Stress - a growing health hazard!

Stress is a common situation felt across nowadays. With growth in population, competition, the pressure of striving through has made space for stress in everyone's life including students. Student's life was used to be one of the best time in life but due to a lot of competitive activities, exams and assignments to make a better future for them. Lot of academic work can make student tired and not getting any free time can make them even worse. This type of situation can cause stress in their life. 

Lets dig in history, how people started identifying stress in their life. It all started in 1936 by Hans Selye a pioneer in biological stress research.  He borrowed the 'Stress' word from physics,where it is described as a force that produces strain on a physical object. By correlating the meaning; Selye proposed that stress was a non-specific strain on human body that caused irregularities in the normal bodily function.

Nowadays, students have become more prudent about their career and sets goals to achieve in future. And the goal comes with a lot of responsibility like deadlines for assignments, research papers, competitive exams, interviews and lot more. There has to be a specific planning to be a part of each and every activity and exams related to your goal. And without planning on goal, stress's few symptoms like irritable nature, blood pressure, trouble in sleep and lack of concentration's negative effects like lower marks in exams, disqualification in project or competition will occur on the goal. These negativeness can ruin one's future. 

When there are a lot of activities to do and time is little, students tries to cope up with stress by different mechanisms observed. 

Denial- A verbal or mental feedback to self, by saying ' There is not any major problem, a solution will be found sooner or later.'

Avoidance-A human behavior wherein you compensate the emotional stress with a positive engaging task, and keeping yourself occupied. 

Substance use - May include substances such as drugs, alcohol, caffeine, food but with caution of the overdose. 

But instead of coping stress, students should learn to handle the stress, 

A- Achieve Control - Control over the situation, confront the problem, face it and try to resolve it. 

B- Be Active-  Involve yourself in regular exercises, meditation, yoga, sports, an active body with an active mind ensures things at peace. 

C- Connect-  Get yourself engaged socially, connect with the people around you. 

D- Do Learn-  Keep learning new skills,learn new activities, explore the world around, it will provide confidence. 

In the end, always believe in yourself, believe there lays a solution to every problem, believe everything is for short phase and situation would soon change, your belief would help you to live a de stress life.

The author of the article is Dr. Shivani Vaid Assistant Professor Sigma Institute of Physiotherapy in Sigma Group of Institutes Vadodara.

Employee Perspective: Is Customer really “The King”? “

Customers are important factor of market. They have a right to appreciate or criticize your product as per their interest and liking. In some incidences customers think they are the king of the market and their pride takes the brand for granted, which may or may not be true in all cases. On such incidence is sited below:

At the very outset, let me start off by acknowledging that we were at fault and we not only apologize for the regrettable incident, we have also taken action,” IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh wrote regarding one real incident took place on October 15th at the Delhi Airport. 

It started with ground personnel - Juby Thomas asking passenger Rajiv Katiyal not to abuse. The passenger continues to walk towards the shuttle bus and a voice can be heard asking the ground personnel to stop him. After this, Thomas can be seen pulling him out of the coach. Second ground personnel Sahiv Sharma indicates to the bus driver to depart to the airport terminal. A scuffle suddenly breaks out between Thomas and Katiyal. But their video which went viral in social networks doesn't show who made the first move. Sharma tries to restrain the passenger by putting his arms around Katiyal's chest. Katiyal later breaks free from his grip and attack Thomas and grab him around his neck. In the ensuing fight he falls onto the ground, and Thomas is seen with his hand on the passenger's collar bone. 

I am sure, your memory can recollect this infamous IndiGo incident (whose video went viral) of barbaric customer handling few months back. Recently, in one of my marketing lecture, I was explaining concepts of 'Customer Relationship, 'Customer Satisfaction' and 'Customer Delight' sighting this incident. Along with these phrases 'Customer is King' and 'Customer is always right' are widely used terms in business world. 

These philosophies are the top ones in induction training programs for all the new joiners. Even mid to senior level managers in sales and other business functions chant it frequently. Still, such incidents often come in media. So there is a question in mind, Are these metaphors (invented several decades earlier) still powerful & relevant enough in enriching relationship between employee and customer and achieving organizational goals? 

The key person in the market is a customer. Who generates uniquely strong emotion in human mind. Generalization of words like customer in place of people has resulted in low emotional quotient and high materialistic quotient. 

You must remember a scene from Munnabhai MBBS where professor addresses a half dead patient as subject several times in his lecture. Annoyed by this tag, Munnabhai shouts - ' Kya subject-subject laga rakha hai, doesn't he has a name? In the end of the movie, that patient miraculously cured by the care and love shown by Munnabhai. Even legends like Henry Ford and Steve Jobs address their customers as people. Henry Ford once said, 'If I had asked people what they want, they would have asked for a faster horse.' 

In a nutshell, Customer is King epitomize customers as someone whose birth right is to exert control and influence the market by making any demands they want, rejecting anything not liked. It still holds true from strategic and marketing perspective as customer has become more fickle minded, provided they have a lot of options available suiting their needs. Steve Jobs once told Business Week,  'a lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.'

But do you think Customer is King metaphor still valid from employee perspective? I would like to show my observations arguing, it has run out of course now, 

In reality it's human, who plays role of a customer and employee simultaneously. Human behavior has gone through sea change over past decades, thanks to technology and associated social revolution. 

As a developing economy, India's 65% (Approx.) of population is young (15-59 years). Most of the urban young population has basic financial stability, and this has made them independent with high self-esteem and risk taking ability, full of aspirations. 

Highly pressurized work environment and rat race for survival has altered employees' behavior considerably. They are now more pruned to short temper, aggressive and so on. 

The paradox is that working for a king also reflects slavery, exploitation, lack of enthusiasm, arrogance and inferiority in mind of employees. It generates fear which compels them to accept the customer as king. 

For an employee, a lot is at stake when he deals with the king. He always carries a feeling of uncertainty that a customer (whom he calls king) is the one deciding his fate. This result in state of mental choking. It creates a dangerous state where an employee working for 10 to 12 hours a day feels strangled for freedom and fresh air. 

This state was visible in the IndiGo incident where a communication brawl turned into a physical assault. The incident has been and must be condemned. But in the end, it was a reaction from three individuals who were in different mental states. However, this philosophy has turned more heat on the employee than on the customer. We must acknowledge that at ground level, a human is interacting with the human. A human who has countless emotional states any moment based on his inner and external stimuli. We need more human philosophy to enhance satisfaction and strengthen the relationship with existing and prospective customers. 

The author of the article is Mr Junaid Siddiqui, Assistant Professor in Sigma Institute of Engineering- MBA Program of Sigma Group of Institutes- Vadodara.

Let’s Communicate!!!

Let’s ask one question - “How much importance we give to our communication skill?” This post is not about teaching communication skills. There are multiple blogs and posts on communication. 

In communication, there are many theoretical queries regarding the essence of communication. It is more important to understand it. but also it is not really possible to make anyone clearly understand any philosophy; it comes with belief of acceptability with time. If we see there are lot of examples which can help you to experience or discover the philosophy behind the communication. 

If we see the expression of communication with a song, 

“Keh dooN tumhe… Ya Chup rahoon,dil mein mere aaj kya hai…

Dil mein mere aaj Kya hai???”

Like many other Kishore Kumar's song, this song from Deewar demonstrates an example of expressing complex emotions. Is this an example of communication? for that matter, it is better we dig into the core of communication. 

So let’s begin!

The word “Communication” comes from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share". “Sharing” or “Symbiosis” is the foundation on which today’s human civilization is based. In other words, communication is one of the key elements necessary for our survival. But why we should accept this statement? Without accepting the utmost importance of anything, it is impossible to put an effort in learning or accepting it.

Now, what are things we share with each other? There’s no text book or guidelines on what to share but it can be as simple as putting up a smile or eye contact to as complex as clarifying your role in some crime or negotiating your point of view.

Emotions, from happiness to sadness, aspirations to frustrations, love to hatred etc. are the inner self that gets exchanged with self and others each moment – consciously and unconsciously. The manner in which we express these emotions become our behavior and creates action with subsequent results. These emotions are then converted in messages through words and non-verbal actions which forms the crux of any communication process.

We’re the only living organisms on this planet, who has received power of language from the creator itself. Words, presented in right format to the right audience, have the power to start and finish wars.

As quoted by legendary Hogwarts Head master, Albus Dumbledore of Harry Potter series – “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of inflicting injury and remedying it.”

That gives some sense to the finding that only 35% of communication is verbal. Words need to be used judiciously to achieve desired outcome. Sharing these emotions through words can be in form of one on one talk to addressing a large crowd or a nation. 

Food for Thought: 

How many times we’ve regretted about not saying those words during heated argument?

As mentioned earlier, since we share emotions, it is well communicated through our body which makes non verbal communication percentage to staggering 65%. You can flip through any high profile training manual; you’ll find tons of exercises on physiological practice – eye movement, facial muscles, and body posture and so on.

“From its products to packaging, Apple communicates its emotions of being different, innovative, aspiration non-verbally”  

Finally, what matters is the environment in which you share your emotions. The surrounding environment gives automatic context to our message. Hence, you need to be in conscious state whenever we communicate. Your emotions change as per environment and alter the message to be conveyed.

In nutshell – Communication is a process of sharing our inner self with surrounding environment verbally and non-verbally. Philosophies have more depth than any example or fact. This is the reason I haven’t shared many examples. You just need to go through this article and get the soul of the message – Understanding communication philosophy.

- The author of the article is Mr Junaid Siddqui, Assistant Professor, MBA department of Sigma Group of Institutes. 

#LifeAtSigma #CommunicationIsImportant #SigmaVadodara #SigmaCampus #SigmaMBA 

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One Step Further to Research

After enjoying lot of fun and learn events in campus, Sigma students have pulled up their socks and focused on research area. This week Sigma Group of Institutes had organized Gujarat Youth Research Conference 2018 in collaboration with International Journal of Research and review in Science and Technology (IJRRT).  

Students from diploma, degree engineering, masters engineering and pharmacy got a chance to show their research ability by presenting their research papers and posters on various topics of engineering and pharmacy. Approx. 247 papers and 120 posters were presented in the conference.

Sigma Group of Institutes' Mr Harsh Shah Managing Trustee, Ms Shreya Shah Joint Managing Trustee and Dr Jigar Patel Managing Director presented to increase the enthusiasm of students. Along with the management team, conference petron Mr Hasit Desai and Dr Umesh Upadhyay had also motivated students for the presentation performance. 

Students of Sigma Group of Institutes have worked really hard for the presentation. In the presentation participation, majorly diploma students have participated. Research and presentation helps students to remove stage fear from their mind. It also improves their their speech and utilization of their creativity and thinking ability. In addition, Research will always help students to improve their grades, personal development and broadens thinking capacity. In the end, students get benefits of research and Sigma Group of Institutes will always support students, future researchers and entrepreneurs. 

#LifeInSigma #SigmaCampus #GujaratResearchConference2018 #SigmaStudents #SigmaVadodara #Research 

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She is Special – International Women’s Day Celebration

Woman is a powerhouse for everyone around. She comes in the form of classmate, friend, sister, daughter, teacher and many more. Women are self motivated and hold power to motivate around her as well. 

In today’s competitive world, women have gain extra special place in each field and profession around the world. If we name few personalities like Chanda Kocchhar CEO ICICI Bank India, Indra Nuyi CEO Pepsico , Sania Mirza Tennis Player of India, Mithali Raj Captain Indian Women Cricket Team, Malala Yusufzai Education activist. Their names are enough to inspire anyone around us.

Last week, In Sigma Group of Institutes, we have celebrated International Women’s day in a very unusual way.  Our Young and energetic Joint Trustee Ms Shreya Shah have teamed up with the girls of Sigma Group of Institutes for the celebration and organized Self Defense Training Program at Bakrol Campus. 

Sigma Group of Institutes has organized various competitions like mehendi competition, non flame cooking, and poster making presentation for girls. In last, motivational speech by Ms Shreya Shah, Joint Trustee of Sigma Group of Institutes, She has motivated girls to work hard make their own identity which is necessary for everyone nowadays.  

Strength and mental calmness requires when you are in trouble and you can easily fight against danger. Sigma Group of Institutes have invited Ms Neha Patel Director SHITO RYU Association , Mr Jayesh Dhaiber General Secretary/ Tech director SHITO RYU Association and their team to teach our girls. Students and faculty members have also performed the techniques. More than 500 students have taken part in the program enthusiastically.

After all, Women are special. Respect, love, courage and confidence will make them first everywhere. 

#LifeInSigma #SigmaCampus #InternationalWomensday2018 #SigmaGirls #SigmaVadodara

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