Table ethics- hotel school session

                                        This a very interesting event. To participate this event, we went to the Sri Lanka Institute of hotel management and Tourism. There was a short lecture from the head of institute. Not only that, we could taste yummy foods also.

                                      In our day today life, we have to participate professional functions repeatedly. There is a question; do we know how to wearing in formal way? how get a meal formally?. In that day, we learnt lot of things related to these questions, without a doubt.

How wear for a function, professionally?
1) How we choose a shirt and a pair of trouser correctly? (Colors and other stuffs)
2) What kind of tie, belt and pair of shoes match for the dress?
3) For women, what kind of dresses, bags, jewelleries and make up suit for a function?
Table etiquettes

NAPKIN ETIQUETTE

At informal meals, place the napkin in your lap immediately upon seating. During formal occasions, before unfolding the napkin, wait for the hostess to remove her napkin from the table and unfold it in her lap.

Place the napkin in your lap upon seating.
When leaving the table temporarily, put the napkin on your chair.

At the meal's end, fold your napkin and place it to the left of your place setting.
At informal meals, place the napkin in your lap immediately upon seating. During formal occasions, before unfolding the napkin, wait for the hostess to remove her napkin from the table and unfold it in her lap.

Place the napkin in your lap upon seating.
When leaving the table temporarily, put the napkin on your chair.

At the meal's end, fold your napkin and place it to the left of your place setting.

HANDLING UTENSILS

How do you hold a fork?
The continental style prevails at all meals, formal and informal, because it is a natural, non-disruptive way to eat.

Table manners infograph showing how to hold a fork and knife using the Continental Style
Hold your fork in your left hand, tines downward.
Hold your knife in your right hand, an inch or two above the plate.
Extend your index finger along the top of the blade.
Use your fork to spear and lift food to your mouth.

At informal meals the dinner fork may be held tines upward, American table manners style.

THE TABLE SETTING

Table manners infograph showing what utensil to use first and which water glass and bread plate belong to you.
Deciding which knife, fork, or spoon to use is made easier by the outside-in rule – use utensils on the outside first and working your way inward. So, if you are served a salad first, use the fork set to the far left of your plate.

Your water glass is the one above the knife in your place setting and your bread plate is to the left. To remember which bread plate belongs to you and if the glass in front of you belongs to you or your neighbor, use “b” and “d”. Touch the index finger on your right hand to your right thumb. Touch the index finger on your left hand to your left thumb. The “b” formed by your left hand is for “bread” (your bread plate is always at the left of your place setting). The “d” formed by your right hand is for “drink” (your drinking glasses are always at the right of your place setting).

WHEN TO START EATING

At a small table of only two to four people, wait until everyone else has been served before starting to eat. At a formal or business meal, you should either wait until everyone is served to start or begin when the host asks you to.

RESTING UTENSILS

Table manners infograph illustrating how to rest utensils in the Continental style

How do you leave your knife and fork on your plate when taking a break or are finished eating?

When you pause to take a sip of your beverage or to speak with someone, rest your utensils in one of the two following styles:

Continental Style: Place your knife and fork on your plate near the center, slightly angled in an inverted V and with the tips of the knife and fork pointing toward each other.

American Style: Rest your knife on the top right of your plate (diagonally) with the fork nearby (tines up).

When each course is finished:

Place the knife and fork parallel with the handles in the four o'clock position on the right rim of the plate.

PASSING FOOD ETIQUETTE

Pass to the right (if the item is not being passed to a specific person). One diner either holds the dish as the next diner takes some food, or he hands it to the person, who then serves herself. Any heavy or awkward dishes are put on the table with each pass.

BREAD PASSING ETIQUETTE

If the loaf is not cut, cut a few pieces, offer them to the person to your left, and then pass the basket to your right.
Do not touch the loaf with your fingers, instead use the clothe in the bread basket as a buffer to steady the bread as you slice it.

Place the bread and butter on your butter plate - yours is on your left - then break off a bite sized piece of bread, put a little butter on it, and eat.

SALT AND PEPPER ETIQUETTE

Always pass the salt and pepper together.

SOUP ETIQUETTE

How do you eat soup?

Hold the soupspoon by resting the end of the handle on your middle finger, with your thumb on top. Dip the spoon sideways at the near edge of the bowl, then skim away from you. Sip from the side of the spoon. To retrieve the last spoonful of soup, slightly tip the bowl away from you.

Outbound training program

                                      This was a very impressive session rather than other sessions. We went in Trincomalee Eastern Command Naval Base to participate this. While we were going on the bus, we got great fun. This was a two day training program.

                                    We reached that place at about 11 a.m. After wearing bottom and t shirt , we got our lunch at a place which is situated in the sea side of the camp. After getting yummy meal we went to the one side of camp area and we were divided into five groups. Each group had to do following activities.

1st one- There was a metal square frame which hung out in a branch of a tree, using a rope. Each group included ten members for this activity. We had to think that the frame as a high voltage one. The task was to go through the frame without touching any part of the frame.

2nd one- In this activity we had to pass a jill ball through a long tube which is made with separate piece of tubes, without dropping the ball. It was a really difficult task.

3rd one- In this case, we got ten piece of wood. Each person got on one of them. We had to bring those pieces without touching hand. We were guided to keep one of each pieces between back of one person and chest of another person by touching the wood. After standing as a line, we had to pass a boundary by walking with pieces.

4th one- We did this activity in a volleyball court. We had to pass a volleyball by keeping the ball on a big tent and holding four edges of the tent. A one person should catch the ball by standing beyond the net.

5th one- Each group got a great piece of pipe. It had two open edges. We had to fill that by closing one of the edge, using sea water. We should bring water from the sea, using only hands and mouth. The got 10 minutes to fill the whole tube. We had to fill that within this time.

                                      While doing these activities we had to practice two different items to perform in a talent show which will be held in the night. We could find some our batchmates' talents which hadn't been seen before.

                                   In second day we had to find destination only using a compass and a map. There were three officers to each group to assist us. We had to go through a jungle and we faced many adventures in this journey. It was a really precious experience which can't get from anywhere. After that we went to watch the naval museum. We watched many things which related to the naval force like parts of ships, bombs, weapons, items of LTTE etc.

                                         This session add lot of new experiences and knowledge to our life. It was really awesome and different from other PPD sessions.

Latest Software Engineering Trends

                                Software engineering is a rapidly changing one. People who involve with this field are developing this field continuously. So this field come with new trends time to time. This article will discuss about latest trends in software engineering.

                               We can find applied mobility, capability clouds, social computing, real analytics and agile software development as latest trends in software engineering.

                                  The Mobile applications are essentially powerful that they are elegant solutions to well-defined problems, and designed for operations on-the-go. Companies are rethinking business processes and enabling new business models that would not have been possible without mobile technology. Evolutions in location-based services, social networks, mobile payment processing, low-cost device add-ons and integration with enterprise systems has led to the potential for employees, customers and suppliers to consume and produce sophisticated information, goods and services from anywhere. And with the extension of mobile solutions to sensors and actuators in physical goods and equipment, otherwise known as asset intelligence there is the potential for almost anything to become part of the mobile solution footprint.

                                        Capability clouds move beyond the building blocks of capacity to deliver finished services that directly address business objectives and enterprise goals. Instead of dealing with machine images or database instances, the discussion shifts to the analytics cloud, the testing cloud or the sales cloud and help to focus on a more important set of values. Also with the advent of capability clouds helps focusing on accelerating time-to-results, adding new functionality or changing business processes and business models rather than cost of ownership and efficiency issues. It is relatively easy for a business unit leader to buy a software-as-a-service tool for point solutions such as workforce planning or compensation management; the main requirement is simply a corporate credit card.
There have been three main drivers of cloud adoption thus far: a preference for operating expense over capital expense; speed to solution; and flexible, scalable access to specialized resources – be they technology, software or people. The capability cloud can add opportunities for agility and innovation in how business processes even business models are acquired composed and revised. For an example the analytics cloud may go beyond just delivering analytics databases, models and tools and offer PHD-level statisticians applying the art of the science where you only pay for the level of service that is needed.

                                          Everyone has started going online for their daily needs and hence we are leaving the trails our opinion, behavior and choices. The data of traces created when mined would provide business with a good source of insight on market positioning, consumer sentiment and employee productivity. By performing analytical operation on the data organizations can better understand their customer needs, preferences, their employee’s experiences and problems that require immediate co-corporate attention. With the help of Social computing Businesses are able to take a results oriented and business-led approach, focusing on specific issues and communities, soliciting membership and creating platforms for content, collaboration and transactional support.

                                      Many organizations began to see information automation outweigh business process automation as their highest priority area. Analytics offer improved visibility to drive operational efficiencies, as well as a platform for growth by addressing heart-of the-business questions that could guide decisions, yield new insights and help predict the future of business. Leading organizations are launching broad initiatives with executive-level sponsorship, ready and eager to achieve their vision via real analytics. Due to exploding data volumes and regulators demands deeper insight into risks, exposure and public responsiveness are much needed.

                                By investing in a balance of information management, performance management and advanced analytics, organizations can make small steps, smartly made to capture measurable results. Real analytics can provide knowledge, fact-based predictions and business prescriptions if applied to the right problems, and if the suggestions based on results are pushed into action.

                                    Let's consider about the agile software development. Agile methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning and do not directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames (time boxes) that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves a team working through a full software development cycle, including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing when a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders. This minimizes overall risk and allows the project to adapt to changes quickly. Stakeholders produce documentation as required. Iteration might not add enough functionality to warrant a market release, but the goal is to have an available release (with minimal bugs) at the end of iteration. Multiple iterations might be required to release a product or new features.

       

        

    

The expert game/ pen and thread game

                        Expert game

                                               Another day of PPD session. Madam asked to divide into five groups. Each group had five or six members. Then each group had to choose three persons who expertised in any area. Our group chose persons who expertised in maths, designing and vehicles. Then madam asked to each expertisis to teach their area to other group members. After that we had to create a a new invention which is made by combining above expertised areas. Our group suggested many lot of new ideas. From all of them we concluded to make a robotic  toy car.

Our group

                                     

While madam is describing what should we do 

                                                                            That car has new features. It has different colors in different situations. It is controlled by a remote controller. And also it can go through walls and if it hit in a barrier it can change its direction automatically. We named that product as "2B toys". Following are the new inventions of all groups. 

Group 1- Chicken Football Business

                This is a food business which is promoted using the                           football game. 

Group 2- Robotic toy car(our one)

Group 3- F.C.D. inc (master company)

Group 4- Paper quelling sports accessories

               Designing bags, accessories with paper quelling. 

Group 5- Football power kit (FPK)

   

                                               We got many lessons from this session. They are;

        1) using our expertised are, we can make new things.

        2) as a group we can do a task successfully. 

        3) teach others which you have known is very useful

        4) we should listen to others also when we work as a group

        5) ultimately the creation which made from combination of all

             ideas , is very successful.

                     

                        Pen and thread game 

                                                   This one is a one of joyful activity. We divided into three groups and each group received threads, a pen , a A4 sheet and a cello-tape. Our task is , write the world "symbol" without touching pen and paper and with co-operation of all members (when we are writing, the tread should be touched in all group members) Our group members got a cheated idea. We wrapped the pen using the tread. Madam observed that and told "don't be like a billgates, your method is illegal and try again"😀. Then we made a gadget like below one.

    

Gadget

                                                                               Then we set the paper with table. One person hold the two rings and other members' from remained threads. Then we started to write. At the beginning it was very hard. After with the experience we could able control the pen and write the word. Ultimately, madam gave good comments for our one rather than other groups 😃.  Because we could able to write letter with same size with our controlling. From this small activity we learnt lot of things as previous activities. The main one is" how to work as a group".   

               
                                                                            

                                                

Barter puzzle

 Barter puzzle

                       This is a one of new journey of PPD activities.

We were divided into five groups. Each group had eight or less than eight members. We assigned a group leader. Madam asked to come forward to all group leaders with another guy who can help him. Then each leader got a picture and madam asked to cut it into seventy five pieces. After that she collected pieces to five bags separately. And also some pieces were exchanged with other pieces. Each group got a bag. But they didn't get the picture which leader had to cut. After that we were asked to make the picture.

     

Our group members

                                               That time our mind went back to childhood automatically 😆. The task like making a puzzle. We had to make a picture which we don't know what the picture is.  Absolutely it was a difficult challenge 😕. But our group got the challenge willingly and started to make the picture from one edge 💪. After a great effort we had to make the picture partially.

While making the puzzle

                                                                                        Because the some pieces were in other groups. We already had the pieces which don't match with our picture. Before the beginning madam said that, exchange the irrelevant pieces with other groups with discussing and however get the pieces we want. Then we exchanged pieces with others. But we didn't get all the pieces yet. Picture was with some missing parts 😩.

Picture which made partially

• how to work as a group
• how control others as a group member 
• we can defeat any kind of a problem with harmony 
• when solving a problem in our life, we have to use small tricks also. 

Introduction

What is personal progress development?

"Helping you to develop your independence and work skills.
The personal progress pathway is centered around you and designed to help you make progress in range of areas. Each person's pathway is specifically designed for them and flexibility suits individual needs."   

Is there any benefit from learning PPD? Yes absolutely; not only one, but also there are many advantages . Some of them are;

• Self-awareness: The ability to accurately recognize one's emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior. This includes accurately assessing one's strengths and limitations and possessing a well grounded sense confidence and optimism.
• Self- management: The ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts and behaviors effectively in different situations. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating oneself and setting and working toward achieving personal and academic goals.
• Social awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse background and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
• Relationship skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. This includes communicating dearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively and seeking offering help when need.
• Responsible decision-making: The ability to make constructive and respectful choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions and the well being of self and others.

                 In PPD, all above skills are developed by using funny games and simple activities. So there is no stress or boring manner in this session.

Hey, there will be more activities ahead!!!