Management guru says seminars should be interactive

"A management seminar in which participants want to learn something should be hosted by just one consultant rather than by five or six, as is the trend nowadays," says management guru Upali Mahanama.

"It should also be highly interactive, and should be spread over at least two days to enable the consultant to build a one-to-one rapport with the participants. Further, there should be regular follow-ups, and a system of performance evaluation to determine how effective the seminars have been."

The Sri Lankan guru was in town last week on one of his frequent trips to the Gulf to conduct a programme for one of his numerous clients in the region.

Affable and outgoing, yet not one to mince words, Mahanama points out that the trend towards having four or more experts on the panel — all highly qualified and capable in their respective fields — only results in the delegates being "lectured" on dos and don'ts in a purely academic manner before the panelists rush off to deliver their next presentation, and is therefore not as effective as the one-consultant approach.

He should know. He's been in the business for close to two decades, with 83 clients in Sri Lanka and 14 in the Gulf, plus others in regions far afield. Today he is also an oft-invited speaker at various high-level fora and a consultant trainer for the UNHCR.

Mahanama also feels that while most major companies in the Gulf have their own management upgradation systems, several SMEs should improve their managers' skill levels.

"HRD still tends to be treated as a cost item, but companies should realise they will, over a period of time, get improved performances, translating directly into higher revenues. Do you know, most of the global majors budget a fixed amount of training per annum for all their executives, and small and medium-sized companies seeking to grow should realise this and act accordingly."

Mahanama has conducted his programmes on marketing and management in 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and has visited 40 countries during his career. Today, at 60, he feels he has discharged his main responsibilities and is turning to charity-oriented projects.