A Primary School In the North - Another Satisfied Client Gained

Today, I had a meeting with one of our clients from a primary school in the Northern part of Singapore. It was a very fruitful meeting with a few pleasant surprises here and there. I went to the meeting with our sales rep. As an operations head, my primary concern is gathering feedback on the program and our trainers. She expressed her happiness and satisfaction of our training program, quality of trainers and other administration support. When I heard to that, it really made my day. I am a satisfied person knowing i gained another satisfied customer. This is the thumbs up that I have been working hard for!

Then the next surprise came in... 3 of her colleagues came and joined in the meeting. They wanted Moneytree Singapore to conduct social enterprise and financial literacy programs as well. In total, we will be working with this school for 3 programs! Alhamdulillah! It is definitely good news. If you have just read this, do note that this is not a fluke. You have no idea how much tears and sweat I shed and the number of sleepless nights i had in the last 3 months. I am no sales person. I am an operations head. My job is to deliver. When schools talk to me, I can only share with them what my team and I can deliver. If it is something beyond our capabilities, I will let them know. I will not sell something I do not have or able to do. I am just glad that the trainers and facilitators are behind me. They are an adaptable, responsible and flexible bunch of trainers that took us years to build.

to a member of my training team, Christine - Good job! this one is dedicated to you!

ACE Entrepreneurship Week and I.C.E Challenge 2012 video

Heard of ACE Entrepreneurship Week? Heard of ICE Challenge? Here is a compilation of photos of those event.

 Enjoy..

Busy Post Exam Period

Every year, we have always been the busiest in September, October and November. This year was exceptionally busy. It is a good sign for the company. However, to me, it will be a good sign only when we complete the job well and the teacher or principal gives us a thumbs up. Am I setting to high a standard? Maybe. Am I such a sadist and perfectionist that will go all the way just for that thumbs up? I am not a perfectionist, honestly. If you guys know me or have read my earlier entries, I am actually passionate about education, be it for kids or adults. Joining the Ministry has always been at the back of my mind but a lot of time, I feel that I may not have the flexibility to let my ideas flow. Pls do not get me wrong. I believe MOE advocates innovation and creativity but it's just that I need more flexibility. Moreover, as a private trainer, I have the flexibility to train adults.

Back to the topic; this year Moneytree has worked with 60 schools in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Enterprise and Financial Literacy programs. Recently, we completed a test run of our Co-operative module, which was a great success. The students at Orchid Park Secondary were simply awesome. My hope for all the students in our program is that we have put you though a series of workshops and activities. Most of it are fun activities with lessons behind it, some of it will grill you and teaches you the meaning of perseverance and the importance of not giving up. Success has never given up people. It is people who gives up success. I hope that those lessons will equip you with the necessary lives' skills and may it be useful wherever you go.

Just to share, Moneytree has a few programs;

1. Innovation & Enterprise
2. Social Enterprise Program
3. Financial Literacy Program
4. Blogshop and Online Business
5. Co-operative Program

For item 1 & 2, We've worked with Science Dept, D&T, Pupil Development, Student Leaders, Green Club and I&E Club. We've also done a full cohort program, say whole of Sec 1 or 2 and then select 40 students to form a focus group.
For item 3, we have it in 2 structures,
a. full cohort program. usually this is taken by teachers overseeing Humanities, Student Leadership and Maths
b. elective module - We have a Financial Literacy Board game this year as an elective module for NT classes.

For item 4 and 5, we have it for Elective Modules and Clubs.

There are fundings available for schools to tap on. So that makes it more affordable for schools to bring lives' skills to students from Primary, Secondary and Tertiary(ITE Included)

In November this year, Moneytree and ACE organised the ACE Entrepreneurship Week and the ICE Challenge. It was a tremendous success.

We hope to see more schools taking part. It is not about winning or losing. I think its about an opportunity for the students to be exposed and gain an experience that will last their lifetime.

Awarded 3-year Exclusive Training Contract and a Successful Co-operative Pilot Run

Photo taken from SNCF website. Team from Moneytree is represented by CEO-Ryan Soh, Moneytree Asia-Pac Director- Michael Reyes, Program Development Manager-Swati Arya and Head of Projects - Faizal
SNCF is represented by CEO- Dolly Goh, Senior Manager - May Ling and Relationship Manager - Williams Goh

We were awarded an exclusive 3-year contract from Singapore National Co-operative Federation to develop and run co-operative programs in schools. 

http://www.sncf.org.sg/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=49

In October 2012, We have just successfully completed a pilot program for Cooperative Program. The school, Orchid Park Secondary sent a group of students and the top team were invited to the ACE Entrepreneurship Week for a showcase.

This program was intended as an elective modules, promoting Co-operative spirit in entrepreneurship, rather than the usual money driven entrepreneurship program.
If co-operative seems familiar but not sure what, let me give you an example of co-operative in local context;
a. NTUC Fairprice
b. Singapore Malay Teachers' Co-op.

What is a co-op? 
According to Wikipedia,  a co-op is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefit. It is owned and managed by the people who use its services (a consumer cooperative) and/or by the people who work there (a worker cooperative) or by the people who live there (a housing cooperative)
It is very common for an agriculture society or country where farmers pull their resources together for a common goal. With combined resources, farmers could afford to improve productivity and earn better returns for their yield.

NTUC has played a major role in controlling the prices of necessities such as rice and sugar. With the financial power to purchase goods by the masses and investment in logistic infrastructure, locals are able to enjoy affordable supplies while other countries suffer fluctuating prices, especially when they lack the muscle to mass purchase.

In general, Co-operative program is an entrepreneurship program but rather than focusing on making money, our program focuses on meeting unmet/insufficient social needs, values and teamwork. Co-operatives can never be born without teamwork.

Post Examination Programs for schools

I admit! I havent been a good blogger. I havent been utterly consistent in my entries. In the past few months, I have been in battle after battle. Not fighting any wars but in trying to meet customer demands and expectation.  This pressure that I am currently facing is similar to that during Mass Check-in/Out period while I was working at the National University of Singapore. It was a battle hard fought and it last for up to 3 months each time. I think those experiences has more or less prepared me for the battle today. The only difference is in NUS, I led a team of 12 technicians, 4 frontdesk staffs and a small team of part-timers. Today, I more or less had to function alone. Fortunately for me, we have a team of excellent trainers and facilitators. Honestly, I am very impressed at how adaptable and flexible they are, yet maintaining deliverable and lesson objectives. I have my team of trainers and facilitators to thank for. Without them and their understanding, I cant imagine what will happen.

On another bright side, I had more things under control. The downside is that I left office between 2-4am on a daily basis for the past 2 weeks. I could tell how much mu toddler daughter misses me.

In 2 weeks time, we will be having the opening ceremony of the biggest entrepreneurship event of the year; The ACE Entrepreneurship Week. This was formerly known as Global Entrepreneurship Week. It will be held at Kallang Leisure Park on the 9th and 10th of November 2012. there will be fringe events and activities, all related to entrepreneurship. Students, primary and secondary, will be showcasing their prototypes and ideas to the public and a panel of judges, in a bid to claim the title of Champions. Do drop by and bring along your friends and families. More details can be found in http://www.facebook.com/aewsingapore?fref=ts

It's time for me to get back to work. Catch up again ya.

Cheers

A Trainer's Asset...

What do you think is an asset of a trainer? I used to think that his ability to engage and train is a prized asset. Today, I learnt the hard way that skills and technology is really not as critical than losing your voice. Skills can be learnt, technology can be adopted and upgraded but losing voice is really not something to mess about.

Especially for freelance trainers who are thoroughly dependent on their voice, this is a big deal. It's scarier if you are diagnosed with laryngitis or bronchitis. That is a month or two worth of income, excluding medical costs.

I found some tips that can help us in maintaining a healthy voice. It's high time I adopt these. Can't afford another incident honestly.

1. Drink water to keep your body well hydrated.

2. avoid alcohol and caffeine. 

3. Allow yourself several "vocal breaks" especially during periods of prolonged use. 

4. Don't smoke. 

5. Don't yell or scream.

6. Don't clear your throat too often. When you clear your throat, it's like slamming your vocal cords together. Doing it too much can injure them and make you hoarse. Try a sip of water or swallow to quench the urge to clear.

7. When you're sick, spare your voice.

8. When you have to speak publicly, to large groups or outdoors, think about using amplification to avoid straining your voice.

YES! some of you might say that it's the same advice singers are given. Well, first of all, there are similarities between singing and training.

If you need more detail, drop by the following site. http://www.livescience.com/4078-10-tips-healthy-voice.html

 Hope it helps..

Program Recruitment Talk at Choa Chu Kang Primary School

I conducted a 20minute assembly talk at Choa Chu Kang Primary School last week. Choa Chu Kang Primary is a strong advocate in Innovation and they have taken several initiatives in bringing innovation to the students. It is really an honour to have been given such an opportunity to work with them.

Like any other assembly talk, the school required a minimum of 40 students to commit to a 14 week Innovation and Enterprise Program. Results are not yet known as students are required to seek their parents' approval before being allowed to join this program. Unlike the session before, I think I did better than before, more prepared and I was able to engage the students better.

Do your best and hope for the best.

Program Recruitment Talk at Maha Bodhi School

Maha Bodhi is a huge school located in the east. It was a wet Wednesday morning and the school has requested my team and I to conduct an assembly talk to spark interest to the kids and hoping that they signed up for the YES! program.

For that session, I planned to to something different from my previous talks. As we were given only 15minutes, I removed a few elements from my talk and hope that I can hit the mark within that 15minutes. Cutting corners has never yield results.

There and then, it happened. It happened one of those days where everything do not seem to work. The videos in the slides were not functioning(and it's the same set of slides that i used previously) and my wireless presenter was not functioning, resulting in me going back and forth to the computer to move the slides.

I was honestly disappointed with myself after that talk. My colleague told me that it was good. Deep down, I knew I have not given my all.Apart from the technical matters, I felt that I did not do more to engage the crowd like i usually did. I broke one of my training commandments; Rapport is the bridge to acceptance of information. I made a conscious mistake of discounting the rapport building part and forced information through and through.

The school was targeting 40 students and they hoped that the talk will help them get that numbers. A few days later, my colleague said that there were 50 students and now the school is trying to filter the numbers down to 40. Was that a success? I don't know. Personally, I think I doubt my assembly talk made any impact.

20 MINUTES TO A TOP PERFORMER by Alan Vengel

What is a top performer? Are they born with that attitude or are they nurtured? Like many things in life, attitudes and good, positive behaviors are nurtured by the environment. I found this book while scouting the Yishun Branch National Library. I think it is rather timely that I found this book.



Those in the management are always busy. Busy maintaining service quality, developing new businesses, taking care of resources and manpower, etc. A lot of these responsibilities are easy, if compared to coaching and developing reporting employees.

We blame the employees for not having the right working attitude, not taking initiative and for not taking ownership of their respective tasks.
This book is an easy read. It has several scenarios that helps facilitate understanding of some of the tools.

This book has made a strong emphasis on proper communication and making the necessary preparations before a dialogue with an employee. I had my fair share of experience while I was managing Prince George's Park Residence. We assume that our employees understand or interpret information the way we expect it to be interpreted. Communicating to the employees what we want them to do and actually getting them to do it is one of the largest challenges. To close that gap, we will need to know how to apply the following 3 types of conversations;
1. Conversations that change performance
2. Conversation that keep people interested and satisfied with their work
3. Conversations that keep people learning and be ready for the future.

Before engaging with the employee, Alan recommends the Five-Minute Positive Preparation using a simple 3-step model;
1. Identify - purpose of this conversation.
2. Involve - How to seek improvement or create a solution.
3. Initiate - steps forward.

I really do recommend this book to those in supervisory and leadership positions. If I had this knowledge earlier on, I strongly believe that things could have turned out very differently

Great Reviews From My Innovation Workshop at the Republic of Singapore Navy.

The first time I conducted the same workshop was about 2 months ago. It had a few negative comments which I shared in one of my entries (http://trainertoolkit.blogspot.com/2011/12/tip-for-trainers-and-facilitators-3.html). After that time, I vowed to give a much better performance. When I was offered an opportunity to do it again in February, I thought to myself, "this is it. It's a do or die mission. If I fail, the Navy might not want me to run another workshop ever again".

A week before the workshop, I met up with my mentor. She told me that I must not get the same result as I did in my first attempt. She also said another thing, SMILE! She wants me to SMILE during the workshop and by doing that, it will make a difference. I have to agree with her. At that point, any advice or tools will be very useful. Moreover, it's not often i get a mentor who throws such gems at me along the way.

A couple of days before the workshop, I went through the slides again and again, thinking of how can I make a 'WOW!!' effect. I ran the workshop in my mind again and again. Lastly, I decided to go back to my basics. The same basics that I wrote in one of my earlier entries.. http://trainertoolkit.blogspot.com/2011/12/training-and-facilitating-workshop-tip.html
 
Faizal's Basic Training Delivery Process.
1. Set my outcome/goal.
The standards that I set for myself are
(a) I must be fluent in transmitting my thoughts and ideas into words
(b) I will be fun. My audience must be entertained
(c) My audience will learn from my session

2. Know my outcome/goal.
After setting those goals, I must know these goals. I went through the slides and think of how I can use that to achieve my goals.

3. Visualize myself achieving that goal.
This is one tough process. I was exhausted most of the days and there were a few times where i fell asleep doing this exercise.

4. Go through my slides/program. Make alterations.
I went through the slides time and again, trying to see how can i make it uniquely mine. In the end, I decided to go along with the existing version.

5.Practice
I practiced in the toilet before my bath.

6.Practice
I practiced in the room at night

7. Practice
I practiced in my mind.

8. Deliver
On the 9th February 2012, I delivered.

After the end of the session, I went through the feedback forms and found very good results. My assistants said that it was way better than my previous attempt. I asked myself if I did a good job. Yes, after those days of planning and practice. I think I did my best and my best has yielded its results. It feels so good to know that you're reaping what you've sown. And yes, SMILING helps! It helps to brighten up the training environment and it reflects one's confidence. For that, I have my mentor to thank for.

My First Recruitment Talk

I conducted assembly talk to 2 groups of students from Pioneer Secondary School on Innovation and it's importance in this century. The talk that I conducted was more of a recruitment drive, selling programs to students, getting them to sign up for the I&E program that was due to start in 2 weeks time. The school needed 40 students but i only managed to get 20 students to sign up. Looks like the teachers will have to follow up with the students to get the other half.  It was a challenging task, i have to admit. As this was my first time conducting talks and selling programs to students. It was a good start though. Before the talk, a few students offered to help us test our camera's functionality.

Pioneer Secondary School is a dynamic school and is one of the schools that has a strong emphasis on Innovation and Enterprise as a platform to develop life's skills. I think this is a good initiative because the organizations are investing time, money and effort in gearing towards Innovation.

During the talk, I shared with them the importance of I&E in today's context. The world has enough complainers as it is. In the next generation, we hope such initiative in innovation and spirit of entrepreneurship will create a generation of problem solvers that will be more proactive in dealing with matters at hand, rather than to wait for politicians or government to get things moving.

That's me

showing a video to create awareness

Look at the number of students.. 

After the 2 talks that i conducted, i learned a few important things..

1. Always have a bottle of water ready at hand as 2 hours of talking can be very dehydrating.
2. Have a little isotonic or sweet drink for that small booster.
3. A recruitment drive should not be an hour process. It should be a continuous process within a few days with posters placed all over the school to drive the message in. A lesson learnt. 

I sure look forward to such talks in the future. I think such talks helps to train the salesmanship in each of us and it is very different to conducting a workshop.

Competency Based Training and Assessment

I was first introduced to competency based training and assessment in 2009. At that time, I just started a company with 3 partners. We named the company "Metropolitan FM Solutions" as a subsidiary to "Metropolitan Green Design and Technology" which belongs to one of the 3 partners. When we started the company, we had a vision of venturing into training in Facilities Management. There was some discussion with another training provider on this partnership and hence, I was introduced to Competency Based Training and Assessment.

I was impressed with competency based programs. Some of its advantages are;
1. It's designed specifically to a particular task/job scope.
With that, I think there is learners will be more focused.

2. Benchmark
A competency based program has a minimum benchmark that needs to be met. Hence, learners will have a certain standard upon completion.

3. Evidence-based
Evidence has to be collected in order to justify a candidate's competency. Hence it becomes very clear and distinct.

4. Useful for career progression
This is a useful tool for performance management.

However, like all, things, there is always another side of the coin. No man-made system is perfect. Some of its disadvantages are;
1. Cost
a. Time - A competency based program requires validation. Validation requires professionals and consultation. When there is such a process, time becomes a factor.
b. Logistics - Competency based programs involve different tools for assessment. There are the different types of checklists, forms, scripts(for roleplays), etc. These results then require a storage or data management system.

2. Useful as long as the 'tides' do not change.
We have seen how technology, government regulations and economy affects certain industry down to the specific job scopes. A competency based program seems to remain relevant as long as external and internal factors remained status quo. When affected, the program might be revised and this results in another round of  validation.

3. Dependent of Assessment Tools
Assessors do not have the flexibility to use the different types of tools available and are only limited to the tools specifically mentioned by the assessment program developer.

4. Dependent on the knowledge and experience of the program developer and team of consultants involved.
I personally feel that the difficulty of the people on the ground are often ignored as they rarely are involved in the program development.

Will I recommend using a Competency-Based Program? Well, i think a competency based program will be helpful as far as tasks are concerned. Managing this is an investment in terms of time and cost. Putting survival of low level workers as priority, i would recommend a competency based program as it helps those without paper qualification improve the quality and delivery of their job.