Applying theory to business practice
Helen Day, Chief Operating Officer of management consultancy Digital Workplace Group (DWG), took part in the Help to Grow: Management course at Nottingham University Business School in the autumn of 2021.
DWG, a global company, has been providing advice and practical support to digital workplace and intranet practitioners for 20 years. The team has worked entirely remotely since DWG closed its offices 10 years ago. Helen is based in Nottingham and is responsible for the operational management and development of DWG's group of businesses.
Her role includes team development, finance, legal, compliance, partnerships, operational efficiency and project management.
She said: “The Help to Grow: Management course jumped out to me as a great opportunity to take time out to think about the business and its future growth. I liked the way it was organised so that I could fit in the course around my work commitments and that it was affordable.”
The course is 90% funded by the government and costs just £750 to participants. It offers a high-quality curriculum including one to one mentorship by experienced business leaders and the opportunity to develop a growth action plan tailored to help develop businesses. The 12-week programme is designed so participants can take part alongside their full-time work and is run through a combination of online sessions and face to face learning.
It was really great to be able to apply the theory to inform our business practice. The timing was really helpful – we were doing some strategic planning in October, and having just done the planning module, I was able to put the ideas I had learned in the classroom into practice straight away.
One of the key benefits of the programme is the opportunity to network with peers from a range of sectors and to gain different perspectives from business experts. The Nottingham University Business School’s entrepreneurs in practice, mentors and facilitators come from a range of backgrounds and bring their extensive experience to the course.
“The mix of businesses on the course was varied,” Helen added. “In my peer group, there was someone running a very different type of business to ours that was similar in size. It was interesting to discover that they were facing similar challenges to us, and to discuss possible ways forward.
“The best thing about Help to Grow: Management was that it challenged me to think about our business plans in a different way. It has helped me to identify what we needed to do to grow the business.”
