The 'Principles of Management (POM)' journey - A walk to remember!

Here is my experience and learning from the 'Principles of Management' course in a form of a video. I thank you Dr. Mandi for introducing the pedagogy to me and making me learn things in new and an innovative way.

The Three Monk Story – SYNERGY!!!

Building a team runs in harmony is a work of art. Team building has always fascinated me because the element of 'team dynamics' comes into play and this creates a lot of behavioral changes in people when they work in a team. These changes that arise in the team, if channelized properly can build long lasting relationships and creates a WORKPLACE that you call HOME.


The video here, a story of three monks from a Chinese fable captures the essence of team dynamics. So, watch the video first before you move on.


 

Lets split the movie into three parts. We move on to a part from the other when a monk joins in.

The Lone Runner:

The first monk comes in, sees that the monastery is in bad health. A newbie, filled with enthusiasm, the monk takes all the burden on himself, for there is no one to fall back upon. He fetches two cans of water at a time and does it with glee. Chin runs a self sufficient system. But soon, fatigue sets in. The initial enthusiasm is lost but still life goes on!

This model of overburdening a useful resource, might give very good returns in the initial stage. But as time passes by the returns will be diminishing and the motivation to work will be long gone.

So, the lone man standing model for Human resources is a disaster. Any company should make sure that none of its employees are overburdened.

 

Dream Team:

Now comes the second monk. He is extended a very warm welcome by the Chin who is more than happy that there is some one to run the show along with him now. Once the real work starts, differences set in. Chin wants to establish his superiority and Chu does not cave in.

There is an instant cold war.

Analyzing the root cause for their difference of opinion, we can understand that it is because no 'standards' are set to run the company. There is no higher authority nor is there a rule book for the Chin and Chu to follow. This is later sorted out when Chin draws a scale and makes a fair ruChi.

This is again a lesson for any company. There should be rules and not rulers.!

 

Awesome threesome:

After a while comes Chi, our third monk. He is plump and drains all of the water. When the time comes to refill the water, he relents. Now the other two monks who have been doing their work religiously start fighting too and everything comes to a standstill. Harmony is lost, once and forever.

Such teams are quite common in organizations. It is upto the managers to sense this enmity in the air and weed it at the budding stages.

 

However, in the story, the "hand of god" does it for the monks. The monastery is set of fire by a mischievous rat and the monks are left running from pillar to post. In the spurt of the moment, they throw away all their differences and put an "emergency system into place". Somehow they tune the fire down and sit back to think on devising a sustainable system and the rest is understood.

 

Major Takeaways:

• No five fingers are alike. Every team comprises of people with different attributes and quality. This difference has to be channelized for the greater good.
• Standards have to be set and rules should be laid. Otherwise things head towards a haywire.
• Teams should have sustainable models. Any team is as strong as its weakest link.

Khan Academy

 

It’s weekend and time to go for a movie, but which one? It seems that I will go for ‘Ek tha tiger’, staring Salman Khan. Wait a minute this reminds me of a series of videos by another Salman Khan, videos that are from diverse fields, videos that are enjoyable and informative at the same time. I am talking about videos from Khan Academy and the one who conceptualized it – Salman Khan.

Khan Academy started by Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School, is a non-profit educational organization reaching out to millions of students of all ages, across the globe with the sole purpose of making teaching more interactive and fun

 

The story of Khan Academy is very interesting. Salman Khan, a hedge fund analyst, took up the assignment of teaching his nephews some math lessons. Not going the conventional way, Khan decided to create a video using 'Yahoo-doodles' and played it on to the nephews. There were two major lessons out of this exercise,

• The kids found the videos to be more interactive
• Videos could be played over and over. The advantage here was that, not all students can grasp ideas at the same pace. The conventional teaching methods require some students to push themselves beyond their capacity. But with videos that could be played over and over, speed was not an issue anymore.

Realizing, the potential of his idea, Salman Khan started adding more and more videos on a variety of topics with the help of You-Tube, and there was no looking back ever since.

 

Khan academy was a viral hit and has now become a trademark name in online education services. The services are available at free of cost and it is very well funded by donations from philanthropists all over the world. Khan academy is all set to change the world for good.

Time magazine recognized Khan Academy by naming Salman Khan as one of the most influential people of 2012.

Working for a cause, towards a target:

When Salman left his thriving career as a Hedge Fund analyst, to teach 8th grade maths by doodling, I am sure he would have been laughed at, and personally it should have been a huge decision to make. But Salman should have understood the real potential in the simple videos that he created. It is his vision for the idea that he had, that has brought Khan Academy to what it is right now.

 

 

Understand your audience:

What Salman Khan did with KA, is simple. He understood the pulse of the issue. He realized that no two fingers are the same, and so are kids. He devised a technique to treat every individual and celebrate him for what he is. Salman did this for his nephews and extended to include the whole world.



Though it is a sensation, Khan academy works with very simple and free technology like You-Tube, Wacom tablet etc.
It is the core idea that sells.. And Khan academy is the proof. Any fanfare is only optional.

Power of Internet:

Could Khan Academy have happened to the world any sooner ?

The answer would be NO..!

Salman Khan utilized the power of internet and timed his innovation very well. This again has a lesson to teach us, understand technology and keep yourself abreast of all the innovation. That is the only survival skill in this information age.

 

LE03

The journey continues…

Well, after the wonderful experience of the 1^st two sessions, Dr. Prasad met us on the Saturday morning and discussed about the Pygmalion effect and the Theory X and Y in management.

Pygmalion Effect

I read about Pygmalion in the Greek mythology and I came across some fascinating facts. Pygmalion was a Gold-smith interested in sculpturing, he carved a women out of ivory. His statue was so fair and realistic that he fell in love with it. On the Venus festival day, he wished his ivory sculpture would be changed to a real woman. When he returned home, he kissed his ivory statue and it came to life.

Through this narrative, I learned that if I wish something to happen, then it can happen. I should aim high and in the end I will reap rich benefits. When I start believing that I can perform very well during my MBA course, I will ultimately perform very well and that will result in success at a much higher level.

Theory X and Theory Y in Management

An Introduction

The two Theories in management represent two set of assumptions about human nature and human behaviour. On one hand, Theory X represents a negative view of human nature, it assumes that individuals generally dislike work, are irresponsible, and require close supervision to do their jobs. On the other hand, Theory Y represents a positive view of the human nature and assumes individuals are responsible and are self motivated to do their jobs. Managers who exhibit behaviour in accordance with Theory X have a managerial style quite different than managers who exhibit behaviour in accordance with Theory Y.

Scenarios Discussed

Theory X and Theory Y apply to managers, the scenarios discussed in the session considered another dimension. This dimension was the actual motivation level of the employees under a manager. The following four scenarios were discussed.

1.   My Employees are lazy and I assume that they are lazy (Theory X)

This situation occurs in those organizations in which the organizational goals are not clearly laid down. The employees are not motivated to work, also the manager thinks that the employees are incompetent and does not believe in his employees. As a result, the productivity decreases.

2.   My Employees are good and I assume that they are lazy (Theory X)

This situation is the most dangerous of all the four. The employees are self-motivated and do their job with utmost sincerity, but the manager thinks them to be incompetent. As a result, it might be possible that the employees get de-motivated because ultimately they are not appreciated for the work done and they feel that their efforts are going in vain.

3.   My Employees are lazy and I assume that they are good (Theory Y)

This situation is a model situation of all the four. Though the employees are not motivated and do not want to do their job, the manager thinks that the employees are very competent. As a result, the manager is able to motivate the employees as he believes in them. The employees also start performing since the manager expects them to perform.

4.   My Employees are good and I assume that they are good (Theory Y)

This situation is a perfect situation. The employees are self-motivated to perform their job, and the manager also believes in his team. As a result, the employees are able perform to their potentials and their effort are equally appreciated and the employees get a sense of achievement.

Summary

In my opinion, the third scenario is the best scenario, wherein the managerial skill and expertise of a person is tested to the hilt. A manager in the third scenario believes in his employees and expects them to perform. This expectation of the manager from employees motivates them to perform and help in improving productivity.

LE01 and LE02

How it started…

It was a bright Thursday morning and I was having my breakfast in the mess. But I was eager to finish my meal and head for the first lecture of the day. There was a sense of excitement in me that made me climb the 96 steps (the popular name for the staircase to the academic block) in no time. I reached the ‘Syndicate 1’ hall with some time for the session to begin. What was the reason behind this excitement? Prior to joining NITIE, I was working at Infosys. I had a couple of seniors in my company who are an alumni of NITIE and were delighted to know that I had made it to this institute. In no time, suggestions about what to do and what no to do came pouring in from them. After interacting with the seniors, I came to know about the unique style of teaching introduced by a gentleman named Dr. T Prasad. The concept of ‘Mandi’ and ‘Humara Dhanda’ as told by the seniors, fascinated me and I was inspired to do something on my own.

The clock struck 9 and Dr. Prasad walked into the classroom with a bunch of simple items which caught my attention. So, the first session by Dr. Prasad popularly known as Dr. Mandi  started and the journey began. 

Socho..Becho…Becho..Seekho…Seekho..Socho!!!

As a management student, I aspire to learn the tenets of management and apply them in future. The event ‘Mandi’ would be a platform which can help me hone my skills, improve my learning and give me an opportunity to experience the market. Thinking about how to sell the products, in this case, small innovative toys (the bunch of simple items which Dr. Prasad carried with him) to the people of Mumbai at various locations, selling the products and learning from this experience.

It will be an on-going process, where in I use my learning from this experience to further improve my skills and it goes on and on!

Aaj ki roti…aaj hi kamayenge!!!

Dr. Prasad made me realise that if I spend an amount suppose Rs X in a day, then I have the capability to earn the same amount the same day. This is the concept behind the initiative called ‘Humara Dhanda’ where everything boils down to one thing and that is money. Everything else revolves around it as money is the most important facilitator. I could relate to the example quoted by Dr. Prasad about the students from VJTI, Mumbai who found a market for an innovative toy called ‘Newton’s cradle’ and earned money in the entire process.

Excellence

I learnt about excellence from a new dimension. A combination of efficiency and effectiveness together gives rise to excellence. Efficiency is “doing things right” and effectiveness being “doing the right thing”. It can also be expressed by the following relation.

Excellence = Efficiency * Effectiveness

Goals and the Tower Building Exercise

What are Goals?

A goal is a desired result a person or an organization envisions, plans and commits to achieve. Goals must be set to be achieved within a finite time by setting deadlines.

Why are Goals required?

Goal management in an organization ensures that the employee goals and objectives are aligned with the strategic goals of the organization. Its helps an organization to effectively educate its employees about the organizational goals and corporate objectives across the organization. The employee gets a feeling of being with the organization and senses responsibility to achieve the goals set for him so as to facilitate organizational growth in general and his/her development in particular.

The Exercise – Mera Tower Sabse Ooncha!!!

Simple blocks can teach you a lot of management concepts, this is what I understood during the exercise. The exercise taught me how to set goals in a proper way and to pursue a zeal to achieve those goals. Hindrances will be a part of the journey, but how do I encounter the hindrances will be the deciding factor whether I am able to achieve the goals.

SMART Goals

The goal setting process must produce what are known as SMART goals. In the context of the exercise the goals can be stated as,

1.   Specific : A tower with the building blocks had to be created.

2.   Measurable : The size of the tower would be 18 blocks.

3.   Attainable : Considering all the surrounding factors, a tower of 18 blocks could be erected.

4.   Realistic : A tower could be created by a person using one hand only.

5.   Timely : This exercise had to be completed in a limited amount of time.

Excerpts from my work experience

Before joining NITIE, I was working with Infosys as a software developer. The goal setting process for an employee is an integral part of the employee appraisal process. The process could be summarized as follows,

1.   Benchmarking the goals : The goals for an employee were set for every 6-months. These goals were SMART in nature. For example, no. of certifications to be completed, no. of times SLA has been met etc.

2.   Measuring the actual performance : At the end of 6 months, the actual performance was measured by the project lead.

3.   Feedback on the actual performance : A one to one meeting between the employee and the project lead was organized and the lead provided his feedback about the performance and how the employee was rated.

4.   Suggestions to improve the future performance : Suggestions were given to the employee to help him understand his weak areas and how to work upon them, so that the performance of the employee improves in the future.

 The goals set for an employee were all aligned to the organizational goals.

Summary

Learning does not happen only from gaining knowledge. It has some other important dimensions associated with it. The knowledge has to be supplemented with its practical application. Let us take the example of a porter. A porter may have all the knowledge in the world about how to make earthen pots, but until and unless, he gets his hands dirty by preparing the right kind of earth, spinning the wheel, putting the earth on the wheel and carving the right shape and size, he will never be able to ascertain his knowledge. In this way he puts his knowledge to practice and earns a living, which is the most important part of this process.