Competencies are essential to plan, organize, coordinate, control and motivate in work settings by managers. Managers acquire the required competencies at personal, interpersonal and group level through information, training and practice. The competencies thus acquired are subject to erosion due to changes in demands of jobs and changes in the organizational environment. To arrest the erosion of the competencies, there is a need for learning and development at regular intervals. Such learning and development by managers can lead to sustainable superior performance and achievement of organizational goals. The leadership at KIIT strongly believe that professional development of staff at all levels is the key to its success. The five days management development program was aimed at updating the necessary competencies through interactives lectures, workshops, case study analysis and role-plays.

The program was designed by Prof. Ashok K. Sar duly supported by the training team from the School of Management. The program design considered the jobs’ demands and the required competencies based on a thorough discussion with the DG-HR and his team. The learning outcomes from the program were, demonstrating self-awareness and self-management; time management and working smarter; emotional intelligence; effective stress management; assertive communication; and healthy life style.

Fifty-eight participants from various administrative entities attended the program. The resource persons with relevant expertise were drawn from various functions from the School of Management and School of Medicine. Prof. Ashok K. Sar, took the participants through a series of activities to develop purpose, identity and strategy within the limits of available time. Prof. Isa Mishra, through an activity based learning session, illustrated self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Prof. Sumita Misha, introduced “Transactional Analysis” and guided participants to develop ego-state profile and understand the behavior of other person so that communication becomes effective. Prof. Saptorshi Das, helped participants to gain rich insights into assertive communication. Prof. Joy Prakash, in his session on stress management, help participants to understand the possible source of stress and how to cope with the same. Prof. Joydeep Biswas, took the participants through a series of activities to understand interdependencies and manage the same in team settings.

The feedback from the participants reflect excellent content, great relevance, fully meeting learning objectives, highly effective learning methods and excellent overall presentation.