2-Day Workshop at Singapore Polytechnic

We conducted a 2-day, Innovation and Enterprise bootcamp for one of the clubs in Singapore Polytechnic this week. It has been quite sometime since I've been there. I took my Diploma in Electrical Engineering more than 10 years ago from Singapore Polytechnic, so I was kind of nostalgic. Remembering the places where we use to 'ambush' the freshmen with water bombs. It is a nice feeling being back to contribute back to the institution.

We would like to thank the SP staff team for giving us the opportunity to conduct their bootcamp. Special thanks to the enthusiastic students who made this program more fun. They are an innovative bunch indeed. Results and feedback has been fantastic. We do look forward to come back for more sessions.

What makes a good training program?

I met an old buddy of mine recently, who is also a trainer, over coffee and we discussed about the training programs and the types of workshops we've conducted. He was been in the industry for about 20 years and is as passionate about training as much as I am, if not more. He shared with me that he came across a few self-appointed program developers who were unqualified, either academically and professionally. I asked him what made him reach that conclusion.

He said that most of the time, the slides given to him were poorly researched, if any at all. Information were outdated and they failed to link the slides from the different sessions. Most of the time, he said, it seemed to be a rush job even though it was given in advance. It got me thinking, what makes a good training slide? I have never seen myself as a good developer but i think, like a trainer, program development must come from the heart. In other words, if a person has no passion for it, that slide is a waste of the learners' time, a waste of the clients' money and more importantly, it can damage a trainer's reputation. Singers always get the bad review for a bad song. Same theory applies to a trainer, i believe.

I had my fair share of bad training slides from developers. Some of the slides give too much leeway or flexibility such that the training objective is affected. Some are poorly researched and lacked the right information.

To me, a training slide is no different from a presentation slide. It needs research, properly sequenced and meet its objectives.

There are a few important criteria to a good training program/slide. These are the criteria which i've upheld very strongly.

1. Objective - Every slide must serve an objective. These objectives can be obtained from the client.

2. Sequence - The slides must be properly sequenced. This sequence helps trainers to monitor the progress of his/her learners.

3. Standard - A developer has to set his/her standard in terms of the type of fonts, size of fonts and when to use them. Otherwise, we will see a wide variety of fonts being used on the different slides.

4. Research - No matter how much knowledge we have on any given topic, it does more good if we can just take an hour or 2 to just get a bit of information and examples from the net or even the library.

5. If there is no trainer guidebook, provide a trainer briefing. Trainers need to know what are the different objectives at a given time. This should be a requirement especially for sessions that stretch over many days.

6. Check before you hand over the slides to the trainer. Every time you refuse or ignore to check, you are likely to send your trainers and learners to their doom.

7. Be open to feedback. We learn from feedback. If you disliked learning, maybe training industry is not a right industry for you.


I think the above covers the main points. In your professional opinion, what makes a good training program?

Busy Week Filled With Back to Back Workshops And I'm Loving it!

These few weeks, I've been having a rather packed schedule of back-to-back programs and I'm loving it. I love training and I think the best way I can contribute to any school or company is by conducting training workshops.

Today, I have a session of Innovation workshop in the morning, for a school in the north. after that, I had 1.5 hour to travel from north to the west, to conduct a 3 hour innovation program.

Coaching one of the teams

Going through the details

I have a very good reason to be happy with this day. There were about 8 groups in the class. 5 of these groups came up with very good innovative product ideas. This program that I conducted, requires these students, to come up with innovative product ideas. After which, they will be trained on how to market these products and present it in a business plan. I have created a team of champions in 2011. I intend to do it again.

Reflection... Critical turning points in my life that generate my hunger towards excellence

I had a good chat with a friend today. Somehow we went into my past life and the different turning points. I think this story of mine might be a good inspiration for you and I hope it can help you in one way or another.

I started my first job in an engineering company in 2002. In my first job, I projected a very unfriendly image of myself as I had this fear of being used or bullied by senior colleagues and clients. Mind you, we were never taught in school the importance of communication and customer service. In 2004, I left to start my own business in 2 areas. First, it was in healthcare industry and second, was a freelance draftsman. Why did I go into that business? Do bear in mind that I never liked doing it. Given to peer pressure and the dream of earning passive income, I pushed myself into those business. In some months, the earnings were good but I started to have doubt in the business or even in myself. Should I or should i not carry on. I pushed myself till I hit my last dollar. That was how stubborn I was.
It was then I told myself that I did my best. What needs to be done has been done. No passion leads to no result, hence it is time to move on.

I started looking for a job. In a short time, I managed to secure a part-time job as a telemarketer for a FujiXerox reseller, Cal'Lite Solutions in Tras Street. My experience as a telemarketer which I took before I entered National Service in 1999 has helped me a lot here.

I was glad that I've secured a job, even though it's a part-time paycheck. However, I do not have money to even spend on travelling. This was the lowest point of my life. I had to borrow $10 from my mother to top up my ez-link card. $10 is not enough for a 2 week's travel by train. I had to tighten my already tight budget. I decided to use the fares on something more urgent, meaning,  NOT to take any transportation to office. I decided to walk from Sengkang to Tras Street and walk back in the evening to get home. It was only today that I found out; the distance between Tras Street and Sengkang was 16 kilometers.

I've been walking 32kilometers every day for 6 days a week for 3 weeks! My shoes wore out, my pants was drenched with sweat and my ankles and knees hurt.

While I was walking, I thought about many things. In the beginning, I was angry at myself for stupidly embarking on a silly journey called self-employment and entrepreneurship. After a while, I decided to see my failures in a different light. How did that decision happen? I told myself that everything happens for a reason. I see this daily walk of 32km as a punishment for myself for not trying hard enough. Many times, I had to wipe my tears during those walks. I was drowned in disappointment, anger, bitterness. My weekends was so valuable because it's the only day that I could really rest and ice my joints.

In the fourth week, I got my check. With that check in my hand, I went to the toilet to cry. Sad moment? Well, I'm not sure there's a word to describe my feeling at that point. I cashed the check and took a bus home. That bus trip was so much sweeter.

While I was adjusting my life to the routine, I got called up to the office a few weeks later to meet up with the director, Eddy Teo. Eddy was a nice guy, very driven and has short fuse for non-performance. He complimented me for back end sales that I've made. He asked me if I would want to consider being a full time sales executive. I was thrilled but worried. In the back of my mind, the fear of failing began to roll. I told Eddy that I will need time to consider. Unfortunately, he told me that he is shutting down the telemarketing division and retrenching the whole  team. He hopes that I could take up the sales role. After much consideration, I backed out. Got my last paycheck and went home.

I took 3 days to rest and to plan my move forward. I decided to get back to a job to clear my outstanding bills. I bought newspapers daily and looked through the classified section in detail. I was unable to use the internet.My internet connection was disconnected due to late payment.

I needed help. I contacted my good friend, Jiehui and Hui Hua.They are happily married now with kids. They weren't married yet at that time. We were in the failed business together in 2004. They got out early and managed to get back into employment fast. They helped by sending my resumes out to my selected prospective employer. I am so thankful for their help and even today, even though it's almost 10 years since they helped, I've never forget it even a little bit. On my end, I used the old way of application, sending resumes via the conventional mail.

2 weeks later i got a call for an interview. Had 2 interviews in one day from the same company and started work 3 days later.

I worked for that company for 3 years, and in those 3 years, I rose from a systems controller to a team leader then to an Account Manager. I believe those painful walks has made me more driven to achieve. In 2007, I turned a money-losing project to profit generating contract. That achievement raised my profile in the company.

Till today, my belief that 'everything that happened will lead to somewhere' remained strong. That walk has taught me humility, respect, compassion and love. This is, indeed, a valuable experience.

First Development Project and First COPA Attended

I met Mr J about 2 days ago and we discussed on some of the project that he has in hand. He asked me if I would be interested to take half of the remaining WSQ project that he has in hand. Mr J was open enough to tell me that the name of the author will not be my name even though half of the effort is going to be from me. I agreed immediately. This decision seemed to be unpopular to some people. I was said to have made an irrational decision and making a choice without thinking it through seems to be a desperate measure, especially for just a 3 figure fee and not a single recognition.

Well, I think it really depends on what you choose to think. I think this is a good opportunity for me to get my feet wet and having a seasoned developer to guide me along is very good deal. I think this will help speed up my learning curve and an opportunity to show Mr J that I am a serious player and I'm in the game to win big. I am so looking forward to this. He just mailed me some documents which I've got down to doing it yesterday.

Last night, I attended the COPA session organized by CBLD. The speaker for the session was Elizabeth Chan, CEO of CBLD. She was also my trainer when I took my CU1 module in 2009. I met a few people from Resorts World and those from training fraternity. Elizabeth was sharing about OJT. She intends to champion On-the-Job-Training back into the training field as it has almost unheard of in these five-ten years.

I think structured OJT has a potential in the coming years. Especially with the kind of efficiency and effectiveness it brings, I think more companies will prefer structured OJT to a common classroom facilitation.

Best of all, I met a good friend, Mr N, who is a trainer with CBLD. We took our CU5 together and we were in the same group. Mr N is someone who has always been willing to help. I owe him a big favour in 2011. Even though it was not a big deal to many and to him, to me, it is a big help. I still think I haven't thank him enough. Yesterday, I had a good chat with him and he gave me a few advise on how to get started as a freelance. Thanks again, bro. You have been very helpful.

Had a fruitful week so far. in an 90minutes time, I will be conducting an Innovation Focus Group workshop for a school in the west. I aim to develop at least 3 teams from this class in the upcoming ICE Challenge 2013.

Gotta go.. I need to leave and be there early.

Cheers..

First Training Session in Many Months, Meeting With Mr J and Open Box Movement

Since I took the helm of Head of Operations for Moneytree as a fulltime in 2012, I have been 'barred' from any training assignments. Reason was; I need to focus on the macro view instead of taking workshops, which was deemed as micro view. Even though I didn't like that, I have to keep myself away from training assignments. It's a good thing, in a way, as the projects were piling and I may not have time for everything. So I'm not really complaining. The only training session that I was 'given' was the Innovation and Enterprise Program for Institute of Technical Education, East Campus.

Over these 1 week, I've been given training assignments for schools from all over Singapore. I have a school in the East taking Financial Literacy, 2 schools in the west and 1 in the north for entrepreneurship program.
Honestly, I am excited. It will be a good brush up, keeping my training principles in mind and with the aim that the students will enjoy their workshop with me.

My first workshop starts today, from 1pm to 2pm in the west. After that, I will head down to a training centre in the west for a meeting with my sifu, Mr J, on program development matters. I am so looking forward to these 2 appointments.

For those who has a facebook account, I've just created a page called 'Open Box'. The url as follows; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Box/613161092042977

What is Open Box all about?
Open Box is a movement. Live is hard enough without us having to fret about it all the time. This page is created with the hope in bringing a light of cheer and energy back in your lives. Do share it around. Enough of those complaints and anger. Time to look at the finer things in life. Love our family and friends, bring joy to whoever we can. A great man once shared that even a smile is a form of charity.
Let's use this page to share words of motivation, ideas, fun and laughter.

Do share whenever you can.

Gotta go, the first one starts at 1pm.

My testimonials - from clients and trainers

It's been 2 years since I took the operations helm at Moneytree Singapore Pte Ltd. Over the years, I revamped the processes such that clients' and trainers' needs are met. Both have different needs, mind you. Trainers need the motivation and logistical support for them to their best.

From Senior Trainer, Wiruson Kee

Client's feedback 1 - from Nan Chiau High. 

Client's Feedback 2 - from Ngee Ann Secondary

Client's Feedback 3 - from Rosyth School(Primary)

These words really meant a lot to me. All those sweat, blood and tears over the past 2 years is really worth it.

My Last Day as the Head of Operations for Moneytree Singapore Pte Ltd

It has been a day of mixed feelings. Part of me was happy and excited in the change, another part was sad to leave such a wonderful team behind. The team planned a surprise dinner party. It was a good effort but unfortunately I saw it through. Its not always easy to trick the trickster. hahaha. But I loved the company. Loved the chit chat sessions which we haven't had in quite a while.

Farewell dinner by Moneytree Team at NEX Swensens

At the end of the last day, I prepared to hand over my items to the CEO, Ryan Soh. Thanked everyone and left. Time to move on. I think I've given to the company all that I can from what I've learnt, especially from my failed business venture, to set things right. I hope someway, somehow, I've made a difference. Fresh minds and ideas will need to take over the helm and bring the company to greater heights.
All the best to Moneytree Singapore Pte Ltd.