Continuous Assessment Cover Sheet

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Faculty of Enterprise and Humanities

Department of Entrepreneurship

Continuous Assessment Cover Sheet.

STUDENT NAME:    Kelvin Weymes

STUDENT NUMBER:   N00121526

PROGRAMME:      Dl701

YEAR:                    3

MODULE:              Entrepreneurial Practice

ASSESSMENT:     Reflection

WORD COUNT:    1600

LECTURER:          Niamh Gallagher

I / we have read the IADT plagiarism policy and procedures and I / we declare that this report / essay / project is my/our own original work.

SIGNED:  Kelvin weymes

DATE:      24/04/2015

Whilst carrying out this module in the past nine months I have overcome many personal obstacles, gained invaluable entrepreneurial experience and appreciated the opportunity to work in a group with the collective goal of creating a social enterprise. In this reflection I will highlight the personal skills exercised throughout the year, the effect the entrepreneurial practice has had on me personally and the value of working with my team mates.

Individual reflection – Background

On my return in September I knew that the challenge I was facing would be different than any other college semester I had faced previously. The main aim of the year was to create a social enterprise and be able to manage it effectively. Firstly we were divided into groups which for me was an interesting challenge. While I had previously completed group presentations, I had never been part of an assigned group for the whole year. Nevertheless, I was keen to be in a group that I felt would learn from and pleased to find myself working with former team mates and students from my 2nd year. I was looking forward to gaining an insight into group dynamics; the relationship and chemistry that exists within the group while also providing me with confidence and excitement for the journey to come.

The next step and perhaps one of the most difficult, was selecting a social initiative that would interest all members of the team. Due to differences of opinion on the social enterprise we agreed to split into separate groups of two. After reading Richard Branson’s book a memorable quote guided me in making a difficult decision ““As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy. Waking up stressed and miserable is not a good way to live.” (Branson, 2006). For this reason I felt it was important to select a topic I genuinely enjoy.

Family members and friends had been currently struggling to find student accommodation in Dublin and due to demand the situation was only going to get worse. In order to address this shortage, I joined forces with a classmate to create our own social initiative in the hope that a short term accommodation solution could be found. 

My role in the group

Prior to engaging in this module I was unfamiliar with the dynamics of working with a group. This module was a perfect chance to exchange insights, see different perspectives of the process from my team mates and to upgrade and develop my own skills. 

My first opportunity to showcase my learning was for the funding pitch. Going into this presentation we decided to collaborate and assign tasks on the basis of people’s strengths. Shane, who felt the most confident about public speaking would lead and I would add my PowerPoint skills previously learned from the computer applications module. 

Though this presentation was a success I regret not having taken myself out of my comfort zone but I was comforted in a quote from Pat Weymes (WinWin Sales Management, Oak Tree Press 2000) ‘It is okay to forget your mistakes, so long as you learn from their lessons’. In going forward, I will focus on this important area of my personal development so that I can make a positive contribution to my group projects. However as far as presenting is concerned, my skills have definitely come a long way since the beginning of the first semester.

Business plan

During the business project I was elected as organiser. I prearranged and handled the minutes for each of our gatherings. This involved writing down the agenda for the day, current and future goals and a completion date for each of these objectives by. Each member was set a separate task and my job was to ensure each member knew what was expected of them. We arranged to meet back each week and discuss all the required action steps. Although the weekly meetings added new work loads and stresses, I truly believe it benefited us as a group as we never failed to fall behind schedule.

As each of our modules crossed over I would make any edits necessary to the final documents of each of our subjects. This involved in text referencing, literature and Harvard referencing. Although important work goes unnoticed, it enabled the team to focus on the ideas and the context and eliminated the fear of the design and structure of the essay/presentations

Final presentation

At this stage of the year I had reached goals I assumed were unreachable, I overcame a fear of public speaking and developed a new sense of confidence and self-belief going into my final presentation. The organisation of the whole project removed lingering doubts and my worst fears were never realised. I felt the execution of the presentation was the best I could possibly have done and felt knowledgeable enough to answer any questions.