Connect. Contribute. Collaborate — Fraser Valley India marks Pro D Day 2019

Professional development is a dynamic process and remains during one’s career. It is crucial to enable you to get ahead and to stay ahead, furthering your career and improving your contribution to your organization. Fraser Valley India realizes how vital something like professional development can be, and thus, the second Pro D Day was as informative as it gets.

Kicking the day off in style was Dr. Garry Fehr who spoke on ‘Education’s Secret Sauce in a time of Disruption.’ Dr. Fehr is the Associate Vice President, Research, Engagement & Graduate Studies at UFV, Abbotsford. His words were of keen interest to the teachers professionally, while others in the room took away a lot from the sheer experience Dr. Garry holds. Following him was Dr. Shyam Vyas, who welcomed everyone to the second edition of Pro D Day.

From resigning his job to earning a living for himself and his family and being a true ‘man of his words,’ Mr. H.S. Cheema, the Managing Director for Cheema Boilers, had the extraordinary story of his life to share. Mr. Cheema emphasized how vital a competing work environment is. Metaphorically, Mr. Cheema compared a professionals’ potential to a steam engine “Water boiling does not do much, but if we were to increase the temperature further, then that same water can power an engine.” Everyone in the room learnt a lot from his days of struggle to efficiently owning a multi-crore enterprise. Confidence, he stated, was the key to unhitch marvels.

Communication is said to be the basic need of humankind. Shedding more light on such a critical topic, Dr. Vyas took to the podium and shared how everyone can use communication effectively from classrooms to other walks of life. Conquering communication, it was now time for believably the second most crucial commodity to humans, money. Clearing some of the fundamental misconceptions a layman may have over investing money and the stock market, Mr. Kanwaljit Singh, with his session on ‘Investor Awareness Program,’ shared various potential ways one can invest money and have better ROI with least risks. On the same lines, Prof. Charu and Prof. Rajesh shared various tax saving schemes & E-filing of income tax returns.

Poetry is so vital because it helps us understand and appreciate the universe around us. Poems tell us how everyone has a varied approach to a typical situation. Dr. Archana Sahni walked up to the mic and said, “Can anyone write poetry? Well, let’s try!” And try, everyone did! Following a short presentation was a fun workshop. Dr. Archana shared a picture on the screen and asked everyone to write a couple of lines looking at the picture. With the eye-raising results, when Dr. Archana read out a few lines the attendees wrote, it was evident that anyone can write poetry, and how everyone has a different eye to a similar situation.

It’s said that the first impression is the last. Considering this, Dr. Prachee Sehgal talked about how effectively building resumes and cover letters can change the first impression one makes. Dr. Prachee also spoke about some common mistakes people make in their resumes and cover letters. Prof. Sunil then spoke about the recently hyped topic of mobile security. First pressing to the problem of how privacy and security have been compromised, Prof. Sunil shared some pro tips with everyone on how they can make their phones more secure and take precautionary steps from potential hacking attacks.

Working in an office is all about working in a team and achieving the ultimate objective. Team building is an essential aspect of professional work culture, and Ms. Navneet Pannu & Ms. Saniya Kamra had just the right activities to grow team spirit in the organization itself. Ms. Navneet’s game, Skyscraper, divided everyone into four teams. Everyone had a few stationery items, and a few articles were deliberately given to only some groups and not others. The challenge was to build the tallest tower from the material available to not just the team, but teams could borrow essential items from other groups as well. Her game taught everyone how to work in teams and achieve goals with limited resources, just like one might face in daily office conditions. Ms. Saniya’s game was called ‘Mine Field,’ where the teams had to navigate through a path that had obstacles. Divided into four teams and with the stopwatch running, one member of the team was blindfolded while the teammates gave useful instructions to steer past the challenges. The team to finish the course in the least time, including a 10 second penalty for running into each obstacle would be the winners. While everyone enjoyed the game, Ms. Saniya stated that the teams were a heterogeneous mix of all departments. Playing in a team brought all employees to the same platform and thus ensured a better bond.

Leading a healthy life is important both at a personal and a professional level. Therefore, Dr. Syed Ahmed spoke on ‘Wellness for better Life’ and Prof. Sushil Kumar on ‘Decision Making and Psychological Distance.’

Dr. Sonia then took everyone back to the math class during school times. But, Dr. Sonia had a trick where she taught everyone calculation for which one might use a calculator. The school days were taken a step ahead by Prof. Aseem when she invited everyone to the computer lab and gave some tips and tricks to the effective use of PowerPoint presentations. Mr. Bhatt took to the podium, marked the last presentation of the day. He talked about Basic IT Troubleshooting, which gave everyone a soft skill of how to troubleshoot underlying IT difficulties one may face on a day to day basis.

With the Professional development day set to enhance the employees with soft skills that make them more efficient, hardworking and happier, this year’s Pro D Day was a complete package. Faculty and staff spent a day together and got the chance to Connect, Contribute, and Collaborate.