Action Learning Projects Create Real-World Results

Over the course of the last six months, 36 professionals attended Haskayne Executive Education’s Business Essentials (BE) program to curiously explore key business concepts and understand the executive mindset.

In order to successfully graduate from the program, each participant was required to complete an Action Learning Project (ALP) to transfer classroom learning and apply new knowledge to a problem linked to their own workplace. In the last two days of the program, participants presented their projects to a mentor/executive from their organization, their Haskayne mentor, their BE coach and their fellow program participants. The results of the Action Learning Projects (ALPs) were impressive, as participants demonstrated their new found confidence and competitiveness.

The integration of ALPs within the Business Essentials program design has proven to be an effective method to enhance learning transfer for both the individual learner and the organization. Subsequently, the end result of many ALPs was a tangible, real-world return on investment. Here is what a few of the participants had to say about their ALP:

“There were a lot of factors to consider and moving targets when completing my ALP. Just to name a few, I used entrepreneurial thinking, financial decision making and strategy implementation. Going forward with the implementation of my ALP, I will also be using my newly developed knowledge to negotiate, complete a business canvas model and lead through the change.”
Mercedes Broda, business strategist, City of Calgary, completed her project on Smart Operational Resource Allocation.

“The key takeaways from my ALP were project planning, improved research skills and enhanced business viability knowledge. I had to look at my project from various perspectives; is the market right for our company and this project, does the project make financial sense, what risks are involved? Through this process I was able to make solid evidence based decisions.”
Gordon Walsh, manager health and safety training, Enform, completed his project on New Market Development.

“The ALP was a great opportunity to directly apply my learning to something that was tangible. As I moved through my processes at work, I noticed I was directly applying and reinforcing what I had learned in the classroom.”  
Mark Dempsey, manager - construction division, McElhanney Land Surveys Ltd, completed his project on Diversifying Through Acquisition.

 “My ALP is focused on expansion capital planning. The objective is to help the business minimize risk and maximize returns by being capital conscious and executing the best projects at the right time. This process is being implemented for my department, and is something that has the potential to expand throughout the entire organization.”
Marvin Wong, Manager, Analytics & Capital Planning at Secure Energy Services Inc. at Secure Energy, completed his project on Expansion Capital Planning.

If you are interested in learning how you can participate in the next cohort of Business Essentials, we invite you to join us at our up-coming information session on April 28, 2016. This session will also provide information on a government grant program that can cover up to 2/3 of the program fee.

If you are interested in learning about how Action Learning Projects can be incorporated into a custom program for your organization, please contact execed@haskayne.ucalgary.ca or call 403.220.6600.