Joining the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management at IIM Bangalore has been one of the best decisions I have ever made, and the experience at IIMB the most rewarding! PGPEM as a course, focuses on the ‘back to college’ theme. On Friday and Saturday, all of us executives morph into students, complete with assignments, case studies, pulling one another’s leg, fighting for that extra mark, etc. So, picture this, we have executives with more than ten years of work experience, balancing three lives – that of work, family and studies.
Personally, being a PGPEM student was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Right from the first semester where my work required me to be posted in Saudi Arabia, and I had to travel every weekend from Riyadh to Bengaluru to attend the classes. IIMB made things clear from the very beginning. There is no leeway when it comes to attendance and marks. This adds to the seriousness of the course and everyone must ensure that they cross the 80% attendance mark. Since I had to travel internationally, I had to deal with sleepless nights, missed flights and assignment completion on flights, where turbulence added to the beauty of my handwriting. It was an epic two quarters where I had to keep shuttling between the two countries. The immigration officers would catch me every single time questioning the reason for me to travel every weekend. They even laughed at me openly when I told them that I had to travel every weekend to attend classes. Post the eventful two quarters, I got posted in Bengaluru, but there was no respite when it came to the workload and the assignments. It was the same set of rituals as above along with the assignments being completed on moving vehicles, only this time, the potholes added to the beautiful handwriting.
The first year flew by with us getting to know one another and understanding the diverse backgrounds that we came from. Each of us had our own unique experience which added to the knowledge-filled discussions that we shared in class. The experience was stimulating to say the least, and even the professors openly acknowledged that it was quite a challenge and honor to teach the PGPEM batch as we brought with us a lot of practical experience. The days were spent in the classroom figuring out ways in which we could tackle the financial accounting problem or the application of the Fischer equation. While the nights were complete with ample discussions, fun and fighting for the individual room in EBC! We all used to look forward to the night stay in campus where it was a different world altogether, completely different from the hustle and bustle of our everyday life. Once we entered the campus on Friday afternoon, it was programmed in us that we were students once again. No more were we going to call the shots as we did at work, but as one professor aptly stated, it was all about knowing what we didn’t know. Pretty deep. We had our GNAM program conducted during this period, where we got an opportunity to choose a foreign university of our choice and got to study with students all around the world for that one week. It was an enriching experience where we got to understand different cultures and made friends for life.
The second year brought with it more challenges. Apart from us managing to convince our bosses that we had another year to go and we would still need to attend classes on Fridays and Saturdays, we also had to choose our electives. Most of these electives were scheduled on different days of the week and at different times. Choosing the electives was an event where we had to bid for the course at a given time failing which we would have to opt for the courses during the second round of bidding. Many of my batchmates who ended up sleeping during the first round of bidding found it quite a challenge to choose the subjects which appealed to them for that quarter. The second year gave all of us an opportunity to study with the students from the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) batches. This was quite an experience as the class was a classic mix of out-of-the-box thinkers, senior executives as well as mid-managers. The projects where we had to collaborate with one another, added to the interaction where we got to understand one another better. It was during these classes that we realized the importance of class participation with everyone wanting to express what was on their minds.
Once the second year starts, it is very difficult to find time for anything and it will fly by in no time! In the last two quarters, we usually have the PGPEM leadership cup, the annual leadership summit Drishti, as well as the Resonance night!
One thing that every single participant of this programme would vouch for, is that this course teaches one how valuable each and every minute is. If balancing three lives is not enough, balancing our time judiciously between the various subjects and projects is an art in itself! A definite life-changing event! PGPEM’er for life!
Dear Shijo I am a PGPEMer of 2018-20 batch. Can I please stay in touch with you for further guidance.