Month: October 2021

On 27th June 2017, Caring Minds organised a one-day workshop on Adolescent Development, Learning and Classroom Management for the senior school teachers of Don Bosco School, Park Circus. Various topics such as adolescent development from the cognitive, social, physical and emotional perspective, enhancement of classroom learning in adolescents and emotional & behavioural problems in children were covered. The workshop was packed with group and individual activities and prizes for the winners. The teachers enthusiastically shared their classroom experiences and concerns during the workshop and gave positive feedback.

On the 24th of June 2017, Caring Minds conducted an informative and interactive day-long workshop for the junior school teachers of Don Bosco Park Circus. There were 48 participants who enthusiastically participated in role-plays, discussions and group activities and made the event a great success.

Mind Over Food was an innovative workshop in conjunction with dietician Hena Nafis at the Eat Good Food Cafe. The audience was taken through the psychology behind our food choices and the reason why we have cravings.There was also the opportunity to have their questions answered and do a short paper-pencil test on either stress or anger.

Caring Minds conducted a Workshop on Marital Harmony and Adjustment on 9th February 2016 at the Naval Premises for the Indian Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA), Kolkata. The attendees were officers of all ranks along with their spouses. It was a fun interactive session and included activities that were introspective.

Career Counselling for 220 students of classes X and XII for Loreto House School was conducted by Team Caring Minds. The students answered psychometric tests on aptitude, interest and personality on the basis of which reports were generated identifying what career areas each individual student might excel in.

On the 19th of December 2015, a workshop on Stress Management and Soft Skills was conducted for 50 members of Kolkata Police. Officers-in-charge, Inpectors and Sub-Inspectors attended the workshop, which was conducted by Ms. Gargi Dasgupta and Ms. Priya Ray Chaudhuri. The workshop was inaugrated by the Commissioner of police and the Additional Commissioner of Police of Kolkata. Minu Budhia and Preeyam Budhia were also present.

Intra-Organizational Communication

Caring Minds conducted a Training Program with Ambuja Realty on Intra-Organizational Communication, Assertiveness Training and the Art of Delegation on the 8th of March, 2013.

This training program was developed to educate employees on the concept of Intra-organizational communication. Effective communication, coherent exchanges of communication is the key to an individual’s and an organisation’s success. The workshop was designed to train delegates to understand the importance of communicating clearly and efficiently in their professional lives, and to help them acquire good communication skills.

In the workshop, the delegates were trained on good speaking and listening skills. The workshop was a blend of activities and theory; the focus being on learning through activities. The delegates were a very enthusiastic, open-minded and inquisitive group who participated in the workshop whole-heartedly.

We greatly appreciated the group of Delegates and their openness to experience, candour and lack of rigidity in thinking. This workshop was a grand success due to their willingness to receive all the information and give their view point on the topics discussed freely and openly. The workshop was a highly interactive session, consisting of Role plays, mimicry and Spoofs demonstrated by the Delegates on Communication within the office. On the whole, this Workshop was a grand success.

Facilitators: Devlina Lahiri and Michelle Manuel.

Non Verbal Communication

The importance of non verbal communication in organizational settings was discussed picturesquely. How well we create an impression on the other person is an important facet of our every day organizational dealings.

The discussed nonverbal tenets included the following: Touch- glance – eye contact (gaze) – volume- vocal nuance- intonation – proximity- haptics – gestures – facial expression – pause (silence) – dress- posture – smell – word choice and syntax – sounds (paralanguage)

It is one of the key aspects of communication and some of the discussed importance of nonverbal communication included – repeat the verbal message – to accent a verbal message – complement the verbal message but also may contradict – regulate interactions – substitute for the verbal message, gestures & facial expressions.

As we reiterated the fact that it’s not what we say it’s always how we say it

Facilitator: Tanaya Chatterjee

The Role Of Mood And Personality In Intra-Organizational Communication

How our mood and personality influences our communication with others was explored through a discussion of Transactional Analysis – a theory for personality and communication. The participants acted out scenes where each of the three ego states – Parent, Adult and Child was evoked. The physical and verbal cues that provide insight into one’s current Ego State during interactions were explored through an interactive session with the audience. The participants were able to identify the effectiveness of Complementary and Crossed Transactions. Some strategies to alter the Ego State during interactions were discussed as a means of enhancing the efficacy of daily communication. Adult to Adult Transaction was emphasised as it leads to assertive communication.

Facilitator: Pompi Banerjee

The importance of organisational communication is equally important from the perspective of both verbal , non verbal and mood and personality with which each adult unknowingly passes through and the feedback equally becomes important based on how the recipient is responding to the sender . Assertive behavior or assertiveness is a trait which needs to be developed to understand the environment and to handle critical situations in a smoother way. The assertive communication is a way to learn and implement an uniform , positive influence which promotes an organisational parity among individuals who belong to different strata of the society and have passed through different organisational compliance and where the adaptation to a new surroundings becomes equally very important .

Facilitator: Sangita Sarkar

This Training Program was conducted for the Officers In-charge from the Police and Security Sector. The topics chosen included:

1. Team Building
2. Team Building

Team Building

Team building activities were a great way to help the delegates learn to effectively work with their co-workers. It allowed the officers to get involved in the activities, discuss relevant situations where building a team was necessary. Characteristics of different members in a team were discussed and their importance in the team was highlighted upon. Personality scale was used to understand the strengths of each member.

The following were the learning outcome.

1. Teams are more important for organizational/business success. Individual success depends on teamwork.
2. Teamwork is often inadequately defined and/or misunderstoo
3. Difference between a team and a group. Difference between situational and transformational leadership. Effective teams are defined by their achievements and effective teams realize that good intentions, effort, and behaviors are only important when they contribute to team achievements.

Facilitator: Tanaya Chatterjee

Stress Management and its Effects on Performance at Work

This Training program was designed keeping in mind the various work stressors that employees from the Police and Security Sector endure in the form of Occupational Hazards. We used several team building exercises and trust exercises’ to warm up the session. The entire program was primarily activity based.

The delegates learned skills on the recognition of work stressors and learnt valuable tips on keeping work stressors in check.

These were also instructed on Relaxation techniques and various handouts and Standardized Tests were used to access the delegates stress levels and responses.

This Training Program was a grand success. We look forward to having a long association with the Kolkata Police hence forth.

Facilitator: Michelle Manuel

Stress Management

The level of stress is comparable as per the individuals’ affinity towards taking stress. Even slightest affair can give a stress to people . There are no universal situations to define which can give what level of stress to individuals . The mind set at times always help a person and his environment to go by managing his stress level , it also depends on how self analyzing factors are there and how far or to what extent the person is available to adapt new situations and stop taking irrelevant stress out of it rather there the solution can be to turn off the critical stressful situation , take a break for some time and then get back to the same in a proper way.

Facilitator: Sangita Sarkar

The various organizational stressors that lead towards heightening stress and stress reactions were discussed. The subjective nature of stress was discussed in context of the unique combination of Psychological, Behavioral and Physiological stress reaction that any individual experiences. The participants assessed their own dominant pattern of stress reactions and their level of stress – gaining an insight into the various consequences of the same.

Facilitator: Pompi Banerjee

The Delegates were instructed in effective methods of Stress Management. A demonstration on Relaxation Training was conducted at the workshop. This session was well received and taught the participants how to put into practice various skills they learnt on stress management.

Facilitator: Michelle Manuel