Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Old Links but Important

http://news.hitavadaonline.com/news/index.php?mode=single&page=11&n=8347

http://www.hindu.com/edu/2005/03/21/stories/2005032100471100.htm

http://news.hitavadaonline.com/news/index.php?mode=single&page=11&n=7953

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2005031406330200.htm&date=2005/03/14/&prd=edu&

Training for Building Business Relationships

Training as a relationship building tool is yet to be leveraged to the fullest extent.In order to bridge relationships between trainer and trainee, which in turn should pay-off in the long run, one has to understand that such processes would only be viable if at all there is a need for sutainable relationship. In such cases a typical class room delivery might act as a kicking off exercise, however, long term relationship building between the trainer-trainee duo would only be possible, if there is an on the job interface as it would ensure the trainer passing on the requsite traits to the trainee and at the same time build that long lasting relationship required for business functioning.

These types of relationship can work only in industries/sectors or companies which needs continuous interactions between the trainer and the trainee. Few examples could be banking, life insurance, financial services, aviation etc. i.e. notably service sector players.

Know more from me

Monday, April 28, 2008

Read This..............

Source-http://www.careerride.com/Subject-Matter-Experts-SME.aspx

Subject Matter Expert
Subject Matter Expert (SME) - An enriching and lucrative career option
By Manishankar Chakraborty


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The unexplored option

Career options often remain unexplored as the immediate stakeholders who would want to leverage the options are either groping in the dark or know things in a piece meal fashion. Emerging economies like India and China have waken up to the tremendous potential they possess in terms of quality and economical manpower, but the problem of reaching out to the masses and not the classes still remains to be resolved. The reason for this lack of information penetration lies equally with the professional experts, companies, sectors and media in not highlighting such novel, challenging, enriching and fulfilling professions.
Career option as Subject Matter Expert (SME) is one such unexplored option for many teaching professionals. The common notion about academic luminaries is that one is restricted to teaching, research and at the most to training and consultancy, however they never realize the amount of contribution they can make to the overall knowledge generation and dissemination platform.
Subject Matter Experts or SME as they are commonly referred to as in the industry parlance are professionals who are post graduates, doctorates having first hand experience in teaching, training, research, both in academic institutes and corporate with a very good understanding and application of the subject. The role of SME has increased manifold after the cross border alliances and collaborative understandings has started to gain momentum. Dr. Ma’en Al Qatamin , Global President of Dubai Headquartered Management Training and Consultancy firm, Knowledge Horizon, corroborates the development when he opines that SME are the essential requisites in any knowledge sectors, be it Information Technology (IT), Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS), Training and Consultancy, E-learning. A doctorate from the prestigious Warwick Business School of UK, Dr. Ma’en was vocal in saying that many teaching professionals are unable to explore those terrain as they are myopic in understanding the horizons their expertise can offer. SME play a very pivotal role in most of the new generation knowledge sector companies, primarily because their role have an end to end approach which initiates before the actual product development starts and continues even after actual delivery to the clientele.

The scope for an SME

The scope for an SME is huge, but for that to be gauzed a potential aspirant has to think beyond the conventional mindset. Santosh Ranjan, Director of India operations of Knowledge Horizon adds up saying that the actual scope of an SME is indefinite and he can drag it to monumental heights. An alumnus from the prestigious IIM-Bangalore, Santosh in spite of being the director of India spends considerable time with the SME, as the role has tremendous scope and the opportunity to research and formulate novel approaches are unlimited. SME play a very active role in ideating, developing novel frameworks for imparting knowledge in the needed form and shape to the client, which in turn calls for out of the box thinking. SME Siddarth Naik adds, “We work 24X7X365 in the mind, which culminates into devising novel models of training and development, in the overall interest of the knowledge related stakeholders”. The thinking cap for an SME is absolute must as he has to redefine the existing ways of pedagogy. The scope therefore for an SME is a never ending process, provided one has the flair and passion for the same.

The Role of an SME

Rajeev Kumar an SME feels that they perform the core role as they are the ones forming the bridge with the actual production and marketing team finally leading to customer satisfaction. The customer here one is referring to is not the petty customer, but the tribe who is well informed so the SME has to play a proactive role in providing them tangible value additions at every point in time. Staring from researching about contents, making mind maps, using the scanner and finally making the approach document, an SME plays a very crucial role in an organizations setup. The production process might not be akin to an SME, but his presence ensures that the deviation is bare minimum and therefore rightly pointed by an SME, Ranjan, that he need to understand the nuances of even the production process, which calls for stretching ones latent capabilities. Importantly an SME often play a cross functional role and therefore has to have very good coordinating roles with other domain experts like graphic designers, instructional designers, programmers in the overall interest of the project. It requires an open mindset and therefore prospective SME has to ensure they are team players, as it’s not about sermonizing as is typical of a teacher. The role of an SME calls for very good counseling and mentoring roles as quite often they have to groom trainees not only from their own sphere, but also from other domains. Jitesh, an SME in Finance feels that the actual role of an SME is always undefined as they should have the ability to welcome change at every point of time, which in turn calls for lot of flexibility on the part of SME. Being a part of cross functional teams, the role of an SME is even more challenging vis-à-vis that of a teacher or a trainer as there he deals mainly with people in the same platform, but over here he has to drive home the point about his subject to a cross sectional audience and more importantly ensure that the audience has understood the same and also thought of a sequence of approaching the subject, in order to add value. Girish was vocal in saying that he had never thought about the novel approaches in quantitative aptitude and operations while teaching, as it never called for so much innovating as is evident now in his new role. The role of an SME in a nutshell is an evergreen one as they form a key component of the process, aver Anil Sawant, Project Coordinator with Indian operations of Knowledge Horizon.

Profile of an SME

The ideal profile of an SME is one who has had hands on experience in training or content development with the right attitude as flexibility is one of the anchor for a successful SME. Rupa an SME in economics domain feels that the actual academic credentials of an SME play only a supporting role as the necessary prerequisite of any SME is to have the right mix of attitude, aptitude, flexibility and lateral thinking. Basic understanding of the domain areas are something all SME possess, but what is perennially required is to understand the same from diverse set of audience which at times might create confusion in the mind of an SME. Manish an SME for IT provides a solution to this saying a clutter free approach while segregating the correct ones from the incorrect ones goes a long way in transmitting the right knowledge in the right form at the tight time to the right person. At the end of the day, an SME should be able to bring in that change which was absent till now. Rewards, Challenges and fun for SME are head and shoulders above from his peers in teaching and other disciplines.

(Author is Senior Subject Matter Expert with Dubai Headquartered Knowledge Horizon, based in the India Office at Pune. He can be reached at maniisonline@gmail.com)

Monday, April 21, 2008

Training for email etiquettes

Electronic mail has changed the way we communicate. On one hand it had bridged distance and made communication travel at the speed of thought and on the other it has taken a heavy toll on etiquettes, which has to be showcased while one is interacting with another.Perhaps the velocity at which we communicate through email has transformed even our approach which is having a detrimental impact on the soft skills essential for any relationship building or even plain communication. Every one needs to be trained on this aspect, as it play a very important role, more so when it is the number 1 communication medium for generation next.

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

e-Training Vs Conventional Training

Electronic training has gained momentum over the last few years. There are two school of thoughts emanating on the same, one that e-training scores primarily because of its inherent advantage i.e. round the clock accessiblity, cost effectiveness, high flexibility etc., whereas the other school of thought believes that the distance and non-personal contact is the biggest hindrance for e-training.My model on blending conventional and e-training is effective and I personally feel both has to go hand in hand.

Know more from me.......

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Training rural masses for being self reliant

Recently I trained some 100 odd people from a village on how to be self reliant.The experience was really an enriching one especially becasue the amount of awareness they have about the recent happenings be it world of business or science and technology has made me believe that there is tremendous potential for all entreprenurs and business houses in those untapped market.Moreover, the approach of the trainess across age groups and other demographic characteristics are worth mentioning.

Training Municipal Corporation Staff

I had harrowing experiences while training municipal corporations staffs, including officers in various parts of the country.Their steadfastedness is the biggest bottleneck in inculcating new things and on the top of it they feel they are doing yeoman services to the society by ensuring that the basic functions are performed.They never realize they need to value add their offerings, which in turn calls for novel management practices, which after being put forward to them, they realized the importance.My modules and delivery were very well accepted by them.

Training Retailers

The retailing industry in emerging economies like India and China is changing with every passing day.In a country like India, where a chunk comprises of the unorganized retailers, the organized players need to realign their strategies especially because the Indian audience differs in many aspects when it comes to their western peers.While training the marketing, administration and suplly chain staff of leading Indian retailers, I observed that the approach for training them has to be different than what is mentioned in the textbook.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Training for morality

Training for morality is an important aspect of the civil society.The emergence of entertainment, infotainment, media reach through novel innovative ways which can reach the masses not only had a positive impact, but also a negative impact on the society at large.It is therefore important to conduct training sessions on morality so that ethics an important ingredient for the nations all across are mantained even after things improve on all other aspects, i.e. business, technology etc.

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

Training for success

How can anyone be trained for success?You know what!!!!!!!It's merely a marketing gimmick for the trainer to say that he can train someone for success.Reason I say so is because one shot training can never lead to success.Success is a sequential path, which is reached only if persistent efforts are made.Now if someone is willing to train his trainees for a period of time and observe his changes, only then he can make out, whether it is leading to success or failure.

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Training school going kids on Management?

School going kids, especially the ones in their eigth, ninth and tenth standard of education needs to be given a fundamental training on basics of management. It is aminly because they are gradually getting into a state where management of everything starting from time to stress becomes very important.I have devised some training methodology for them and have successfully applied them in some of the training programs. Believe me those gave me very encouraging results for further experimentation and results.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Training for the right Expectations

Students, professionals, individuals all need to have a training and follow up exercise of expectations management. My experience while training different tribes and professionals on expectations management made me believe that it is basically the expectations mis-management which culminates into problems, both in professional and personal lives. As a trainer one size fits all training approaches in arresting hyper-expectations and under-expectations of the trainee is a strict no-no.

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Training Scribes

Do you think that the scribes need training?They do as I feel they at times try to go beyond the line and in the process do not realize what is good and bad for them and for the society as a whole. Recently I was training scribes who were sked to talk about their actual role as a social citizen, most of them gave responses which pointed towards the fact that they need basic management and soft skills training.

Know more from me.....................

Training Indian Traffic

Indian traffic has to be taught about driving rules, soft skills while driving, accident prvention mechanisms which can save many lives. It is therefore pertinent to make PPP(Private-Public Partnerships), which would make the training modules, delivery and end result more effective.

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Training NGO

Non-Governmental Employees has to be trained in a different way mainly because their deliverables are completely different from a buisness entity, where profit is the motto for existence. A trainer has to understand this change in approach and the difference in the models, which would provide him the thread to customize his training module and delivery

Know from me......

Training Cops

Training cops is an absolute must as they are always stressed which has a negative impact on their career, personal lives. The recent spate of suicides and untoward incidents calls for training the cops on stress management, time management and performance management. The police training colleges in various parts of the globe are doing a decent job but a lot is desired to be done. External trainers has to do a thorough need analysis of their exact need and onlt then think of formulating training modules. Even the delivery techniques has to be different than any other training programs.

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Training PSU Employees

Training Public Sector Unit employees of Government of India, especially in customer service, process handling, customer grivenace is an absolute must. I have observed their indifferent attitude not only while interacting as a customer, but also while training few employees from some government departments. The approach of training these people has to be completely different than that of the private enterprises, where training and post training developments and contributions are closely linked with the performance appraisal.I have devised two different approaches of training private and public sector employees.

Know more from me..........................

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Training citizens for national responsibility

Citizens should be trained on national responsibility as most of the educated citizens of various countries at times acts like irresponsible citizens. They should be informed about national rights and duties and should also know the importance of serving the mankind irrespective of nationalities, ethnicity, caste, sex, religion, race etc.It is therefore important for the luminaries to contribute nationally, which would in turn culminate in global awareness pertaining to human welfare.

Join me on this soujourn.....................

Recruitment Training

Training for recruitment is a challenging task as it calls for tremendous amount of maturity on the part of the trainee to grasp the nuances of recruitment.These type of training are better given while on the job, or by observation, rather than the typical classroom mode.

Know more from me.....

O/W and L/P as a training tool

Operation Workout and Live Project are effective training tools for training wannabe managers. Most of the business schools use this tool in various forms and also has different nomenclature.This tool can bridge the yawning gap existing between theory and practical.However, it is essential for a trainer to understand the scope of the tool and also plan for topics which can very well with these tools.

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Management Training with minimum of text

It's often said that a trainee can sink in more information if pictorially shown with the help of pictures, diagrams and figures. Thats what renowned management experts propose, however, the trainer if involved in making the training modules by reducing text with pictorial depictions, than the challenge lies in visualizing and easy delivery.

Lets discuss to brainstorm to know more tactics of simplifying concepts with minimum of text.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Training for etiquettes

Can one be trained for etiquttes?If yes, what would be the training approach?Training for etiquettes has to be done more with an observation approach where the trainee is allow to witness good etiquttes and bad etiquttes and their impact and consequences on personal and professional life.

Know more from me.......

Read this one

The Hitavada :: The Oldest and Largest Circulated English Daily of ...
by Prof Manishankar Chakraborty and Prof Abhijit Mukherjee. How to do you feel when you witness attractive advertisements like that of pidilite industries ...news.hitavadaonline.com/news/index.php?mode=single&page=11&n=8458 - 13k - Cached - Similar pages

A new Link

http://www.hindu.com/edu/2005/03/21/stories/2005032100471100.htm

Counseling in training

A trainer has to be a counselor with his trainees as and when the need arises. It might be due to the situational dynamics pertaining to the training or it can be due to the weak trainees, who are unable to sustain the pressure.A trainer although need not be a professional counselor, but has to have the basics of counseling skills as they play a very important role during the stressful moments.Kinow more from me.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Mentoring in training

Mentoring play a very active role in training.The relationship between the mentor and the mentee is of paramount importance as it send out the right vibes to each other.It's not that the mentor is always the disseminator and the mentee, i.e. the trainee is the receiver.It can be both ways and therefore it is essential a good healthy mentor-mentee relationship is bult which culminates in training the protege for a specific cause. There are various ways of training related mentoring which can be known from me.........

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Training the trainers in the new age

New age trainers are well equipped with all types of training ammunitions as they have access to a large repertoire of training tools, Therefore the programs meant for training the trainers has to be of the top drawer, which is possible for one to leverage only if they are sensible and understand the significance of everything.

Know more from me................

Training "BLIND" Marketing Professionals

Most of the marketing professionals present themselves as active, but the million dollar question is "Are they open" or "Are they Blind"?To my notice I see most of the sales and marketing staff are mentally blind and they always try to hasten up things with the immediate target of closing the deal in mind. This myopic approach is mainly the dampener in building up their career and responsibilities and most of them remain salesman throughout their life, rather than becoming a manager.To train such "DUMB,DEAF AND BLIND" calls for extra effort on the part of the trainer as he has to understand the symptoms which can present the disease the sales/marketing professional is suffering from. Its not that every one suffers from the same malignancy and therefore manifestations has to be understood minutely and then treated accordingly by the trainer.

Know more from me..................

Friday, April 4, 2008

Training operations manager

Operations manager has to be trained on the domain area prerably in a shopfloor.They are in need for softskills training but most of the time the trainer is unable to identify the requirement.It is therefore important for collaborative approach.Know more from me...............

Training Top Management

Top Management always tend to feel that they do not require any training.It's primarily because their attitude restrains them from taking training learning tool.However, there are organziations where top management has shown the way by actively participating in training programs.Top managers has to have an attitudinal training before other facet of strategic management is considered.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Developing Training Freaks

Developing training freaks within an organziation is more than an art and sceince.It calls for more than what meets the eye of a trainer.On one hand the trainer has to have foresight and ability to handpick people with potential to be the masthead for the training domian in the future, and on the other, he also has to nurture and convert him into a trainer from a trainee.For this more than mere training is required.....................which is what I know best.So get in touch

Few one of the New ones

http://www.iupindia.org/108/hrm.asp?mag=http://www.iupindia.org/108/hrm_sub.asp

http://www.iupindia.org/108/mba.asp?mag=http://www.iupindia.org/108/mba_sub.asp

http://www.indcareer.com/articles

Training ID

Training ID is both fun and challenging.If you have instructional designers who are masters in business then it is comparatively easier for them to grasp the content, provided they are working on buisness related concepts.On the other hand the ones from languages have their own advantages as they can leverage their command on language.It is therefore important for the trainer to know the strengths and weaknesses before finalizing the training module.One thing is for sure and that is complimenting both the groups while training and thereby having a more effective and result oriented training session.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Training SME

SME has to be trained while on the job and through focussed informal and formal interaction. Subject Matter Experts are professionals who have rich experience in academia and industry and it is therefore important for the trainer to understand that SME cannot be trained in a typical classroom mode, which is possible only if the sessions are disguised as brainstorming hours. Infact it is better to train SME while on the job, for which minute observations on the part of the trainer is required.

Training HR professionals

How can one train professionals who themselves are involved in training others?It is very essential for such training managers to observe the HR guys and gals on work, which would provide them lot of insights about their training needs.This in turn has to be metamorphosed into a training module and more often than not they should be taken into a on the job mode, rather than the typical classroom mode.

Know more from me......................

Training Frontline salesforce

Training frontline sales force requires more of motivational tools, an assortment of product training blended perfectly with soft skills so that they are effective in pitching their sales tune. Trainers has to understand the need for such audience, where very less of jargon and more of reality should be talked. Real life cases are considered effective for training these tribes of professionals.To know more..........get in touch.