CII Communique July 2011

towards excellencetraining and developmentCII-Naoroji Godrej Centre of ExcellenceCompetency-based Interviewing SkillsThis programme, held on 3-4 June, providedparticipants with the knowledge and skills to conductan effective interview using the ‘Behavioural Model’approach.It covered the assessment and selection process,hiring strategies, types of interviews, competency-basedselection, interviewing skills, behavioural assessments,reference checks, etc.A good number of Line Managers and HR Managerswho are responsible for talent acquisition programmesin their organizations attended the programme.Achieving Excellence From WithinThe workshop on ‘Achieving Excellence from Within- Capability Enhancement and Growth Through SelfDiscovery,’ held on 7 – 8 June, addressed executivesacross hierarchies, who are aiming for excellence, andare keen to enhance their personal productivity and thatof their team members. The objective of the workshopwas to ‘delve deeper into one’s self, discover the sourcewithin and leverage it’ to excel both as a professionaland as a person.Faster New Product DevelopmentThe New Product Development & Commercialization(NPD&C) process has assumed greater strategicimportance as competition intensifies, technologygets upgraded and product half-life gets drasticallyreduced. Compressing NPD&C lead time is the key tocompeting successfully. A programme held on 10 – 11June discussed:• Innovation and NPD• Concept of customer value and the Stage & GateProcess• Deploying the “QFD Tool’ to get customer voice intoyour product• Applying project management tools• Lean Thinking in new product introductions• Understanding Cost of Delay• Partnering with suppliers• Experience• Compressing NPD & C time: pitfalls and specificsteps to improve individual / team performanceProject Planning Management & ControlWMG Module on 'Project Planning Management & Control'CII, under its partnership with the WarwickManufacturing Group, now known as WMG, Universityof Warwick, UK, organised a specialised module of 5days duration, conducted by faculty from WMG, on13 – 17 June.The module treated the management of ‘projects’in the widest context of organisational activity withspecific (limited) objectives and time scale, andconstraints. It encompassed both product developmentand ’change’ projects, indeed, any sort of project. Itprovided an appreciation of the issues and currenttechniques for successful project planning andcontrol. It provided some coverage of the place ofproject teams in the organisation, and looked brieflyat the ‘soft skills’ required of the Project Manager,structured around a practical computerised simulationexercise performed by the delegates in teams.However, the main focus was on the ‘hard skills’of Project Management including project definition;work-breakdown structures; estimating; scheduling;networking, critical path analysis; budgeting andcosting; monitoring; reviewing and controlling. Itplaced heavy emphasis on ‘Earned-Value Monitoringand Control’ and ‘Project Risk Management.’52 | July 2011 Communiqué