Category Archives: Work

Facebook at work

facebook-at-work[1]

Whenever I check Facebook in the noon all is see is that most of my requests have been accepted in a time frame of last 3 to 4 hours. Most of the comments are made on my updates in the same time frame and most status updates too are made at the same time. It seems like people come to work, start their workstations, fire up their browsers and … tada… www.facebook.com …. and the work begins…

There is also a lot of activity at the end of the day in evening but not as much as in the morning. The reason I think is “The day starts at the same time for all but ends at different hours for each of us”, isn’t it?

Facebook at Work = Lost Productivity?

According to the Nucleus Research survey, employers are losing 1.5 workers per 100 in employee productivity to the supposed time-wasting activity known as "Facebooking." To reach that number, the company surveyed a random sampling of 237 office workers.

A Second Opinion

Nucleus Research isn’t seeing the bigger picture here, so we’d like to counter their research with some findings from the University of Melbourne. U of M professor Dr. Brent Coker also surveyed a small sample of office workers (300 to be exact) and came to a rather different conclusion.

Read the full discussion on Readwriteweb and also let us know about your thoughts 🙂

10 New Indian Web Startups worth mentioning

image ChalkPad technology focused Start-up Company that aims to revolutionize the business of education. The company envisions strengthening the academic and financial performance of various schools, colleges and universities. It aims to improve constituent services, increase the accountability and provide better educational experiences by bringing together people, processes and technology. http://www.chalkpad.in/

image Clayology uses Stop Motion and Clay Animations for product development and marketing for their clients using various advertising channels.
The company was founded in July 2008 in Mumbai. Their team has an expertise from the fields of animation, broadcast, print, radio and online media.
Their services include concept and content creation for television commercials, product development and marketing using various modes such social media, video and mobile advertising. http://www.clayology.com

image Gechi is a mobile application that helps you use Twitter using simple text messages.
This application is created and owned by a group of NIT and IIM alumni.
The promoters came with this idea when they figured that tweeting is heavily dependent on computers and mobile phones with Internet / GPRS connectivity. They then worked to develop a service which is based on a simple logic – to enable TWITTER account holders to tweet (receive & send) messages via SMS from their mobile. http://www.gechi.in/

image Longlongago is online children’s books library where one can rent books and return it on a later date.
The aim of this online library portal is to make available original and interesting stories for children. Their collection includes some of the classics like ‘Panchatantra’, Chhota-Bheem, Aesop, and many other children’s books from around the world. The books are either paperback books or beautiful hardcover books.
There are no late fees or per book reading fee. http://www.longlongago.in/

image YouthKiAwaaz as the name suggests is an online media platform dedicated towards highlighting the voice of the youth.
The platform aims social change and development, leveraging web technology to reach out to a mass educated audience. The promoters believe that a small group of determined and like-minded people can change the course of history and the youth has the power to create a new environment of peaceful co-existence. http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/

image Scribesnook.com is a social network which provides a facility for the creative writers to post their original writings and share it with a passionate group of writers and readers from across the globe.
For the unpublished writers who are still learning, one of the best ways to get feedback on their writing is by opting for web. Nowadays, the writer’s group is increasingly taking a place on web. http://www.scribesnook.com/

image Pixdelite is a one stop software solution to create Digital photo-books, calendars and greeting cards.
This software is free of cost and can be downloaded from their website. The interesting thing about the software is that anyone can personalize the digital images on their own.
To use the software you will have to follow the step by stop instructions regarding what you need to do. You will get a choice on every aspect of the design. http://www.pixdelite.com/

image SimplyBooks is a newly launched online bookshop targeted for Indian book readers. It is the initiative of eMinds Knowledge Services, a company based in Gurgaon.
Most of the features you will find on the portal are the ones that already exist on other online bookshops but there are some features and impressive user interface which are comparatively much better than the other book portals. You can search books according to author, category and book title.

http://www.simplybooks.in/

image Ideaken is an online platform where one can collaborate with others to innovate and win rewards and recognition.
The concept of ‘Collaborate to innovate’ mainly means that different companies or individuals group together to solve problems and develop customer centric solutions.
Ideaken was founded in 2009 to realize the practical use of the world’s best accepted principles. http://www.ideaken.com/

image iDuple Webtop is a web application which mainly functions like Windows Desktop.
The idea of developing a Windows like web interface originates from the fact that Windows is a familiar environment for a user, and if applications are built that functions exactly like windows, it will definitely improve the user experience, which in turn will result in an increase in productivity. Webtop comes with a set of applications such as, Disk Drives, Calendar, RSS Manager, Sticky Notes, Notepads, Document Viewers, Email Clients, and Instant Messengers etc. http://www.iduple.com/

Figures of growth of Digital Market in INDIA

digital_media_consulting

Internet & Mobile Acces in India

  • India currently has around 50-60 million internet users and 7.4 million broadband connections. DNA
  • With nearly 440 million subscribers, mobile phones cover nearly 40% of the country’s population. IAMAI
  • India has an active internet user base of about 3.3 million, according to the IAMAI. The report is based on primary survey covering 20,000 Households, 90,000 individuals, 1000 SMEs and 500 cyber cafes countrywide. Economic Times
  • The number of people in Asia Pacific who have access to the internet grew by 22 percent during the period September 2008 to September 2009. China led the region with a 31 percent growth followed by Japan (18 percent) and India (17 percent)[4]. Visa Asia
  • The government has planned to expand broadband coverage to connect every gram panchayat to broadband network by May 2012. CIOL
  • While the world’s tele-density as on December 31, 2008 stands at 78.11 per cent, India’s tele-density, as on October 31, 2009 is 44.87 per cent. the rural tele-density in the country is 18.97 per cent. CIOL
  • By 2010 we expect there to be over 600 million mobile broadband subscribers, rising to 900 million by 2012 and the vast majority, will be served by advanced networks such as HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) and LTE (Long Time Evolution). Hindu
  • India has the lowest average of 11 hours per user, ComScore also said, below the regional average of 16.9 hours MB
  • The report by DtecNet that is based on tracking illegal downloading IP addresses on P2P (Peer to Peer) networks, showed that from April to September 2009, India was among the top 10 countries in the world with the largest number of illegal P2P activities. Economic Times

Gaming in India

  • Console-based gaming in the country is expected to become a Rs 575 crore market by 2010 as youths increasingly get hooked onto gaming,
    a study said here on Tuesday.
    Economic Times
  • Mobile gaming is also catching on with the mobile gaming industry pegged at Rs 289 crore, which is a mere five per cent of the overall mobile value-added services industry.This is expected to grow to Rs 812.5 crore by June 2010, it added. Econonic Times

Online Publishing in India

  • WSJ will launch its 1st mobile reader in India in 2010 MoneyControl
  • The number of online news and information consumers in India surged 37 percent in the past year, more than double the rate of growth of the total online audience in India,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. In October 2009, nearly 16 million people visited an online news site in India, a gain of 37 percent from the previous year. A look at the most visited news destinations in India revealed that local brands make up a significant portion of the top news sites – and some of the fastest growing.comScore

3G In India

  • The successful bidders will get third-generation (3G) spectrum simultaneously only in August 2010. India Infoline
  • Operators will not be in a position to launch the services before early 2011The Hindu Business Line

Online Shopping / E-commerce in India

  • The size of e-commerce market in India is worth around Rs 9,500 crore, out of which the pure play online shopping market is worth Rs 1,300 crore. While online shopping globally is growing at around 8-10%, in India the growth rate is upwards of 30%. Economic Times
  • The online travel industry in India is expected to grow to $6 billion (over Rs 28,000 crore) in 2010 in terms of revenues (the value of transactions as opposed to the earnings of travel firms). Business Standard
  • Ebay India Census 2009 Ebay India

Social Networking in India

  • It’s also one of the most cost- effective channels that offers a reach of around 23.5 million active SNS population (figure according to Sept: comScore report),” The Indian

Online advertising in India

  • Online advertising is expected to account for Rs1,800 crore in revenues by 2015 DNA
  • online video advertising industry is currently generating revenues of Rs 40-60 crore, and is expected to touch Rs 200 crore by 2012 DNA
  • Education and Print medias ad spent on Online Display Advertisements are expected to grow at the rate of 76%, followed by automobile sector which is expected to show the second highest growth rate (46%) with increase in the product launches and emergence of Internet as the effective medium to target youth.IAMAI
  • The online display advertising industry in India grew to INR 3250 Million in FY 2008-09 with the growth rate of 38%. The study is an exhaustive market research on Indian Online Display Advertisement Market. Based on the primary research conducted in this study, it is expected that the industry will grow at a lower rate at 32% and will grow to INR 4300 Million FY 2009-10.- IAMAI

Got a friend at work place?. How to handle

workplace

Most people spend their life at work. In fact with the growing working hours, increasing pressures and greater addiction to work, for some their job has become their life and their office has become their home. In such a scenario it’s difficult to maintain relationships out of the work place. Having a close friend at work can actually be a source of stress relief and joy for an employee. Here are some of the benefits of finding a close friend in your colleague at work:

(i) S/he is your comfort face: To see someone you can relate with is an added advantage of being at work. Just knowing that someone you connect with is also around you, can add to the comfort factor in times of stress and pressure.
(ii) You can confide in him: Sometimes you just need to share your heart with someone. And if that someone is a close friend who is your colleague, is a cherry on the pie. When you confide in your close friend, you know that you will be understood.
(iii) Have a coffee break with him: It’s always great to have coffee and lunch with a friend. You may not have the time to socialize with your friends, so eating together or having coffee with your close friend can assist in making up for the lost friendship.
(iv) Discuss career growth with him/her and expect support: If your colleague is a friend, then career guidance and support becomes natural. It’s easier and meaningful to discuss your future with someone who knows you and your work and has your best interest in mind.
(v) Will watch your back at work: The world has become competitive today and you truly need a close friend at work who can watch your back for you and warn and guide you in your best interests. So go ahead and find a good close friend at work, and you will find more fulfillment in time and life spent at work.

We can make close friends easier than dealing with rude colleagues. At some point in our careers, most of us are forced to work with colleagues, whose people skills are unpleasant, if not atrocious. The thought of having to regularly interact with such people, who are routinely negative, argumentative, stressed out, or just plain mean can make your job a terrible and trying experience.

Well, while you can not change them or control their behavior, you can control your own reactions to it. Because how you interact with rude colleagues can affect your career. Tactfully handling difficult personalities requires strong interpersonal skills and diplomacy, which can make you stand out for all the right reasons.

The rude colleagues are jerks and they need to be tackled by tact. First, try not to let their rude behavior affect your work. Though it’s natural to dwell on such situations, you should not get too stressed about them, especially if they don’t affect your routine work or your career path. Focus only on your work and save your energy for those in the office who deserves it.

If their rude behavior does affect your work, try to spend as little time as you can with the person. Choose to work on projects with other individuals, and keep a distance from your rude colleagues.

Stay calm. The workplace is not a place to become dramatic or over emotional. If the other person is rude or nasty, try to still respond with dignity and define limits regarding the specific behavior. If you react with an angry outburst, you will almost make the situation worse.

Be firm when you deal with a rude colleague. Being too nice or easy going might lead to getting walked over and having more rudeness directed at you. You can smile and be cordial, but do not be a doormat. Be tactful and teach them a lesson at appropriate opportunities without disturbing work place environment.

India’s First eReader – Pi launched

 

While the silicon valley and numerous Apple fan-bois are busy praising the iPad, here in India, Infibeam, the shopping portal has come up with its own eBook reader. The eBbig_textook reader is called “Pi”. Amazon has recently launched its own Kindle, followed by Apple Launching the iPad, which can be used as an eBook reader.

 

One lakh digital books are available to Pi owners from infibeam.com. The company plans to add more books over a period of time. Pi gives users the option to upload their own content from a PC or any other device via USB.

Infibeam.com is also in advance talks with a number of newspaper publications to provide subscription based access to the large amount of newspaper content to its consumers. And it’s not just a eBook reader unlike Amazons’ Kindle, but it is also equipped with music playback option. Features and specifications includes:

  • Screen: 6″ E Ink® Vizplex. No backlight / glare.
  • Slim: Less than 10mm
  • Light Weight: 180gm
  • Formats supported includes PDF, EPUB, HTML, TXT, MOBI, DOC and Images (will show in grayscale – screen is 600×800 pixels) in JPG, BMP & PNG.
  • Internal Memory of 512 MB which can save about 500 books and expandable up to 4GB via SD Slot.

“The idea of Pi has been with us for the past two-years and a lot of R&D effort has gone in the same. We are proud to have created India’s first-ever reading device. Pi should not be seen just as a device but has great socio-economic  ramifications, just imagine a doctor consulting his latest medical journal on the fly, or a lawyer looking at the latest case laws or even students having access to his text book in less than a 180 gm device. We can look at many such applications that have the potential to redefine how Indians view and look at content,” said Vishal Mehta, founder and CEO, infibeam.com.

Priced at 9,999 INR, this looks like a good purchase. You can preorder it from the official Infibeams Pi site for 999 INR. Infibeam would start shipping the device from February 22, 2010.

Adobe: Flash Apps Will Run On The iPad, Even Full Screen At Some Point

adobe_flash

While Apple is being lamented here and there for not supporting Flash on its shiny new iPad – boy does Cupertino have a strong dislike for the platform – Adobe has already responded to the news on the official Flash Platform blog.

The blog post, unambiguously titled “Building iPad Applications with Flash”, is mostly just to remind people of the company’s Packager for iPhone product, which will enable developers to make Flash apps function on the iPhone / iPod Touch through a work-around whereby Flash apps can be easily converted into iPhone apps using Creative Suite 5 (CS5). Adobe also published a post on its Adobe Flash Platform blog addressing the apparent lack of Flash support in the iPad.

Andreessen-Backed Makara Unveils Cloud Application Deployment And Management Platform

Stealth startup Makara is launching publicly tonight with its cloud-based application deployment and management platform. Formerly known as WebappVM, Makara has raised angel funding from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The startup also raised $6 million last year from Shasta Ventures and Sierra Ventures.

Rather than offer a system management software designed for traditional application environments to the cloud, Makara’s’s cloud-based platform leverages the virtual layer to allow developers to rapidly deploy, scale and monitor applications in cloud environments. The product, which is self-service and self-managing, is available for free on its site

Arvind Kejriwal :- social activist and crusader for greater transparency in Government

250px-Arvind_Kejriwal

I was reading a magazine in my last journey where I read about a group called PARIVARTAN ( Change) . Started by  Arvind Kejriwal , who is a IIT passout, who further joined Indian Revenue service and became an Additional Commissioner of Income Tax. He was not happy with the way everyone took bribes to keep papers moving. The conscious had hit him hard.

In the year 2000, Arvind started PARIVARTAN  which focuses on the following issues:-

  1. Empowering Indian Citizens
  2. Awareness About RTI Act (Right to information Act 2005)
  3. Awareness about systematic solution towards Corruption and Red tapism.
  4. Facilitates Indian Citizens in there dealings with government department without any bribes.

Do not be surprised if you find people of PARIVARTAN standing outside any government department with banners like “ DON’T PAY BRIBE”  and exhorting Indian citizens, not to pay bribe for getting there problems fixed. The group also helps to facilitate Indian citizens get there work done without any bribe.

  • 2004: Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.
  • 2005: ‘Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award’, IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government [2].
  • 2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.
  • 2006: CNN-IBN, ‘Indian of the Year’ in Public Service [10]
  • 2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Emergent Leadership.
  • I found it worth to be known to all the people. So thought to share. The idea is brilliant. Those who have that passion inside them can surely join. Those who still think they are doing good work can surely still be a part of them in some way or other maybe once in there life’s. Stop giving and taking bribes. To change the society we need to change ourself first.

    To reach him or to join him in some way or another please check his website – www.parivartan.com or you can also contact via email parivartan@parivartan.com .

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvind_Kejriwal

    aidkol_RTI_poster2

    22 ways of Motivation and retention of employees

    iStockMotivation

    Today’s fast-moving business environment demands that the effective manager be both a well-organized administrator and highly adept in understanding people’s basic needs and behaviour in the workplace. Gaining commitment, nurturing talent, and ensuring employee motivation and productivity require open communication and trust between managers and staff.

    1. Understand their behavior

    People at work naturally tend to adopt instinctive modes of behaviour that are self-protective rather than open and collaborative. This explains why emotion is a strong force in the workplace and why management often reacts violently to criticisms and usually seeks to control rather than take risks. So, in order to eliminate this kind of perspective and to increase employee motivation, it is best that you influence behaviour rather than to change personalities. Insisting what you expect from your employees will only worsen the situation.

    2. Be sure that people’s lower-level needs are met.

    People have various kinds of needs. Examples of lower-level needs are salary, job security, and working conditions. In order to increase employee motivation, you have to meet these basic needs. Consequently, failures with basic needs nearly always explain dissatisfaction among staff. Satisfaction, on the other hand, springs from meeting higher-level needs, such as responsibility progress, and personal growth. When satisfaction is met, chances are employee motivation is at hand.

    3. Encourage pride

    People need to feel that their contribution is valued and unique. If you are a manager, seek to exploit this pride in others, and be proud of your own ability to handle staff with positive results. This, in turn, will encourage employee motivation among your people.

    4. Listen carefully

    In many areas of a manager’s job, from meetings and appraisals to telephone calls, listening plays a key role. Listening encourages employee motivation and, therefore, benefits both you and your staff. So make an effort to understand people’s attitudes by careful listening and questioning and by giving them the opportunity to express themselves.

    5. Build confidence

    Most people suffer from insecurity at some time. The many kinds of anxiety that affect people in organizations can feed such insecurity, and insecurity impedes employee motivation. Your antidote, therefore, is to build confidence by giving recognition, high-level tasks, and full information. In doing so, you only not refurbish employee motivation but boost productivity as well.

    6. Encourage contact

    Many managers like to hide away behind closed office doors, keeping contact to a minimum. That makes it easy for an administrator, but hard to be a leader. It is far better to keep your office door open and to encourage people to visit you when the door is open. Go out of your way to chat to staff on an informal basis. Keep in mind that building rapport with your staff will effectively increase employee motivation.

    7. Use the strategic thinking of all employees.

    It is very important to inform people about strategic plans and their own part in achieving the strategies. Take trouble to improve their understanding and to win their approval, as this will have a highly positive influence on performance and increasing employee motivation as well.

    8. Develop trust

    The quality and style of leadership are major factors in gaining employee motivation and trust. Clear decision making should be coupled with a collaborative, collegiate approach. This entails taking people into your confidence and explicitly and openly valuing their contributions. By simply giving your staff the opportunity to show that you can trust them is enough to increase employee motivation among them.

    9. Delegate decisions

    Pushing the power of decision-making downward reduces pressure on senior management. It motivates people on the lower levels because it gives them a vote of confidence. Also, because the decision is taken nearer to the point of action, it is more likely to be correct. Consequently, by encouraging them to choose their own working methods, make decisions, and giving them responsibility for meeting the agreed goal will encourage employee motivation among your staff.

    10. Appraising to motivate

    When choosing methods of assessing your staff’s performance, always make sure that the end result has a positive effect on employee motivation and increases people’s sense of self-worth. Realistic targets, positive feedback, and listening are key factors.

    If you follow these simple steps in increasing employee motivation, rest assured you will have a good working relationship with your staff at the same time boost you company’s productivity. Just bear in mind that people are employed to get good results for the company. Their rates of success are intrinsically linked to how they are directed, reviewed, rewarded, trusted, and motivated by the management.

     
     

    11.     Take Care of the Little Things to Motivate Others

    Doing the little things well will show that you respect your employees.  Making sure you are on time for meetings, saying “good morning” and “thank-you,” and returning phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner goes a long way to showing your employees that you care during chaotic times.

     

    12.     Be an Active Listener to Motivate Others

    Recent research stated that the average supervisor or manager only invests two hours per year applying “pure listening” skills.  Pure listening is when you are listening to your employee you are not:

    §         Multitasking

    §         Ordering your lunch

    §         Watching people walk by your office.

    §         Answering telephone calls

    §         Setting up appointments

    To be a pure listener you must be an active listener.  Good managers do more than pay attention.  They genuinely care about people and never talk down to them.  They ask their employees about their goals and dreams, their past achievement, their concerns and challenges during this chaotic time.  They listen with their hearts and minds.  They respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions.  They realize that the employees sometimes have the best answer for achieving more through chaos.

    13.     Walk Your Talk to Motivate Others

     

    Leading through example is a brilliant trait of leadership and will be necessary to help motivate staff in a recession environment. Simply do as you say and behave as you would wish your staff to behave, and soon you will have effectively changed the culture of your business in a small but useful way. How you wish your employees to behave is up to you!

      

    If you expect your employees to arrive early, then you arrive early.  If you expect your employees to keep their promises, you keep your promises.  If you want your employees to keep to high standards, you keep to high standards.

    Your employees are watching you even when you don’t think they are watching you.  So set the tone.  Once you walk through the doors of your organization make sure you are positive and upbeat if you expect your employees to be positive and upbeat.

    The key to motivating an individual is to speak in terms of that employee’s deepest wishes and desires. If the employee wishes to own their business then you must remind them that by completing the task you have given them, you will be improving their skills that will allow them to pursue their dream in time. This is a brilliant tip that if used on a personal level – can inspire whole teams of workers, one individual at a time

    14.     Let People Know They Make a Difference to Motivate Others

    At the top of many lists of what motivates employees, more than money, is knowing that they make a difference at work.  One of the most powerful methods of letting your employees know they make is difference is…praise (Go to article Appreciate to Motivate to learn how).  The praise should relate to how the employee helps achieve the overall mission of the organization.

    15.     Communicate Clearly to Motivate Others

    Communicate so that others understand what you want to achieve.  Adapt your communication to the audience you are speaking.  Constantly communicate your vision and goals so that there are no misunderstandings.  The clearer the vision, the clearer the communication, the clearer the opportunity for success.

    16.     Help Employees Succeed to Motivate Others

    People go to work to succeed, not fail.  It is your job to understand your employee’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can put them in the best position to succeed.  If, for example, you find out that an employee is lacking in a certain skill set to succeed during a change then provide the coaching and training to make them and your organization successful.  The best managers minimize or eliminate their employees weaknesses and while building on their strengths.  Remove any and all barriers to success.

      

    17.     Focus Your Team on the Goal to Motivate Others

    Focus your employees on the end result, the overall team goal.  Once you successful communicate this your team will band together to defeat any obstacles that get in the way.

     

    18.     Create High Standards to Motivate Others

    High-performance organizations set high standards for their people.  Employees want to know what is expected of them, how their performance is measured, and what rewards they can expect when they exceed the standard.  Make sure the standards are consistently applied to each employee.  Make sure each employee understands how the standards are measured so that they know how to reach it.  As each plateau is reached, set new goals.

     

    19.     Help Your Employees Compete and Win to Motivate Others

    Develop goals that help all your employees excel.  Workers are inherently competitive and you can take advantage of this by setting tough competitive challenges to inspire your workers. Challenges are easy to set as long as you follow two rules:

    – Don’t let employees compete against those in their own team
    – Give employees as much support as they need to complete their challenge, don’t leave them alone to try and tackle a tough goal.

      

    20.  Reward Outstanding Achievement to Motivate Others

    Find ways to recognize your achievers in a public way.  The more you reward employees for excellent achievement, the more you receive more of the same behavior.  Make sure you are consistent with the way you contribute rewards to your employees.  Very important, make use you communicate exactly why the employee is being rewarded.  And last, reward as soon as possible to the action.

     

    Some of the ways you can show recognition are:

     

    §         Idea board

    §         Initiative Board

    §         Star Spotlight or awards d

    §         Certificates

    §         Gift cards

    §         Say thank-you

    §         Lunch

     

    21.  Celebrate length of service, birthdays etc.

    It’s always a big moment for an employee who has been at your company for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc.  Make sure that you announce and celebrate these moments. Birthdays of course.

    22. Offer in House training

     Utilize senior staff to establish training sessions to help your employees improve their skills and they will ultimately perform better at their jobs.

    23. Encourage vacations and weekends free

     The last thing you want right now is burnt out employees.  Make sure your employees feel comfortable when they are taking time off!

    iTELF and NEN creating an E – Campus

    itelfYesterday I was sent for a workshop by NEN to MIT Pune with two of my colleagues. We were there to learn something about E Cell [Entrepreneurship Cell]. We had formed such a forum in our college by the name of iT ELF [information Technology Entrepreneurship and Leadership Forum] which apart from entrepreneurship also focuses on developing leadership qualities.

    The workshop was to train 2 to 3 members form E cell of 31 campuses present there to understand the functioning of an E cell and how to go about it. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Vinod Shashtri. Mr. Mandar and Miss Yoshima. It was a total practical approach to make us understand how to go about it.

    We started off with registration and a few basics about E-Cell or for that matter any committee or forum on campus. we proceeded through creating a two year plan for our iT ELF, segregating activities in different types and then evaluating what all we have done and what is left to be done.

    Basically it all was about the three stages- Awareness, Intermediate Knowledge and Regularizing the activities and finally Institutionalizing it.

    It was a great experience and we cant wait to impart our learning to our fellow members of iT ELF and implement what we have learned.