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Portfolios and Metrics for Enterprise Coaching

January 20, 2010 by admin

  • What sort of numbers is it realistic to expect a full-time enterprise coach to deliver?
  • What does a healthy coach portfolio look like?
  • If I employ 5 coaches to work in  city of 750 000, what sort of results should I expect?

Well here are my thoughts….

The basic unit of coaching is the 121.  Each 121 will usually take between 45 minutes to an hour.  Of course they can take longer – but this is rarely productive.

121s are intense, often emotional and usually challenging.  If they are aren’t, you are not doing it right!  This means that a coach can do on average 3 x 121s in a day.  This should mean that they can deliver well in excess of 600 personal coaching sessions in a year – 650+ is not beyond the realms of possibility.  Of course geography matters – if clients are scattered across Northumberland you will spend more time travelling than if you coach in an urban centre.

I would expect to see a coach working with about 200 unique clients in the course of a year.  Yes, three or so new clients coming onto the portfolio each week!  I would expect to see each coach working with a catchment area of between 15 and 50 000 residents depending on population density and other demographics.

The one hit wonders

A proportion of clients will come once and may not return for months or years, if ever.  We may have helped them enormously.  We may not have helped them at all.   We may never know – although if you are visible and accessible enough and they stay in the area you should be able to get some feedback.  I have known clients who were clear on what they wanted to do after just one session and went and did it.  In fact one client called me after 3 years and said that he had started his business and now wanted to expand – would I like to have a chat!  Others just don’t come back when they recognise that:

  1. I am not in the business of giving them money or pulling magic rabbits out of hats
  2. They will have to do some work on this – it is not an easy option

The percentage that fall into this category can vary widely usually depending on the kind of marketing used to promote the service.  If the marketing says ‘We can make your dreams come true’, ‘Funding available’, ‘Lunch provided’ or some combination of the above then the number of one hit wonders will be high.  Where marketing is through word of mouth, real clients telling others about what the service is really like and what it has helped them to achieve then they should be much lower.  Effective word of mouth depends on your service being quite literally ‘remarkable’ and you being prepared to actively ask clients for introductions and referrals.  If they are not happy to give you these it is likely that your service is just not good enough.

If the number of one hit wonders creeps much above 25% I would be wondering about whether we had problems with our marketing and reputation – or whether the coach was just not able to connect with the client group.

The Ideal Clients

In some ways the ideal clients are the one hit wonders who just go and do it, start a business, and return years later to look at business expansion.  But these are rare, and often can’t be counted for funding purposes!  The real ideal client engages with us, takes seriously the notion of doing work between meetings and returns for subsequent visits to make further progress.  We can build a strong relationship with them and provide much more support to them in developing their ideas and skills.  We can also start to see a story emerge about our own effectiveness.  We can record the progress the client has made and provide high quality quantitative and qualitative information on our effectiveness to funders.  Such ideal clients will typically require between 3 and 6 121 sessions over the course of anything from several weeks to 6 months or more.  I would hope to see good coaches with some 50%, or 110 plus clients each year.  Of these I would be expecting around 15- 20 clients to actually go ahead and start their business from anything within 4 months of the first 121 up to a few years after the first meeting.  There is much to be said for slow enterprise.  I would certainly expect a good, established coach, working in an effective system, to support anywhere between 15 and 20 or so starts each year.

I would expect upwards of 80% of these new starts to be trading 3 years later.  Survival rates should always be very carefully tracked, and serious consideration given by both the coach and the service as a whole as to how they can be maintained and improved.   Helping clients to start businesses that they have not got either the commitment or skills to manage effectively  or for which there is not a sufficient market to sustain will only help to set back the reputation of the service and the enterprise culture of the community.  However attractive it might be to get another start-up box ticked we should be doing all can to slow our clients down until they really have the very best chance of long term survival.  A much smaller number of really strong startups is worth much more to the long term enterprise culture of the community than a rash of sickly ones.  I only wish funding regimes would recognise this.

Anything significantly less than this would set my alarm bells ringing that all is not right.  The problem might be with the coach, with the enterprise coaching system (including marketing and administration), or with the enterprise culture in the community.  The coach cannot do this on their own.  There needs to be a substantial network of pro-enterprise individuals who can provide additional support and provide an effective counter the negative messages about enterprise that often pervade communities.

While the other 85 perhaps don’t start a business I would expect each of them to have been significantly assisted by the coaching process to clarify goals and learn how to be much more enterprising in their pursuit.  These outcomes are valuable and should be recorded and wherever possible paid for (or at least reported to) by the appropriate funder.

The Demanding Clients

So this leaves us with perhaps 25% of our clients, 40 or so in the course of nay one year, who are really demanding.  They need more than half a dozen 121 sessions.  Perhaps they are starting from a long way back and need many 121s over a period of years before they start to make substantial changes – or decide to stick with the status quo.  They may need referring to specialist service providers before our coaches can do much more with them.  Perhaps they just like to spend time with coaches, fooling themselves and others that they are really working for a better future.  Demanding clients may just need a higher level of support – live with it – or they may be a sign that actually a coach is promoting dependence, happy to keep working with clients who won’t make progress because they can just count the sessions.

The actual dynamics of a coach’s portfolio will vary depending on the geography, psychology and enterprise culture of the community they serve as well as their own experience and longevity on the patch.  It may take a couple of years to achieve a stable portfolio of the type I have outlined here.

It will also depend on the type of marketing support they receive.  Often well intentioned marketing activities can produce floods of clients that need to be seen, but who turn out to be one hit wonders of the worst kind.  I am a big advocate of expecting enterprise coaches to develop their own referrals through word of mouth from existing clients, perhaps augmented with a little bit bit of judicious PR.  Expensive advertising campaigns may attract punters to one off events and workshops but are much less effective at actually finding people who really want to work effectively and intensively with enterprise coaches.

The Role of the Manager in Supporting Enterprise Coaches

Call me a traditionalist but I think that the manager has a key role in both supporting the coach to develop an effective portfolio.  Each coach should be seen ideally every week, certainly fortnightly to review the portfolio and the progress that is being made by specific clients.  Ratios of one hit wonders to ideal clients to demanding clients should be tracked for clues about the performance of the coach and the system that they are operating in.  Where specific clients are providing cause for concern (insufficient progress is being made, specialist services are requires that are beyond the boundaries of the coaching service, client behaviours are causing concern for example) explicit strategies should be developed for managing them effectively.  At least three or four times a year the manager should observe the coach at work, accompanying them on 121s and providing them with feedback and coaching support.

Closing Remarks

Getting an enterprise coaching service to work really well takes years rather than months.  Coaches have to become known, trusted and skilled.  Marketing strategies have to be honed.  The numbers I have mentioned here are achievable but not in all situations and never instantly.  They have to be built towards with intelligence, insight and dedication.  Sadly, funding regimes often encourage us to take the expensive and unproductive short cuts of putting adverts on buses, building flashy websites and holding conferences and expos with dragons, apprentices, millionaires and free lunches just to get punters through the door.

But it is not any punters that we need. It is those who believe, because of our reputation and our track record, that we can help them to use enterprise to transform their lives for the better.

Filed Under: management Tagged With: business planning, enterprise coaching, evaluation, management, operations, professional development, social marketing, strategy, training

My notes on Doug Richard’s Entrepreneurship Manifesto

January 19, 2010 by admin

While reading the manifesto I made some pretty comprehensive notes and numbered them for ease of reference.  No analysis yet – just my notes…pieces that especially provoke or intrigue me I have highlighted in blue…

Doug Richards Entrepreneurs Manifesto

1 Public declarations aimed at supporting UKs 4.4m entrepreneurs

2 Manifesto

2.1 A statement of principles highlighting challenges to overcome to release entrepreneurship

2.2 Spectre of capitalism

2.2.1 Greedy bankers

2.2.2 Amoral corporations

  • Pitting tax regimes against each other
  • Failure of a global commons means they can escape costs of infrastructure and society that supports them

2.2.3 Bloated State incapable of controlling capitalism

  • failing to deal with poverty, worklessness etc
  • Outgrowing the economy
  • We are demonstrably poorer – the system does not work

2.2.4 States competing to be servants of capitalism

2.2.5 The environment has no voice/the consumer no collective

2.3 Unleashing the Wealth Creators

2.3.1 Wealth of the nation rests on entrepreneurial activity

2.3.2 The state as a servant of society

2.3.3 Must harness the power of the entrepreneur to improve services

2.3.4 Size of the state is not the enemy

2.3.5 State run services immune from creative destruction

2.3.6 Fairness of the least…only the State can ensure fairness in health, education etc – no-one can have more than the least.

We cannot improve until we can improve everyone – and therefore we improve no-one

2.3.7 State’s role is to create playing fields on which entrepreneurs can be released to deliver service

2.3.8 Harness collective creative self interest of our entrepreneurial output for the benefit of meeting our social objectives

We will see a flowering of ideas, a manifold unfolding of new approaches and a gale of creative destruction

3 Declaration of Rights

3.1 Practical recommendations to clear the path for an explosion in entrepreneurship

3.1.1 Entrepreneurial culture as the only force that exists for growth, prosperity, fairness and social justice

3.1.2 Not about privilege; few getting rich at expense of poor;

3.1.3 About creating ladders of social mobility

3.1.4 Increasing wealth so we can afford services, health education etc

3.1.5 To harness entrepreneurship first we must understand it

  • Risk and reward

3.1.6 Must increase economic freedoms for all businesses taking business risks

3.1.7 Cut the time it takes to start a new business

3.1.8 Streamline regulations, exempt small business where possible

3.1.9 Get government out of Business Support – just focus on regulation

3.1.10 Free up family savings for investment in nascent business with credits and exemptions

3.1.11 Stop paying people to be unemployed – share costs of ‘teaching them to be employed’

3.1.12 Employers have no means to underwrite the costs of turning students into productive employees

3.1.13 Govt is largest consumer – must change procurement patterns

  • Must drive revenue to entrepreneurs
  • Open doors to innovation

3.1.14 Use new legal frameworks to broaden scope for social entrepreneurs – encouraging for profit co-owned businesses and for profits that deliver social benefits

3.1.15 Understand that we do not understand

3.1.16 Must empower people to step out on their own, take risk, hope for reward and move on from failure.

3.1.17 The corrosive impact of an over protective state is not merely the loss of our sense of responsibility to a civil society; it is the even more profound loss of our sense of capacity to change society, to have an impact, to be an entrepreneur.

3.1.18 Entrepreneurship can be taught and must be learned

Filed Under: entrepreneurship Tagged With: community development, enterprise education, entrepreneurship, operations, professional development, self interest, social enterprise, strategy

Getting your voice heard: How to influence policies that affect you and your community

January 19, 2010 by admin

23rd February 2010, 10.00am-3.00pm, Leeds

An informal and practical event for small groups and grassroots organisations in West Yorkshire.

Primarily aimed at BME, Refugee, Rural and Faith groups, though all other groups are welcome to join.

The event aims to help groups understand the importance of policy and the effect that it can have on organisations and communities. It will include practical workshops on influencing policy to improve the communities in which they live.

Organised by : BME VCS Regional Programme, Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Forum Ltd, Leeds BME Network, WYLDA (RISS project), LASSN

If you are interested please use the comments form to express interest.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

Leeds Neighbourliness Circular – A Timely Response to the Cold Spell?

January 15, 2010 by admin

I received this circular email on 13 January through the Leeds Third Sector Mailing Lists after snow had been on the ground for 4 weeks.

Dear All,

Current cold and icy conditions: A call for help to staff, friends and the community

As the cold and icy conditions continue to affect the country, please consider the impact of the wintry conditions and plunging temperatures on those more vulnerable to its impact than yourself. This might include those less able to get out and about, such as elderly neighbours, or people who are living alone or on low incomes, and who may be at risk.

During this sustained cold spell, we would ask that you consider checking that neighbours, friends or family are safe and warm and are not left without vital practical help. The icy conditions may mean that you can help someone by running errands, helping pick up a few provisions when you nip to the shops or simply providing a friendly voice. Ask the basics, such as:

  • Are they keeping warm?
  • Are they eating at least one hot meal a day?
  • Are they keeping as active as possible?
  • Are they keeping in contact with family, friends or other neighbours?
  • Do they need anything or can you help in any way?
  • Is there anyone in your neighbourhood that might need your support?

This year is Leeds ‘Year of the Volunteer’ and there is probably no better start for those who aren’t sure how they might do something for their own community than this.

If you have genuine concerns for a neighbour, relative or friend then please check on them. It might be that they need more than you feel able to provide and they may ask you to contact the appropriate local public services – this may be the Council (eg. Social Care, Housing or Benefits), Voluntary Organisations or Health Services. They are all in the front of the Phone Book and the numbers do change depending on where you live.

Further advice on keeping safe and warm is available online at a variety of locations including such sites as:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/

http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/

http://www.nhs.uk/

The BBC News website is also providing a good summary of advice covering a broad range of related issues relevant to all of us.

Please forward this email onto colleagues, friends and family whether they live in Leeds or not. You might end up helping someone who is desperate and in need of your support.

Although the weather is easing at present, conditions are still treacherous underfoot and who knows what weather the next few months may bring.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best Regards,

XXXXXX

Principal Emergency Planning Officer

Resilience Team

3rd Floor West, Civic Hall

Leeds LS1 1UR

I have my own thoughts on the timeliness, content and assumptions that lie behind such a circular.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: community, neighbourliness, Uncategorized

Third Sector Leeds – Vision 2030

January 14, 2010 by admin

Friday 22nd January 2010, 9:15am – 12:30pm at Banqueting Suite, Civic Hall

An urgent message from David Smith, Director, Leeds Voice…

“I want to urge you and your colleagues to clear your diaries and make the debate about the long term future of Leeds the top priority for the morning of Friday 22nd January in the Civic Hall.

The Council and its partners are working together through the Leeds Initiative to develop the new sustainable community strategy for Leeds. Better known here as the Vision for Leeds, this is now a statutory requirement So there is a lot at stake for the future of the city in these discussions and as a sector we need to make sure our voice is heard, both in the interests of a thriving third sector, and to make sure that the voices of diverse and often marginalised communities are heard in the debate.

This is also the first event for everyone in the sector organised by the Third Sector Leeds Leadership Group. Come and find out more about this exciting development to give the sector more influence in partnership discussions in Leeds.

If you can only attend one conference this Spring, make it this one!”

Please make sure you have booked your place at this event and please circulate this email to as many of your third sector colleagues as possible and encourage them to attend the event.

Bookings are being handled by Leeds Accommodation Forum: please contact Lisa on 0113 244 4221

Richard Robson
Strategy Group Coordinator
Leeds Voice
Suite 56, Concourse House
432 Dewsbury Road
Leeds LS11 7DF
Tel: 0113 277 2227

Strengthening and representing the voluntary, community and faith sector. A Leeds Initiative partner.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

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