KOZHIKODE:
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode successfully conducted the first ever Managerial Effectiveness Lab (MEL) for hospital administrators in the first week of October. Senior medical consultants and administrators across India participated in the three day programme.
The objectives of the programme are to develop expertise in planning, organizing, and managing hospital administration; become skilled at managing self & people (hospital management, doctors, paramedic & office staff); enhance communication skills; develop a more confident personality; create a niche amongst patients and bystanders; become better in terms of development and execution of ideas & plans; fortify skills as a team member and as a team leader; solve problems creatively; handle crisis situations assertively; motivate others & be self- motivated.
In the current scenario, the conventional skill-set of managers who only deal with basic functions is inadequate due to the changing nature of the health services market. Healthcare managers perform a wide variety of roles. To perform these roles effectively, they must possess specific competencies to produce the desired outputs. Administrators are expected to have viable relationships and interaction with the staff of other departments, and to be thought of as ideals of others.
Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode said, “Managerial Effectiveness Lab is designed to help hospital administrators at every level gain the communication and soft skills they need in binding the combined potential of fellow team members towards achieving set objectives.”
The Programme Coordinator, Prof. Deepa Sethi, who conceptualized and designed the lab further added that her interest, research and experience in the area of healthcare communication has inspired her to design programmes like – Managerial Effectiveness Lab for hospital administrators.
The institute also offers another programme called Interpersonal and Soft Skills Effectiveness Lab for Health Professionals (Doctors) which is conceptualised and spearheaded by Prof. Deepa.
The experiential learning experience gave a number of insights to the participants. Dr. Srinivasan Ramananthan, Consultant Intensivist, Dept Of Intensive Care, Lilavati Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Bandra, Mumbai said, “Being a student of science and a clinician at practice, I have always wondered if communication skills could have ever been scientifically added as part of my medical curriculum. Being into IIMK and under the perfect vision and leadership, I have sharpened aspects of my communication skills, learnt many aspects of Finance, team building and leadership, importance of IT in the hosp sector, marketing for hospital sector, etc, to name a few which has helped to enhance my lateral learning which is required for growth in life.”
Another participant, Krishna Madhu, Manager HR & Quality Control, Daya General Hospital Limited, Thrissur added, “One of the most creative and entertaining learning experience which has helped me in enhancing my understanding on modern managerial concepts. All credit goes to the entire faculty for the wonderful experience.”