Innovate For Africa- Reflecting on a Learning Experience
Novustack fellowship ended last month where I and other fellows were taught valuable skills needed as an entrepreneur. In addition to that, we were introduced to the Design Thinking Process which my team and I used for our hackathon, storytelling using data, and many more.
I believed that entrepreneurs are those who solve problems but the process used to the solving problem was unclear. This was one of the reasons I applied for Novustack Innovation Readiness Training (IRT). The Design Thinking Process became an eye-opener to the ambiguity I had in problem-solving.
Novustack is a startup with a wonderful team that is passionate about building an innovative African ecosystem by supporting aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to power development in Africa. Having a diverse team of experienced educators, entrepreneurs, and consultants passionate about building and supporting a community of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in Africa.
The facilitators' passion for our success was vivid from day one. They encouraged us to ask questions and seek help whenever we needed it. The four weeks included workshops and sessions with guest speakers from different start-ups to share their experiences, lessons, and answer our questions.
Guest Speakers and Motivation
As the intensive learning went on, they were guest speakers at intervals coming to give us talks about entrepreneurship, innovation and work at a startup in general. One thing that stood out for me was the fact that having an open mind and growth mindset was something that all speakers emphasized on and I appreciate that as even in the training moving from stage to stage had a lot to do with having a growth mindset.
Personal Branding
In the course of the training, we had special personal branding sessions in a grouped learning pod and the objective was to highlight the importance of personal branding. Effective personal branding will differentiate you from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. In realizing that one will never get a second chance to make a first impression—we must make a first impression that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Why is this beneficial you might ask? Improves your visibility online, making you more identifiable, enables you to leverage your networks, build partnerships etc.
The possibilities are indeed endless, so we utilized another useful resource wix.com to develop online portfolios to showcase our work and we were given useful formats and style guides that ensured we effectively communicated only the useful information relevant to the set objective. We also looked at product requirement documentation.
Interview Preparatory
In preparation for match week, we had very insightful sessions on traditional interview questions, behavioral and problem-solving questions using the STAR method of behavioral interviewing. This is a structured method of responding to a behavioral-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action and the result derived.
Using flipgrid.com we then practiced “Tell Me About Yourself” questions with our peers recording feedback for improvement.
I had an opportunity to have a mock interview session with a renowned HR practitioner-based abroad who gave me solid feedback on my interviewing skills. This again is another very memorable takeaway for me from the training.
Conclusion
I have learned a lot during these four weeks. One of the things I will rarely forget as an entrepreneur and a data analyst is that solutions should always be client-centered. Also, within this time, my leadership ability, effective communication, and collaboration skills were highly improved.