Thriving in difficult seasons: The Management Club Mount Lavinia AGM 2020

The 18th AGM of The Management Club Mt. Lavinia was conducted virtually on 19 August, conforming to the health and safety regulations issued by the Government in the aftermath of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The zoom virtual live meeting was held with more than 35 members participating.

Roger Talayaratne was unanimously re-elected for the second year as the Chair of the Management Club Mt. Lavinia. Addressing the AGM as the chairman for the second term, he highlighted the progress made as a professional club in the last year despite the difficulties and restrictions of a pandemic. The club was able to grow its membership as well as demonstrate a growth in funds by more than 60% within the year. 

Most significantly despite the restrictions it had successfully run management development and social engagement networking meetings during the year. The upcoming year will have its share of challenges, yet The Management Club will not shun its responsibility to contribute towards the management development of its membership and in the country. “At The Management Club we take our responsibility in developing the standard of managers in Sri Lanka across all segments and fields; we represent the managers of Sri Lanka, and having with us a professional team could be the beacon of light to help in the professional journey of managers in Sri Lanka,” he added. 

The newly-appointed Executive Committee Members of The Management Club Mt. Lavinia consists of: Roger Talayaratne – Chairman, Shanka Mahendra – Vice Chairman, Vasitha Seneviratne – Secretary, Shalutha Samarathunga – Treasurer, Manish Rodrigo – Membership development, Chandana de Soysa – Fund Raising Projects, Mario Alpheal – Social and Networking, Kanishka Ranaweera – Professional Development, Jehan Fernando – Renewals and Club development, Shyama Sugathapala Executive Committee Member, and Ruwan De Silva – Executive Committee Member.

All in all, despite the difficulties and restrictions faced, The Management Club continues to forge forward its commitment to improve the quality of management and management interaction in Sri Lanka. The Chairman and the Executive Committee take this opportunity to thank all members for placing their trust in this team and especially thank all members who participated in all the events which were successfully run this year.

The year started with the Executive Committee of The Management Club, Mount Lavinia arranging its first networking and membership drive meeting with the launch of the TMC – Sri Lanka night on Wednesday 30 September at the hotel Galadari Bougainvillea Ballroom. The night was filled with fun, laughter, Calipso Music and Sri Lankan delicacies and cocktails in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Over 75 professionals across different industries from the membership of The Management Club and also their guests participated in the prestigious event hosted by The Management Club. This event was an effort to drive networking across the membership to stimulate engagement and fellowship.

The Management Club Mount Lavinia in collaboration with its training partner Ebenezer Double Edged Solutions Ltd. successfully completed a well-attended workshop on Business and Social Etiquette at the Ballroom Hilton Colombo Residence on 6 March. The workshop was well-attended with participants from leading corporates including and not limited to Singer Finance, Bharti Airtel Lanka and Commercial Realities Ltd. and many privately attending participants ranging from undergraduate students to senior business managers. 

Business and Social Etiquette is a collection of unwritten rules that apply to socialising, professional business relationships. In the professional world of business, good business etiquette means that you conduct yourself professionally and exercise proper manners when engaging with others in your profession. It creates a professional, mutually respectful atmosphere and improves communication, which helps individuals to fit in comfortably to high society settings and gives confidence that translates into better customer relationships as well. 

Good business etiquette is a valuable skill-set that sets you apart from others, enhances your chances at success and aids you in fitting into any and all social gatherings with confidence. The workshop was conducted by internationally trained Certified Image Consultant and Social and Business Etiquette Trainer, trained by the Association of Image Consultant International, USA Chandi Aluwihare Delwala, AICI-CPA. The Management Club received very positive feedback from participants who appreciated the way the program was structured to deliver beneficial results that participants can walk out of the workshop and practice. The program brought in a net profit of Rs. 60,000 to the club.

And finally a Cisco certificate online course was completed successfully on Cyber Security for non-IT managers to expand the knowledge on how best to protect their organisations from cyber threats. The program was held through virtual meetings due to the current pandemic but the sessions were interactive with participants given the opportunity to ask questions to clear their doubts. The objective of the program is to empower non-IT professionals with knowledge in cyber security required to protect from possible threats in their personal lives as well as in the digital working environment. 

Especially with the pandemic, lockdowns are imminent. This demands that people carry out their day-to-day tasks online. In the corporate world we are compelled to work from home. During the session facilitator, Ashoke Baddage explained how to mitigate these risks in layman’s terms enabling all the managers present to gain understanding on this topic. He stressed the importance of maintaining discipline as an individual when exploring the internet. Best practices one should follow in accessing social media, browsing and particularly when handling emails. He also discussed technology that could be used to prevent such attacks. 

Participants were taught how to identify potential threats, how social engineering works and the symptoms if your device has been hacked. Participants were educated on the common attacks and what precautions they should take, especially how to avoid phishing emails which can do a greater damage to people and to corporations.