Training for young consultants and startups

In June, together with colleagues from Henley Business School, UK,  Wroclaw University of Economics & Business, PL and Studio Participate, UK, we have co-created for the 5th time a training for young consultants and startups.

The form of the program:  a short summer school, which combined teamwork, workshops and short experts’ talks. For the 1st time – we fully did it on-line!

Learning Outcomes for entrepreneurs:
In a program, entrepreneurs have had a chance to be supported by the international team of experienced coaches, professional consultants and by the open-minded students of entrepreneurship.

Each start-up was accompanied by one working team, which offered its full capacity to identify the weak area(s) of a start-up, analyzed it and came up with proposition(s) of the improvement(s).

Thank you for a great co-operation to Kaja Kippenberg, Karolina Daszyńska-Żygadło, Konrad Sawraś & Keith Heron!

The students’ feedback:

Timestamp	What was particularly helpful for you?	What was difficult for you?	How did you adjust to the online experience?	When did the event begin to feel ‘real’ for you?	Which task during the programme was the most difficult for you?	Which part of the workshop did you enjoy the most?	How easy was the technology to use? (Miro and Teams)	What is the most important learning you take away from the event?	How do you enjoy the whole programme (0-not at all, 5-very much)
19/06/2020 16:43:30	having coaches	too little breaks and long online sessions	it was better than i thought but still difficult	monday	asking questions to the entrepreneur	meeting new people and working with them	1	how to use miro	4
19/06/2020 16:46:41	Work on real issues and discover the concerns of an entrepreneur	To organize the informations in order of importance.	Well	As soon as we met the entrepreneurs	The presentation	Talking with the entrepreneur.	4	Empathy is the key to trust building!	4
19/06/2020 16:48:35	Experience working with real entrepreneur	The product value proposition is weak against competitors. It is very hard to make a strategy which can dominate the market.	Not bad, but it is better to be offline. Hope next year students will be able to fly to Poland.	The first meeting with entrepreneur	Trying to develop suggestions	Interviewing	3	Humble inquiries	3
19/06/2020 16:48:53	Actually implementing all the theory knowledge into practicality was the best for me. Also meeting the entrepreneur and improvising your knowledge was a great and an enriching experience	Being an introvert so breaking the ice was a little bit tough and I had a slow start	The online experience was actually very good. It was surprisingly very good and pretty interesting	The 2nd day when we actually met the entrepreneur	It was breaking the ice with the group members but it was alright afterwards	Best part for me was when we actually started brain storming possible solutions and working together under the guidance of our coach.	2	Being a team and contributing. No idea is a bad idea, it’s just about the perspective	5
19/06/2020 16:48:58	yes	yes it was challenging	Well I had to work with two screens one with the miro and the other with teams	The moment I met the entrepreneur	speak out and construct good questions that adress important issues for the entrepreneur	Presentation	1	The importance of how to meet what the entrepreneur needs	4
19/06/2020 16:49:51	The challenge that the entrepreneur has	The time different of the team member	Try to be comfortable even if is more frustrated and shy in front of camera	After talking with the entrepreneur	To come up with the solution and suggestion for the entrepreneur	When team member discuss together and helping to come up with the suggestion for the entrepreneur	1	The way to approach the entrepreneur and team work	4
19/06/2020 16:50:41	Work in groups	MIRO Board and working online instead of in a class	I prefer offline meetings	When the enterpreneur came	Setting the customer target	Preparing the coat of arms	1	Cooperation is the key of the success	3
19/06/2020 16:50:51	The template on Miro board, and our coaches	the time zone that we have different	everything is perfect for me now. Thank you for your working hard 🙂	When I did the our logo’s team	Creation of presentation	also the creation of presentation	2	we lean to work with different people, different ideas but we can share them together!	5
19/06/2020 16:51:10	Building confidence	Solving problems	communicating with my group members	The third day	identifying value proposition	Solving problems	2	Cooporation	5
19/06/2020 16:51:15	communities skill, business ideas and how to manage team	seeking for the meeting time because our group live in different countries	that’s fine for me, I love to learn the new thing	the real case, real situation and has a limit time	fine the solution but that’s ok, we can give the good suggestions	team discuss and the Miro board	4	New Normal, meeting and brainstrom online and the presentation can be done online	5
19/06/2020 16:51:22	The experience to work with real entrepreneur as a consultant. and also the insight information of businesses in Poland and also in Europe.	Difference of the time zone, it is so tired to progress the workshop especially, around 9-10 p.m.	I just ask my team, and we overcome any difficulty together.	When we need to discus within the group room.	presenting	Brainstorming, questioning to an entrepreneur, and feedback from every coaches	0	time management	4
19/06/2020 16:51:58	Meeting a diverse group of students	Making the meeting times as I work fulltime	Difficult but manageable	Once the consultation with entrepreneur began	coordinating the delivery of the presentation	Presentation day	3	How to work within diverse teams	4
19/06/2020 16:52:24	Help of the coach	Time managemet	I am positively suprised because I thought it would be more dofficult, but in fact even by working in online environment, I felt really good in my team	When we met the entrepreneur	Value proposition	Working in the project rooms and later final project presentation	4	Reality of launching start-up is not easy, even if the idea seems to be great. However, even that now I know that, I feel more sure that I really want to run my own business because it is worth it.	5
19/06/2020 16:53:08	Learning from real life business problems and situation from the entrepreneur	Working within time limit	I learn how to use new technology to work together with my team	When I meet the entrepreneur and discuss with them	Analysing the business model canvas and value proposition	Braintroming with the team members to get the best solutions for the business	4	Some ideas are harder to implement in real life situation	5
19/06/2020 16:53:35	The real case study with the enterpreteur, but as well good guidance and presence of the coach. The lectures were great, however without the coach directing us (especially at the begining), we would not manage to work properly 😉	I think that time management. We were not fully prepared for meeting the entrepreneur. Maybe it would be helpful to get to know the business we are working on faster, so everybody would feel comfortable asking the questions.	I think it went quite well. One and the main disadvantage was for sure the big time difference for students in Tailand. Being in CET time zone we had difficulties arranging the work on our presentation.	I think when the entrepreneur joined us. I think the event would be more “real”, if we could get to know our business faster 😉	The final decisions and suggestions for the business	Getting to know the busiess and brainstorming within miro. Great tool!	1	Maybe that it is not always possible to come up with great ideas. However, thinking about the solutions, expressing your opinions and taking active part in discussions is the key to come up with potentially beneficial ideas.	4
19/06/2020 16:54:17	Working with a real entrepreneur, understand how is it feel or think about the business	Trying to help the entrepreneur in a simple and effective way	Everything was fine	Tuesday, when we meet the real entrepreneur and she started to explain about the issues	Trying to help the entrepreneur in a simple and effective way	Identify the customer and the need of them	3	Before start a new business we should plan very well and learn as much as possible about the type of the product we want to offer	5
19/06/2020 16:54:59	Teamwork! It was awesome to cooperate with others, who engaged so actively in the work.	Long hours spent sitting in front of computer.	It was all organised as well as possible, the only problem was taking breaks, which wasn’t precisely clear as to when to do that.	When we met our enterpreneuer and got the insight of their problem.	Adjusting to working online with people I’ve just met.	Figuring out how to help the enterpreneuer together with the team – sharing ideas	1	Not to be discouraged if something seems difficult – together we can figure something out.	4
19/06/2020 16:55:02	Practically applying knowledge from university and life into a real life case study with a team of people I was unfair with – I Developed business skills, learn new music industry knowledge and adapting to an online environment.	The online nature was difficult at first but this was overcome by wednesday’s meeting. This was difficult as the majority of our group were introverted – this meant I had to adapt as a leader unlike i have before and I have developed as a result of this.	As stated on the previous question, it was difficult given introverted personalities but it was also more flexible so there were some advantages. I feel that more effort was actually put into the work online as we would find ourselves as a group adding to the work overnight as access was really flexible.	Wednesday Morning as our introverted team came out of their shell completely and everyone was motivated.	Finding solutions to problems in a way that isn’t offensive to the entrepreneur as we are not equips with their industry expertise.	discussions, brainstorming and being part of a really cool, fun and enjoyable team.	0	that external perspective on anything important you do can help tremendously and that relationships with others are key to progression in business or any other aspect of life.	5
19/06/2020 16:55:09	Having a coach who nudged us towards the answer, instead of being a typical “school teacher”	To understand the technical aspects of the business	Quite well, I actually prefer this mode of studying	Around day 2 after meeting the entrepreneur	Suggesting a viable financial solution to the business person	Getting to know the entrepreneur’s ideas and inspirations	4	How to recognize business challenges and answer them in an empathic manner	5
19/06/2020 16:55:29	To be more creative	Without more critical thinking	Communicate and cooperate with team member	Team meeting which occured at second time	Value proposation	Customer segmentation	3	More creative and critical thinking, cooperate efficiently	5
19/06/2020 16:57:05	The work we done as a team on the project	Time balance	It was good	When we started to work	Generating good ideas	Every task	0	Importance of team work and time balance	5
19/06/2020 16:57:55	having an “in group coach”	organising for a certain task in group in a short time	Well, but it was hard to remain connected such long periods of time	since the code of arms activity	the first meeting with the entrepreneur, it was hard to ask all the questions in a short time and a online environment	Working with the team	0	how to go from ideas to final work in a short time	5
19/06/2020 17:00:48	market research	gain the trust from the entrepreneur, and also it is difficult to get the information from the entrepreneur	it was fine	final decision making of proposal	analyse the value proposition of the brand	explore the new customer segment and individual market research	2	don’t just make assumption, always to use the evidence to prove the point you want to make. and understand and focus on what the entrepreneur want instead of what you want	2
19/06/2020 17:01:17	Team working	finding some answer for problems	I`t was good	When meeting with real entrepreneur	The challenge	On miroboard	2	team work	3
19/06/2020 17:04:18	This workshop brought my perspective wider that there are many opportunities of business which can be successful in the current time by the consideration of eco-friendly; moreover, most of the current business can maintain on the online platform.	In my opinion, the most difficult part is in the beginning period that we had never known the particular business of our entrepreneur before, so we had to research as much as we can in one day before we meet them in the meeting on the day after	I think during the online meeting we had to make the effort in order to communicate with our guest more than we did in the face-to-face meeting, but once we could destroy the barrier, they were willing to share their problems and informations.	The first time when I met my entrepreneur case	when our team tried to persuade our entrepreneur case that she might be lack of marketing knowledge and it would be better if she could fine the mentor or read more books in order to help her solve the time management problems	The time when our Coach (Aga) encouraged everyone in the team that we should not give up easily when we listened the first feedback that our value proposition might not strong enough, but she gave the bright idea that spot me on, it’s about now our entrepreneur has already has the customers so she is going on the right track but we can help her sharp the direction of her business	1	The more people you talk with, the more ideas you can gain	5
19/06/2020 17:05:01	Yes, it was really beneficial.	Finding beneficial results for entrepreneurer	Everybody was so friendly. Even if you are shy person, you can feel relax in this programme. Because everybody look like your family.	When the entrepreneur joined our team and trying to solve her problems.	Value proposition section was not familiar for me. For this reason, it was a bit hard for me.	Creating our coat of arms	1	Being group and learning differend ideas, experiences and skills of teammates. And the presentations which the coaches showed us was so benefical and quality for me.	5
19/06/2020 17:05:12	The help of our coach	At the beginning it was difficult to organize the work and assign particular tasks to each of us.	Working online was challenging, we really lacked face-to-face contact, but we solved the problem of “awkward silence” in the room by pointing the next person to speak, so that we all feel obliged to participate.	From the moment we actually meet the entrepreneur.	Finding reasonable and achievable solutions to the entrepreneur’s problems	The interview with the entrepreneur	2	That through cooperation, a group of young and rather inexperienced people is able to come up with inspiring solutions for business problems and actually help business owners.	3
19/06/2020 17:06:12	is a great opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and use the theoretical to practical in the real situation.	prepare for meeting parts in the first day is difficult for me. because we don’t know much about entrepreneurs before and not know what are going to. i just try to think a lot of the questions to ask entrepreneurs in different perspective as possible with limited of company backgroud knowledge.	new experience for me. just make sure connection going well. However, i also face with technology issue (mic not working) but can fix it in the next day.	when we start talk entrepreneur and deep into his problems.	understand the entrepreneur mind and his limitations	working with the team	0	adapt theoretical to make possible solution	5
19/06/2020 17:13:07	The help of our coach, enthusiasm of team members and the entreprenour, Really enjoyed the presentation about being a leader and focusing on the customers	Miro boards…	The overall working on teams was nice, it worked smoothly for our group, but of course I would prefer to meet in person, since there are so many interesting individuals (maybe there will be an ocasion next year ? :))	Once we met the enterprenour	I think creating the last presentation, everyone had many ideas and different opinions but somehow we managed to put it all together	Working at team at miro board(even though the board not always wanted to cooperate) I really liked the discussions and atmosphere in my group	3	How to look from customer perspective	5
19/06/2020 17:21:27	Getting to interact with the entrepreneur and the working with a team in a fast paced enviornment.	Initially communicating with the team as a whole; lack of organisation on the first day with the entrepreneur;	We had to manage technology issues, and over come the difficulties with the limited interaction – can’t say I did anything particular but as the week went on, I think we all adapted better.	Wednesday afternoon! I think that’s when we really clicked as a group.	The final presentation; the amount of time to communicate and put a presentation together online was challenging.	Interviewing the entrepreneur was interesting! Going through the process of identifying their value proposition was also quite interesting. I also enjoyed working with Daniyar.	1	The process of humble inquiry, and actually attempting to empathise with the entrepreneur was quite valuable. Although we were not able to give specialised advice, we feel we helped push her in a direction she feels comfortable with regardless of whether or not anything actually comes of it.	4
19/06/2020 17:27:24	Entrepreneur’s mind about make plan	Not very good at using MIRO	Listen carefully to the tutor’s speech and record the key points	at the beginning	suggestion	ask Entrepreneurs questions	4	In the future, we must learn to save resources	3
19/06/2020 17:41:54	Real entrepreneurs	Some specific area of business that sometimes I’m not familiar with	Discussed with the team	When the real entrepreneurs come	looking for a target customers group	when the entrepreneurs satisfy with the suggestions and results	1	Communicating and researching skill	4
19/06/2020 17:54:47	being able to see the points of view of people from around the world	takling with the enterpreneur	It was a bit difficult at the beginning because of long hours and short breaks	on Wednesday as we were working with the enterpreneur	thinking of adjusting the way of resolving problems of the enterpreneur	creating the logo	4	even though I am not a professional know now that I can help an enterpreneur	4
19/06/2020 22:52:43	Teamwork	Nothing	it was very good experience	Since the beginning	the time was to long	The most fun part when our coach “kaja” tried to change the atmosphere of the lecture, like laughing and doing exercises to make the lecture more smooth.	4	the most important experince not just in our study but also in our life.	5
20/06/2020 01:24:22	Yes	No	Normal	When we started to prepare real cases with coaches	Registration in Miro 😉	Speak with coaches and enterpreneurs	3	Be more talkative, teamwork is real power.	5
20/06/2020 14:44:52	Having a feel for the enterpreneurs experience	Persuading the entrepreneur to change their views on certain things.	It was a very easy adjustment though obviously not the rich experience the real thing would have provided.	After talking to the enterpreneur	At times the discussions	The presentations	2	That anything is possible if you want to make it so	3