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| Sunday, 16 October 2005 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Updating individual profiles equally important by Surekha Galagoda
Individuals as well as companies have profiles and not only companies but individual profiles should also be updated to make it saleable said Chairman, Hatton National Bank Rienzie Wijetilleke addressing the first residential seminar/workshop organised by the Academy for Administrative Professionals (AAP). Speaking on the theme "Indispensable strategies - Reinvent the profile," he said that everybody should and must have leadership qualities and should know how to lead. First start by Managing yourself and then move on to managing relationships. Learn to manage subordinates, peers and superiors. Most importantly learn new technologies relating to your job and be fluent in English as all this relates to people and workplaces. The greatest challenge is coordinating people with different ideas. For some persons executing responsibility is key. This category of people will work with knowledgeable people even if he is a jerk (a person who is competent but is not pleasant to deal with) while others may prefer to work with the person of their choice even if the person is not competent. Director Sales and Marketing Galadari Hotel David Nicolle speaking on "Paradigm shift pitfalls in the resistance to change," said people in Sri Lanka and globally are being challenged more than ever before Therefore go for the intellect. The higher you rise in position the simpler you should become and as thoughts have consequences articulate thoughts in a positive manner. Whether we like it or not a paradigm shift will take place as change is the only constant thing. And he who refuses to learn from human history is forced to repeat its mistakes. The world today has its own dinosaurs for eg Arthur Anderson, Enron, Bearings Bank and Xerox. This is because they were not willing to change the climate of business rather than adopting to business. The world is suddenly going back into a black hole. Businesses are shrinking and liquidity is scarce. Only those who are willing to accept that they have to shed their old skin and adjust to the new one will survive. He said that even the lobster sheds his shell 20 times during his life time. Joel Barker who promotes the idea of paradigm shift said "that through life people settle into a mindset or paradigm over a period of time and thus evolve into what you and I refer to as a comfort zone. As a result we become so locked on that we cannot see anything other than the way we think." Be careful of the things you take for granted, settle down in your job but don't stagnate. Most importantly be open to change or else you will become obsolete, Nicolle said. Have the right attitude as the right attitude makes the team successful. Zarine Commissariat speaking on the theme "True transformation towards incremental change", said grab every opportunity to do more work. Good judgement, calm and poised attitude, multi tasking and effective telephone etiquette are some of the skills required by an efficient administrative professional. David Nicolle speaking on "Professionally presented report /document unspoken image builder", said that business people spend 80% of their working day on communication. Therefore written communication should have a purpose, reader, match the reader's objective, materials, structure, style and presentation. Select a catchy header, begin the body of the opening report with an opening paragraph. Keep it short and simple. But be descriptive to the point. Executive Director AAP Sunethra Jayaratne in her welcome address said that continuous education and training is a must to face the challenges of the present day. Therefore she said that AAP will organise many more events in the future for the benefit of its members. AAP is a registered educational institution under a Board of Directors and an Academic Advisory Board comprising eminent personnel in the sphere of education. The main purpose of AAP is to assist Administrative Professionals enhance their skills and become more productive contributors to their employers. The sponsors of the seminar were SriLankan Airlines, Nawaloka Lasik Eye
Correction Centre and Janashakthi Insurance. |
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