I.C.E Challenge 2013 - The entrepreneurship competition of the year

As most of you already know, I joined Moneytree as a trainer in 2008 when it started and came on board as a Head of Operations in 2011. After 2 years of effort in innovating and implementing processes, I left this year((2013) February to return to independent training. During those few months, I had a fantastic experience from networking sessions, forming business partnerships, providing and executing training, marketing my own programs, finding mentors and conducting interviews for my own book. I had a lot of time to spend with my lovely wife and adorable daughter.

On 26th July 2013, I received a message from the CEO suggesting a meet up. We met up, discussed for 4 hours and the meeting ended at 2am with me saying YES to his offer, with a few conditions.

Before I returned, I was awarded training assignments for 3 schools; Holy Innocent High, Unity Secondary and Anglican High. I carried on with these schools until the very last session.

This year is really a sweet year for me, as far as school projects are concerned. 2 of my schools has attained top honours in the coveted ICE Challenge 2013. ICE Challenge is an annual competition where students compete with one another on their business ideas. There were 2 categories this year. A social enterprise category was added and there were a total of 35 teams competing in the semi-finals.

This year, the I&E Category was won by Holy Innocent High and the Social Enterprise Category was won by Unity Secondary School. Anglican High won the Most Innovative Prototype Award. As a trainer, I am very proud of their achievements.

So far, I have helped 3 schools attain ICE Challenge championship.

In the year 2011, Nan Chiau High were the Champions in the ICE Challenge 2011. In addition to that, they also won the Singapore Polytechnic Business Challenge.

In year 2012, I did not train any school. In 2013, Holy Innocent High won the I&E Category

 

And Unity Secondary won the Social Enterprise Category.

And one Best Prototype Design by Anglican High School

I am joyful of the achievements. This is really something that money can't buy.

A friend asked me for my 'secret recipe'. Recapping the whole process, there really is no silver bullet. It's about completing the equation ASK - Attitude, Skills and Knowledge.

I gave them the Knowledge, they applied and practiced it into Skills. Their drive to survive/excel reflects their Attitude towards learning and applying. Personally, I feel that if the equation is complete, the sky is the limit.

Personal Challenge - Conducting Workshops for Primary One students.

I got an email from one of the project coordinators of Moneytree, asking my availability to take up a workshop for a group of students in Primary One. I checked my schedule, yes, I was available for all the sessions.I sent my availability to the coordinator.

A few days later, I was informed that I will be taking the students in the first session. I thought it was kind of exciting. Unfortunately, I was not able to prepare much because there were no information such as profile, special needs or literacy levels. I had to play it by ear and move accordingly. I spoke to my wife, who is a school teacher, and she told to take to my nephew as reference. I do have a nephew who is in primary one but I think different kids come from different upbringing and, like adults, have different strength and weaknesses. I needed that information and decided to drop by the school 3 hours earlier.

I sat at the seating area near the general office, watching, observing the students, trying to lay down a strategy in my training program delivery. I just needed to place myself as 'barney-like' as possible. Well, that's the best reference for a primary one group. With my size, being a barney-figure should not be a problem, I thought.

When we got into the class, we were told that the students will be a mixture of primary 1 and primary 2 - A last minute change of plan! I couldn't help laughing to myself on the eleventh hour change and thinking how fun the session will be. I have a few things that just slipped into my mind and it got me very excited. First thing, I got the students to introduce themselves to their counterparts. The primary 2 students were naturally more 'brotherly and sisterly' and try to coax their younger, more introvert schoolmates into the activities. The students were brilliant, playful and competitive. A few introvert ones take a bit of time  before they get warmed up but I enjoyed every moment of it. I managed to get the students to think of a few innovative ideas and present them. It is nice to take some new groups of learners.

Here are some photos of the workshop..

Training During The Month of Ramadhan

It has been quite some time since I last wrote on this blog. I have been spending time conducting workshops and meeting people for my article.Not forgetting my obligations during the month of Ramadhan such as fasting, sahur, iftar, terawih and tadarus. It is really taking quite a toll on me and whenever there is an opportunity, I will grab a wink or two.

In 1999, I was enlisted into National Service(Army) and I was posted to one of the combat engineer's battalion during the start of the Ramadhan(fasting month). As we made our way to the company line, the sight of bridges and other construction displays presents an overview to what we will be facing in the next 2-3 months. I was thankful to be surrounded by some of the friendliest group of trainees. They expressed their concern to me during those tough training as I was fasting. I assured them that I will be alright and will fall out if there is a need. One of my favorite training in those days was the Standard Obstacle Course(SOC). I remembered clocking 9minutes for my rundown. Comparing my timing to that of my non-fasting platoon-mates added rage to my commanders. While I marched to the cookhouse for my iftar, my platoon mates will pay for the consequences. They were made to march around the parade square till I returned from my iftar. When I found that out, I tried to consume my food quickly and rushed back to 'rescue' my platoon.

I was asked a few times where did we get that strength. From the deprived sleep and lack of food, we are expected to not to perform and most of us don't. Some of us outperform. I think it is about conditioning, conditioning of the mind and body. When I was in school, I will never excuse myself from strenuous physical activity just because I was fasting. In my secondary school days, we used to have a football coach. A Muslim himself, he will lead the team in runs around the Bidadari cemetery during fasting month. He was the first person to encourage us to keep pushing and not to give excuses. His training was tough, mind you. Today, some of us who trained under him are national sportsmen and some worked in the elite special and emergency response team within the prison service. Wherever we are, we just don't quit. We were conditioned to be put on a brave front and to outperform even in the lack of basic needs such as sleep, water and food. We will have football training in the afternoon after school and will get back home for iftar and eventually attend our terawih in the night. At the end of the night, the 'sweetness' of victory is indescribable.

Today, when I see students excusing themselves from physical education activities, I wish I could relate to them what they are really missing. We are strong. We just do not know how strong we are. The only way we can know, is to keep pushing our limits.

Last week on the first day of Ramadhan, I was approached by one of the students during my workshop. She asked if I fast. Apparently, she did not expect to see a trainer who fasts yet always on the toes during the workshop. Well, if she were to see my conditioning 'training', she might have understood the reason. Moreover, I loved what I do. I love running those workshops. I even have back to back workshops that starts at 7.30am in the morning.

To all my fellow Muslim readers from all over the world, Ramadhan Mubarak to you.

Innovation – Mining for Ideas from Within

       It used to be just another word in the Oxford Dictionary until recently became a buzz word among SMEs, startups, MNCs and even the government sector. Every department is working on ways and means to move ahead and the term status quo do not seem to be accepted by results-driven leaders anymore.

    Instilling the spirit of Innovation has yielded various rewards for many organization. Innovation has helped organizations boost revenue, reduce cost and created a more exciting workplace for staffs of all levels.

Innovation is not possible without commitment, contribution, problem solving and teamwork. Innovation is a habit that needs to be nurtured and it needs to be influenced from an environment that promotes it. A top down approach has to be enforced in promoting innovation.

   

    Every organization has their own challenges and will need their own form of innovation, either in terms of product, service or processes. Human beings do not start off with a job. We lived off the land, we grow our own food and sell the excess for cash, we design and create tools, etc. Innovation has always been within us but it needs to be reignited.

   This innovation workshop can be a platform for organization to generate ideas on how they can move forward to increase productivity and efficiency. Learners will be guided to some useful practical tools to aid idea generation and moving towards a whole new innovation-driven work environment.

   Program Objectives

• Understanding the roadblocks and highways to innovation. 
• Understand the value of innovation and idea generation to an organization and one's career progression.
• Develop a new perspective on challenges ahead.
• Create ideas within an organization's context.

This program can be packaged as either a 4-hour innovation introductory workshop or a full day program. It is designed for junior staff to middle management leaders. The sessions are designed to be high energy, activity-based.

Course Outline

• Value of innovation and idea generation in company growth.
• Value of innovation in career progression of individual.
• Teamwork in idea generation.
• Identifying Innovation Barricade, Innovation Highways.
• Relationship between food, emotion, memory and creativity.
• Using SWOT Analysis as an idea generation tool.
• Creating an environment to promote innovation.

About the Trainer

      Mohamad Faizal graduated from National University of Ireland, Dublin, in 2006 with an Honours Degree in Management. He received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1999 from Singapore Polytechnic.

      Mohamad Faizal is an independent trainer and training program developer for school’s enrichment program as well as corporate programs. Some of the high profile clients include the Republic Singapore Navy and the Republic Singapore Air Force where he conducts Innovation workshop under a flagship company, Anne Leong HRD. 

Prior to that, he was the Head of Operations for Moneytree Singapore Pte Ltd and a co-founder/partner in a facilities management consultancy firm, Metropolitan FM Solutions.

A strong advocate in performance management, innovation, training and continuous learning, he lives the cliché that the right training program and an enjoyable learning experience is a bridge towards improved performance and productivity.  

To view his testimonials, click here.

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Innovation & Enterprise Workshop For Anglican High School

I started taking a batch of 40 students from Anglican High in the Innovation & Enterprise Workshop in May this year. There will be a total of about 14 sessions where these students will be innovating, researching, marketing and presenting. Personally, I love running innovation programs. And this program that I was assigned to conduct is the most comprehensive innovation program in Singapore, I dare say, where students get to learn problem identification, brainstorming for ideas, learn to analyse the competition, learn to market and present their ideas.

The first session of the program

The class is made up of secondary 1 students and they are a bright bunch of teenagers. Very driven and full of energy.

 Earlier his year, i made a promise to myself. I must have at least 5 teams from various schools under my portfolio to get into the finals on this year's ICE Challenge 2013. For those who do not know what is ICE Challenge;
I.C.E Challenge is an innovation and enterprise competition held at a national level. The acronym for Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise, this competition is in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship campaign. Students will be required to create an innovative product idea and present them with a business plan. The finals will be judged by a panel and all preparation is for this day.

It is not the winning of the competition. It is about competing and this brings the students to another level altogether. It is from this experience that I think will benefit them. The trophy is just a bonus.

Research on Freelance Industry - Challenges and Triumph

Conducting Cooperative Program for a Secondary School

I was thrilled to receive a request to conduct a 14 session program for Cooperative program. If you have no idea what cooperative is, do check out this link - http://trainertoolkit.blogspot.sg/2012/11/awarded-3-year-exclusive-training.html.

I will be training and coaching these wonderful, bright, young minds all the way until the national competition at the end of this year. This year's competition will have a category in Social Enterprise.

In the following year, We will be coaching the students in setting up of a real, operational cooperative within the school. As we advanced in knowledge and technology, somehow we adopted individualistic culture from collectivism where our fore-fathers started off on this small island. Cooperative might be a good solution to the current challenges that we have.

Back from a 10-day trip in Japan

I do apologise for not writing as I was away and had no access to this blog and email. I left Singapore on the 14th April on a 9pm flight to Osaka, Japan, transiting at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

On the 15th of April at 6am, we arrived at Kansai Airport. The cool weather was such a change from the hot and humid Singapore weather.

During the 5 days in Osaka, I managed to drop by;
1. Osaka Castle
2. Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium
3. Nara Deer Park
4. The newly opened Sakura Park at Japan Mint
5. Kyoto Rose Cafe
6. The Golden Pavillion Kinkakuji Temple
7. Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Expo Park

Nara Deer Park

Nara Deer Park

                                                                                     

Nara Deer Park

Sakura Park at Japan MINT

Golden Pavillion Kinkakuji Temple 

Kyoto Rose Cafe

Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Expo Park

Osaka Castle

Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium 

On the 19th, we moved to Tokyo and until the last day on the 25th April, we visited;

1. Halal Japanese Beef BBQ Restaurant 'Gyumon'.
2. Disneyland Tokyo.
3. Gala Yuzawa
4. Ameyoko Street
5. Mount Fuji(base)

Halal Japanese Beef BBQ Restaurant 'Gyumon'

Disneyland Tokyo

Disneyland Tokyo

Gala Yuzawa 

Ameyoko Street 

Mount Fuji(base)

Mount Fuji

What have I gained from this trip?

These 10 days helped me to bond with my daughter. Seeing how she touches any object to fill her curiosity has helped me remember how fun it is to learn. I got her to touch the snow, the rock, the flowers and those deer at the Park.

From the Japanese cleaners to train operators, I noticed a unique Japanese culture that differ them greatly from the local workers in Singapore. It seemed to me that they took great pride in their work. The movement and gestures which they put in as part of their processes really amazed me. For example, which I was waiting for the shinkansen, I noticed the platform operators, pointing their hands from one side to the other and then speaking to themselves. I reckon that they were saying out the checks that they needed to make. And when one train operator hands over the train to another operator, the one handing over will bow and said something to the one taking over. There is really a unique culture at work here. Something that they have taken generations to nurture. I have never seen such dedication.

I left Japan with happy memories of the nature, structure and its people.

I'm doing some research on the local training infrastructure.

Attended 1st Annual Business Restructuring for Productivity Forum 2013 by Vector Scorecard

I attended the 1st Annual Business Restructuring for Productivity Forum organized by Vector Scorecard. I was very glad that I attended that event. If you are an SME(Small Medium Enterprise) owner, you should attend this forum. The speakers include; His Excellency Mr Teng Theng Dar, Director for Business Compass Consultancy and former CEO of Singapore Business Federation, Mr Mohamad Damshal Awang, CEO of ACA Amanie, Mr Lawrence Kong, Managing Director for NexMU Pte Ltd, Mr M Nazri Muhd, Group CEO of VSC Group. The Guest of Honour was His Excellency, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Former Senior Minister of State and Special Envoy to the Middle East.

Based on Spring Singapore's performance indicators, in 2012, 99% of all enterprises in Singapore are SMEs  and they provide about 70% of the employment locally, and contribute over 50% of national GDP (http://www.spring.gov.sg/aboutus/pi/pages/performance-indicators.aspx#.UV8AqKJHKSo). SMEs will get a lot of support from Singapore government in various forms. I am very impressed by the support given. Mr Damshal shared with us on the different forms of funding available in other countries and their different conditions such as in the United States with the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act). He also explained the functions of chaebols in the Korean business scene and how it can be a two-edged sword.

Mr Nazri shared about the different industry trends between the retail, manufacturing and property. Here are some of my takeaways from his segment;
1. Strategic Investors are important. Even when the value of their investment is about a dollar(for eg), their network and knowledge will be able to help create channels for SMEs
2. Pricing expectation of customers must be assessed from time to time. The price that a customer might be willing to pay 5 years ago may not be an acceptable price today for the same product/service.
3. Relationships with existing customers must be strengthened.
4. Control cost of marketing and sales operations relative to the sales growth.

His Excellency, Mr Teng, was the keynote speaker and he shared his deep insights on the needs of a growing SME. He made a strong point that SMEs must not depend on the government on their growth. If they are, then they are in the wrong trade.

He shared 4 components that an SME will need in order to succeed in business in new economy. They are;
1. Business Model.
Different business will need different model and these models may influence the customer's expectation. He gmade a comparison between MacDonalds and Tung Lok. I remembered sharing this point to my former business partners when we set up our first venture. We need to make a choice whether to adopt a differentiated business or a cost leadership model.

2. Business Process Flow.
Is the organization static or dynamic? Are the processes looked into? Some organization depends on a process flow that was set up years ago.

3. Technology and Innovation.
Are we using the right technology correctly? Are we problem solvers or whiners? Can the spirit of innovation be instilled into the team.

4. People.
Are people an asset or a commodity? Are they trained to do the right things? Human capital must not be taken for granted. Especially in a small country like Singapore, how you treat your employees may be a factor for some talents whether or not to work for you.

After the session, I went out for some snacks and spoke to a few entrepreneurs. Among those that I met are Mr Nazzim, Senior VP(VSC) and Abang Abu(Nowasia) and they shared some experience and provided some suggestions of how I can move forward. The beauty of networking is that I can get free advise from experienced people on what works and what doesn't. I got a few very useful advise which will require me to change my strategy. I'm always after knowledge of those more experienced and I am blessed that those I met are very willing to share.

To the team at VSC, thank you for organizing this event. And to those whom I've met at the event, from the bottom my my heart and with deepest gratitude, thank you for your sharing. I've learned more practical business lessons in that short sharing than any business workshop I've attended.

Personal Performance Monitoring - Taking Responsibility For My Own Performance As An Independent Trainer

In the end of the year 2010, I stepped into the training industry as an independent trainer. I did not have my full ACTA(Advanced Certificate in Training & Assessment) yet. What I have was my own drive and desire to make it work, with or without ACTA. I educated myself and upgrade myself through voracious reading. It seemed so hard to get training assignments. Fortunately, I had a mentor who took me in and through her, I had opportunities in conducting and facilitating training programs within the Republic Singapore Air Force(RSAF) and the Republic Singapore Navy (RSN). I had my share of knocks and hits. Everytime I hit the ground, I had to get up and keep on going.

Today, I am an independent trainer and training program developer. I completed my ACTA and now able to help companies as a training consultant. I see training as an opportunity. An opportunity for me to craft a respectable career, and an opportunity to help companies achieve certain skillsets. 

As independent trainers, I've learnt one very important thing. We do not represent any organization or brands, but ourselves. Our own name is our brand name. Companies can be closed down and a new name can be used but the name that we have been given since birth is tagged to this face that hangs on our head. Hence all the more important that we guard it, protect it and market it wisely. As such, we need to track our own performance. WE are responsible for our own performance.

So how do we track our own performance?

For me, the company that I represent have their own feedback form. So I used that as my own personal performance monitoring and KPI management.

My KPI over the recent 6 training programs conducted

Each student will fill in a feedback form. The feedback forms has 4 questions and each question carries a score of 100 points. I converted the scores into percentage and so far, I've an average of 81% from the 6 classes that I took recently.

What do we do with this data?

I use these data for my own reflection and monitoring. What have I done right? What can I improve on? How can I improve on it? I will keep on going until I hit an average of 90%. Is that an unreasonable goal? Nope I don't think so. I think it is important that we monitor our own performance in order to maintain certain quality in terms of delivery.

27th March 2013, The day I conducted 3 training workshops in a single day

Training has always been my passion. Besides having that as my bread and butter, training is my way to give back to the community, in this case, the youth. I think when we are passionate about something, we tend to add value to it. For me, I prepared some real case studies and activities that may interest the students. However, this has to be done subtly, without disrupting the training plan and objectives. I feel that it is imperative for trainers to have a few standby activities in their pocket, just in case.

On 27th March, I was blessed with 3 workshops. From 7.45am to 10.45am and 11.10am to 2.10pm, I conducted Innovation workshop for a secondary school in the east. Then I rushed down to primary school in the east to take a Financial Literacy Program from 2.30pm to 4pm. I was exhausted by the end of the day and used the following day to recuperate and continue some other training administrations. I ended my afternoon with a late lunch consisting of bowl of cheng t'ng and a plate of carrot cake.

Going through the lessons

Group Work

Trainers ought to have fun nurturing. Students should have fun learning and applying

Self-practice

Group Work

Practise

My third day with this class.

I had fun taking this class. My only hope is that they will keep on applying what they have learned from this workshop.