Major Omkar Sathish Tadphale, an Indian Army officer, talks about passing the PMP exam and transitioning to project management. He discusses how military and corporate project management differ, and credits his training with Lakshmi Sekhar Grandhi for his success.
Major Omkar, I am serving Indian army officer and presently in a transition space and I have 10 years of service with Indian army, presently undergoing executive course from IIM Indore and on 16th of March I'll hang up my uniform. So I am building up my profile as a project manager and in army we you know executed a few projects but in very ad hoc manner. So I would say I as of now don't have a project management experience in a classical or the corporate side sense. So I was that's why I decided to undertake this certification. And as you know I took initial training from you in the month of September but because of my erratic schedule and the work nature of work I couldn't follow. I was not able to follow your 45 days of schedule but I appeared for exam on 27th of Jan. But to be very specific I started prevailing in the month of December and from then I continuously prepared and I exactly followed you know the schedule which you gave. Like first I again first of all since there was a gap in between September to December, I went through your videos again. Then I appeared for you know beginner level test on the iclef. Then I went through the PDF and then intermediate tests and then once and and then I went through you know the each and every answer where I went wrong and where I I was right and why that particular answer was right. And then finally I attempted the you know the difficult level test. But like you said why I was able to you know clear the exam all in all three domains at about target. It is just because of the quality and the level of questions in the IC leaf and the practice. So I almost solved each and every question bank from the IC leaf and then you know the gold pack after the you know the last in the face the gold pack which you gave us it was you know big booster and it helped me a lot during the exam day. Also I had a limitation of only three hours because I had to report it to somewhere for my work. So I was able to finish off the exam in 2 hours 45 minutes and in a very smooth manner. It is just because you know the teaching methodology, you know systematic planning which was absolutely taught by you and finally the amount of practice and the level of questions which I could manage on because of the IC leave. And finally when I got this certificate I would happy to I would like to share with you as soon as I completed my certification and though I am yet to complete my MBA executive degree from IIM Indoor but I have already what a job offer because of this one certification it is, you know, it's a great booster and I hope my transition will be smoother because of your guidance and you know the army journey I have been also been an instructor, you know to the officers and the cadets. But the way you teach it is also a new learning for me because it is the method which you have generated. It is because of your over of experience and. And you know, and it is proven so I don't think so. Anything else has to be done. Just follow what Shekhar sir. What you will say to the students that my only message to them and success will be theirs. That's it. Nothing else. 45 days Info Career IC Leaf road to project Success it's more than enough. They will be overwhelmed if they try to do something else. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you for endorsing and what did you learned in this journey? Okay. From September to now the learning whatever you've done, you can see there are a lot of differences in the way you work.
Okay.
Did you saw anything shifting in the September.
So I would like to answer this question. You know, from my perspective your with my background because in the government organization also like once you mentioned you carried out a training program for the HAL in one of your. Right. So in government organization project management is I would say quite rigid or it is quite ad hoc or it is in very naive or the nascent stage. In army we do a lot of planning but it is the way. I mean there is a vast difference between you know, corporate project management and the project management what we do in a army for I would say after appearing for the certification it is more. I would say it's agile because requirements are constantly changing. So my learning per se before you adopt I would say the Agile approach you should know the traditional project management because it is a bread and butter. That's what I can you know able to extract if you know the basics, if your basics are strong, if you know the traditional way there is always scope of improvisation or I would say in agile terminology the scope of tellering is there. So it is a great. It was a great learning for me. Like how you will manage the ad hoc project in a systematic. Right from you know, project charter to integration, scope schedule. It was a very systematic approach and not only in a project management you can apply it in anywhere in your way of life. It is so that's what I was able to you know, gather from it and I would try to implement it in every. Everywhere in every domain and apart certificate is just one thing I would say the learning from you, the way you motivate people. And I would say it was a great experience. That is more cherishing experience because. And I can say with a conviction, after school days, I came across such a good teacher for the first time and I really enjoyed it.
