Centre for Enterprise
ISSUE 1
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IMPACT TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013
Spend time on the business: Sharon Bailey, founder of Primecover Insurance, talks to us about her experiences as a business leader
Could you use Action Learning Sets in your Organisation?
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THURSDAY, MARCH 2013 TUESDAY, MARCH 26,7,2013
Introduction from the Prof. Welcome to this, the very first edition of Impact. Our team at The Centre for Enterprise, within Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), is passionate about research - and even more passionate about taking that research and turning it into practical knowledge, for the benefit of regional businesses. The North West is home to 427,000 small and medium sized enterprises, created by entrepreneurs to develop a new product or service, and independence and financial reward. Our role, as your local University, is to support your vision by making cutting edge knowledge from research and international best practice accessible and practical for you and your organisation. Through Impact we will share the knowledge we are generating, focus on key issues in economic and business life and bring them to as many people as we can. Each issue will feature regional news, experience from fellow business owners and managers, masterclass tips, our latest business research and most importantly, what all of this means for you. In keeping with these ideas, our first issue explores how to successfully embed 'Value Building Behaviours' into your business from one of our master-class leaders Lily Newman. We interview Bolton-based business owner Sharon Bailey from Primecover Insurance, who gives practical business tips from her own experience. We also explore current research into what makes a successful SME Learning Set and how this could benefit you and your business. I hope you enjoy our first issue, we welcome feedback on everything we do at The Centre for Enterprise and Impact is no exception, so please get in touch with us.
Professor Lynn Martin Professor of Entrepreneurship Director of the Centre for Enterprise
and
Professor Lynn Martin PhD is an experienced entrepreneur working within a university whose role involves research and development in enterprise, as demonstrated by her commercial activities and her 60+ publications. She has a considerable track record in knowledge exchange and has significant experience in developing international links with Europe and Asia and working with both companies and public sector authorities at regional and national level. After a role as the first female Director of Enterprise in further education and experience of small firm ownership, she completed her PhD at the University of Warwick and moved into higher education, where she has been Director of Doctoral Programmes as well as developing new degree and masters programmes in business growth and entrepreneurship. As Director of Enterprise at MMU School of Business and Law she leads activities across different faculties to promote effective knowledge exchange and entrepreneurial academic - practitioner initiatives. Currently also President of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), the international body for research and practice in entrepreneurship, she is well known for her ability to bring together different organisations to promote economic growth and business and community benefits.
“Putting knowledge to work to grow your business” “Everything we do is because we believe in the power of knowledge to improve business. The way we improve business is by researching best practice, building lasting networks and delivering courses that are practical and easy to digest. We focus on the quality and impact of business growth, innovation and entrepreneurial learning. We just happen to be within your local University and open for business”.
MEET THE TEAM Management Team Professor Lynn Martin
Finance Team
Delivery Team
Marketing Team
Alison Brooker Office Project Manager 0161 247 3951 a.brooker@mmu.ac.uk
Dr Ann Mulhaney Enterprise Fellow 0161 247 6055 a.mulhaney@mmu.ac.uk
Lucy Edgar Project Coordinator 0161 247 3854 l.edgar@mmu.ac.uk
Dr Clare Schofield Deputy Director 0161 247 3896 clare.schofield@mmu.ac.uk
Bo Zhang Project Administrator 0161 247 6077 b.zhang@mmu.ac.uk
Jonathan Lawson Enterprise Fellow 0161 247 3738 j.lawson@mmu.ac.uk
Kathryn Young Enterprise Fellow 0161 247 3989 k.young@mmu.ac.uk
Paula Turner Deputy Director 0161 247 6615 p.turner@mmu.ac.uk
Simita Kumar Project Administrator 0161 247 6971 s.kumar@mmu.ac.uk
Claire Giddens Enterprise Officer 0161 247 6553 c.giddens@mmu.ac.uk
Luisa Guerra Marketing Intern 0161 247 3989 l.guerra@mmu.ac.uk
General Enquiries?
Afia Khatun ESF and KAN Finance Administrator
Pierina Cicchirillo-Bower Delivery Fellow 0161 247 6043
Katie Leach
Telephone: +44 (0)161 247 3871 Email: cfe@mmu.ac.uk Twitter: @MMUcfe
Director of the Centre for Enterprise
0161 247 3733 l.martin@mmu.ac.uk
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0161 247 6933 a.khatun@mmu.ac.uk
p.cicchirillo-bower@mmu.ac.uk
10,000 Small Businesses Project Administrator & Media Support
0161 247 6069 k.e.leach@mmu.ac.uk
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Contents
IMPACT
1
INTRODUCTION Prof. Lynn Martin, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Centre for Enterprise
5
3
MASTER CLASS as part of our monthly Master Class series Lily Newman explores ‘Value Building Behaviours’
5
INTERVIEW COVER STORY Sharon Bailey, founder of Primecover Insurance, Bolton speaks to us about her journey as a small business owner
7
RESEARCH How a ‘Growth Group’ could help your business - SME Learning Sets
9
EVENTS Centre for Enterprise Key Programme Dates and General Centre Events to put in your diary: March - May
9
7 Projects Team
Research Team Zuleika Beaven Research Fellow 0161 247 3716 z.beaven@mmu.ac.uk
Abi Seville Short Courses Project Administrator
Dr Sue Baines Reader 0161 247 2511 s.baines@mmu.ac.uk
Jennie Shorley
Ask the Prof?
Knowledge Action Network Director and Bidding Manager
0161 247 3916 a.seville@mmu.ac.uk
0161 247 6736 j.shorley@mmu.ac.uk
Lisa Holmes
Liz Gorb
10,000 Small Businesses Project Administrator
Knowledge Action Network Programme Manager
0161 247 6659 l.holmes@mmu.ac.uk
0161 247 3728 l.gorb@mmu.ac.uk
Dr Tamara McNeill Research Fellow 0161 247 3956 t.mcneill@mmu.ac.uk
Laura Rimmer 0161 247 6605 l.rimmer@mmu.ac.uk
Professor Lynn Martin Professor of Entrepreneurship and Bill Greenhalgh Director of the Centre for Enterprise TACTICS Project Enterprise Fellow Direct Questions to: 0161 247 3722 0161 247 3989 b.greenhalgh@mmu.ac.uk k.young@mmu.ac.uk
Dr Valerie Antcliff Research Fellow 0161 247 3829 s.baines@mmu.ac.uk
Rebecca Platt
Russell Yates
Knowledge Action Network Project Administrator and Bidding Support
0161 247 6797 r.yates@mmu.ac.uk
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Enterprise Champions Project Administrator
0161 247 3871 r.platt@mmu.ac.uk o
Enterprise Fellow SMART Europe
Questions will be printed and answered in the next issue.
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Masterclass Lily Newman, Owner, MMU and Morgan James Consulting Masterclass Leader
Value Building Behaviours Want to Change Your Staff’s Behaviour? Start with Your Own First
H
ands up, how many of you are frustrated by members of your workforce; people who, “just don't get it” – they're either clock watching and keen to get out of the door at the end of the day, or they promise you the earth but deliver very little? Hands up then, those of you who conduct 'values based interviews' when recruiting to really get to grips with whether your company values and the behaviours of your new salesman, manager, shop floor operative are truly compatible?
to craft it to fit into a round hole, can be even more so. Even more important, once you've got the right people on the bus, have put them into the right seats and shared the vision for what a successful company journey looks like, how do we keep good staff excited about the part that they will play in achieving that success? What needs to happen to ensure that, 'the engine runs sweetly’, the oil is topped up, the tyres are checked and innovative ideas are encouraged to ensure that the bus's inhabitants remain fulfilled, whilst the recipients of those ideas remain happy customers who rave about our services?
All too often I hear of clients recruiting people who have great CVs and persuasive interview tactics. However, the interviewer can be so excited about the apparent match between the declared skills and job description, he or she negates to dig deeper into the applicants behaviours and aspirations, to find out whether they are compatible with the intentions and values of the company.
Having had the pleasure of working as an associate with Enablers Network, a global group of diverse leaders and inspirational thinkers, I believe that helping leaders to balance what we call, 'the 3 agendas of business success' is fundamental to keeping your people on-board, engaged, aligned and absolutely focussed on having fun whilst delivering their best in the workplace. The 3 agendas detailed by the head of our network, Didier Marlier (www.enablersnetwork.com) are captured in the acronym SEB (Strategic, Emotional and Behavioural agendas).
Whilst we all know, recruitment is expensive, but inadvertently employing a square peg and trying
The Strategic agenda represents, the nuts and bolts of business which includes: goals, objectives,
products, services, branding, s a l e s ch a n n e l s , p ro c e s s e s , frameworks, finance, cashflow indeed everything that forms the foundations of a business, without which, there wouldn't be one! The Emotional agenda represents how your staff actually feel about working for you or your company. When they walk through the door in the morning, are they; excited and proud of what the company stands for; are they actively engaged in the projects they are delivering? Importantly, are they given a framework within which to operate but the freedom to have fun and 'get lost in the moment' of developing their skills and bringing new innovations into the business? Do you set stretching goals but provide the support and challenge necessary for your people to fly? Soaring performance is what can occur when you balance attention in between these agendas to drive performance and results in the workplace. If you imagine your approach to leadership as a butterfly, where one wing represents the time and attention that you spend focusing on the strategic agenda and the other one on the emotional agenda, would both wings be of equal size or would there be an imbalance? This is where the 3rd agenda, the Behavioural Agenda, comes into play. My colleagues and I at
VALUE BUILDING BEHAVIOUR FACT: With today's average 20 year old spending over 100,000 hours in a work environment, isn't it our job, as leaders in business, to create an environment that make them feel valued, engaged and excited about what they do? If we really want to recruit the best, retain the best and be the best in business, paying attention to and role modelling the value building behaviours which underpin performance and personal satisfaction is not a bad place to start.
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Enablers have spent the last few years helping leaders of global businesses and SMEs to use, what we call, Value Building Behaviours (VBBs) to make the connection between strategy and emotional engagement in the workforce. Using them, leaders of people are able to flow seamlessly from the
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strategic agenda, to the emotional and back again, ensuring that their staff has clarity over their goals and what's expected of them, whilst paying attention to their emotional state and personal motivations. If your business butterfly is spiralling out of control with too much attention and strain
TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013
being placed on one 'butterfly wing', and your staff are underperforming, it's worth checking out the following list of behaviours that need to be rolemodelled to enable your butterfly to fly straight and your business to succeed:
x8 VALUE BUILDING BEHAVIOUR TIPS 1. Active Listening: When was the last time you sat down with each of your staff and truly listened to their concerns and encouraged them to share their ideas? Too many leaders believe that the annual appraisal provides this opportunity for communication and then spend most of the session 'queuing' what they want to say about the recipient's performance, rather than genuinely listening to their staff. Developing your listening skills as a leader and regularly inviting your staff to give feedback on a weekly, if not daily basis, increases their feelings of significance and importance. 2. Open Questions: The, 'who, what, when, where, why and how' questions used by Rudyard Kipling in his days as a journalist, helps leaders to get to the root of issues and, when used effectively (calmly, objectively and with the honest intention of finding out how you can help your staff) can ensure that your people feel valued and encouraged. 3. Summarising: Enables both leaders and staff to ensure that they have the same understanding of a situation. The best communicators summarise every 6 – 8 minutes in meetings, appraisals and project reviews to ensure clarity for all parties. 4. Support: Using supportive language, (i.e, “what I really like about your idea is….” Or “I really want to support you on that because….”) shows that the leader appreciates his or her staff's contribution and helps them to build on ideas. 5. Challenge is how a leader is able to constructively disagree with members of their team. It's also how he or she helps to improve performance. The more leaders offer support to their staff, the more they are able to challenge behaviours or opinions to help teams to consider further options, take on greater challenges and improve their performance. 6. When leaders Clarify or Contract, your staff will know exactly what they've agreed to do, exactly why they are doing it, and how their efforts fit in with those of others. Every member of staff should have equal clarity over their part in achieving agreed outcomes. 7. Time Out in any meeting or conversation stops the action so that participants in discussions can calm down (if necessary), change the energy, ask any questions and re-focus the group. When the going got tough in the War Cabinet, Winston Churchill used to call a break declaring that, “it's very difficult to fall out with world leaders over tea and homemade cake.” 8. Review and Feedback: When was the last time you gave feedback on a member of your team's performance? Without it, how can they know whether they are achieving their goals or achieve continuous improvement? When visiting a client, a notice on one MD's door caught my eye. It declared, “If I fail to meet your expectations and you fail to tell me, then we are both at fault.” Open, honest, appropriate and timely feedback that is delivered with the true intention of helping the recipient to improve performance or recognise achievement is essential. And don't forget it should be a two way flow of traffic between manager and subordinate.
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Get Involved ‘Value Building Behaviours’ is part of our monthly Masterclass Series, which offers expert workshops on a range of business topics. For more information and to book your place on our next Masterclass please contact: Abi Seville Project Administrator 0161 247 3916 a.seville@mmu.ac.uk
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Interview Sharon Bailey, Founder Insurance, Bolton
of
Primecover
Sharon completed our Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Programme in March 2012 and has agreed to talk to us about her journey over the last year as a small business owner and how the programme has impacted her and her business.
Q:How
would you describe yourself as a business leader?
A:We are one team and I'm part of the team. I care about my staff, I give them the training and the assistance. I help them to understand the whole of the business, so as a business leader it is all about team work.
Q:What inspired you to found the company?
A:When I founded Primecover in 2006, it was because I wanted to see if I could do it! Now as a company, I think we are special because we care. We spend time finding out what insurance products our clients actually want, and we have a lot of ongoing contact with our clients.
“Just get on with it, get your head down and do it!”
Q: I t ' s
been all go for Primecover since you graduated from the 10,000 Small Businesses programme, hasn't it?
A:It
has been a challenge! E xc i t i n g ! A n d h a rd wo r k ! Everything we did in the modules, I took away and worked out how we could apply this to Primecover. It has been hard for me to step away from the day-to-day running of the business. When I started the programme I didn't think of myself
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as an entrepreneur, I hadn't seen what I had achieved. Completing 10,000 Small Businesses has given me the confidence to look back and see what I've achieved and to think about and plan what we can achieve in the future.
Q:What has changed? A:Now I've got a vision. We have our plans in place; we will continue our growth. I think more about developing the company through a cloud base, I am looking into wholesale, creating niche products for us so we can capture parts of the market. I have lots of ideas and I am excited about the growth plans for the future. We moved to much larger new premises in the centre of Bolton in September 2012 because we needed more space to take on new staff.
Q:What
has moving to the new premises meant to you?
A:It's not just a building, it has given us confidence, established us as a business. It has opened a lot of doors and avenues, and I'm contemplating things I wouldn't have before. I never thought of leaving the town, though, I'm a Bolton girl born and bred and I'm not going anywhere else!
Q:Does running the business take up all your time?
A:Running the business does take up a lot of my time, but I do try and keep a work life balance.
Q:Who has been your biggest inspiration in business?
A:I
have quite a few local people I look up to and try to learn from. I have a friend who set up a business himself and got to 80 staff and he is an inspiration to me. He did it from nothing and now it is a multi-million pound company.
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Q:What advice would you give to someone business?
starting
out
in
A:Just get on with it, get your head down and do it! Nobody else can do it for yo, where there’s a will there’s always a way. Interview by Zuleika Beaven, 12.2.13
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Get Involved Primecover Insurance specialises in Property Insurance, both Residential and Commercial. They can obtain cover for Occupied & Unoccupied properties, with Full or restricted cover. They also offer Household, Motor, Travel, Fleet, Business Insurance, Liability Insurance & Professional Indemnity cover.
For more information or to apply for our next intake of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Programme, please visit the dedicated programme website or contact the programme manager on the details below. The application deadline for the next intake starting September 2013 is the 7th of June. Jonathan Lawson Enterprise Delivery Fellow 0161 247 3738 j.lawson@mmu.ac.uk http://www.10ksbnw.co.uk/
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Research We’ve been looking at the power of Growth Groups - Action Learning Sets Dr Tamara McNeill, Jonathan Lawson and Dr Ann Mulhaney Overview: This research looks at the composition of Action Learning Sets for SME owners and managers. The aim of the research was to understand how composition affects the effectiveness of a set.
What is an Action Learning Set? Action Learning Sets typically involve a group of around six or eight people and a facilitator who meet every couple of months for maybe half a day each time. Each person brings an issue or problem, which they present, to the group. Through a structured process of sharing experiences, active listening and asking open questions, each is helped to arrive at a set of actions to implement in their own business. This is a tool for peer-to-peer learning where the object is not to give advice but to support and empower participants to find their own solutions and learn by reflecting on the actions they implement.
What we did: We sent a short electronic questionnaire with open-ended answers to over 200 Action Learning Sets participants to help us to select people for indepth interviews. The resulting data was then analysed using qualitative data analysis software.
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Key Findings: The results showed that while many participants had thought they would gain from being in sets with people from similar businesses, this had not been important. In fact, diversity among set members when it came to business type, size and age was almost always valued more highly than similarity. Many said that it was precisely because there was a mix of different businesses that their set worked well, and that it was often from those most different from themselves that they gained the most useful insights. Diversity was also valued when it came to softer personal characteristics. However, it was important that set members would not 'clash' as this would undermine the development of trust necessary to enable the
group to gel. Effective sets tend to start working well within the first one or two meetings and the data highlighted the importance of gaining early buy-in. Our findings suggest that careful construction of sets is beneficial t o t h e p ro c e s s , a l l ow i n g participants to clearly see the value in their fellow set members and in the facilitator.
What does this mean for you? The study highlights the powerful personal and business benefits to be gained through taking part in an Action Learning Set and provides an insight to the process. The experiences of the participants that took part in this study also highlight the value of keeping an open mind about where – and from whom – valuable support can be found.
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HOW TO DO ACTION LEARNING IN YOUR ORGANISATION Before: Ÿ A group of 5 to 8 members works best with a designated facilitator Ÿ You need to set up the group rules first and most importantly, create trust and confidentiality. Ÿ Each member should prepare an issue for discussion, which is current and actionable
During: Ÿ The facilitator manages the timing and discussion Ÿ Each presenter gets 15 minutes “air time” to describe the issue Ÿ The group then spends 30 minutes using open questions to explore the issue and help the
presenter to gain new insights Ÿ The presenter agrees an action plan for the issue (and to report back on progress next time)
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After: Ÿ You can meet as often as you want but monthly sessions work well Ÿ 2-3 hours is a good length for a meeting Ÿ Not all members will get to present their issue in the first session
so you can decide on a schedule Ÿ Make sure the actions happen
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Our next research project looks at how SME owners deal with conflict. If you are interested to talk to us about your experiences please contact us on: Dr Valerie Antcliff Research Fellow 0161 247 3829 v.antcliff@mmu.ac.uk
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Events Calendar
Key Programme Events 10,000 Small Businesses 6th March: Cohort 4 Graduation Dinner The culmination of this intense yet rewarding programme is the Graduation Dinner, where all delegates come together for the last time to receive their awards. Congratulations to all of Cohort 4.
7th June: Application Deadline Applications are now being invited for the programme starting in September 2013. If you’re the leader of a small business or social enterprise that wants to grow and create new local employment opportunities, please apply here
Managers 2 Leaders 11th April: Next start date We have our third cohort of delegates starting on our Managers 2 Leaders programme over the next three months. Managers 2 Leaders is designed to prepare for the future by developing the leadership skills of your senior staff. If you would like to book your place on the Managers 2 Leaders course please click here
Knowledge Action Network Knowledge Action Network is a fully funded programme, which aims to support small businesses in the North West to grow and innovate. The programme is currently recruiting for its third intake of delegates, please express your interest here for more information.
Fast Forward Funding 19th March - 30th May: x2 Cohorts We have two cohorts of delegates starting on our Fast Forward Funding programme over the next three months. Fast Forward Funding is aimed at businesses looking for the knowledge and skills needed to give your business the best chance of raising investment. The programme also culminates in the opportunity to pitch to the right network of funders. For more information please contact - a.seville@mmu.ac.uk
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Master Classes 24th April: Family Business Event Master Class aimed at family businesses to explore your unique business setup and the opportunities that business setup presents.
One Day Courses 21st March: Social Media & Web Understand the potential of social media and how it could grow your business.
18th April: 90 Day Planning Do you have too many things to do and don't know what you need to do next? Do you have 3-year goals for your business but don't seem to be making progress towards them? Are you buried in the day-to-day running of your company? If the answer to any of these is “yes!” then our 90-Day Tactical Planning Workshop is idea for you. If you would like to book a place please contact a.seville@mmu.ac.uk
16th May: Streetwise Sales ‘Streetwise Sales’ is a practical one-day workshop aimed at anyone with an interest in driving their business' sales. The objective of the workshop is to give you the focus, energy and motivation to increase your sales success together with the practical tools and techniques to improve your conversion rate and your negotiating skills to the overall benefit of your business. Limited places remain for both Short Courses & Master Classes, so please book on the details below.
CONTACT US Any questions for our programmes? 0161 247 6736 j.shorley@mmu.ac.uk
Jonathan Lawson Fast Forward Funding Project Manager 0161 247 3738 j.lawson@mmu.ac.uk
Ann Mulhaney Managers 2 Leaders Project Manager 0161 247 6055 a.mulhaney@mmu.ac.uk
Liz Gorb Knowledge Action Network Project Manager 0161 247 3728 l.gorb@mmu.ac.uk
Jennie Shorley Knowledge Action Network Programme Director
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General Enquiries? Telephone: +44 (0)161 247 3871 Email: cfe@mmu.ac.uk Twitter: @MMUcfe Address: Centre for Enterprise Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Campus Oxford Road Manchester, M15 6BH
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Contact us: Telephone: +44 (0)161 247 3871 Email: cfe@mmu.ac.uk Twitter: @MMUcfe Address: Centre for Enterprise Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road Manchester, M15 6BH, United Kingdom