Glimpses of SOCHO BECHO SEEKHO

Hello People,

We all had an amazing experience in Mahamandi-2014 and implementing the concept of- Earn while you Learn in the market was really valuable.
 It started with Poster making exercise which was new to me and here it's attached-

Relating concepts with Mahamandi is such an easy way to understand. 

While all were eagerly waiting for the Mega event, in order to promote the event a small video was made so that people from various regional languages.

9^th August 2014, the day arrived and our team- FERIWALE well prepared with the tactics and inventory. I have written a blog on my experiences which can be referred on my ID. Here are some glimpses of the interaction while pitching for sale.

 

 

 

सोच के बेचो बेच के सीखो 

अगले साल महामंडी में आके तो देखो 

जय हो महामंडी !!

TEAM WORK in Valley Crossing exercise

I will start by writing the famous proverb-

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself - Henry Ford

Valley Crossing Exercise – Yet another exercise to understand management concepts!

The basic definition of Team Work says- Teamwork is "work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole. So, in order to develop the concepts an exercise on Valley crossing is the best suited. 

Teamwork is a mixture of action process, interpersonal process and transition period in between. Teamwork consists of leadership, team formation, team norms, outcome interdependence, competition and cooperation. Teamwork can lead to better decisions, products or services.

The following image clearly depicts why teamwork is so much useful and what it can lead to:-

“Together Everyone Achieves More”

So, now let's begin with the exercise. The steps followed int the exercise are as follows-

In the above figure the position and requirement of leadership may changes in 3 ways:-

• All the time one leader
• All the time all leader
• All the time sometime leader

From this activity we realized the importance of decentralized leadership The leadership needs to be distributed and should have orientation.The given situation states that there are:-

                                        27 Situation ------9 Position --------3 People

Observation:-

1. All three members have equal distribution of different kinds of situation :

•          High Risk 01 times
•          Half Risks 02 times
•          Fully Safe 02 times

2. All three members have the same role in terms of effort and risk. Nobody was overloaded or relaxed.

3. Communication and feedback is essential while working in a team.

4.  Every member is indispensable in completing the task.

5. There were equal instances when one needed each other.

6. The 9 position consist of 6 safe completely,2 half safe and 1 completely unsafe.

Structuring of team:-          

• Role A = Role B = Role C : No differentiation what so ever is built in designing the team tasks
• All  3 members’ tasks  were designed to be - Easy, Lighter, Clear and Systematic
• 3 team members are equally responsible in their contributions for the overall task completion

Psychologist Bruce Teckman came up with five key stages through which team moves. They are:-

Team Network:-

Learning:-

• Pro actively helping members in need.
• Properly communicating the work done to superiors.
• Pro actively using the teams strength for overcoming problems.
• Effective participation in meetings and team events .

• Team Dynamics:-  

• Work for common goal
• Accountability
• mutual respect
• Commitment
• Interdependence
• Trust
• Communication

There's a video link attached to exemplify the concept-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jop2I5u2F3U 

HAPPY READING......

Setting SMART Goals through tower building....

Tower building exercise was the first exercise in the OBHR classroom. It was a funny game, at first side it appears a wonderful way to produce a childish but building a tall tower turned out to be a competition in the class. And this activity taught such valuable lessons which I am going to share now. So, we had to arrive from building towers to S.M.A.R.T. goals. Goals are an observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame. This is what our class was asked to achieve and for this we had to fill relevant task values for four different aspects. These are as below:

1. Goal Set
2. Goal Achieved
3. Goal (History)
4. Potential

Going forward with SMART goals , I would first like to define the word GOAL .
According to the business dictionary :-Goal is an observable and measurable end result having one or more objective to be achieved within a more or less fixed time-frame.

We can categorize goals as:-

And to accomplish the goals we need to do goal setting which is more important than decide goals for individual,team or an organization.Learning how to set goals is as important as knowing what the goal should contain It is important to remember about setting goals is the correct F.R.A.M.E of mind.The goal needs to be focused on the purpose.

"Time is Life .To Waste your Time is to waste your Life;To manage your Time is to manage your Life."---ALAN LAKEIN       

It is important to know what qualities the goals should embody and  here comes the need of SMART Goals.

What do we mean by smart goals?

S.M.A.R.T. goal is defined as one that is specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.Explaining the following by giving an example:-
Example: By August 1, 2014, implement a new performance management system for company  XYZ, A& P Faculty, and University Staff using clearly defined processes and guidelines so employees and managers can more competently  evaluate performance and develop their careers. 


SPECIFIC:- Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what we are going to do.
                Specific is the What, Why, and How of the S.M.A.R.T. model.

Explanation of Example: 

“Implement a new performance management system for Classified Staff, A& P Faculty, and University Staff” = what
“using clearly defined processes and guidelines” = how
“so employees and managers can competently evaluate performance and develop their careers = why

MEASURABLE:- Goals should be measurable so that we have tangible evidence that  we have accomplished the goal. Usually, the entire goal statement is a measure for the project, but there are usually several short-term or smaller measurements built into the goal.

Explanation of Example: 

 The essential metric is whether or not the system is operational by August 1st

ACHIEVABLE:- Goals should be achievable; they should stretch us slightly so we feel challenged, but defined well enough so that we can achieve them. We must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to achieve the goal.

Explanation of Example: 

In order to reach this goal ,have a skill set, in this case in the area of performance management, that allows to understand the nature of the goal, and the goal must present a large enough challenge to remain interested in and committed to accomplishing.

REALISTIC :-To be realistic ,goal must represent an objective toward which we are both willing and able to work.A goal can be both high and realistic,we are the only one who decide just how high each one's goal should be.But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

Explanation of Example: 

The result of this goal is a process that allows employees and managers to more competently evaluate performance and develop their careers, not the individual activities and actions that occur in order to make the goal a reality. 

TIME-BOUND:- Goals should be linked to a time frame that creates a practical sense of urgency, or results in tension between the current reality and the vision of the goal. Without such tension, the goal is unlikely to produce a relevant outcome. 

Explanation of Example: 

 August 1, 2014 provides you with a time-bound deadline.

In addition to this Goal Setting and Goal Achievement we derive a formula for performance :-

                              GOAL SETTING + GOAL ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE

Goal Achievement should impact Goal setting positively and goal is not meant to reach ,on the other hand they inspire , motivate to reach them

The goal stimulate idea sharing for an employee as shown:-

Here is a small video to elucidate the need to have goals:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RNPbamAf9r4

Happy reading......

Education system Transformed- KHAN ACADEMY

Salman Khan, who has 3 degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, developed the website. He originally posted lessons on You Tube for his young cousin and others soon found the lessons to be effective.That is an extremely powerful idea, and it wasn’t available or possible a few years ago. So- Salman Khan began making his videos for his cousins, putting them on YouTube, and we all started to take notice.

KHAN'S VISION

Salman Khan has employed a very successful philanthropic business model, which caters education to anybody with an online access.He asks teachers to consider changing the traditional classroom by allowing students to watch video lectures at home and complete "homework" in the classroom.

Learning

A strength of content-based videos, not just from Khan Academy, is that people can view them during their own time frame, reviewing parts that are of particular interest or to develop greater understanding.The method of instruction emphasizes procedures — how to do math — but ignores the conceptual understanding that’s central to authentic learning: what math means. At its core, this is a function of ineffective instruction, which to a large degree is related to ineffective content.

But one glaring hole has yet to be undertaken: context. Khan Academy is a symptom of a teaching profession where too many teachers are too shy or too old-school to jump into the publishing world. We need that to happen faster. Context is key. Ever wonder why so many of those math videos are boring? You’re missing the context by which they occur in.

The proper thinking that he brought to make students study is just an idea to proceed but what he actually done is far more complex than we can imagine. He has got all the information about each and every student that is taking his online classes i.e where he is lagging ,require improvements.He managed his resources in such a way, to provide every student a review of his progress towards each and every chapter or training he take.

There is proper step wise procedure for a student to go on to a higher level that brings proper understanding and conceptual base. One teacher can't concentrate on each and every student but he made this possible.Progress of each chapter,progress of each topic is in front of us,we can work upon loop holes.This is a proper management,how to use proper resources to get to a result that say 'WOWWWW' ........

Khan Academy is part of a looming tech-education iceberg. For excellent learning to take place takes passion on the part of the student. Screens encourage passivity; it's already been documented in laboratory studies. Small classes with good teachers teaching what they're knowledgeable about - that's the ideal learning environment.

There are many who support Khan Academy for its technological ingenuity and its ability to introduce different educational dynamics. The Khan Academy's ability to freely distribute lessons has demonstrated technology's ability to eliminate economic barriers that prevent effective education. Since Benjamin Bloom's 1984 study on the effectiveness of "one-on-one tutoring," close student-teacher interaction has been aggressively sought after. However, both the cost and the realistic implementation of this ideal has been an issue. Critics promote that the Khan Academy has addressed these issues, through both cost-free nature of the site and its wide accessibility via the internet.

Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Motivation

This is my first ever blog and that too on a subject which I was always scared of. But, now this perception has been changed by Dr. Mandi, who with his insightful and thought-provoking concepts has made the sessions interesting as well as enthralling.

So, here I begin with Reward Management- one of the four pillars of Motivation.

There is no doubt that motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the actions required to achieve a goal, without relying on external rewards or pressures. Extrinsic motivation is the opposite and requires external rewards such as money or external consequences such as demotion.

Extrinsically motivating the team:

In order to extrinsically motivate the team, group and individual goals are set and outcomes are then measured. One need to reward people that achieved their goals and have to have consequences for underachiever which can be in the form of more training. Goal setting, getting people/employees motivated to achieve objectives, and recognizing them for their achievement is a proven method that pushes business forward and is one of the best examples of extrinsic motivation in a company.

Concrete rewards that employee receive:-

•          Bonuses

•          Salary raise

•          Gifts

•          Promotion

•          Other kinds of tangible rewards

Intrinsically motivating the team:

In order to intrinsically motivate the team, one has to create the conditions where employees get turned on by doing the work they do. It’s the rush they get when they perform the task and the internal satisfaction they get when they get the job done. Developing an intrinsically motivated team is not easy though. According to many HR experts, employees are more likely to be intrinsically motivated if the company has a compelling vision, clear objectives, and a supportive culture. It’s also important that employees are a good fit for their position, ie they love using the skills needed to perform their duties and they have values in alignment with company core values.

Intrinsic rewards that tend to give personal satisfaction to individual:-

•          Information / feedback

•          Recognition

•          Trust

•          Relationship

•          Empowerment

•          Monogrammed name plaque

Having an intrinsically motivated team is ideal, however, it is really hard to just rely on the team to be internally motivated. Without extrinsic drives such as goals and recognition, it is hard to turn the wheels of a business. Imagine a sales team without any sales goals or external recognition!

Intrinsic rewards makes the employee feel better in the organization, while extrinsic rewards focus on the performance and activities of the employee in order to attain a certain outcome. The principal difficulty is to find a balance between employees' performance (extrinsic) and happiness (intrinsic).

Combining intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is the solution:

The most effective way to motivate a team is by enhancing both intrinsic and extrinsic motivating forces.

These are some examples of how one can achieve this:-

·         Create a compelling vision and set clear goals (extrinsic) and enhance the culture and working conditions so that people love what they do and set their own goals (intrinsic).

·         Recognize people based on their outputs and achievements (extrinsic) and also on their inputs and behaviour such as collaboration that are in alignment with core values (intrinsic).

Happy Reading.....

Team FERIWALE in MAHAMANDI-2014 --an amazing experience

It all started with the course taught by Dr Mandi where learning is not a theory, but an exercise where one can experience the basic concept with an activity. And to delve more into the concepts there is an event called Mahamandi where learning is fun and practicing the academics in the challenging market place. Students made posters and videos in regional languages to promote the event and eagerly waiting for the D-day.

9^th August 2014, the day arrived and our team- FERIWALE well prepared with the items and planned some tactics on how to targets customers. The event was inaugurated by Miss Sonam Bajwa and Dr Mandi. I could see the enthusiasm in the students for Mahamandi, not only from NITIE but also from other reputed MBA colleges in Mumbai who want to be a part of it. We packed our bags and boarded the bus to Andheri station. It started raining and I wondered how difficult it would be to trample down the streets and sell in pouring rain.

We first started with a furniture shop, neglecting the fact that the shopkeeper must be smarter than us, and there we couldn’t convince the person despite pitching him for all the products. The first effort was all in vain- we devised another strategy on how to target items along with the customers.

The second attempt was near the platform exit where we found that two people looking at the girl in our group. We thought of approaching them and final pitched our products to them, even though they both were unmarried. After showcasing them the products we also touched upon the social cause attached to it. Finally we convinced them and sold them two products which they said will be useful for their nephew. This was our first sale and we were so excited that we started that selling is a child’s play. And this thought didn’t take much time to change as we reached the Linking Road, Bandra. We heard that this place is famous for affluent buyers and that would make our task more easier .Gauging the prospective buyers, it was more than one hour that we couldn’t sell a single product. I realized how challenging it must be for a salesmen to muster courage, approach people, sweat and toil and be ready for hearing refusal or bear disinterest of people. We then divided the team in a group of 4 and started again with more energy and passion to sell.

Then we found a family with two kids exiting from Mc Donald’s. We targeted them and told about the toys which are educative and innovatively designed to have fun all the while helping children understand the basics of mathematics and general science. We sold them 3 products and we were more than excited, on top of the world!!

Half the inventory were sold and yet more to go. By the time my other team made up some sales. Some people were hard to convince, some were neglecting, some were bargaining and blah blah blah!! We found a guy who loved our T-shirt and willing to pay Rs 600, but we couldn’t help him. We tried to convince him for the products for more than 15 minutes but wasn’t of any use.

And then a family outside the Croma Store who were carrying big packages. We approached them and one among them took some of our products very easily as we told them about the NGO- Navnirmiti, that works for economically underprivileged children. The other lady said she had some at home but how will these products help her 7 year old kid. We showed them the JODO GYAN model which can make learning squares, cubes and different mathematical models very easily.

And finally, the feeling on meeting so many people, talking, selling, taking pics has left wonderful feelings and priceless learning. It educates the students of giving back to the society while practicing their academics in the challenging market place. It also reminds us to learn to expect failures in the real world.

Suggestions for those who are interested in Mandi-

1) Understand the need of the customers

2) Sales pitch must emphasize the product effectively

3) Don’t forget to take feedbacks

4) Have some fun along with selling and earn as you learn

5) Never be afraid of failures

I feel so glad that I participated in this noble event. True was its theme “Selling is the game, learning is the aim, MahaMandi is the name”.

Thank you Mandi Sir!!