A Unique request for our training rooms

Recently, we have a client (let’s name her as Jay (not her real name so as to keep confidential) who is stationed in Bangkok. She found out about our training room from our website and called us for inquiry. Hence, hearing her familiar friendly accent and subsequently understanding where she is from,. I thought that she may not be familiar with Singapore and as
I am also curious with the type of event she is intending to hold at our rooms. We took much time explaining to her about:

Our venue location which was very convenient, especially for a foreigner who is not familiar with Singapore
Our rates which are reasonably priced
The facilities that come along with the rental
The kind of set up for her event
Posted her some nice photos of a current event we had for a client

Interestingly, Jay is not at all interested with our facilities and interested to know 1) whether the location is convenient enough for her clients. This piqued my curiosity as most of my first time clients who rent our seminar room or training rooms would want to know what facilities comes along with the rental. This is the really the first rare encounter I had.

The only second question she has for me is whether we can clear the entire room for her i.e. clear all the tables and only leave one table and two chairs in the room. As this was going to be a quite tedious process, I had to confirm her required arrangement.

I asked her whether if she wanted a classroom seating arrangement, she said no. She then explained to me what she was going to hold a mass interview at our training room. She was representing her head office in Bangkok, and intends to interview a few candidates for a job position.

A MASS INTERVIEW
This was the first time we received such a unique request, and not wanting to disappoint her, we said yes to her event. Of course, payment came promptly.

On the day of the rental, we prepared early by clearing the tables, and put in place the arrangement what our client requested. We also carefully vacuumed the carpet, cleared the bins, gave a few spurts of freshener and we wanted to make sure Jay will be comfortable upon arriving.

Not sure why, but this is not the first time a foreign client has rented our seminar or classrooms. However, there is this responsibility to make sure that we are hospitable towards our foreign clients whenever they book from us. As part of our service, we even gave her a call to make sure that she knows her way to our place. To be continued…

What are the training methods commonly used today? (Part Two)

Training via Audio and visuals
This method includes learning through videos, television, documentary. This method opens employees or students to practical and real life case studies in a time and money saving method. This method allows new employees, students to learn through other people mistakes. The weakness of such a method is that it usually is adopted for a general audience and not so much free play in the tailoring of program. In addition, interaction during such a method of training may be lesser than most of the methods that we have discussed.

Online or computer based learning
Increasingly, this method has been very popular that even universities like Stanford has many workshops and lectures being shared online inviting people to join. This is out of a classroom setting and usually can be done at home. One of the more popular learning portals today is Udemy which has gained worldwide recognition for learning. For in house computer based training programs, they are usually customized to present and share materials in such a way that it allows employees or students to learn at their own time. The advantage of such a learning method is thus the ability to allow employees to learn and study at their own pace. It can be before work, after work and during the employees’ resting hours.

As such a method of training requires a lot of discipline on the part of the student or employee, it is good that the person who is instituting the online or computer based learning, give timeline and clear goal and objectives to the student and employee.

Apprenticeship
An experienced employee or a more senior person will guide and lead the apprentice on the job for a certain time period. Skills will be imparted during this form of training so that the apprentice will eventually know how to perform the job competently. This form of training is good for imparting skills that are more hands on.

Team Building
Team building learning should be amongst all, the most fun, engaging and interactive. This is usually carried out by a third party, which is a team building company. It is usually used to help the team understand each other better, how to meet objectives that are given and importantly to act as one. During such a learning exercise, there is no rank to speak of as everyone is to be equal. A good team building facilitator will usually tell the cohort the objective before and after the program and point out what is done well, done not so well and what can be improved. If time permits, a video to capture all the moments with good music will usually move many to tears and forge a bond amongst the team.

If you are a trainer or entrepreneur looking for a convenient, affordable seminar room to hold your event, visit our website here.

What are the training methods commonly used today?

As time goes by and the advancement of technology, many new methods constantly developed for training in the classroom or workplace, however some training methods have been proven to be more effective than others. Below we will discuss the several training methods as a good learning program will usually mix and match various methods to come out with one effective training plan suited for the organisation or the employees.

Lectures
I recalled since primary school or university lectures in training room, this has been the most commonly method used to impart knowledge as it is able to reach a large audience at one time. This is often said to be one of the most cost efficient method as it does not require one-to-one learning, and is a one-sided affair. However, this has its cons as it does not facilitate interactive learning and can be boring if the lecturer style of presentation is not engaging or interesting enough.

Role Play
This method of learning is often fun and interactive as the students will take on a role that is usually within the challenge presented by the lecturer. Much laughter can be heard during such form of learning. However, one drawback is that it is time consuming, needs classroom management from the teacher and hence it must be carefully thought through by the lecturer the points he want the students to master or equip and is it worth the time.

Case Studies Analysis
In the real world, this is often a good method of practical learning. The students will apply preferably real life case studies, for example, how to increase beverage sales of a company, and the students will need to study, analyse, propose and test out certain ideas to boost sales. This method can often spur the students to think independently, to think of solutions, rather than always relying on the teacher or lecturer. Usually, after the case study, the lecturer will also open up to the floor for discussion. In summary, this method is really good as it gives a practical and experirentail learning opportunites to the students.

Orientations
This applies to new employees in an organisation when they first come onboard. The training can come in several forms, from a lecture, seminars, one-to-one meeting with the orientation in charge or the department supervisor, or a presentation by several people in the organisation to introduce what their respective departments do. The information during orientation should cover what the company does, its organisational structure, mission and values etc.

Job Rotation
It is quite common for Singapore employees to wear double hats nowadays due to the tight labour market. During job rotation, the employees would go through or take on another distinctive role and gain experience of the job. This can be a good method if sometimes the employees is bored or stagnant at his present role.

Tips to decorate your classroom to enhance its learning environment

Once the year end school holidays comes to an end, besides preparing their curriculum for the next term, teachers are usually also busy brainstorming and preparing their classroom to invite their students back into school.

As it is always plain if students come into class excitedly yet the walls are white and plain without any vivid designs. Actually decorating the classroom can be fun if you know what kind of personality you want to give your classroom and the kind of learning environment you want to put your students in.

That said, it might not be very useful if the teacher merely achieve by having a warm, academic tone. And often, most teachers are able to achieve this standard. As you set up your classroom the next time, ask yourself the kind of atmosphere that you want your students to learn in. This question will also encompass thinking about the kind of decorations on the wall, as they should serve a learning purpose, that is, a tool or instrument for learning, not merely aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Below are some tips to decorate your classroom to maximize the learning effects of the learning environment.

1. Put up posters
Posters provide opportunities for information absorption passively. While student listen to you during class, and they learn from you. But when class is over, posters with information displayed around the class is most useful. They will help to enhance what they have learnt during class and since students spend many hours at school, do not underestimate posters prowess for knowledge retention.

2. Set aside a small corner to display students work
This will facilitate sharing among the students and also learn from each other the goods and not so goods. This will also instill a sense of ownership, pride and achievement when one’s work is displayed.

3. Set aside a portion of the wall decoration to forge bonding
Are there times whereby the students had fun together, overcame tasks together? Pin up those photos and help them to further forge their relationship. When the class dynamics is good and healthy, this will help in the learning environment and also help them to forge meaningful relationships. They will thank the teacher in years to come.

If you wish to conduct your classes in a convenient and conducive training environment, or if you need seminar rooms for your classes, visit our website www.TrainingRoomSG.com

Tips for Classroom Management

A new teacher recently used our training room to teach her class, it is common one might find classroom management challenging. Below are 3 tips to overcome and be better at classroom management.

Adopt a normal voice
Most newbie teachers raise their voices when they speak, be it in a classroom or seminar room style setting, however this lesson will be learnt hard when one loses the voice one day. The important tip here is not to raise your voice to get attention as it harms your vocal cords. Also, this is not effective as your voice is usually drowned within the classroom and the students’ voices.

When the class is quiet then you speak
This golden tip works wonders. When you suddenly quiet down, you will many times realise that the class will suddenly be quiet too. This ‘mirroring effect’ works much better than you trying to out raise the voices of the entire class. Your good students will also ask the rest to be quiet when they realise you are no longer talking. Similarly, you should adopt this tip when for example an aeroplane flies past the classroom.

Set certain hand signals with the students
Educate and share your common hand signals with your students. This can vary from a certain hand signal asking them to quieten down, queue up. One popular attention seeking hand signal to try using is you can first raise your hand, then expect everyone in the class to raise their hands. You will wait till the last man’s hand is raised, before you lower your hand and start to speak. The rest of the class will also follow suit. Try it, you will be amazed how effective this hand signal will work.

Some of other popular hand signals are clapping your hands a numbers of times, and you will expect a similar response from your students. Another is knocking on the white board a number of times and this should quieten down your students.

In summary, set some house rules and hand signals so that you do not over strain your voice.

If you need classroom rental with a cozy, well furnished and convenient venue to hold your classes, visit our website now.

3 top coaching tips that work in the workplace

Increasingly, many managers are finding it difficult to motivate and develop their staff. As there exists many personalities and characters within a team on a working basis, it is not easy to determine how to obtain the optimal performance from a diverse group of personalities in a team.

Nevertheless, it is still the responsibility of the managers to build an environment so that the staff are motivated. Many managers discover that they are able to better coach their team members, they will receive results than other styles. Below are 3 coaching tips that will work and lead to better team performance.

1) Self assessment

When you ask your staff to assess their own performance against a set of pre-defined parameters and Key performance indicators, it helps them to identify where they currently stand, and helps them to take stock of their performance. Let them uncover areas that they know about themselves, give them opportunities to discover their own strengths and weaknesses and areas of growth and improvement as this will assist in encouraging personal responsibility and accountability on their personal working performance.

2) Inspire your team with a vision

Give your team worthwhile and meaningful goals, things that excites and you will see performance almost immediately. The keyword here is worthwhile and meaningful. Hence, there has to be goals, objectives that spice your team members up, otherwise a job is just a job and you can expect to receive only mediocre performance from your team.

3) Set challenging expectations but provide small milestones that encourage along the way

Just like driving, if it is a long straight road and the goal is so far away. It is hard to remain continuously motivated. Do provide intermediate milestones, quick win targets and celebrate them as this will keep your team members further motivated as they know they are a step forward towards success of reaching their bigger goals.

If are a business owner, entrepreneur that needs a cosy, convenient and affordable training room rental, our training room and seminar room for rent are well furnished, at competitive rates and hassle free.

New training room for 20 persons

We have recently placed another spanking new training room under our stable. This training room will be good for classes with a class size of 20 persons. Once again, we made sure that the training environment is conducive, cozy and comfortable for training and learning.

As we go along in this business, we realized besides business, we are very privileged to serve businesses, especially smaller start ups with a place to train, to hold their previews with a convenient location. Usually, newer start ups, entrepreneurs will not want to commit themselves to a training room as it may cost them substantially. We made many new friends along the way and we feel really happy when we have dates to accommodate their dates that they want to book.

New photos of the new training room will be up very soon, please stay tuned. And for entrepreneurs who want to conduct your training, course previews, Parkmall is indeed a superb location as it is very near to the MRT (one minute walk from Dhoby Ghaut MRT) and your participants will not get lost due to the complexity of the layout of the building. There is only one lift leading to the training venue.

If you need training room or seminar room rental at a convenient and cozy place, visit our website at www.trainingroomsg.com

Tips for conducting on boarding program for new hires

We have recently rented our training room to a client who trained their new hires and we like to share some tips on this topic with our readers and clients

An effective employee training / on boarding program ensures that new hires are prepared in their new positions, giving them confidence and the resources they need. A good on boarding and well planned process will ensure that new hires know that they play an important role in the organisation.

It also minimizes employee turnover, align the values and goals of the organisation and help to save managers’s time training the new employee. This article contains five tips on training new hires.

1. Incorporate Different Training Methods during the on boarding presentation

As an on boarding program usually comprise of all ranks in the program, it is important to know the profile of your audience. Do consider incorporating a variety of content during your training example, slide shows, power point presentations, employee handbook, hands on activities. This will help to ensure that all of the employees regardless of their proficiency in any language can grasp the intent of the program. If your presentation is in English, do consider developing your presentation in other languages or have a translator present to explain to the audience who needs assistance.

2. Communicate the objectives of the program at the start and at the end of the program

This will help the new staff to understand what the trainer will be speaking about and also help them to refresh their memory. Importantly, help the new staff to know what they are supposed to understand at the end of the orientation program.

3. Develop Practical Training program

Do not overwhelm your new staff with excessive information on the very first day. If there is too much information to share with new joiners, it is encouraged that you convince the respective department heads to make it into a two days program etc and it will translate into long lasting benefits for the department. Take note also not to scare the new joiners with overwhelming information that they are frighten off on the first day of work. One possible way of doing is to invite the respective department heads to sit in your program so that they are convinced that a one day program is insufficient and acknowledge the benefits of the program.

4. Have some fun

While it is important that the new joiners understand the objectives and know as much about the organisation as possible, understand that it is unrealistic to overdo it. It is important that the new hires make new friends across various departments and making them feel engaged and motivated. Hence, conduct your program well but have some fun!

If you are looking for an affordable, convenient training, seminar room or classroom rental strategically located in town, call us now at 66595919 to serve you for your next event!

Course Evaluation Checklist

As a trainer, besides our passion to impart our knowledge and help people grow or excel, how do you know whether you are doing good enough?

As the saying goes, what gets measured gets improved. How do you measure your training effectiveness? We encourage the use of a course evaluation checklist. What it does is that it allows your participants to talk to you, to feedback what went well, what went wrong in your presentation or training. Below are some questions that are good to ask your participants for their feedback. We also encourage that you keep the evaluation anoynmous as this will be a true test of your performance.

If you are doing an in house workshop for your client, the course evaluation checklist is often also used by the training department to understand the course, its effectiveness and whether its objectives are met. Most of the times, the objective of such in house workshops or training is that the employee must be able to do better at their work.

Some of the metrics that course evaluation form uses are yes/no questions. While some metrics used are very poor, poor, average, good, very good and excellent.

This article will share more about yes and no questions.

Is the content constructed based on job tasks?
Are steps or actions to take detailed and broke down into clear instructions?
Is the material tailored to the seniority and/or experience level of the participants?
Has the “by the way” information been minimized?
Is more than one third of the training session spent on the content presentation?
Is more than two third of the time spent on the allowing the participants to effectively apply the information?
Are adult learning concepts built into the course?
Is the pace of the course good?
Is the course properly structured?
Does break up group exercises simulate the tasks and bring across the learning points?
Activities are built into the course to help transfer skills learned to the job.
Is sufficient time allocated for the difficult tasks.
The content is reviewed at regular intervals and there is good clarify by the speaker?
Has the effectiveness of the course been evaluated?
would you recommend this workshop to your colleagues or friends in this field?

If you require a well furnished, professional training environment to conduct your seminars or training classes, visit our website via this link now

How do you keep track of your participants and add value to them?

It is not an easy task keeping track of participants to your seminar or training if you do not have an organised way of keeping track. For example, how many has turned up, has not turned up and whether to make the decision whether to wait for more participants to come or wait for more to arrive.

While you can rely on your intuition with the room capacity being filled, still this is not a very good gauge and there are also some good reasons for keeping track of your participants attendance.

We recommend the old school method of just printing out the excel spreadsheet and let the participants sign when they arrive. Don’t tick but sign as some participants are fond of ticking for their friend or partner and this will disrupt your accuracy.

With a signing in sheet, it gives you benefits especially when your seminar room is full but some participants tried to walk in. As mentioned, we must always give priority to those who signed up online or have been following your blogs etc.

There are few benefits for both organizer and participant adopting the sign in sheet.

1) This helps the participant to ensure that he is at the right place/ seminar. It is not uncommon that several seminars take place together at one venue and the participant went to the wrong seminar that he did not sign up for.

2) It helps the organizer to ascertain the number of participants attending the seminar. Sometimes, if the participant has typed in the wrong email address or other personal information, it is also a good time during the sign in to correct the mistake.

3) Some trainer will send some freebies to the emails of the participants who attend the seminar to thank them for their time. Without a sign in sheet, the organizer has no means to find out who did physically came for the seminar. It will not look good for the company if they state they will only send to those who attended but sent to everyone in the sign up sheet even those who did not attend on that day.

If you have enough space to accommodate walk in guests, do not forget to leave blank space at the below of the paper so that the walk in guests can write their names and means of contacting them. This is your potential leads to sales!

In summary, your client database is your lifeline in business and people who took time to come attend your seminar deserve to be rewarded with your freebies or useful resources. Segregate those who genuinely are interested in your business from those and those who sign up for fun and you should be able to close deals more easily.

If you are keen to hold your seminars, training at our well furnished, professional and convenient seminar room or classrooms, please visit our website.