Diploma in Business & Life Skills

Diploma in Business & Life Skills

Term 1

Creative thinking and negotiation skills

The executive often finds himself in situations where he needs to do things differently - come up with innovative ways of putting forward sales proposition, think out of the box in order to close a sale. The objective of the course is to hone certain specific soft skills in the student - negotiation, critical thinking and problem solving skills through a combination of theoretical inputs and practical group/individual exercises.

* See a problem as a challenge or an opportunity and not as a "problem"
* Attempt innovative ways of addressing an issue
* Negotiate better than an average person/professional
* Effectively use certain tools for informed decision making.

Building teams and leadership and managing conflicts

The executive needs to deliver his goals and strategies through a team comprising of both internal and external team members. Setting goals and driving the team towards a common goal becomes an imperative in achieving the desired objectives. Businesses today need leaders as against simple managers.

* Leadership styles and functioning modes
* Setting goals and key actionable items for a team
* Building and managing teams
* Managing team diversities and potential conflicts
* Managing team performance
* Interpersonal skills and transactional analysis
* Motivation and needs for motivation of diverse individuals
* Empathy
* Perspective building and sensitivity to people issues

Term 2

Time management and execution

Time is perhaps the single most critical asset for many a successful organization. The success of today's businesses is defined by the ‘speed equity' it builds in addition to the financial, human, brand and operational equities which it has. Companies like Reliance have very successfully leveraged their ‘speed equity' - their ability to manage and deliver large complex projects successfully in a speedy manner as a demonstrable business differentiator.

* Time as a perishable asset and hence the need to manage it
* Punctuality and personal discipline as the essential ingredients of time management
* Task prioritization
* Opportunity losses
* ‘Speed or Time Capital' as a business differentiator
* Task and project execution
* Introduction to fundamentals of project management - PERT and CPM analysis

Assertiveness, self esteem and persuasive communication The ability to say a no, while nurturing ones self esteem is essential to ones success in the competitive world. The importance of persuasive communication as an essential pre requisite for success cannot be overemphasized.

* Understanding ones worth and areas of importance
* Introduction to self awareness tools like Johari's window and NLP tools for assessing ones self esteem
* The realm of EQ
* The power to say NO
* Communication styles and the art of persuasive communication
* Shaping self identity
* Lateral thinking - creativity and innovation; action shoes; thinking hats; brain storming techniques
* Realm of one to one interaction
* Reading cultural cues; positioning own thought; running win-win dialogs
* Handling interviews and group discussions/meetings
* Managing the Boss, peers and subordinates at work.

Term 3

Goal setting, performance monitoring and feedback

Setting ambitious yet realistic goals is an art. The ability to deploy organizational policies across all team members towards achieving the organizational goals is a critical requirement. Monitoring and giving critical feedback on the objectives achieved is essential for managing the organization and the team's performance.

* The importance of goal setting and ‘stretch' targets
* Policy deployment; Smart KRA's (key result areas)
* Monitoring performance and giving a feedback.
* Planning for redundancies and performance fall backs
* Planning and execution

Managing stress at work

Competitive pressures and professional exigencies result in a phenomenal stress in the day to day work environment. Managing stress is an art and needs to be learnt and practiced effectively.

* Stress - its origins and management
* SMET - Self management of executive tensions
* Mental and emotional resilience
* Resourcefulness
* Presence of mind and spontaneity

Term 4

World of insurance, banking, finance, retail, telecom, realty and consumer goods

Most companies would like the management trainee or intern they hire to hit the ground running. An awareness of the nuances of the business and industry vertical would be of immense advantage to both the individual and the company which hires him/her.

* Industry roundup
* Competition analysis
* Career options and specializations
* Insight into different competencies
* Identifying personal fitment
* Retail planogram
* Understanding financing options
* Outsourcing options and trends
* Institutional business - Buyer behavior, tendering process and RFP's
* EMI/IRR terminologies
* Power of strokes - negotiation and closure

Self branding

The most important person finally is ‘YOU'. An understanding of ones own SWOT and an ability to identify and position ones own unique selling proposition is essential. Self branding could apply to handling a job interview, managing ones boss, handling an irate customer or simply making a mark for oneself at an occasion or event. Self preservation and branding is a critical success factor for many a successful professional.

* Self presentation and shaping self identity
* Pedigree symbolism
* Defining ones own vision and mission statements with respect to career and life
* Concept of career life cycle management