This is a work-based group activity which gives participants the opportunity to develop a specific workplace skill in a practical context  e.g. practising suturing on fruit (on a medical visit), practising non-armed combat (with the police), dressing a mannequin for a display (on a retail visit). 

You could structure this as follows: 

1. Introduction: staff give a brief introduction to the skill and give a demo. 

2. Activity: participants work in pairs/small groups to complete the practical task. 

Give students the chance to reflect on the activity and self-assess the skills developed. 

This activity focuses on the Skills Builder Skills, which are 8 essential skills for personal and professional development. They are Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork.– The activity can include the following: 

1. Introduction to the 8 skills, whereby participants identify day to day scenarios that might present the opportunity to develop these skills , e.g. leadership in a sports team or problem solving on a journey to your workplace.  

2. Opportunity for participants to practise applying a specific skill (or 2) in a professional scenario. For example, participants could be given a few scenarios where staff are presented with a challenging workload, tight deadlines or a difficult colleague and participants have to discuss or role play how they would respond and what skills they would need. 

Include modelling of what good looks like in applying these skills, as well as clear strategies for how to develop them. 

 In addition to Skillsbuilder skills, it would be helpful to provide participants with a glossary of technical, sector-specific or firm-specific skill terminology. 

This workshop gives participants to the chance to develop their professional communication skills through a series of short tasks such as drafting an email or creating a LinkedIn profile using guidance and feedback from volunteers/facilitators.  

You could get a  professional photographer to take a high-quality headshot for participants to use on LinkedIn.