COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING MATERIAL

Unit of Competency: Practice Entrepreneurial Skills in the Workplace

Module Title Practicing Entrepreneurial Skills in the

Module No. Workplace
MODULE CONTENT
Qualification : Driving NCII
Unit of Competency : Practice Entrepreneurial Skills in the Workplace
Module Title : Practicing Entrepreneurial Skills in the Workplace
Module Description : This module covers the outcome required to apply
entrepreneurial workplace best practices and implement cost-effective
operations.
Nominal Duration : 4 hours
Learning Outcomes : At the end of this module you MUST be able to:
1. Apply entrepreneurial workplace best practices
2. Communicate entrepreneurial workplace best practices
3. Implement cost-effective operations
Assessment Criteria:

 Good practices relating to workplace operations are observed and

selected following workplace policy.
 Quality procedures ad practices are complied with according to
workplace requirements.
 Cost-conscious habits in resource utilization are applied based on
industry standards.
 Observe good practices relating to workplace operations are
communicated to appropriate person.
 Observed quality procedures and practices are communicated to
appropriate person.
 Cost-conscious habits in resource utilization are communicated based on
industry standards.
 Preservation and optimization of workplace resources is implemented in
accordance with enterprise policy.
 Judicious use of workplace tools, equipment and materials are observed
according to manual and work requirements.
 Constructive contributions to office operations are made according to
enterprise requirements.
 Ability to work within one’s allotted time and finances is sustained.
LEARNING OUTCOME #1 Apply Entrepreneurial Workplace best Practices
CONTENTS:
• Workplace best practices policies and criteria
• Resource utilization
• Ways in fostering entrepreneurial attitudes:
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:
1. Good practices relating to workplace operations are observed and
selected following workplace policy.
2. Quality procedures and practices are complied with according to
workplace requirements.
3. Cost-conscious habits in resource utilization are applied based on
industry standards.
CONDITIONS:
The following resources should be provided to trainees:
- Workplace
- CBLM
- Manuals and references
ASSESSMENT METHOD:
• Written/Oral Examination
 LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Learning Outcome #1 Apply entrepreneurial workplace best practices:

Learning Activities Special Instructions

Read Information Sheet 9.1-1 on Answer Self-Check 9.1-1 and
Workplace best practices policies compare your answer to Answer
andcriteria Key9.1-1
Read Information Sheet Answer Self-Check 9.1-2 and
9.1-2Resource utilization compare your answer to Answer
Key9.1-2
Read Information Sheet 9.1-3 Answer Self-Check 9.1-3 and
on Ways in fostering compare your answer to Answer
entrepreneurial attitudes: Key9.1-3
Patience, Honesty, Quality
consciousness, Safety
consciousness,Resourcefulness
 INFORMATION SHEET 9.1-1
Apply Entrepreneurial Workplace Best Practices
Learning Objective: After reading this information sheet, you should be able to
apply entrepreneurial workplace best practices.

INTRODUCTION
A happy workplace is a huge asset. In such places, something happens that
transcends policies and practices. It isn’t what the companies are doing; it is
how their leaders are doing it. Best workplace practices include the day to day
relationships that the employees experience, and not a checklist of policies,
programs and benefits.
Workplace best practices:
1. Provide Clear Expectations
People get frustrated and demotivated when they don’t know exactly what is
expected of them. Encourage your team to ask questions. Ensure the
communication is clear, specific and without any doubts.
2. Give People the Opportunity To Use Their Skills
rustration and boredom are counterproductive so you need to align jobs with
people with the right skills. Uncover the special skills people could be using,
and experiment with projects and roles to get the alignment right. You need to
recognize talent and use it. If a person is recruited for a role and then not given
the opportunity to use their skills, they will not deliver their best work and may
leave.
3. Support Your Team
There are many workplaces where managers don’t care about their people and
make no effort to show interest. This is bad word of mouth. One should know
about their staff: what is happening in their lives, what motivates them, and
offering assistance when they are overloaded.

4. Encourage People to Contribute Ideas and Get Involved In Decisions

Involving people, asking their opinions and listening to their advice and
feedback makes a huge difference to them and will provide an environment
that is open to innovation and improvements.
5. Encourage Feedback and Recognition
Managers are leaders without the title, so being open to feedback, and giving
positive and constructive feedback is a great way to establish an honest open
feedback culture. Encourage day-to-day feedback discussions and the
establishment of recognition systems.
6. Do people have fun at work?
Everyone needs a downtime from work. This could be a casual day, afternoon
break with a difference like culturally focused food, trivia competitions, team
outing, etc. You need to find a way to build this in as a regular part of your
workplace.
7. Encourage learning and development
You need to promote learning, and opportunities to develop new skills. People
need to know there is the time to do it, and a positive emphasis on gaining new
skills and learning from mistakes. Learning is about developing new skills and
improving the ones you have. Give people the opportunity to continuously
grow, learn, explore, innovate and you will have the best team ever!
8. Create a great workplace from an employee’s view.
A great workplace is one where they:
 Trust the people they work for.
 Have pride in what they do.
 Enjoy the people they work with.
Trust is the defining principle of great workplaces — created through
management’s credibility, the respect with which employees feel they are
treated, and the extent to which employees expect to be treated fairly. The
degree of pride and levels of authentic connection and camaraderie employees
feel with one are additional essential components.
SELF CHECK 9.1-1
Enumerate your answer to the question below. Write it in your quiz notebook.
1. What are the workplace best practices?
2. How can you create a great workplace?
Answer Key to 9.1-1
1. Workplace best practices:
 Provide clear expectations
 Give people the opportunity to use their skills
 Support your team
 Encourage people to contribute ideas and get involved in decisions
 Encourage feedback and recognition
 Do people have fun at work?
 Encourage learning and development
 Create a great workplace from an employee’s view
2. Create a great workplace from an employee’s view by:
 Trust the people they work for.
 Have pride in what they do.
 Enjoy the people they work with.
 INFORMATION SHEET 9.1-2
Resource Utilization

Learning Objective: After reading this information sheet, you should be

able to utilize the resources with less wastage.

INTRODUCTION
Resource utilization can be a difficult objective, but it shouldn’t give
project leaders nightmares as they watch in horror as their projects veer
off- track, and their portfolios fail to generate return of investment (ROI).

What is Resource Utilization?

Resource utilization is a metric that shows on how much you’re your
team members spend on various tasks. While there are multiple ways to
measure resource utilization, the simplest and most common method is
by taking the actual number of hours worked by a resource, and dividing
it by the total number of hours that the resource could have worked. It
refers to the process of planning the project and making the most of the
available resources in the company. Lower-than-expected resource
utilization often indicates that the project is overstaffed, or that
incomplete tasks are blocking other scheduled tasks. If any of these
tasks fall along the critical path, then deadlines will be missed,
deliverables will be delayed, and costs will rise.
Higher-than-expected resource utilization might not be good news,
either. Instead of indicating that resources are being more efficient and
productive, it could mean that the project is under-staffed — or might
even be in crisis. Obviously, the goal is to optimize resource utilization.
Granted, this is easier said than done; especially on complex, multi-
faceted projects. However, it’s certainly not a case of dreaming the
impossible dream.