THE INITIATION
Working for more than Four and a Half years in the industry . The decision to do an MBA was a tough one . One major reason for this was an apprehension, no, I would call it dread of enduring through boring lectures once again. However this apprehension was blown to dust the moment Dr. T Prasad aka Dr. Mandi entered our class.
Session 1
THE AHA EFFECT
Generally in conventional classes the level of interaction is low . However our class was anything but that. One important learning that day I got was that a manager needs to be a great and effective communicator, not only to communicate his ideas but also to bring people out of their shells so they too contribute effectively.In my industry experience I found many an idea lost due to lack of or improper initiative and lack of communication on part of the manager.
Har ek idea zaroori hota hai
One very noteworthy learning point that I took home from this class was the strength of a simple idea. Dr. Mandi showed us simple toys like a cube made of plastic sticks and an osscillating pendulum set. Even though these things were quite simple , we learnt that these can have two revolutionary effects.
AND WHAT ARE THESE EFFECTS:
1. It can tranform the way maths , or for that matter any subject that is tought in schools, making learning fun at very low cost.( The cube can be used to teach simple mathematical formulae).
2. It proves how simple ideas can be effectively transformed into value for customers, and hence can be used to do business effectively and without needing too many resources. What is required is a proper grasp of the target market and and a proper organization and utilisation of the resources at hand, precisely what the managers need to do.
SOCHO BECHO
Mandi, the most important feature of NITIE captured my imagination, instead of going into the nitty gritties let me tell some of the learning points:
1. Understanding of the product is very important, in order to sell it. Relating that to my experience, in industry it was very difficult for me to sell any idea to my seniors( example, a maintenance activity that I plan to take up), unless I have a thorough knowledge about the idea, and its pros and cons.
2. A proper understanding of the customer base is also crucial, and targeting the right customer is critical to the success of selling. Selling the toys is much easier in case the customers are children and their mothers. I can somehow relate this to my own experience as a shift in charge, wherein I
a proper understanding of the machines and my resources was so so critical for designing a proper maintenance schedule.
Last but not the least the importance persistence pays, not only in Mandi but in anything in life, whether it is a business plan or any new venture a person whishes to start.
Session 2
THE REAL INITIATION
In session 2 we got a real feel of a bschool life. The fascinating opportunity to relate business concepts , my experience and classroom teaching through a fascinating game was enriching. The game was essentially very simple involving 3 players required to stack cubes ( one of them was blindfolded), however the learning we got from this game about organization management and its challenges in real life was a good experience. The salient learning points and its relation to my experiences are briefly listed below.
1. Team work pays : The cubes can never be placed successfully if the members do not work as a team. The strength of an organization lies in team work. No person can achieve big results alone, so collaboration is important. In my job too we did many difficult jobs, and shutdowns only through the use of effective teamwork.
2. Communicate Communicate Communicate : In this game a person can only put the cubes if proper communication took place between the blindfolded person( worker) and the second person (manager), similarly in my job it was vital for me to communicate clearly as to what was required to be done, and some basic guidelines were given. I have felt that communication does make a difference and this game proved it.
3. The top management only interferes if he requires to give certain specific inputs. In an organization the top manager has the highest stakes yet he does not interfere in the day to day activities of the entity. He interferes only when there is a need refocus the attention of the middle management and workers to something they might be missing out. In my plant the top management regularly communicates to us about the organizational challenges and goals.
4. The worker needs to be in good mental and physical state to work productively. In our game the blindfolded person was working the hardest and the second person was trying to calm him down and give him some rest as and when needed. Similarly in my plant the safety, health and well being of the worker is very important for better productivity. Any organization which wishes to survive needs to take care of its employees.
All in all the first two sessions provided us with enough opportunities to relate whatever we learnt in class to the real world.
