Graduate Business ACES Programme Course

Is it right for me?

This Graduate Business Acumen Competences Experience Simulation ACES course has been designed for recent Graduates who are new to the world of business and wish to undergo a foundation course in the essential skills required in all customer focused businesses.

The training replicates the putting together of a detailed business case and aims to realistically simulate all the stages and human interaction within  the process. The training uses Actors to add to the learning environment.

The course is highly interactive and fun. Participants work in two teams to develop a sound business case for a specific new product which the client has “put out to tender”. The course concludes with a professional presentation to the Graduates nominated Managers or Mentors who will decide to commission the building of the new product. (based on the graduates work, performance and ultimate presentation).

What will I get out of it?

By the end of the Graduate Business Acumen Competences Experience Simulation ACES course participants will be able to:

• Understand the structure and makeup of the ideal team
• Use a variety of creative tools to help think outside the box
• Use a questioning process that will help enhance knowledge gathering
• Understand best practice in meetings
• Set objectives at the customer and organisational levels
• Use risk analysis to produce contingency, preventative and exploitative plans
• Practice a range of negotiation and influencing skills
• Practice interviewing skills
• Use a problem solving process to help identify solutions
• Understand a process to help manage stakeholders
• Put together and deliver a professional presentation

What does it cover?

The creation of a “dream team”

• Using Belbin to profile the individuals in the project team
• Allocation of roles for the project

Creative thinking toolkit

• Introduction to a range of creative tools to enable participants to think outside the box and compliment the analytical processes

Questioning and listening skills

• Introduction to a questioning and listening process that is vital to successful fact finding and problem solving

The customer requirement identification meeting skills

• Successful meeting skills
• How to structure meetings
• How to identify customer needs
• Putting the questioning and listening skills to good practice

Objective setting

• How to set objectives at the organisational and customer level
• Introduction to a robust objective setting process where SMART result objectives are put in context with other levels of objectives

Capturing customer requirements (managing knowledge)

• Introduction to a complete toolkit to enable participants to capture and manage knowledge

Risk analysis

• Introduction to a well tried and tested risk assessment process
• How to produce preventative and contingency plans
• How to produce an exploitative plan

Costing through the options

• How to produce a costed through proposal to use as a basis of negotiation

Negotiation and Influencing skills

• Negotiation skills
• How to negotiate for a win win solution, and still make profit
• Added value in business negotiations
• Negotiation with the client

Interviewing skills

• How to structure and prepare for an interview
• How to interview people who are under performing

Stakeholder management

• How to recognise stakeholders
• How to manage stakeholders expectations and politics
• Introduction to a stakeholder management toolkit

Presentation skills

• How to structure presentations
• The three V’s - Visual, Vocal, Verbal
• How to use Powerpoint
• Building up the bid presentation ready for the final presentation to your Manager/Mentor

The bid presentation (to your manager)

• Presenting your full solution and proposal to your invited guest
• The culmination of all the hard work that has been done in one great professional presentation (Each participant will be required to take part)

Participants are required to carry out interim projects between each module and present back their findings at the following event. These projects are designed to enable Graduates to observe what goes on in their own business against best practice learnt on the programme.

*Acumen Competences Experience Simulation