Enhance your curriculum by addressing the QAA Guidance on skills for your subject, and incorporating the QAA (2018) Guidance on Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
The following ETC tools can help you to deliver these skills in the curriculum
These guides have been selected to build QAA (2018) enterprise skills in your teaching.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Special
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
7Communication and Strategy
Often, one of the most powerful ways to inspire students as to their abilities and potential can be to introduce them to peers who have already achieved success in business. These are people who are just like them; they look like them, sound like them, have studied the same courses as them, and as such, their opinions and advice carry great weight. However, it is not always possible to facilitate such peer-to-peer engagements, or to maintain such relationships after students graduate.
The production of film content can address this. Short films showcasing the start-ups of students and recent graduates, directed at current students and imparting advice directly to them can be a powerful communication tool. Such films can be made for low cost, utilised in a wide variety of ways, and help to engage many students with the wider enterprise support available at their institutions, or with the enterprise elements within their course modules.
Furthermore, the production of such films serves to develop the communication skills of the students and recent graduates who feature in them, helps to build and maintain relationships with these students and recent graduates, and provides a resource which can help them in the growth and development of their own enterprises.
Figure 1: Images from completed films.
Planning
Production
Dissemination
For students / graduates featuring in films;
For learners viewing films;
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Small group (teams of 4-6)
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
7Communication and Strategy
The activity can is best used as an ice breaker as it is a fun method to start participants communicating – however it can be adapted to test subject knowledge and specialisms that the students have prior to joining class with you, or are gaining during their studies.
This can be adapted to bring out subject knowledge or prior learning/experience by making each colour link to a subject theme/study area. This means that the group have to share facts and background with each other on a specific topic.
To bring together their learning you can invite them to present the information they have gained across the team as a flipchart or play to the other groups. This can help you understand the level of prior knowledge as they forfeit eating the colours they cant supply answers for and yet share their knowledge across the full group in the short presentation.
You can also add an element of jeopardy within this by allowing them to trade colours without knowing what the categories are – or even between teams once they know what the categories are.
Listening and communication skills as well as interpersonal skills are the focus of this task, and it can be extended to develop group presentation skills if you wish to add the extension of a short presentation at the end. This requires them to communicate effectively within a limited time. Debrief this exercise by asking the group to explore their emotions as the task unfolded. It is important to recognise that some group members feel excited by a new challenge, whilst others are concerned by ambiguity (selecting colours without knowing why). Explore the emotions of undertaking this challenge and recognise how they may impact on performance.
Packet of multi-coloured sweets, such as Skittles
N/A
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Small group (teams of 4-6)
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
7Communication and Strategy
Objectives:
To understand the importance of developing active listening skills as part of effective communication
To appreciate the impact of emotions (frustration; anticipation) within communication
To understand the importance of recognising the importance of active listening, using effective listening techniques (which can affect ability to build rapport and gather information in both management situations or when mentoring, counselling etc).
Overview:
This quick icebreaker session is run as a group activity in an informal environment with all participants sitting in a relaxed state, but working to deliver a result within a time frame. Primarily this "parlour game" seeks to actively explore:
Activity:
This activity takes no more than five minutes to deliver and needs few resources and is therefore an ideal ice-breaker or pre or post lunch "recharge" activity to embed within a formal input.
To change the course dynamic, and shift thinking, take the lead as the "narrator" and explain that you are having a picnic to which they all are invited but to attend they must bring a contribution to the picnic with them. However not all of them will be able to attend (your fictitious picnic) if the item they chose to bring renders them ineligible to attend.
The premise upon which this works as a "parlour game" is that
THE ITEM MUST BEGIN WITH THE FIRST LETTER OF THEIR NAME - THEREFORE JANE CAN BRING SOME JAM BUT BRENDA CAN'T.
However, you can alter this premise to be subject related, and therefore draw out subject based learning as well communication skills (by, for example, asking chemistry students to bring liquids, and making a (silent) premise that are soluble in each other or items that would be connected within an experiment or situation or even industry situation).
Remember to invite each member individually to the picnic and respond to each person individually e.g.: "Jane what can you bring to my picnic" response Jane wants to bring some bread, reply "I am sorry Jane you cannot bring bread to my picnic" etc. as the exercise proceeds some people will be able to attend by just being lucky in what they are bringing others thought might cotton on to the rules other's will not and may get frustrated so make sure you don't go on for too long. When everyone can "come to the picnic" or attend the "industry expo" or whichever scenario you selected, you can need to lead the debriefing session.
It is vital that emotions throughout the game, and across the team, are recognised and the group then explores how when we become emotional, frustrated or angry our ability listen effectively is impaired.
Skill Development:
This can take the form of a relatively short discussion, but will need to explore the learning across the group, and by encouraging everyone to share their story/emotions/feelings.
In larger groups, you can encourage them to share their feelings throughout the experience in small teams before presenting the range of emotions to the wider group. This reduces the perceived risk of sharing emotions across a big group but retains the breadth of emotions and highlights this to the wider group.
It is important to end this group discussion with an exploration of their feelings and frustrations, and what techniques they could use in the future, or in work or study situations to work professionally.
This debrief should explore the importance of active listening as well as how our listening is effected by our feeling and emotions, which can lead to an exploration of wider communication issues such as ability to build rapport, think effectively and manage or support the person we are communicating with.
Resources:
No physical resources, but planned scenario needs to be predetermined if subject based.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Presentation Space
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
7Communication and Strategy
The main benefits of this approach are to enable students to pick up the skills to summarise something in a focused and precise way. The outcome is often that they are aware how important lucky opportunities can be in entrepreneurship and to prepare for such opportunities should they occur.
An Elevator Pitch (or Elevator Speech) is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words). The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a venture capitalist to receive funding. Venture capitalists often judge the quality of an idea and team on the basis of the quality of its elevator pitch, and will ask entrepreneurs for the elevator pitch to quickly weed out bad ideas.
In the entrepreneurship educators programme the elevator pitch is used to force participants to think carefully about their personal strengths and to be confident about these by making an explicit pitch. Within the entrepreneurship educators programme it is used to give participants experience of an elevator pitch. The basic approach is to invite individuals to develop their pitch beforehand with a strict time limit (usually 1 to 3 minutes). Participants are asked to compete in front of a panel of judges equipped with agreed judging criteria. Participants are lined up to encourage swift movement from one participant to another and they are timed – a whistle is blown at the end of the time and they must then depart.
Elevator Pitches are commonly used in US Enterprise Education and are often used in business plan competitions. The purpose is to force students to prepare a short and focused explanation of their business should they have the opportunity to pitch it to somebody in an informal situation. It is an encouragement to think out the core of the business and find attractive ways of putting it over.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Small group (teams of 4-6)
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
7Communication and Strategy
To ‘Break the Ice’ and bond a group by learning facts about others within the group.
This exercise is an excellent get-to-know-you activity that doesn’t take up too much of your team’s time. All you need is a toilet paper roll (or two depending on the size of the group) (or you can use pennies as another option). Recommended group size is 10-30 people.
Ask everyone to sit around in a circle.
Pass around the roll of toilet paper (or pennies) and tell them to take as much as they think they’ll need from the finite amount/resource presented, without disclosing what the items will be used for.
If your employees ask further questions, simply answer them with, “take as much as you think you’ll need.”
Once that’s done, ask them to count the number of squares they each have.
Going around the circle, each person has to share a fact about themselves (or a revision fact from the course or programme) for every square of toilet paper or penny they took. So, if someone takes 10 squares, they need to share 10 facts about themselves.
Tip: In order to avoid someone taking 30 pennies or squares of toilet paper, you could set a limit for each item. The facts don’t have to be long or time consuming.
This activity is particularly beneficial when new teams or groups meet for the first time as it encourages communication, bonding, and helps the participants learn more about their colleagues.
It can also be used to undertake revision with a group, by asking them to recount facts, knowledge at the end of a programme or to confirm new learning of any type (including reflections on the task; personal observations about themselves or the team).
Using this arbitrary method of allocating “comments” means that you encourage all members of the group to speak and engage, and provide and deepen their reflections.
Where learners might struggle, you can introduce trading between members to pass their “resource” to another if they run out of things to say. This extension requires a reward for those with the most paper or pennies at the end, as they have attracted most resources through their confidence, knowledge or communication skills.
Debriefing this exercise requires the team to explore the emotions of the task (lack of clarity; confidence required; concern as details were released) and be open about how they addressed this personally and overcame these concerns to deliver on the challenge (especially if they were able to trade or work in partnership).
Pennies/Tissue Paper
If you would like to have your How to Guide featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.
We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the How to Guide.
If you have any questions regarding completing the template, please Contact Us.
If you would like to have your Case Study featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.
We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the Case Study.
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If you or your students are interested in developing a business idea, becoming self-employed/freelance or creating a business here are some tools to help and also some links to business start-up support.
These guides have been selected to build QAA (2018) entrepreneurship skills in your teaching.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
Construct and deliver a focused and precise summary of their business proposal, that is attractive and engaging to a potential financer.
Prepare the entrepreneur for opportunities to present their business proposal, formally and informally, in a short space of time.
An ‘Elevator Pitch’ is a succinct summary of business opportunity for example, 1 minute or in no more than 300 words. The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a potential investor. This task invites the student to prepare for a minute pitch.
Invite the entrepreneur/small business owner to prepare a 3 minute pitch for their business The challenge for many entrepreneurs is how to describe their proposal in such a short space of time and what aspects of their business model and plan to focus on. A useful approach is to use Sahlman’s recommended four critical factors.
The People
Who’s involved?
What are their mission and aspirations?
What skills, know-how and experience do they have?
The Opportunity
What will the business sell?
Who are its customers?
What problem is it solving?
Why is it better than existing solutions (competition)?
The Context
What’s the bigger picture?
What trends e.g. economic, social, technological, political affect the business?
Risk and Rewards
What are the main risks?
How can they be mitigated?
What are the potential financial, and other, rewards?
Entrepreneurs/small business owners should be given time to prepare their pitch, either working independently at home or within a training programme. In a group situation this should take no more than 20 mins.
Entrepreneurs should then be invited to pitch their business with a strict time limit. This can be done in a number of ways depending on the environment, for example,
This activity helps the entrepreneur to focus how they think about their business and provides a safe environment in which to develop their communication and presentation skills, whilst refining their business pitch.
It can help the entrepreneur /small business owner effectively present their business proposal in both informal and unexpected situations and confidently to a potential financier. Repetition of this type of exercise builds confidence and expertise.
To provide formative experiences of pitching, before any assessment, you can create sub-groups within which the students pitch to each other, giving and receiving constructive criticism, before conducting the final presentation.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5Reflection and Action
This activity should be undertaken individually by the entrepreneur, then to be discussed with the business development provider or peers in a group situation. Asking the entrepreneur to explain their answers will help them to deepen their understanding of their customers, help to identify where there are information gaps and therefore what additional market research may be required.
Instructions
Invite the entrepreneurs / small business owner to consider their customers and to describe them in terms of each of the following categories:
And then describe what the benefits the product or service brings to customers.
My customers …..
The benefit of my product / service to my customers is …..
By developing analytical and reasoning skills within entrepreneurial learners, it is possible to test assumptions and explore research findings with a clear context of start-up. This activity focuses upon the understanding of the potential customer and requires research and reflective skills.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
7Communication and Strategy
The focus of this task is to develop a well-constructed marketing message which describes the benefits of a product/service to customers.
Instructions
Invite the entrepreneur to complete the ‘Message Matrix’ below to describe their product or service:
|
Inform What is it you are selling? |
Inspire Why should the customer buy from you? |
Engage What should the customer do next? Ensure they have all the information they need |
By sharing and discussing their Message Matrix with a business development provider or fellow entrepreneur, the ‘Marketing Message’ can be refined and developed to ensure that it is clear, understandable to a wider audience and that key information is not omitted.
This activity can be undertaken for different groups of customers as a slightly different message may be needed for each.
By working in groups, or through watching each other present their work, students are able to learn further and deepen their own work. It is useful to draw any presentation or discussion session to a close by asking what they now wished they had done, or what they are now going to do, in order to ensure there is action from learning.
Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Individual Task
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Any
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills
2Opportunity recognition‚ creation and evaluation
3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
To create a clear understanding of their competitors, using SW analysis.
A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for analysis, when actions and conclusions are drawn from it.
Instructions
Invite the entrepreneur / small business owner to identify their key competitors (at least 3), and list the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Examples of strengths and weaknesses for a bicycle manufacturing business,
Strengths
Weaknesses
Consideration should then be given to each of the competitors, and compared with the entrepreneur or small business owners’ view of their own business.
This analysis can then inform what approach the entrepreneur / small business owner takes to developing their own business and to understand how they can best create or sustain a competitive advantage.
The key to using SWOT is now determine a course of action from this analysis.
Students can be invited to present their work and comment to provide constructive criticism, which is future focused.
By placing a clear focus on future action, rather than analysis, this will build skills of evaluation, decision making and judgement which lend themselves to action.
If you would like to have your How to Guide featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.
We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the How to Guide.
If you have any questions regarding completing the template, please Contact Us.
If you would like to have your Case Study featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.
We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the Case Study.
If you have any questions regarding completing the template, please Contact Us.
can be found in Higher Education Academy booklet (2014) Enhancing Employability through Enterprise Education Case Studies
BOSS stands for the Business Online Support Service, provided by Business Wales. This service provides online learning courses to help people who are thinking about, or actually, starting a business, already running a business or looking to grow their business.
Big Ideas Wales The Big Ideas Wales campaign is part of the Business Wales service, designed to support the next generation of young entrepreneurs in Wales.
Nesta Creative Enterprise Toolkit
Our enterprise resource toolkit contains tried and tested methods for teaching enterprise skills to creative individuals who are thinking about setting up a business. Available for purchase - with access to resources here http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/cet_worksheets_case_studies_and_tutor_notes.pdf
