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Inspired to be an intrapreneur

What does it mean to be an ‘intrapreneur’? Is it just a spelling mistake? How can you be innovative within organisations? Journalist student Rachel Smart attended our latest masterclass on how being an intrapreneur can make you future proof and shares her take on the event.

As I logged in online for an hour session on intrapreneurship, I wasn’t sure what to expect. By the end of the latest ‘Innovation Masterclass’ from the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group I felt attended inspired and armed with knowledge to take into different areas of my life.

The evening started with ºìÐÓÊÓƵs own Dr Kyle Martin speaking about the development of the Attendr app to help monitor student attendance. Attendr is the ‘brainchild’ between himself, Prof Nirmalie Wiratunga and Chamath Palihawadana who wanted to provide a solution to paper based attendance. He talked us through the pitfalls and learnings of developing the app and the continued journey they are on improving this.

Next up was the main speaker of the evening, CEO of , Steve McCreadie. The Lens develops intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurship is embedding an entrepreneurial mindset within an organisation to generate improvement and innovation. Steve spoke about the fact that there are often discoveries, innovations and ideas to problems that don’t get put into action. The Lens was started to harness creativity, unlock potential and connect people to turn these ideas into action.

Steve was energetic, knowledgeable, and engaging as he discussed the behaviours of an intrapreneur and how someone can develop these skills wherever they are. () Some of the key takeaways of the evening were: get a team behind you; know how to tell your idea; do not be afraid of failure and be positive and optimistic! The event left me feeling a sense of encouragement and inspiration and ready to become an intrapreneur.

ºìÐÓÊÓƵs Innovation Masterclasses take place monthly and more information can be found on the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ Innovation webpage.