Women’s Business Exchange

8/9/2019 Women’s Business Exchange

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Women¶s BusinessWomen¶s Business

ExchangeExchange

Empowered, Inspired,Empowered, Inspired,

ConnectedConnected



I propose that this group be expanded to

provide more meaningful contacts and

business development opportunities for

women in business in Henderson Countyand surrounding areas.



Members need to take responsibility

Contribute

Ideas

Solutions

Plans of Action



First I would like to tell you about a project

that I conducted at Christopher Newport

University (CNU) in 1996-1997, which

will lead me to the proposal regardingthe Women¶s Business Exchange.



There were 55 offices across the campus,

each equipped with either a secretary or an office manager.

In evaluating the functions of these offices

I found that 80% of the work conducted by these administrative positions was

essentially generic.



When something new was initiated for office staff, 55 people were trying tofigure out the newwidget/program/system, and how tointegrate this new widget into their process.

I also found that there was little or nocontact between these offices tocommunicate when someone figured it

out, found a shortcut, or ran into a problem.



Due to these findings, I established an

Administrative Support Team (AST),and invited one person from every officeto become a member of this team.

We spent a few weeks brainstorming.What would be the purpose of this team,how would we manage this team, andwho would be in charge. All of these

questions have to be addressed whengroups are formed. I believe wedeveloped something of great value tothe team members



Administrative Support Team (AST),

Christopher Newport University

Workshops were offered in computer

training, budgeting, personal

development, and stress management. Around table discussion was held in which

many ideas were generated to improve

communication, campus involvement,

self-improvement and increasedcomputer and supervisory skills..



The team¶s mission statement: ³It is themission of the Administrative Support Team at

Christopher Newport University to provide a

network that integrates technology and human

intelligence for the betterment of the university

community. The function of this team is to

assist its members in working smarter; to

prepare for the future growth of the campus,

open the channels of communication; and

bring collective know-how to focus on problem solving and innovation´. This will be

accomplished by offering:



Electronic Newsletter

A procedures manual accessible on CNU

Home Page

Self-Improvement Seminars

Informal training sessions during lunch

time

A new employee mentoring program basically a buddy system



Ten teams were established and had the

full support of the President and Provost

of the campus and the Administration,

Human Resources and The Training andDevelopment Committee.



The AST became an important group on

the campus and was asked to assist the

campus with the implementation of

computer training, on-going customer service training, as well as providing

representatives on many of the campus

committees.



Women¶s Business ExchangeWomen¶s Business Exchange

So how does this relate to

the Women¶s Business

Exchange?



I have enjoyed attending the monthly

meetings, and have learned a good deal

from the speakers and the networking

opportunities. However, I see muchmore potential from this Exchange. I

have been amazed at the skills,

knowledge and abilities of the members..



There is a wealth of business resources, for

the group as well as for the community.

To gather this caliber of business people

in a room to listen to a speaker seems

underutilization of the potential and

opportunities.



I would like to propose some

brainstorming sessions, a think tank and

round table discussion groups within this

membership to see if the members could

come up with expanded networking

ideas.

We will be asking for volunteers to help

develop direction for this exchange.



Here are some of the ideas I think could be

used to jump start a discussion, the

teams become self-governing as to not

burden one person, or one organizationwith the duties.



Database of Resources:

Although there is a list of members and a

bit of information, someone couldmanage a database with an expanded

description of each person as a

resource for the networking group, as

well as the business community.



Classes, Seminars, Workshops, Brown

Bag Lunches, maybe even a local

trade show

Taught by the members for the members

(free of charge), thus growing the base

of the group and the businesses in our

county.



Buddy System:

Teaming people up in smaller groups,

where they can get to know one

another. Having established

businesses help start-up companies

to jump start their new business.



Focused Work Groups:

Where members can come at no charge towork with each other on such projects as, business plans, marketing plans, financial

setup, and web 2.0. These groups would be self-governing and could set their ownlocations and schedules. Groups wouldneed to have some type of evaluation

system and a method of reporting back tothe Exchange on what works and whatdoes not work.



Blogs:

to provide a place to communicate and

develop discussions. Which could then

be carried over into real-time discussions

at monthly meetings?



Group established on LinkedIn:

This is such a valuable professional social

networking site that provides groups a

forum for discussion and questions, aswell as expanded networking

opportunities. I checked the December

2009 roster against LinkedIn

membership and there are only a few people who are really using this method

of networking. WBE could be

established as a group on LinkedIn..



Books & Publications:

Share books or publications (Trade

Pubs) that we have used, web sites(Springwise)



An extremely rich resource for:

MarketingMarketing

F

inanceF

inance WritingWriting

ArtistArtist

Social ResponsibilitySocial Responsibility

Green BusinessGreen Business

Here is what I see:Here is what I see:



Women who have developed a wealth of

knowledge on business through the past

positions they have held in companies all

over the United States

Highly educated women withHighly educated women with

diverse backgroundsdiverse backgrounds



Women who have initiative to start their

own businesses, in some cases serial

entrepreneurs.

This takes a special type of woman

One who is confident, has passion, vision,

and focus.



We have women who have organized large

functions, events, project management,

conferences, manuals, and the skill sets

could go on and on.



There is a potential to develop something

much stronger! I have found this to be a

wonderful networking group. I am

sharing my vision of a movement of women helping other women grow their

businesses through sharing of

themselves and their skills.

In ConclusionIn Conclusion



I know this model works because of thesuccess of the AST at Christopher

Newport University The team becamethe ³come to´ group to help organize projects, solve problems, and providefeedback. Our team members were

invited to sit on most of the major committees on campus. The memberswere better educated for free; theydeveloped better networking skills andshared in completing generic task.Communication was opened, and agreater collaborative atmosphere wasdeveloped campus wide.



The Women¶s Business Exchange could

also provide feedback to the local

business development community,

helping to make their programs stronger.



BRCC ± BusinessDevelopment Center

Mountain BizWorks

SCORE

Chamber of Commerce Small Business Incubators

NC Department of Commerce

Henderson EconomicDevelopment

Partnership JobLink

SBA



WBE Retreat

WBEMarketing ± to get the word spread

about this networking opportunity

CooperativeTeams

Focus Groups

Calendar ± One place that we can find

all business information and events

Empowered, Inspired, Connected

Women’s Business Exchange

Documents

Transcript of Women’s Business Exchange