Business Development can seem like a slippery concept, with many people interpreting what it means in many different ways. Not only this, but it’s
a term that refers to quite different things, depending on the context and sector in which it’s being used .At Touchstone it refers to a wide ranging of activities, conversations and thoughts ranging from strategic to the practical.
One of the things the Business Development team at Touchstone has been working on is how to ‘demystify’ Business Development, share the knowledge of how we do what we do, and empower colleagues, volunteers and service users to become leaders within Touchstone, and leaders in Business Development.
On Tuesday 18th April 2017 we ran a ‘Business Development Training Session’ open to all staff and volunteers. The session looked at what business development is, how it works within Touchstone , or strategy and the roles that individuals play within it. The session also looked at the knowledge and experience of the attendees, what they knew and wanted to know about Business Development, and provided an overview of the support and information available to staff within Touchstone around Business Development.
It was fantastic to talk and listen to the wealth of knowledge and experience within the room, and all of the innovative and exciting development ideas everyone had – both for their own services and for wider Touchstone. Not only this but individuals contributed towards their individual service development plans for the year ahead, and thought about who they know and where they go within their roles.
We hope that by opening up our knowledge and experience to all staff within Touchstone we’re supporting individual learning and development, encouraging leadership and cultivating a coproductive environment within which innovation, diversity, integrity and value for money are able to prosper.
Thanks to all who came and engaged – we’ll be running another session again soon!
Julia and Jess
