Challenging Convention And "Rising" Up To "The Mahindra GMC Internship Program" | Part - 2 | Summer Saga 2020

Many of you would be wondering how a student majoring in Marketing work on Operations & Supply chain. Isn't it difficult? That is the power of data analytics.

I am very lucky enough to pursue my MBA in SIBM Pune where we were provided with all resources to transform ourselves. I, majoring in Marketing, started doing courses on Coursera on Supply chain & Operations and found that there is a lot of scope for digitization that would automate many processes and bring efficiency in the manufacturing operations.  This exercise of learning made me well equipped with Operations, Supply chain along with my Marketing domain knowledge.

Exactly before one month of internship start date, I also have started leveraging my coding skills and started implementing Statistics in Python. I even made my hands dirty by spending sleepless nights on how to utilize my core management knowledge with Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence.

Day 1 of internship: (COVID Crisis. All manufacturing plants were shut down)

• With this uncertain situation, I was completely confused on how to understand the processes without visiting the offices or plants. Then comes to the rescue - my team. They explained each and everything very clearly which at some point of time I felt as if I’m in a plant and working on a project.
• Now the next big part is the Business Problem that I need to work on. One clear strategy that helped me to do well in my internship is “Understanding the problem itself”. When you understand what the problem is, you are half done!!!
• Everything is alright and did I directly approach building solutions?

A big “NO”.

Interactions with my project guide and team made me realize that companies become successful only when you build solutions considering all stakeholders. There is a factor called “Empathy” which we would frequently use during our B-School life. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the person who needs this solution. Ask yourself all questions of - Why should I do it? What should I do? These self-introspections will help you to complete some part of the solution.

Everything went well. I was able to perform well during the internship. During this journey, I had to give different presentations to different set of people. With more than 10 presentations, I have realized the art of presenting the solution. Even if we come up with a solution and we are not able to communicate it to the people, all the work that we have done will not have any significant impact.

If I say presentations, don’t just assume one monotonous presentation. Different set of presentations to different people. When you are explaining the project to the factory people, you need to tell their pain points and then tell them how your solution is going to reduce their pain and improve the efficiency. Other side, which is the most important side - business. When you talk to business people, you need to be ready with all the data - what is the before & after scenario with your project. How is the company improving its efficiency with the project? Only when you communicate your work clearly, your internship work would strike the 100% bar.

Let me summarize all the points that I followed right from the time I got selected for the internship to the end of the internship:

1. Upskill yourself. Once you get to know your project details, try to work on those areas which you are not strong with but require their application during the project.
2. Be strong with statistics & analytics which would be helpful in every project. Learn some tools like Power BI / Tableau.
3. Once your internship begins, understand the project clearly. Try to know who your stakeholders are.
4. Put yourself into the shoes of the stakeholders or customers and only then start working on solutions.
5. When you recommend a solution, try to check its feasibility. If you can, go ahead with a pilot project. This creates a confidence to your team that your project is implementable.
6. The most important - Present your project to your guide, buddy & team members and get genuine feedback. Even if they tell you that the work is not on the track, no worries. You at least got an opportunity again to do the right thing. Do well
7. Finally, fine tune your presentations based on to whom you are presenting

During all this process, take feedback from everyone. Never ever think about the consequences. "Put your heart into your work and the result follows" 

Happy Learning and stay safe!!!