It’s over! In this week’s finale we saw Harpreet get hired as Lord Sugar’s business partner, after a head-to-head between her dessert business ‘Oh So Yum’ and Kathryn’s online pyjama shop ‘Pyjamily’. The two finalists were tasked with developing a brand and ‘hero product’ for their businesses, along with a digital billboard and a TV advert, all with the help of some candidates who’d been fired earlier in the process.
Watching the finalists pick their team members from a very motley crew was excruciating. “Save the best ‘til last” said Harry, who was picked last. Watching Amy and Akeem pretending to be a couple in the Pyjamily advert was even more painful. Unlucky Akeem could not muster enthusiasm for this aspect of the task, despite being urged to “have chemistry” by Harry. Even the couple’s matching pyjamas were no help, and “nothing says loooove like matching pyjamas”.
Let’s look at what we learned from the final episode.
Lessons learned
- Get behind your Project Manager (It’s not always about you)
It was gobsmacking to see team members doing down the efforts of their Project Manager at this stage in the process. Horrible Harry (who we now know got picked last for a reason) likened Kathryn’s logo to the Exorcist. Awful Amy concurred. Even worse, Amy expressed her criticism to Kathryn, which must have affected Kathryn’s confidence in the brand and in the team she’d trusted to help her develop it. “At the end of the day this is Kathryn’s vision, it’s not about us”, said Stephanie, “so I think it’s really important for all of us to just get on board with that”. Well said.
- Establish clear roles and responsibilities
When creating the digital billboard for ‘Oh So Yum’, Navid’s efforts to look longingly at desserts were snubbed and greedy guts Nick stepped in to take the role. “Nick’s going to have to come in and save the day”, said Nick, clearly greedy for limelight as well as dessert. Navid, being a gentle soul, let this go. But there was no such grace on the ‘Pyjamily’ team. Harry and Amy wrestled for control over the production of their pyjama advert, trampling on each other’s’ toes and hindering progress considerably. Establishing and agreeing roles and responsibilities in a project team is essential. Without this, it is really difficult to get anything done – people may not take responsibility for doing what needs to be done at all, or, as we saw in this task, too many people might try to take charge. Successful teams have clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
- Dreams do come true, if you work hard and believe in yourself
“I have dreamed of this moment, and it just completely proves that if you work hard and believe in yourself, dreams do come true” said Harpreet, on being hired by Lord Sugar. She has certainly demonstrated self-belief and hard work.
Management Speak of the Week
“Good luck, and on your way” – Lord Sugar
Thank you The Apprentice for the lessons learned this series, and also for the laughs, the cringes, and some much-needed escapism.
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