Think Enterprise Quarter 2 2020

TE THINK ENTERPRISE QUARTER. 2 — 2020

READ INSIDE

KICK OFF IN BUSINESS

FROM CLASSROOM TO ONLINE IN WEEKS! STUBBY’S WINDOW CLEANING RECIEVES

IOEE MENTORING SUPPORT TAKE A LOOK AT THE WORK WE’VE BEEN UNDERTAKING IN

RESPONSE TO COVID-19 AN IOEE COVID-19

WORKING FROM HOME SPECIAL

THINK ENTERPRISE Quarter 2 — 2020 Vol. 31

CONTAC T US 53 Coniscliffe Road Darlington DL3 7EH 0845 467 4928 newsletter@ioee.uk ioee.uk

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SARAH TROUTEN, IOEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Welcome to the second edition of 2020. This isn’t my usual introduction as these aren’t usual times. The country is undergoing a once in a generation crisis which is affecting all of us. In these challenging and uncertain times we are all facing issues that we haven’t, and indeed couldn’t, have prepared for. We know that our members and the small businesses of the UK are strong and resilient and we will be trying wherever we can to offer support and assistance at this time.

As a small business ourselves we understand the pressures you are facing and we have developed a free small business toolkit containing resources, guides and information which will be continually updated in the coming weeks — if there’s something you’d find useful and we haven’t provided it please let us know. This can be accessed by logging into our online campus.

We’ve also been involved in discussions with government, along with other business representative bodies, to try and steer the conversations around skills support measures.

We will continue to do so throughout this crisis and will engage with you, our membership, to get your views.

Another support initiative we’re launching, in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group and UK Finance, is a COVID-19 Rapid Response Mentoring Programme. It can be lonely running a small business at the best of times and this will be compounded during lockdown.

We know that a friendly, impartial ear can be

extremely useful and so our trained mentors are here to support you in making the right decisions for both dealing with the challenges you are facing now and moving your business forward as the lockdown is lifted. Our article about the success of Stubby’s Window Cleaning who have already received mentoring support from a Lloyds mentor gives an idea of what mentees can expect from the initiative.

This month we’ve focused on ‘Working From Home’ and getting the most from new working arrangements. The situation is likely to continue for some time, and may in fact lead to a permanent new way of working for many, so we thought we’d provide you with some helpful guidance and tips.

I chatted with Ken Horn from Kick Off In Business, who have been working to digitise their delivery and are now offering IOEE-linked qualifications by remote delivery.

We also caught up with Lalith Welamedage CEO of Lanka Social Ventures who we’ve just recognised as an IOEE International Academy, in support of their innovative social entrepreneurship programmes.

UK small businesses are strong and by working together and helping each other we will get through this. Stay safe, stay healthy and we are here whenever you need us.

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CONTENTS 6. kick off in business: from classroom to online in weeks KOIB have until very recently delivered SFEDI Enterprise qualifications funded through adult learning budget and delivered in traditionally facilitated face to face workshops. » p.6

8. stubby’s window cleaning recieves ioee mentoring supporting We’ve spoken to to Lauren Stubbings of Stubby’s Window Cleaning, Lauren received Mentoring as part of the IOEE Mentoring Programme from IOEE Mentor Derek at Lloyds Bank.

10. WORKING FROM HOME SPECIAL » p.8

Comprised of various articles and sources of informaiton to help you in working at home no matter your circumstances.

12. working from home: managing your personal wellbeing 15. working from home: five things to help » p.10

17. working from home: managing the uncertainty of others in lockdown to cope with the challenge of change 22. working from home: getting some structure

» p.17

24. working from home: the tech opportunity 26. tips for working from home

30. ioee international academy: lanka social ventures We have spoken to Lalith Welamedage, Co-Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Lank Social Venture (LSV).

LSV was first recognised as an IOEE International Academy » p.30

back in 2017 and supports entrepreneurial and innovative individuals, groups and many others.

32. Keeping your business healthy in this time of crisis We’ve pulled together some helpful advice for business owners on how they can look to keep their business healthy in these unprecidented times. » p.32

36. HOW IOEE HAVE BEEN RESPONDING TO COVID-19 We have been hard at work helping to support small businesses and entrepreneurs all across the UK during these unprecidented time. We have also been busy working behind the scenes with government.

» p.36

KICK OFF IN BUSINESS: FROM CLASSROOM TO ONLINE IN WEEKS! This month we highlight the work of SFEDI Awards Centre, Kick off In Business. KOIB have until very recently delivered SFEDI Enterprise qualifications funded through adult learning budget and delivered in traditionally facilitated face to face workshops. We caught up with Ken Horn, Founder and Managing Director at Kick off in Business (remotely of course!) to find out what challenges COVID-19 has brought to his business and how they’ve managed to overcome them to ensure they can continue to provide this vital support to start ups.

So Ken how did you initially feel when lockdown was announced?

I’ll be honest with you, when all this landed I was frightened to death

(not for obvious reasons) but from the business point of view because you really didn’t know where it was going to take you but within two weeks we had a workable model.

We’ve moved heaven and earth in the last few weeks and it’s been very rewarding.

How did you go about planning to implement this new model?

It was immediately clear that we needed to move to a purely online delivery model. We started talks with partners and agencies who actually were very open to changes and accommodating.

It had to be as interactive and engaging as it would have been ordinarily – but only this time instead of being in a classroom it would be on a screen, using zoom as the platform (other platforms

are available) with live delivery, Q & A and 360 degree interaction.

How have you implemented this new way of working?

We then undertook a very small trial with a challenging group of learners aged 16-24, most of whom were under 18. The session went extremely well and the feedback was amazing which really is testament to our trainers who are extremely fun and engaging in their delivery.

Their personalities are almost showbiz – you need that to really engage your learners. We needed to familiarise ourselves with the platform and all the tricks within it, these platforms are pretty clever - you know we’re only just scratching the surface in terms

of the capability of some of these platforms.

Have you delivered further sessions since the pilot?

So last week we were over subscribed and had 30 learners on one programme. The reason we did this was to see how it worked and also we weren’t sure how many would actually turn up! So we were hedging our bets a bit and guess what they all turned up! So we’ve learnt our conversion rate from bookings to attendance is far higher than it would be in the community.

How have learners responded to this new way of learning?

Feedback has been amazing if I’m honest, I say that with a degree of surprise as we are completely new to this. So far it’s worked really well. And the funny thing is that on reflection I’m wondering why we didn’t do this before! Our learners are reacting better in

this environment that they would in a classroom. They feel more secure and are more prepared to contribute from the comfort of their own homes than they would be in a classroom. We are noticing with this new model people are ready to rock and roll from day one.

Our biggest single challenge quite honestly is funding the delivery.

Genuinely we are seeing an influx of learners at the moment, our biggest challenge is getting our hands on adult education budget funding.

knowledge – it can be an overload but here we are at the back end of it going WOW! So what’s next for Kick off in Business?

So now we’ve got something that works, how do we engage with partners such as banks and commercial partners who can support us. We’ll see where that takes us but for now we’re busy doing our day to day jobs but reinventing ourselves at the same time!

The delivery part is easy for us, the tricky part has been the front and back end administration and compliancy however the agencies we work with have been very helpful and receptive to this new approach – without their help quite honestly we wouldn’t have been able to do this.

We feel as though we’re on an escalator of experience and

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Stubby’s Window Cleaning recieves IOEE Mentoring support from Lloyds Bank This quarter we are delighted to have been able to speak to Lauren Stubbings of Stubby’s Window Cleaning, Lauren received Mentoring as part of the IOEE Mentoring Programme from IOEE Mentor Derek at Lloyds Bank.

What have you learnt from programme and mentoring?

the

Since the becoming a part of the mentoring programme we have been guided into making better business decisions financially.

It has given us a clearer overview of our business with what works and what doesn’t.

It has given us perspective.

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How has mentoring helped support and build your business?

The support we have received has been invaluable. At a highly charged and stressful time, we were questioning the business’s future. Talking to our mentor gave s a clearer vison and goals- some being immediate and some long term.

Helping us find better solutions to our issues. Ultimately as we are a family run business we were loyal to our roots and the mentor was able to give us a non bias viewhelping us to make better decisions, based on our head not our hearts!

What are your development?

plans

for

further

Is being professionally recognised by an institute important to you?

A few months after starting the mentoring programme we decided to go into partnership with a larger window cleaning company to help with management and operations side of our business. Essentially like a reverse Franchise as we had the reputation, customers and staff- they have the programmes, systems and capital to make things run more smoothly. The biggest change is going paperless which is great for the planet, a move in the right direction and helps the office run in a more time economic way.

Being professionally recognised is very important to us, we charge a premium for our services so being accredited shows professionalism, experience and sets us apart from the rest. We believe it shows we are serious and invested in what we do.

How has the mentoring programme helped you develop personally and professionally?

The Mentoring programme has made us financially more stable in the long term. It has taken the stress away and allowed to focus on other things. We have another business Chimney Sweeping, so we hope to build on that this year and we have more time to focus on it. It gave a sense of controlwhich had been lacking as our business had grown.

If you could mentor or be mentored by anyone in history who would it be?

I would enjoy being mentored by anyone who is successful in business whilst being morally ethical. Successful both personally and professionally- Derek was a prefect match for us!

If you would like further information about how you can receive IOEE Mentoring support please email IOEE Mentor Manager Paul Harper at: paul. harper@sfedi.co.uk

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Working From Home S P E C I A L

You may already be working from home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, or you may be doing so in the coming weeks. If you’re new to remote working, it can feel daunting at first, but a few changes to your working practices can smooth the transition.

Some of you may be well used to working from home, but might find that in these circumstances, the reality is different to what you might be used to. This may be because you are sharing the space with other family members or because you are now working at home continuously rather than just on specific days.

In this month’s special feature, written by Amanda Dudman, learn tips and techniques for maximising your productivity whilst working remotely, from online collaboration tools to setting up a designated workspace.

Working From Home: Managing Your Personal Wellbeing Wellbeing for working at home is critically impor tant whether you work for someone else or you are your own boss.

If you work on your own, the challenges and pressures of dealing with running your enterprise have just been increased by lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated consequences. Looking af ter your mental health and wellbeing is essential to help you stay well in all regards and so you are able to manage the various pressures that can lead to overwhelm and stress in tough times. You need to do something about it before stress stops you.

Wellbeing is holistic Wellbeing is central to your overall health and enables you to overcome dif ficulties successfully and achieve what you want in life. Your wellbeing is holistic, but it can be broken down into the dif ferent areas of mental, physical, emotional and environmental factors.

Action point 1: Have your own wellbeing plan for working from home based around the issues for each of these factors that you need to take care of. Make a list of the things you need to manage and something you will do for each point that will help you make sure you a practising good habits.

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Have a routine As an overall goal have a routine. Wake up, get up, get ready, plan your day, focus on aiming for a positive productive day, have a purpose and prioritise (do what matters), use your energ y on what’s impor tant, reward yourself and review what’s gone well.

Action point 2: have plan for the day and focus on goals that include your whole routine, i.e. you include breaks and taking in some fresh air.

Action point 3: identif y what you typically tell yourself as you star t the day? Are you telling yourself ‘it’s going to be another dif ficult day ’ or are you telling yourself ‘there are some challenges to deal with today but I know I can deal with them’.

Notice whether you thoughts are positive and help you have a sense of purpose, or are they negative? If you’ve heard of the phrase ‘self-fulfilling prophesy ’ be aware you are setting yourself up to experience what you tell yourself!

Ideas for taking action on your wellbeing.

Here are some practical activities and approaches to help you manage your wellbeing while working from home.

1. Physical

•

•

•

Slow down – check in with yourself; meditation, yoga & deep breathing reduce blood pressure.

Take breaks – the brain struggles to concentrate af ter 90 minutes.

Be active – physical exercise releases endorphins that reduce the emotional intensity of stress & help tackle causes. Go walk around the block.

•

Stay hydrated.

•

Balanced diet – aids physical & mental health; don’t skip eating on a long day.

•

Seek help – be asser tive towards those making extra demands; go to the doctor if you feel overwhelmed.

•

Sleep – 7/8 hours a night.

Turn of f devices one hour before.

•

Oxygenate.

•

Distraction and in the moment grounding actions.

Action point 4: which points will you take action on and add to your wellbeing plan to tackle the physiolog y of stress?

2.

Thoughts and Feelings

Thoughts, feelings and physical reactions to stress are bound together by our and other peoples’ perception.

The key action is to change what you tell yourself: •

Have a ‘game plan’ for the situations you know trigger dif ficult thoughts and emotions

•

Adopt some dif ferent thinking approaches – don’t fall into that selffulfilling prophesy trap

•

Learn to communicate well under stress

•

Get suppor t

•

Breathe – breathing exercises work. Stop, stand up and breathe in deeply and then exhale 5 times

•

Calmness is your superpower – learn how to find your calm place

•

Find a coping strateg y – do the following stress container exercise

Action point 5: an activity to help you cope with stress: the stress container Think about your stress levels by using the stress container exercise. Imagine there’s a bucket that you carr y with you that fills up as you experience dif ferent types of stress. You are of ten able to carr y the weight and volume of this stress, but you can also do things that lighten the load.

Day to day dif ferent pressures are pouring into the bucket – dealing with change, financial worries, family/relationship stress, poor diet, poor exercise, lack of sleep, anxiety, worries about work, health

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worries. If you are feeling resilient and have a high tolerance to stress, your container may not fill up ver y far, but if you are feeling vulnerable or having a day filled with pressures, the container will seem small and it will fill up quickly.

There are positive coping mechanisms you need to use that act as a tap to release the stresses.

You take these actions to keep the tap open and they help you work on ways to reduce your stress.

Three steps to take to use the stress container Step One — Empty ever y thing that is in your head concerning work and home life into your stress container (write words/phrases). If necessar y, draw a bucket on a piece of paper and write all your pressures and worries down in it.

Step Two — Using this list of helpful coping mechanisms decide which ones you will use to ‘turn on the tap’ and stop it overflowing: •

More sleep

•

Plan for the day

•

Time management

•

90 minute breaks, in fact, any thing from the list of physical activities

•

Looking af ter yourself – doing something dif ferent eat day

•

Looking af ter your diet

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•

Look af ter your relationships

•

Reduce long hours

•

Stop self-medicating

•

Reduce and eliminate unhelpful coping strategies such as use of alcohol, smoking, poor diet.

Step Three — Step back and help yourself understand which actions help.

Stress is a subjective experience and all of the actions that help you turn on the tap and let the stress flow out are in your control.

Ideas and Resources Websites w w w.rethink.org and w w w.mhfaengland. org and https://w w w.bitc.org.uk / (tool kits and resources for yourself and employees) MHFA UK Video on how to use the stress container https://w w w.youtube.com/watch? v=bapSzuyeQ_Y Book - ‘How to Stay Sane’ by Philippa Perr y, published by The School of Life. Easy to read and it has a section on exercises such as grounding and distraction activities, questionnaires and breathing techniques.

Working from Home: Five Things To Help There are a lot of people who will be getting used to home working in the weeks ahead, including whole teams. If you are used to seeing team members every day, able to go and ask your manager for something, then you are now going to need to re-configure your head space about these day to day routines and ways of working. You will need some new ones.

Remote and flexible working in business is not new and it has been predicted that in the next decade more and more people will move to this way of working. The pandemic has accelerated this and many more people have an office base at home. Until self-isolation arrived, using Skype for coaching or discussions, going to cafes and WIFI hotspots for meetings or a ‘get out the office’ slot, has been a way to develop good habits for a working at home job role.

long run.

•

Here are five things to help make home working work: 1. Work space boundaries. Set and stick to a space that is devoted to being your work space. Perhaps you have a ‘box room’ in your home which can be set up as a designated work space. You can shut the door on it. This creates a boundary for you and everyone else. Everyone in your household needs to know and respect the work space/ boundary. Invest time in organising this space so you have everything you need around you.

2. Get up, get dressed and go to work. The jokes about sitting in your pyjamas regularly do the rounds. It is important to separate the fact you are ‘going to work’, you are at work even though at home, and so getting up and being dressed is important. It is also the psychological separation of work and ‘other time’. And no sitting top half dressed in front of a webcam!

3. Contact with others.

• This is important, especially if you’re used to being in a team environment, leaning over a desk to ask for an opinion, having an in the moment coffee catch up. Now we need to selfisolate, this is not going to happen anyway so get used to harnessing the power of technology and using your phone especially! Speak to people! Do it online or via the plethora of tech available. It will become the new normal in the

You can still hold meetings. Have you ever felt that you attended too many face to face meetings that seemed pointless or wasted your time? Meetings can be smart and shorter, with actions and outcomes. You will actually start to like them! Using technology such as Google Hangout, Skype or Zoom is smart for meetings when people are dispersed, and perhaps whilst everyone is in isolation it will motivate us into all using it far more. Your contact with others will be a good thing, so stay in touch.

4. Technology is your friend. Embrace it. We’ve mentioned a few already, but add Facetime, WhatsApp groups and Go to Meeting. See this as a chance to train yourself up and add to your CPD plan. They all have online tutorials and videos.

5. Work on your resilience. Resilience is the ability to learn from, change and even be transformed by adversity. Practice resilience skills or learn some new ones to help you stick at things in the weeks and months ahead. Resilience is something that is from ‘within’ and we are all capable of being resilient. Two parts of resilience that are worth working on are confidence and asking for support.

•

Confidence. We all need to ‘top up’ on our confidence now and then and research confirms that a good approach is to work on the thing (or things) you find most challenging and to keep learning new skills and knowledge.

This is because overcoming challenges and reflecting on success gives a boost (it’s easy to get sucked into only noticing what went wrong), and because confidence comes from being skilled or capable at something. Improve your skill and your confidence will go up.

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Action point: what skills and behaviours will you work on that will boost your capability?

•

Support. The part of being resilient about asking for support is because nobody is supposed to do everything on their own. Ask colleagues, your manager, friends for support. Giving support is a boost too, even if it is just talking something through with someone, de-briefing at day’s end. Research by Robertson Cooper expands on this idea and their model includes ‘Social Support’ as one of four foundations of resilience.

Action point: identify who is within your circle of influence, those people in your network of connections and people you trust, who you can build time into your working week with to give and ask for support.

Working from home is a chance to press pause from the treadmill and re-shape life work balance individually, as a business and as a working nation. Things take a little while to settle down but some new habits will emerge for all of us. There are positive changes and

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opportunities to come from home working.

Make a plan 1. Take away three actions to help you move forwards.

2. Tackle both the practical aspects and something that requires a bit more thought.

3. Commit to changing one habit or introducing a new one that will help you work better at home.

Ideas and Resources Complete and download a personal resilience report from Robertson Cooper — https://www. robertsoncooper.com/iresilience/

WORKING FROM HOME: MANAGING THE UNCERTAINTY OF OTHERS IN LOCKDOWN TO COPE WITH THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE In times of change and uncertainty people naturally have more fear and anxiety. This is normal, and varies between individuals. When we are responsible for others there is plenty we can do to manage the process and impact of change.

Change is an incremental process. Neither individuals nor organisations adopt a change overnight. When in a leadership position, we need to recognise that situations cause organisations to change, whereas people go through ‘transition’.

Kurt Lewin’s change model describes the stages of a successful change process as consisting of three phases: 1. Unfreeze: Creating the motivation to change by disconfirmation of the present state, creation of survival anxiety, creating of psychological safety to overcome anxiety.

2. Move: Learning new concepts, new meanings and new standards by imitation of and identification with role modelling new ways of working, scanning for solutions and learning from trial-and-error

problem solving.

3. Refreeze: Internalising of new ideas, meanings and standards by incorporating into self-concept and identity and into ongoing relationships and teams.

Each stage requires the leader to plan for and manage the process.

Alongside this good practice teaches us that we need to spend time communicating and helping people cope with change, i.e. the personal transition that goes on.

It involves understanding how they deal with what is happening to them and having some approaches and a plan to ensure short term and longer term success.

Short term success Three steps for immediate action: 1. Create a ‘listening channel’ where people can constructively share their emotions. For example, create a Slack channel, 15-minute virtual stand ups meetings in Zoom or MS Teams, or even an email Think Enterprise | 17

Change is an incremental process, individuals nor organisation adopt change over nice. thread. Ask brain-based questions like, “how are you feeling? What are you doing to create certainty and routines?”

The model helps you predict how people will react to change, so that you can help them make their own personal transitions, and make sure that they have the help and support they need.

Action points 1. This is a great tool to discuss with a team and to use to recognise what stage different individuals have reached. Each stage involves different actions and activities to support people to move forwards.

2. Use it to help yourself identify how you are managing your own change process.

Change Curve

2. Share resilience and emotional wellbeing tips with employees. Aside from simply sending physical hygiene tips, share mental hygiene tips and links to resources.

3. As a leader, see yourself as an ‘affect’ role model.

Double check internal communications for emotional tone and impact, and help managers, leaders, and influencers realise that they play an important role as emotion ambassadors too.

How to help people cope with change in the longer term

Tips for 1-2-1 communication situations during change

Helping people deal with change involves understanding that we all pass through a set of thoughts, emotions and behaviours at different rates, for a different amount of time, when the challenge of change impacts.

Spending time communicating with people individually makes a difference. Use these six points to help you manage a conversation well, particularly if it is a more difficult one.

Accept the range of reactions and coping strategies

1. Be very clear. Do not use hedging language or blurring words like ‘may be’ or ‘might need to.’

They cause confusion and misunderstanding.

2. Focus on them. It is tough for them. Focus on their feelings and don’t talk about how hard things are for you/everyone. Be empathetic.

3. Don’t get defensive. Stay calm. Speak with confidence. If there are open questions or concerns, write them down and let the person know when you will follow up with more information. Don’t blame or criticise others.

4. Be prepared to handle confusion. It’s normal to have to repeat information more than once for people in difficult times.

The ‘Change Curve’ is a useful tool that explains the stages people go through individually when change happens. It is based on a model originally developed in the 1960s by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to explain the grieving process. She found that the stages are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling and help us move from the initial shock and anger we feel through to accepting and committing to change.

The stages are not linear or the same for every person.

Most are a normal part of the coping process and don’t have a set timeline.

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5. Acknowledge the other person’s reaction. Allow a few seconds for the information to be absorbed and then carry on. You could say something like ‘I understand this is a lot to get used to/how challenging this situation is.’ Don’t say “I know how you feel” because you don’t - everyone’s reaction will be very different.

6. Offer choices. Ask people for input and ideas to solve problems. Know your options and deadlines up front.

Further ideas and resources Template – suggested activities for each stage of the curve

A final point on ‘Acceptance’ There are outwards signs, found through conversations, that signify change is happening, perhaps expressed something like: ‘It was difficult at first but I have now become accustomed to my new role and new opportunities have opened up.’

This stage is assisted by moving from short-term to long-term vision and building and embedding the new reality.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Enthuse about the future Celebrate new successes Make sure everyone is clear about new roles Don’t expect a radical change overnight Convert complaints to action Promote personal responsibility and accountability Delegate where appropriate Model new behaviours Reduce the number of meetings relating specifically to change Document any new procedures Revise job descriptions and performance objectives

References Kurt Lewin’s change model - https://www.mindtools. com/pages/article/newPPM_94.html Apps Slack App — https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/ Zoom App — https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/ articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials MS Teams — https://products.office.com/en-gb/ microsoft-teams/group-chat-software Books ‘On Death and Dying’ by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and some information about her books: https://www. amazon.com/Elisabeth-Kubler-Ross/e/B000AP9LK0 Ross, Ackerman, L. (1997) Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in organisations.

In: Van Eynde, D., Hoy, J. and Van Eynde, D. (eds) Organisation Development Classics. San Francisco, Jossey Bass.

Bridges, W. (1998) Leading Organisational Transitions. www.wmbridges.com.

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Free Small Busines Toolkit

With challenging times ahead as the country ta outbreak, we are making sure the IOEE supports as possible to survive.

To help we have developed a toolkit of sup resources and are making it available free of ch the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Click Here To Access

ss Survival

ackles the COVID-19 as many businesses

pport and learning harge for as long as

WORKING FROM HOME: GETTING SOME STRUCTURE Working from home is becoming one of the ‘new normals’ very quickly. We knw this is new for many people, and not everyone is comfortable or feel they have the right mind set for working from home, or the right conditions.

Going to a place of work gives structure, reasonable order, socialisation, boundaries, timeframes and hierarchies making decisions. • Now much of that has been handed over for self-management and re-organisation.

Having structure helps for a number of • reasons: • • you can manage your wellbeing • you have the opportunity to work flexibly • travel times are gone - that’s ‘time back’ • you can plan for and hold communications, meetings and discussions more flexibly and more swiftly • • you can time block more effectively • • you have more control and choice over your day We recognise that those who now have extra caring responsibilities at home will have some • different and additional pressures. Having structure should still help.

Top tips for having structure •

•

Self-management and self-discipline: get • up and do work within a planned time frame. This can be flexible, of course, but have a plan, say the night before, of when you will start work, and some broad goals. • This is largely a ‘thinking’ task.

Have a plan for the day and factor in breaks and other activities as the norm. Taking 5 minutes to remind yourself of your goals • for the day (NOT TASKS) will help you focus and not rush in. If you can, allocate time

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for different tasks. Audit and adjust if things take longer/less time.

Don’t be tempted to check your inbox first.

Ditto the above point and have a plan so you prioritise what you need to do at the start of the day. These are good, self-managed time actions.

No fake breaks such as eating over a desk or laptop.

Wellbeing breaks: our minds and bodies need a break every hour and a half. Get up, make a drink, go into the garden, do a different activity for 5 minutes. You get the idea. Breaks are a key part of being productive. No guilt needed.

Factor into your plan for the day.

Have a lunch break. Ditto the above point.

Turn off reminders and close down all tabs on your laptop screen so there are minimum distractions. Turn on at set times. Tell others if you need to by setting auto reply messages.

Stick to it. Audit. Adjust if needed.

Shared calendars: use time blocking so people know when you are available and when you are not (e.g. doing quality work, not working as you are having a break). Do not be tempted to keep checking in or letting yourself be interrupted during blocked time.

Set yourself the goal of completing a task or part of it without checking the inbox or phone until the job is done. These are things you have 100% control over.

If you don’t know where to start go back to creating a plan and break the day into bite size pieces. Go for one and a half hour slots, followed by a break.

Social isolation is a real issue. Factor a contact into the day where you are speaking to a colleague, perhaps using WhatsApp. Form a

WhatsApp group and speak for a 5 minute start of/end of day meet up every day. Your manager is still your manager, even if they are now working remotely. They have a job to support you and communicate regularly.

Maintain your development. At least once a week, do something for your CPD, such as watch a 20 minute TED talk, do some online learning, google a topic you need to learn about, do a MOOC (they are free). Keep a record.

This helps with many things wellbeing, isolation, upskilling, being a bit stretched (helps with motivation), and so on. Put it into your plan and time-block it.

Physical structure is needed.

Have a set space with boundaries within where ‘work’ takes place.

Ideally it is in a separate room, but if that’s not possible, find a dedicated space, set boundaries for its use, and have what you need set up and organised around you all in one place.

Boundaries conversations with others in your household will be needed so you have ground rules, especially around interruptions and noise.

Rewards. Reward yourself for doing things well, completing work. Plan rewards say for the end of each week or when something has been completed.

communications in more structured and better ways. Two useful points from this that have helped me are:

Your team mates aren’t next to you any more for a quick chat or question

Two items from CIPD, first the latest research report on the shift towards remote and flexible working, the second a guide to home and remote working from the employer’s perspective.

•

•

•

•

Being part of a team which is dispersed when you are not used to it takes some getting used to. I worked in jobs in the past where being in a dispersed workforce automatically meant thinking about

1. Save up day to day queries and share in one go. I found that often some of these solved themselves anyway, plus I became a better problem solver myself and more self-reliant.

2. Have a WhatsApp or chat facility or set up a buddy system using your employer’s virtual communications systems. Have planned, quality communication time.

Lockdown isn’t nice but it is an opportunity Choice about going to a place of work has been taken away for many of us.

WFH is here for a while. We think it will change the way we work in the longer term, hopefully in good and better ways, as new practices and self-management, with good remote support, will remain.

Ideas and resources https://www.trainingjournal.com/ articles/features/remote-workingresources-list

https://www.cipd.co.uk/ knowledge/fundamentals/ relations/flexible-working/ remote-working-top-tips

Connect to the IOEE Campus Free Small Business Survival Toolkit www. campus.ioee.uk

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/ work/trends/megatrends/workinghome-rise

Think Enterprise | 23

Working from Home: The Tech Opportunity The reality of working from home (WFH) is probably starting to make sense after being in lock down for so long now. At least a bit. The initial moduels offered some ideas about getting strucuted for WFH & starting new habits for life work balance and wellbeing.

In this one we review the tech you can use in a whistle stop tour that has become central to doing business in lockdown and which are useful tools for micro and small business owners.

•

Practise with a colleague or friend. Learning by doing works. Help each other out.

•

The more you use an app, the easier it is. Making mistakes is part of learning and improvement and we are all in the same boat.

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Those apps with video mean you need to think about the height of the webcam in relation to your face and also what others will see behind you. Use books to make the device higher so people can see your face for example. Being distracted by piles of washing up or activity and noise in the background is not what you or others want to see.

•

It is also tempting to say ‘ask a teenager’ - but probably not for this!

Love tech - it’s your friend Having a good range of apps and systems on a laptop and smart phone helps you stay connected when WFH, and in this lockdown life, it needs to earn its investment for you.

It is likely that employers want their people to use certain programmes and systems whilst WFH. Remember that: •

•

Don’t let this lead to one dimensional communication. One app does not fit all situations and shouldn’t take away talking to people on the phone. It’s bad enough when people use email too much rather than speak!

All applications have tutorials, guided shows and instructions and are worth using; this is learning and development and can go in your CPD record.

24 | Think Enterprise

A ‘quick and dirty’ app rundown Skype - solid, an ‘old favourite’, good for 1-2-1s, coaching and mentoring, and it’s free. People need to follow you. If you Skype someone using a personal account with someone who has Skype for Business, it recognises this.

Facetime – this is where you have apple devices using IOS and both iPads and iPhones, both great for mobile situations. If you have android, Google hangout works well. Both are good for 1-2-1 discussions and quick chats and they lend themselves to coaching and mentoring, for which a tablet is better, as a smart phone is too small.

WhatsApp - good for text related communication and video calls on a smart phone with a colleague or client. Good on the hoof when out and about although of course WFH means you’re at home.

Great for a group chat and instant updating. It has become common for teams to set up a WhatsApp group. You can send instant news, photos and links to documents and articles so it helps with knowledge sharing and quick communications. The downside can be if you tend to have your phone on all the time you could be tempted to answer and chat out of working hours. Agree ground rules with others from the start and exercise self-control.

Alternatively, use the availability button.

Go to Meeting - good for a virtual group meeting.

There’s no visual but it’s like a phone call on the laptop. It works for dispersed groups. It is an alternative to dialling in to a conference call on your telephone.

Zoom - adopting and using zoom is on the increase and it works brilliantly for webinars, i.e. training and learning situations. It comes with lots of useful learning and training orientated features such as break out rooms, a whiteboard, polls, a chat facility for posing questions and it can run a slide show. It helps manage an attendance register using screenshot. Good management is needed by learners and the host to observe some ground rules and etiquette, for example, muting.

Others - Google (Hangout, Docs) and MS Teams work for large dispersed workforces and can replace internal communications systems such as Yammer and Lync. Not all these are suited to training, and are better for team activities, document sharing, team meetings with an agenda, editing work together, conferences and so on.

broadband to make sure even on a busy day with a lot more people working at home, you maximise speed and efficiency.

2. Geographical location. Where you live could be urban or rural or anywhere in between. Fibre broadband and good speeds where you live will vary. It is possible that your county is well connected and it has good speeds or bandwidth.

If you live in a rural location then this could be a challenge for speed and connectivity. A back up is to have a mobile WIFI device with 5G that you can connect to, and when you are able to work more flexibly in the future, it is a useful portable device to carry with you.

3. Sound. Some people like to use headphones.

You don’t have to go out and buy some and spend a lot of, or any, money. Some smart phones come with headphones and these will plug into any laptop and are just as good. You need to make sure your sound setting is ok on your device. Use mute when meeting with more than one other person is the top tip.

Future change This technological opportunity arises from the paradigm shift of the WFH revolution. Once we have had WFH for a while, we will have adopted new ways of working as the new ‘normal’. Things will not go back to the way they were as adopting new habits enable us to stop using old ones. See you on the other side.

Action points 1. Review your current technology services and range of devices and make sure they are fit for purpose.

2. If you work with others, discuss what they use and bring some order and systems to your business and communications.

3. Establish ground rules about availability for yourself and others.

Trip ups – take action on these

Ideas and resources

1. Tech goes down. If you’re connected via a VPN this has been known to happen! When WFH have a plan for this situation and other means to speak to people. Tech can dip or go down due to geography too - as below. Invest in fibre

How to sign up and use Zoom https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=qsy2Ph6kSf8&list=PLKpRxBfeD1k EM_I1lId3N_Xl77fKDzSXe Book – ‘Remote Working: how to effectively and efficiently work from home in challenging times’ by Andrew Priestley.

Think Enterprise | 25

Tips for Working From Home Through and beyond COVID-19

Here are some top tips that should help make that transition a bit easier

Home working or working at home with your partner, husband or wife is something new that a lot of people are suddenly having to get used to. It can be slightly weird and isn’t always easy if you don’t know how to survive the first few days, weeks and possibly months.

relationships last because you both have time away from each other for work but now you’re together all day every day, it’s not selfish to need a bit of time with a book, box set, computer game. Neither of you should feel guilty about that

Try to set up separate working areas – no one likes a desk hog at work and it’s even worse when at home and you can’t escape

Multitasking isn’t as easy as it looks – you might think that the TV or the latest game or social media app on your phone isn’t a distraction but there’s a reason you don’t have them at your desk at work. Try to keep your home working environment as professional and like your office working environment as you can

Agree working times – it can be hard enough working from home together but even harder if you are on a call and they are blasting out the latest box set on Netflix It’s not you, it really is me! – a lot of

Collaboration is still key – it can be lonely when you first work at home and don’t meet up in the kitchen for a coffee or nip out to the sandwich van and have a chat. Make use of technology on your phones and computers

Here are some top tips that should make that transition a bit easier and help make sure you are still together at the end!

26 | Think Enterprise

Find a comfortable chair – that padded, ergonomically designed office furniture at work is no comparison to the hard wood dining room chair and table you are going to be using. Find a comfy chair that you can use or put a cushion on it to help make sure you

can still walk properly at the end of the day

Split your time – we all hate the commute home at the end of the day but it has one use, it cuts off work time from home time. Your new commute is walking downstairs in the morning and upstairs in the evening so it’s easy to let your work and home lives merge. Make sure you still set yourself some deadlines for when it’s time to kick off your shoes and relax

No one can see me right? – it’s true, you’re working from home and no one can see you so it’s fine to wear PJs isn’t it? Of course it is, but that won’t help you get in the mindset of work. No one is saying you have to sit at your dining table in a suit and tie but try to dress as if you are working, not getting ready for bed and you’ll find that motivation to work a lot easier

Collaboration is Key

and set up daily catch ups using Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp. Making sure you keep collaborating is key to make sure the business keeps operating even when you aren’t together

Safe word – let’s be honest, working in the same house over a long time without any space to go out anywhere and relax might mean you start to get on each others nerves.

Do they whistle loudly, put the kettle on when you’re on an important call or think it’s ok to walk around like they’re a heard of elephants above your head? A simple silly word that says you need a break because you’re getting annoyed can stop a situation before the argument begins. Use mine if you want, it’s ‘Fuzzle-dust’

Think Enterprise | 27

free mentoring s for small busine during covid-19

As a small business are you fighting for survival and wondering how of lockdown and future uncertainty? Would you welcome some su

We understand how hard it is to think about what you need to COVID-19 Rapid Response Mentoring Programme

Our trained mentors are here to support you in making the right you are facing now and moving your business forward as the lock

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IOEE International Academy: Lanka Social Ventures

This quarter we have spoken to Lalith Welamedage, Co-Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Lank Social Venture (LSV). LSV was first recognised as an IOEE International Academy back in 2017 and supports entrepreneurial and innovative individuals, groups, community organisations and SMEs to develop and transform into successful and financially sustainable Social Enterprises.

LSV believe that, if nurtured correctly, social entrepreneurs can lead social change by stimulating local economic growth, innovation and the development of social capital.

30 | Think Enterprise

provinces of Sri Lanka, particularly in the agriculture sector.

LSV has worked with entrepreneurs from business idea generation and incubation has given LSV insight to dynamics of the business environment. LSV was established out of the findings of a research conducted by Oxfam GB on agriculture and social enterprises. Since then, research has been a fundamental part of its strategy, and as a result LSV has been able to extend their research, assessment and evaluation services to many international and local organizations.

Lanka Social Ventures (LSV) is a social enterprise established in 2014 to promote and support social and responsible enterprises in Sri Lanka.

LSV is registered as a Public Company and governed by a board of directors representing public, private and community sectors.

Lalith explained some of the excellence work LSV is currently undertaking.

LSV’s core objective is to develop the social enterprise and small and medium enterprise ecosystem in Sri Lanka. In working towards this objective, LSV has experience working in a diverse range of areas from policy and research, developing market linkage between corporate and small and medium enterprises, developing value chains to grassroot level entrepreneurship development in all 9

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Currently LSV is implementing projects to development small enterprise in the following sectors: Handlooms Animal Husbandry Fruit and Vegetable processors Spices Tourism

LSV is currently working with enterprises, associations and non-governmental organisations to strengthen their capacity to continue their work despite the reduction of donor funding in Sri Lanka. LSV working on strengthening the value supply, management systems including support for certification and improving market access.

For professionals, there is a greater motivation for training when there is good content and recognition. IOEE International Academy status affords LSV an opportunity to develop a sound professional base to work with our entrepreneurs around Sri Lanka.

What does the future hold for LSV?

LSV is also working on policy development and advocacy to ensure that the macro environment supports the social enterprises and SMEs as they strive to achieve their objectives.

We asked Lalith why he chose to become an IOEE International Academy and what benefits LSV have gained as a result of this?

One of LSV’s key learnings while working in the entrepreneurship space is that Sri Lanka lacks trained professionals with an understanding of social entrepreneurship. Becoming an IOEE International Academy has enabled us to harness the potential of individuals across Sri Lanka, helping to strategizing in reducing the challenges present for these individuals.

How does the IOEE Academy status help you support entrepreneurship and innovation for social change across Sri Lanka?

Social change through entrepreneurship and innovation is supported by evidenced based practice and knowledge.

Currently LSV is in the process of streamlining its services and the training arm is a significant component. LSV will continue to work with rural and urban social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs as well as with policy makers to ensure that entrepreneurs have the right opportunities to start and growth their business. LSV will also continue to implement projects and research.

How does being recognised by UK’s only professional institute dedicated to enterprise and entrepreneurship and recognised by the British Secretary of State bring value to your business?

International recognition is incredibly important for us here at LSV as well as all of our learners. For the course we offer, this recognition adds great value to our business, but additionally it also adds value to our candidates who would be able to use the certification internationally.

It’s great to have a bench mark of good practice to link to for a budding academy in a country where there has thus far been a limited though growing market.

Think Enterprise | 31

Keeping your business healthy in this time of crisis We’ve pulled together some helpful advice for business owners on how they can look to keep their business healthy in these unprecidented times.

Be a Control Freak!

It may be a scary prospect to think about digging in to your finances but burying your head in the sand really wont help! The quicker you get your head around what’s coming in and going out of your business the easier it will be to manage going forward. It may well be that you’re already on top of this but it could be a good idea to adapt your current review points making these more frequent i.e weekly or even daily depending on your business.

Fiddle with your figures!

Yes, you heard it right – get fiddling!! There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment but the one thing we’re sure of is that for most of us the next few months will undoubtably be tough and for many us our income and expenditure will change. Gather as much information as you realistically can so that you can update your projections, this will provide you with valuable information that will inform your decisions moving forward. Having a worst case and best case

32 | Think Enterprise

scenario is helpful in understanding key points when difficult decisions may have to be made. Use this time to build really close relationships with your key customers – offering to help and being supportive will ensure that once the situation has ended your customers will have a renewed loyalty and trust with you and above all will remain a customer.

Keep the cash flowing Keep an eye on your debtors, maintaining contact and continuing open conversations to try to encourage payment, keep in mind that your debtors may well be experiencing the same issues as you are particularly if they’re a small business or self employed themselves.

Consider agreeing revised payment dates or putting instalment plans in place where a debtor is struggling to pay. If you’re struggling to make payments on time talk to your creditors – they may be able to help you so be open with them as soon as you’re aware you have a problem.

Time to cutback Now is definitely the time to think carefully about our outgoings – that should be in the business and at home. List your expenses and consider how vital they are to being able to continue – are there any that aren’t deemed essential? Could they be reduced or stopped altogether? (without legal implications of course) If you rent office space speak to your landlord about a mortgage holiday or rescheduling payments to later in the year when the crisis has passed. If you have a mortgage you may be eligible for a three month payment holiday – talk to your lender to find out more and if you have any additional borrowings that you’re worried about speak with your lender immediately.

communication channels, scheduling regular team catch ups so everyone stays motivated and on track.

Grow your mind Use any spare time you may have i.e travel time which is now free to develop new skills that will help your business. Think about any skills gaps within your team and do a little research as to what could be available – there are lots of free resources available, including the free IOEE toolkit It may feel like the last thing you feel like doing but these new skills and abilities will help your business to recover and grow once coronavirus has subsided.

Mentor Me

Supporting staff Be open and realistic with your team so they fully understand the situation. Consider any implications on staffing the coronavirus may have and keep your team aware of how this could affect them. Be aware of challenges staff may have both in staying at home or getting back to work and continue with effective

Mentoring is one of the most powerful forms of support for a small business. This could be very informal i.e chatting at the pub or this could be a formally managed mentoring programme such as the programme we coordinate on behalf of UK Finance - we have recently extended this support for all established businesses being affected by the

Think Enterprise | 33

Covid-19 crisis go to ioee.uk/free-mentor-support. You can access mentor support through the IOEE mentor directory at ioee.uk or you may wish to access a mentor through a regional mentoring organisation – you can search quality assured mentoring organisations at mentorsme.co.uk Government Support There are a range of government measures available to small businesses here’s an overview of the current measures; •

A Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

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Deferring VAT and Income Tax payments

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Statutory sick pay relief package for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

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A 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England

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Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief

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Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000

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•

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to support long-term viable businesses who may need to respond to cash-flow pressures by seeking additional finance

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A new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans

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The HMRC Time To Pay Scheme to help with tax

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A fund of £617 million being made available to local authorities to support small businesses previously outside the scope of the business grants scheme.

Businesses must employ less than 50 employees and must be able to demonstrate they have been affected by the Coronavirus crisis.

Stay up to date with new announcements ad how these could affect you by visiting the HMRC site regularly the address https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businessesabout-covid-19

Think Enterprise | 35

How IOEE have been responding to COVID-19

We

Whether you are a small business owner or one of the many people who are working to support small businesses we’re sure, like us, you will be trying to take in all the information that’s being shared by government websites, your local growth hubs, your accountants and professional membership organisations.

to

• • • • •

How to work from home Business resilience essentials Mentoring essentials Social media essentials Mentoring essentials; to name but a few!

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Please let us know if there is any further ways you feel the IOEE

There is lots of really useful information and hopefully you have been able to understand how to access the support available to your particular business circumstances. Now is a great time to use your time to learn ways of making the most of your business post lockdown.

We too have been sharing information through a range of resources made available free of charge through our IOEE virtual campus. We have produced a free Small Business Survival Toolkit focused on the things we feel would be of most help to you in dealing with the uncertainties that this virus is creating within our small business world.

Resources now available through the toolkit include:

are

could help you through these challenging yet ever hopeful times!

There are also a range of business templates and resources and a video playlist which should help you to learn new ways of doing things. You can access the toolkit at https://campus. ioee.uk We have also been busy working behind the scenes with government as part of our membership of the BEIS SME Advisory Board. This work has included: •

Presenting questions and issues to the Business Minister, Paul Scully MP, both by email and personally through regular virtual conference calls attended by a very small number of SME representative organisations along with a wider group of business

owners and partners who were given permission to listen into the calls. This has allowed us to influence policy and has resulted in changes being made to the many offers of support through loans and grants coming directly from government. Recent conversations are refocusing on the value of mentoring and peer to peer networking and we continue to share our experience in this area to help shape and develop a more sustained and consistent approach to both of these important areas of support.

•

Direct involvement in the consultation exercise currently being undertaken to help us all get back to work safely.

This has included telephone interviews along with the opportunity to review and comment on the draft guidelines being produced. We are expecting to see some of the results of this work when the Prime Minister presents his plan for easing lockdown on Sunday 10th May.

Building on our ongoing partnership with UK Finance and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) we are launching a Rapid Response COVID-19 Mentoring Programme which compliments the current bank mentoring scheme available across the whole of the UK. We will be working with them to recruit and train new mentors from LBG and match them with the many small business

owners facing their own particular challenges in moving their businesses forward. We are also reviewing the role of Mentorsme the mentoring portal and will be exploring how this can be used to promote mentoring more widely. Sign up at https://ioee.uk/free-mentor-support Finally, we are continuing to support our IOEE Centres and Academies in a number of ways including: •

One to one support in helping them to continue to deliver their learning programmes remotely.

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The development of a range of resouces to support their delivery including a remote delivery guide and a remote assessment guide.

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Mapping our Think Up and Start Up workbooks to three of our start up qualifications and making the content of these workbooks free to all centres and academies

For more information please email us at info@ioee.co.uk Please let us know if there is any further ways you feel the IOEE could help you through these challenging yet ever hopeful times!

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To discuss this please contact the Marketing Team at newsletter@ioee.uk

@TheIOEE Phone: +44 (0)845 467 4928 Email: info@ioee.uk Web: ioee.uk