-Want 
Success-or-failure! What-do-you-like?

Conscious Of Self-Esteem

"Hey, you ciant piark yer kyar thiees waye, kay?" Owner of neighboring parking slot in my society had picked up American accent.

Perhaps he recently had a week's stint somewhere there. A week ago I'd heard him saying, "Why can't you park your car this way?"

Do you find some people picking up a local slang, be it from a developed destination like in above case or from a rural-interior one from an under-developed geography?

Good if the purpose of such a behavior is to improve grammatical delivery. Or good if a newly learnt short-form is by design to add to personal vocabulary in order to increase productivity.

In both such cases the change might be good if it offers some corresponding functional benefit.

In case of 'American-accent' the change occurred over the week appears more to impress the 'foreign-return' stamp than any value-addition to herself or to the listener. In fact to the listener it was a non-value because the accent was difficult to comprehend. The behavior appears to be purely aesthetic.

In the latter case, corresponding person doesn't seem to be conscious of her self-esteem. She is allowing (rather choosing) it to get deteriorated inadvertently though.

Agreed that under some circumstances one does need to behave "Like Romans in Rome". But carrying Rome lock-stock-and-barrel back to your native place may not be a good idea.

It's like sacrificing your own identity merely to conform to others' expectations or purely to impress others. It's like refusing to take stock of "who you really are and are capable of doing". It's like lack of self-confidence or lack of belief in the self.

Lesson

It's fine if a change in behavior and in turn in personality is for the good or for the better. Alternatively if the change in personality leads to deterioration of current level of performance of the self or that of the others then it's a No.. No!

On this first day of the year, let me thank the year gone by for having given me so many opportunities such as above to learn from. Thank you the year to help me to reinforce as well as to enhance my self-esteem and to help me get ready to embrace the New-Year with newer zeal.

IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important? 
Talent-Is-Latent: Enable It! 
Take your career in fast lane!
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully
Do You Ask Right Questions?  
Do You Force Customers To Quit
Less-With-More Because More-Is-Sore
Should one care for value? 
Talk In Order To Listen!  
Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)
Functional-Aesthetics 

Why Do People Go To Temples

"I feel relaxed there".
"I get peace there".
"I go there to connect to God".

Above kind of responses are not uncommon to a question "Why Do People Go To Temples".

Typically, someone goes to a temple.
Closes her eyes.
Meditates on (chants) a Mantra or a prayer.
Experiences that distractions disappear.

Actually meditation done there helps to concentrate on breath. Hence it becomes more rhythmic.
The resulting feel-good effect there helps to connect with one's inner 'self'. 

Then why isn't the same phenomenon possible everywhere else other than the temple itself?

A reason may be we don't choose to make it possible at the place/s of our choice. Some make it impossible for their own selves to believe in doing so. We force it on our own selves to believe that the God¹ is present residing in the sculpted idol inside the temple. Or that the God¹ is in the stone neatly installed under a tree where people visit with flowers to worship.

In some cases the story might be that some saint had meditated there in past. So the story-teller begins worshipping the site at times for vested interests of playing politics or making business out of it. Story-teller's disciples continue it. Thereafter passer-bys join the queue and make it bigger. Eventually a temple gets constructed at the site. More the passer-bys, more the story-tellers! And more visitors  get added to the passer-bys that leave their trails and tails.

Actually, some benefit does occur in the process. At least some people do visit such places with 'belief' and some with blind 'faith' though. But their good intentioned meditation (even that of a goon visiting) must be helping them clean up their auras that in turn must be leaving trails of positive energy at 'the site'. It is resonance of such positive energies that surely must be accelerating cleaning up of the aura of other visitors.

So, why do I visit such places although I do so rarely. I do visit them irrespective of their origin of place, caste, creed, nationality. It is for the benefit of the possibility of positive auras accumulated there.

But before exercising that option I do consider practising it at my current place of 'being' myself in real-time anytime for any amount of time without waiting for a Muhurta or an agent to advocate doing so.

Footnote:
1/ God I believe is some omnipresent subtle energy of highest nature and level. It chooses to manifest itself in various forms and shapes that an ordinary may be able to (but doesn't) see, touch and feel in the material world around and in the nature itself. God exists there-and-then in the form of 'that' helping person/soul when one gets or gives a Hearty-and/or-Soulful experience in a given moment or situation .

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

कधीतरी सापडेल का शोधता-शोधता ?
I am afraid ! What do I do !!
Fearful-Of-Death-of-Birth
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully
Do You Ask Right Questions ? 
Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up?
No Time? Micro-Meditate ! 
Talk In Order To Listen ! 
Eternally Happy !
What You See Isn't What's Made
Am I 'Short-sighted' or 'Long-sighted'? 
Deity is in the eyes of the beholder
Forgive Or Don't? 
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity
The Business Of Businesses
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
Beware Of Political-Presentations

Cons In The Market

The cell number as in attached screenshot called me today. The conversation went on as follows.

"Calling from ICICI verification department.
You're holding credit card. ICICI has stopped reward scheme. So you will be issued a fresh credit-card that you'll receive in a couple of weeks OK?"

I asked him how could ICICI make such a change unilaterally? That too merely on phone? ICICI should've sent at least a mail to me, I told him.

I warned him off taking this up with their consumer department if he sends credit-card without following some adequate procedure.

Immediately on this communication the caller disconnected phone.

His behavior reinforced my suspicion about the caller being a con-marketeer.

An example of over-smartness used for Market Penetration with wrong ethics, at wrong place with wrong person. It's worth learning how innovatively he used a close-ended question ending saying "OK?"

I may be wrong though. So in order to verify/validate my contention, I forwarded this letter to their customer.care department.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do you keep curing your brand ? 
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality ! 
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers
Do You Force Customers To Quit
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully 
Do You Ask Right Questions ? 

Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity

My google map was not responding.
Public transport was not in sight.

How far is Hill road, I asked at the roadside stall. 
"15 minutes", the stall-owner replied.

Just to reconfirm I asked same question to a person parking car nearby. It's hardly 2 minutes: He replied.

I was a bit confused. 15 minutes or 2 minutes?

After a couple of minutes walk, I asked same question to a lady waiting to cross the road.
She replied: It's about 30 minutes.

More confusion: 30 minutes after 5 minutes walk?

I continued walking down.
After 10 minutes walk, I asked someone for a landmark for the place I had reached. I thought someone could pick me up from there in order to reach me to my destination.

The person couldn't tell me one. She kept looking at the cow instead I was standing next to. Luckily she didn't tell me the cow as the landmark. Otherwise I would've ended up looking at 'google-guy' (snail) instead of google map. (Cow is pronounced as Guy in vernacular.)

The point I am driving home is it's all relative!
Long ago Einstein brought the concept of relativity. 
Perhaps by car it was 2 minutes.
By walk it was 15 minutes.
And by the walking speed of the lady it was 30 minutes.
Probably the lady was right. She was pregnant.

The only thing wrong was I didn't confirm the mode of travel. Nor did they specify.
Actually I was wrong not to ask right question.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:  Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Do You Ask Right Questions? 
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully
Make checklists your friends
Love is Care.. Care is Love ! 
Take Habits For A Ride
Are You Good If Others Are Bad? 
Bust-wants, Boom-needs
Do You Celebrate Mean-or-Green
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
I am afraid ! What do I do !!
Discrimination-is-Cremation of Law-&-Order
Success Or Failure: What Do You Like?
Fearful Death-Of-Birth !
Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell Me Hey Raam!

Talk in-order-to Listen!

I came across an old Argnetine proverb: 'He who speaks, sows; he who listens, reaps.'

A couple of days later, on whatsapp received a picture of Swami Vivekananda that says, "talk to yourself once a day... ."

Do these statements convey different meanings?

First one emphasises listening more than speaking: Listening to others! We are given two ears and one mouth as the rhetoric goes. I often tend to forget this though. Of course at times you need to speak on behalf of the speaker herself to validate that you have understood. This is active listening.

The second statement too emphasises listening but; Listening to self!

Once the art of 'listening to self' is mastered 'listening to others' gets easier.

How does one 'listen to self'?

At subtler level, an intelligent but difficult way is to meditate!

At gross level a simple way is to write a diary; daily if possible!

Some do write a diary but conventionally it tends to be a chronology of events and problems. 

To go any closer to what Swami Vivekananda says, the diary should be about drawing lessons from the events and from one's own behavior.

Then the diary turns out to be 'listening to self' in real sense.
Thoughts and your response to situations change thereafter.
The lessons learnt from mistakes, if any, help improve one's self.
Journey from reaction to pro-action (proactive action) begins.
A step taken towards excellence!

Someday a day dawns with an appointment of a beautiful, handsome, strong and excellent person: The Self: The one that Swami Vivekananda had in mind!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

How To Make A Difference

Big-Be Or Bug-Be !

Nauseous Communication Gaps 

Will It Work Here? 

Some Moron ! Some Great !!!

That's How Morons Work

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!

IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?

Eternally Happy!

In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !!

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

Do You Ask Right Questions? 

Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up?

No Time? Micro-Meditate! 

Experienced A Delightful Payment !

I was working for this company for the first time.

As usual I sent my diagnostic questionnaire: The tool that helps me in weeding out conn-enquiries. Conn-enquiries are the ones that call for the sake of calling followed by a call to visit them only to have a cup of tea.

Such conn-companies don't realise that primary raw 'material' for offering services is time. Material for product offering can be kept in inventory. Time can't be inventoried: Once gone, is gone for ever. That's why even a TV mechanic or a water-filter mechanic charges visit fees.

So if a company doesn't help you in diagnostics you are likely to end up being a 'pig'. 'Three-Pigs' was the name of my first company where I was one of the three with a mission to scavenge in industries.

If the company answers diagnostic queries, it's likely to be serious and your time is likely to go to the needy. Moreover your time gets saved. Because many a time companies call you to ask the same questions they could have been answered on phone or by mail. Why waste fuel, time and energy kind of questions hardly bother them.

The company I am writing about responded the next day.

Asked for the path-ahead for lean journey alongwith my quotation.

My office sent proforma invoice the next day.

The company sent me their 'supplier registration form' by return with a request to "comply by return". It was followed by a reminder mail saying "Waiting for your immediate reply."

The form was one of the most complete ones that included all the information such as whether my office was a brick or a RCC structure. My office sent back the form promptly duly filled in.

Same evening I got a call saying "Your 'supplier registration' is complete. Please ensure to get bill alongwith you. End of your counseling you will get cheque in your hand."  Communication was crisp and clear.

Deliciously delightful experience! First of it's kind for me!

May be the company had timebound performance criteria for their delivery processes. But I had seen many companies in spite of having such criteria failing to pay even after a couple of years.

A typical Indian company paid me half the amount overdue to me after half century of telephone calls and five times more emails. It wrote-off half, paid me half after two years. That means the money was depreciated by half due to inflation. I have not considered cost of follow-ups though which is actually a part of any Indian's routine.

I used to call my customer-friend every time Sachin Tendulkar used to hit half-century expecting the Sachin-fan's mood to be good, but in vain.

Some such company's performance criteria is to keep more amount in credit than debit. Their unwritten rule is to delay payment multiple times the agreed payment time. Former should overrule the latter or vice versa whichever worked out favorable to them.

This 'taking others for granted' is a typical behavior in high mistrust societies. Hopefully my delightful experience is not a mystery. Actually much more than the performance criteria, it's the culture: the soft dimension that makes the difference.

The delight company happens to be an Indian subsidiary of a Japanese company perhaps richer in the soft dimension: The Kaizen Culture!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow

How To Make A Difference 

An Experience of Heart-and-Soul

Take your career in fast lane!

Succession-Plans In Fast Lane!  

Nauseous Communication Gaps 

Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 

Will It Work Here?  

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 

That's how some business partnerships work 

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 

Customer or Custo-Mer?  

In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !! 

Do You Ask Right Questions?  

Succession-Plans In Fast Lane!

How Much Can We Better Our Recruitment Processes?

In Order To Improve Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, How Much To Add To Training Budgets That Are Already Heavy?

How Much To Better Our Succession-Plans?

These are some of the worries that keep haunting HR professionals. One reason is, increasing inventory of disgruntled employees. Employees disengaged due to job dis-satisfaction in particular in spite of having good systems in place. Other reason is attrition.

How to overcome this?
What is the solution to this dilemma?
How to reduce or prevent attrition?

Sometimes the causes might be aptitudinal. Sometimes it may be due to gaps in matchmaking at recruitment stage itself due to misleading presentations by either of the stakeholders.

It ultimately results into recruiting people and then figuring out how to fit square peg into round hole in order to accommodate them. Failure to do so results into branding them as defocused if they stay disengaged or as not-trust-worthy job-hopper if they quit jobs.

Hereunder might be a simple way to find out whether passions and aspirations of prospective recruits match that of a company's needs. HR professionals and companies might like to drive following steps to ease their worries.

Step-1: Prospects, both the recruiters and recruitees, need to look for matchmaking of mutual passions. Read blogpost that answers How To Take your career in fast lane!

Step-2: Prospective recruitees write their comprehension about thoughts expressed in the blogpost in maximum 50-words!

Step-3: Prospects write briefly about their own passions: Maximum 50-words!

Step-4: HR professional (assessor and selector) from recruiting company studies above 100-words in order to draw parallels. Based on the parallels s/he draws her conclusion on matchcmaking of passions and aspirations between the prospects and the company.

The findings might be given an appropriate weightage alongwith that of various other available criteria for recruitment.

In support of the above process, the recruiting company might like to design a few prompting questions that the recruitee answers.

Better the matchcmaking of passions and aspirations, better will be the mutual choices of recruits and companies, lesser will be the disengagement and better will be the Succession-Plans!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Take your career in fast lane!

Do You Ask Right Questions? 

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up?

Prevention: The Best Cure! ... Is it really so?

Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 

Don't Forget: Stir-Coffee-Well !

Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily

Listen To The Iceberg, Not The Tip 

Nauseous Communication Gaps

An Experience of Heart-and-Soul

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!

Be Bug-Be Or Big-Be ?

How To Make A Difference

Beware Of Political-Presentations

Do You Ask Right Questions?

Questioning is an art!
Questions decide answers!
Right questions may get right answers!
Wrong questions may get wrong answers!

Questions decide desired outcomes and at times cause them too!
Questions make or break relationships! 
Right questions build relationships! Wrong ones break them!!

Other day we decided to take an earlier show of newly released film "Krrishh-3". Our maid was late to work. Wishing to reorganise her work my wife called her up to ensure that she arrives early enough before we depart for the show.

Which one of the following questions would have been right to choose from? Reason it out why?

1/ What time are you reaching? Or,
2/ Are you coming to work?

You will be benefited if you stretch your intellect before answering.

Think it out before reading next paragraph.

Taking her master for granted the second question gives maid an undesired option to say NO.
The only option first question gives her perhaps is to confirm the rescheduled time she would be reaching to work. Here there is no option for her to manipulate an undesired option to say NO.

Final outcome of course depends on prevailing demand-and-supply conditions. But by choosing the right question to ask you stand in a better position to influence the outcome in your favor.

1/ First question is of open-ended type. It could have had more than one answers of her choice such as 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. etc.
2/ Second question is of close-ended type because it has primarily limited replies: YES or NO.
3a/ First question is also a combination of leading-type and open-endeded type. Because it has a 'lead' built into it that presumes the maid is already on-way to work.
3b/ If first question's contents are modified to say "You are reaching by 2 p.m. right? it becomes a leading close-endeded type because it limits replies to YES or NO. But still it's an undesired option because she may choose NO.

In case of the situation under consideration, the open-ended question might trigger desirable answers if the contents are modified to say: I am leaving at 2 p.m. What time are you reaching?

What is the learning

It's important to know which type of question to use when?
How to frame contents of questions?
How many questions to use in what permutations and combinations thereof?

As done in Behavior Modulation Technique (BMT) or TA, answers to above questions depend upon what outcome you wish or want to articulate, not to manipulate though. At times you may have to use a checklist of questions to choose from for a given situation. Number of questions should be less (not more than a couple of them) although complicated situations may warrant more of them.

Difficult problem situations may need a judicious mix of choosing other type of questions as well alongwith the open-ended and close-ended ones. I will deal with them in other blogposts. They could be:

4/ Probing-type,
5/ Reflective-type, 
6/ Hypothetical type and even
7/ Stupid-questions (at times)

First two types, open-ended and close-ended ones, are usually useful in most situations: Be it Personal, Social or Business situations including in negotiations and also while handling customer grievances.

Primary purpose of open-ended questions is to extract information.
Primary purpose of close-ended questions is to limit alternatives.

So, think before you ask! Think of contents before you talk!!

If you don't ask right questions you do deserve a wrong or an undesired outcome!!!

Footnote
TA: Transactional Analysis

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

No Time? Micro-Meditate!  

Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up? 
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully 
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important? 
Eternally Happy! 
In-a-problem? No-problem! Dwell-a-while! 
I am afraid ! What do I do !! 
Fearful-Of-Death-of-Birth
Take Habits For A Ride 
Happy-Birthday-to-Youooo
Do You Celebrate Mean-or-Green 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! 
Are You Good If Others Are Bad?  
Want Need-Or-Want 
How To Make A Difference 
Love is Care.. Care is Love !  
Deity is in the eyes of the beholder 
Success-or-failure! What-do-you-like?
Ball-Basin-Team Combine !  Maketh The Smile Divine !! 

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation