Category Archives: General

3 More Ways Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Networking

“If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.” – Simon Sinek

Business is not just about spreadsheets, accounting software, profit and loss. In fact, successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common. They are good at networking. So how will you improve your networking skills? Are there steps you can take to improve your networking skills? The answer is “Yes.” We already shared some ideas in the previous article. Here are some more tips.

1. Organize and attend conferences
When most people hear the term “networking,” they immediately conjure up the image of a conference room with lots of people exchanging ideas or business cards. It’s true. Attending a conference can greatly improve your networking. However, the conference you are attending may not have all the right people you want to network with. If that is the case, then consider organizing your own conference. You can easily training room rental or seminar room rental and host your own conference. Either way, seminars and conferences could the ideal breeding ground for growing your business network.

2. Be Prepared
Just attending or organizing conferences isn’t enough. For successful networking, you should prepare yourself well in advance. For instance, learn to listen to other people’s views rather than simply pushing your ideas onto their face. You should also have your business cards or product samples ready. So, if you get a chance to meet with someone important, you can share your contact details and even show a demo of your product right away.

3. Follow up
Networking at a conference or seminar give you a chance come face-to-face with people from your industry. It is up to you to turn the initial meet-up into a long-term business relationship. Don’t expect everyone to remember you after the event. If you want to keep the relationship alive, you should follow up with them at frequent intervals.

Ways Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Networking

You know your business inside out. You have the knowledge and skills of your industry niche. But here’s the thing. Building a successful business is not only about what you know. In fact, it’s more about who you know. That’s exactly why improving your networking skills is critical to the growth of your business.

One way to improve your networking is by attending conferences and events. You can also book training room rental or classroom rental to organize an event and invite influential people from your industry to speak at your event. That way, you can have more control over your networking. So what are some other ways to improve your entrepreneur network? Here are some ideas.

1. Offer value first
If you want to make a real connection with influential people in your industry, start by helping them without asking anything in return. For instance, you can send emails offering helpful advice on how they can increase revenues. At this stage, your only purpose should be to help them win at their business. Once you win their trust, they are most likely to reciprocate.

2. Share tips and advice on social media
In the same breath, you should help your clients and followers via social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. If you can establish yourself as a helpful resource in your circles, it will pay dividends in the long run.

3. Build relationship with local media
Local newspaper or audio-visual media could be a great networking tool for startups and SMBs. With that in mind, it would be a good idea to follow local news and try networking with your favorite reporters. For instance, you can send them the thank-you email for covering an important story in your area. Or perhaps, invite them to your business events and request them to cover the story of your business.

3 More Tips to Conduct Training on Performance Management

Companies that provide training on performance management are more likely to reduce employee turnover, improve employee engagement and productivity. But before you training room rental to train your employees on performance management, you should know what an effective training program should look like. We have already shared some tips in the previous article, but here are 3 more steps to planning an effective training program on performance management.

1. Measure outcomes of your training
What gets measured gets managed. This piece of wisdom from famous American management consultant Peter Drucker holds true for performance management training. if you currently don’t have a system to measure the outcomes of your training program, you are probably wasting your time and money on training. So before you book classroom rental for your next training program, identify the key metrics to measure the outcome of your training. After a successful training session on performance management, your employees should have a clear idea of their job duties, what managers expect from them, and how to give or receive feedback.

2. Involve internal members of your team
Many companies hire outsiders for giving training on performance management. While there’s nothing wrong in inviting outside experts to lecture on the topic, most of the practical ideas for improving performance management should come from within your organization. Your senior managers probably have a better understanding of how performance in managed in your organization. So involve them and let them work collaboratively with outside experts to develop a holistic training program on performance management.

3. Make sure training improves your bottom line
In addition to measuring the qualitative results of your training program on performance management, you should also measure its impact on the company’s bottom line. Training helps your employees and managers learn new skills, but how they use those skills to increase business revenues matter the most. So before you rent training room, make it a point to recognize your expectations in terms KPIs. After the training, measure the ROI to see how the training has helped improve business outcomes.

How to Select the Right Layout for Your Training Room

One common mistake people make when booking training room rental or seminar room rental is they don’t consider the seating layout of the venue. However, this should be one of the first things you should consider when selecting a training venue. In this article, we’ll touch upon some of the most common types of training room layouts and their pros and cons. So let’s dive right in.

1. Classroom layout

This layout is ideal for training a small group of people in a classroom setup. As the term suggests, the classroom layout will have the audience seated in rows of chairs facing the instructor. The focus will be on the trainer or instructor. This style is best suited to lecture-based learning. Mostly, each audience member will have a desk in front of them for placing their laptop or notebook. That means the classroom layout is perfect for events where attendees might need to do extensive note-taking. However, members seated in the back rows may have a problem following the speaker, unless the room is equipped with good sound system.

2. Boardroom layout

This type of layout is ideal for group discussion. The setting usually comes with a large table in the middle of the room and rows of chairs surrounding it. If you are planning to organize an intimate meeting or training session with a few people, consider the boardroom layout as it allows everyone an equal opportunity to see and talk to each other.

3. U-shaped layout

Also known as conference style layout, this setup entails a U-shaped, rectangular table, allowing the participants to interact with each other easily. At the opening of the U, you can place the projector or the trainer’s table. If your training session requires using audiovisual presentations, the U-shaped layout would be a great fit for you.

3 More Tips to Help New Employees Learn Your Company Culture

In order to help your employees embrace your company culture, you first need to think from their perspective. When someone joins a new company, they feel nervous, anxious and perturbed. Even simple things like finding the restroom may seem like a daunting task to them. At this stage, your new employees need your support and guidance.

One way to help them understand your company culture is through training. But before you training room rental or seminar room rental, make sure that you have taken the below steps to help your employees learn your organizational culture.

1. Ask them to shadow a senior employee

In the first few days of work, your employees want to learn by shadowing others. That’s the fastest way to get them acquainted with the surroundings and make them feel comfortable. At this stage, you can assign them a senior employee who they can shadow at least a few hours every day. That way, your new employees will be able to see and understand how the process works in your organization. Shadowing someone is by far one of the most effective ways to start learning anything.

2. Encourage them to ask questions

You can lecture your new hires about your company culture, but the true learning happens when they start interacting with you. So encourage them to ask questions and make sure that you respond to each of their queries. One good idea would be schedule a daily meeting with your new employees at a fixed time. That way they can ask questions at a stipulated time, rather than wondering when to ask.

3. Reward them

One way to encourage your employees to adopt your company culture is by offering incentives and rewards for taking part in activities that promote your organizational culture. Offering rewards to your employees help you in two ways. First of all, it allows your employees to know exactly how to implement the company values. Secondly, it encourages them to inspire others to do the same.

How to Help New Employees Learn Your Company Culture

You can attract new talents with an enticing salary package; but you cannot retain them for long, if they don’t fit into your company culture. But the onus of adopting your company culture isn’t only on your employees. You, as an employer, can take some steps to make the job easier for them.

For instance, you can book training room rental or classroom rental and organize training sessions to pass on your company culture to your new hires. There are many other ways to help your employees learn and adopt your company culture. Here are some tips.

1. Lead by example

It’s one thing to preach high values; it’s another to practice what you preach. No matter what you say, your employees are more interested in knowing what you do. For instance, if you ask them to participate in volunteering, but never take part in any kind of volunteering work yourself, you are giving a wrong message to your employees. As a brand evangelist, your job is to lead people by example.

2. Let them settle in

One common mistake companies make is they try to introduce new hires with the company culture right from the first day of work through lectures and training sessions. Instead, give your new employees some time to settle in and feel comfortable with the new environment before you start preaching.

3. Create training materials

Not all the training should happen face-to-face. Sometimes, all you need is to give them well-written training materials. They can read and learn by themselves. When your employees are new, they want to know more about your company culture from difference sources. One of the most effective tools for passing on your company culture could be written materials. But make sure the content is well written in a tone or voice that best suits your company culture.

4 More Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged

Audience engagement is no easy feat. Even good speakers sometimes fail to impress their audience. It’s not always your fault though. Maybe the training room is not well-equipped with all the necessary facilities. So first things first, make sure you book the right training room rental or classroom rental for your training session.

Once the basic facilities are squared away, now the next important thing is the subject of your speech. The next crucial thing is your speaking style. A lot of things go into making a training program successful. Here are some more tips to keep your audience engaged.

1. Make it a two-way communication

Even though you’ll do most of the talking, don’t make it sound like a one way communication. Wherever possible ask questions and invite feedback. Try to make it an interactive session, so your audience can participate in the learning process and remain engaged.

2. Pause after every 10 minutes

Studies show that humans cannot listen to a speech effectively for more than 10 minutes at once. So it would be a good idea to pause after every 10 minutes. At each break, you can give some activities to your attendees. That way, you’ll help them refresh their mind and allows them to reflect on what they learned so far.

3. Be specific and concise

There’s no point stretching your discussion for hours when you can present the information much faster. Granted, you need to include stories and narratives in your speech to make it sound more interesting, but don’t stretch it unnecessarily.

4. Don’t simply read your slides

Slides are important for your presentation but don’t depend too much on them. Just because you’ve collected ample information doesn’t mean you’ve to share them all. Instead, focus on eliminating unimportant slides and talk freely without always having to look back and forth between slides and audience.

Top 3 Tips for Training Your New Hires

You hired a few “good” talents, but now you’ve works to do. You need to train them, make them familiar with your organizational culture, work process, tools and technology.

Training your new employees could be overwhelming. You may feel like you’ve a lot to share, so much so that you are confused where to start. But don’t worry! If you are planning to rent training room but still not sure how to train your new hires, here are some useful tips.

1. Develop self-learning materials
Before you rent classroom or even start the recruiting process, focus on developing self-learning content for your would-be employees. Start by writing a thorough job description and then create FAQs and training materials. That way, you can help your new hires to figure out most of the steps on their own. This saves your time on training and allows your employees to learn conveniently at their own pace.

2. Assign an internal mentor
Self-learning content is a good strategy, but your new hires may still need in-person help. They need a go-to person for any query or help. You can hire an experienced trainer for the job, but far too effective would be choosing a trainer from within your company. For instance, senior team members can train juniors or new hires. It’s a dual-purpose strategy. On the one hand, it helps your employees to learn from insiders who know the system inside out. On the other hand, when you assign your senior employees as trainers, they feel valued.

3. Make the training enjoyable
Just because it is a training program doesn’t mean it should be boring. Make the program enjoyable for your new hires through gaming and fun activities. Take short breaks and allow your employees to socialize and interact with each other. The more enjoyable your training programs, the more engaging they are.

7 Considerations When Creating Your Training Program

In today’s dynamic business environment, you need to update your tools and strategies more frequently than ever before. This also means that you need to train your employees more frequently.

But just booking training room rental or classroom rental for your training program isn’t enough. Before you do that, you should develop an effective training program. To that end, here are a few important things to consider.

1. Identify your goals – The first thing is to identify what you are trying to achieve with your training program. This will give you direction to your options as you build your training program.

2. Know your target audience – The next step is to define your target audience. For instance, one program could target only senior managers, while another can target blue color workers.

3. Choose topics – Once you know your goals and your target audience, now you need to identify topics related to them. Good topics would align with your organization’s goal and address the needs of your target attendees.

4. Determine a system for giving feedback – You need to employ different feedback systems for different employees. For instance, one feedback system may have simple “multiple choice” question answers, while another may ask for more detailed feedback and comments.

5. Identify the availability of attendees – When deciding the length of the program, you’ll need to know how many days, hours your particles are available for the training session. Also, find out how many sessions you might require to achieve your training goals.

6. Decide the mode of training – Corporate training programs can be conducted online or in-person. Each mode of training has its own pros and cons. You need to decide the right mode for the right type of training.

7. Consider follow-up activities – For your training program to be effective, it should have follow-up activities for the participants. Whatever your employees have learned from the training program, they should be able to practice those immediately in real-world environments.

3 More Tips for Training Your Non-tech Savvy Employees

True learning happens through trial and error. It’s not a fun process always. But good trainers know how to make the process more fun and engaging. Without the right trainer, training sessions can seem dull and intimidating.

If you are planning to rent training room or rent seminar room for providing technology training to your non-tech savvy employees, the first step is to make the learning fun for them. Here are some tips.

1. Check your tools

Before you start the training, check your technology and tools. Make sure everything is working fine. You don’t want to face any tech kinks during the course of the training. Remember, your non-tech employees are already in fear. If something goes wrong (for instance, page not loading or sound not coming from microphones), it could interrupt the flow of the training session and leave the learners in a panic mode. Your goal as a trainer is to make learning easy for your students. Unexpected tech hiccups can disrupt the entire flow.

2. Reward them

Incentives are a great tool for changing behaviors. Use this tool to encourage learning. For instance, after every training session, give them a small task. When someone completes the task, reward them. Another good idea would be to say encouraging words like “good job” or “well done” after every small success. A little appreciation can go a long way.

3. Build a support system

People learn faster when they work together as a team. To help your non-tech savvy employees learn quickly, you can build small teams and get them to solve a problem together. That way, it would be easier for them to support each other and learn in the process. Meanwhile, you can provide them with all the necessary resource materials, such as, books, PDFs, video tutorials, and audio books.