The other day, I got a chance to interact with a student in a reputed engineering college. The boy was part of the placement cell at the college. Our conversation, though started with how and why we should recruit from the college, it broadened to interesting areas like how the guys are managing the placement activities.
I was curious to know how these things are managed in the college. In my opinion, a placement cell in a college is one of the most important bodies because it opens the door of future in front of the student.
Here are some answers I got from my student friend.
1. How many members are there in the placement cellIJ
24! (12 from each batch)
2. What are your responsibilitiesIJ
I handle the finance.
3. How are the responsibilities dividedIJ
Two people for finance, two for documentation, four for hospitality, two for keeping the office clean, and two for mailing.
Yes I was equally surprised by the answers given and the way such important functions are handled in colleges. Of course it was an engineering college and the students are not expected to be great at management. But there are basics of management which, I think, need to be taught in colleges.
Why management should be taught at collegesIJ Here are three reasons:
1. Whatever you are doing, you need to manage yourself and others.
Be a technologist, be a craftsman or a sailor. There is management everywhere. Management skills help you perform better and smarter. You manage your time, your work, your resources, your money and most importantly, you manage people. When life poses a challenge, better managing what you have to deliver is important. The better you manage it, the more successful you become.
When you are taught and made to experience how to manage in schools, you do not need to learn it anymore.
I have been a big fan of Government colleges in India simply because they do not give much facilities and support to the students. Thus they force them to manage themselves and excel.
2. Management helps you become smart at work
look at the work each person around you is doing. look at the amount of unproductive work people are doing. During my previous stint with one of the top software services companies in India, the very first work I was assigned to turn out to be a repetitive, non-productive work. It consumed 2 hours of a person every day, which was completely unnecessary. It was not because the people who worked there did not have the technical talent to automate this.
It was because of sheer lack of smart management. We spent a total of 6 hours on it and it was automated for the rest of the days. Think about the time that can be saved if all this work turns productive.
3. Your life is all about management
You manage your own finances, time and resources. Yes you manage your life. Organise it and play it smart. Considering the competitive environment in today’s fast paced life, children should be prepared to manage their time appropriately.
The first step of this should start from schools. Children can learn a lot of managerial skills through their regular activities in school.
Management should be treated not just as a professional subject, but as a skill essential to the development of a personality.
(Dr Rout, a management expert, is a top executive of a corporate house in Odisha. Rout.jagdish@gmail.com)