The Importance Of Training The Trainer

We have been under a lockdown for quite some time now and frankly have no idea of how much longer this is going to continue. One thing, however, we know for sure is, that it’s definitely going to take some more time before things get back to normal. And to ensure that learning continues in the meanwhile, we have started offering our clients virtual instructor-led trainings. One of them being virtual train the trainer workshops.

Some of you may be wondering how attending a train the trainer program can be useful at such a time. Especially when many trainers and training managers are on the verge of losing their jobs and assignments due to this pandemic. In fact, most companies have stopped conducting trainings altogether and are now cutting down on their training budgets to survive the recession. How then could train the trainer programs be important in such a time?

Firstly, not all companies have cut down on training and development. They understand the importance of training and developing their employees in times like these, to prepare them for what’s coming ahead. And are making use of various online learning options like e-learning and webinars to serve this purpose.

However, what we have realised is, that though e-learning and other online training options help in learning and upgrading, they are not as effective as classroom trainings. In a classroom you directly interact with the trainer, perform activities, share and discuss with other participants, etc. which helps improve assimilation, retention and overall learning. Hence, we thought of taking our classrooms online. So, you can still interact with the trainer and do almost all those things that you do in a classroom training, virtually. Now, isn’t that great?

And that’s also the reason why train the trainer workshops need to be held currently. To teach trainers how to successfully design and deliver virtual instructor led training. The way to approach such sessions is slightly different from classroom sessions. And can be challenging if you are unaware of the ways to effectively conduct instructor-led online trainings.

Times are changing, and we all need to keep upgrading ourselves to keep up. The same goes for the training community too. And that’s why attending a virtual train the trainer program is extremely important and one that we are all going to need to attend sooner or later!

3 Simple Time Management Tips for Sales Managers

Salespeople are always put through a lot of sales skills trainings and negotiation skills trainings. But to be the best at selling they also require other soft and behavioural skills trainings too. One such training is time management training.

Managing time is a problem for a lot of people. And if we talk about sales managers, most of them struggle with that skill. Sales executives and managers have a lot on their plate at all points of time. You may have even noticed that many of them stay in a firefighting mode most of the time. Hence, time management training is a very important program for salespeople.

There are few things that sales professionals need help with while managing time. And if I were to give them some time management tips, they will be as follows:

To Do List:

This is something that they miss out on big time. Creating a to do list is a very good habit, not just for sales professionals but each one of us. It helps in having all the tasks that we need to accomplish in the day in front of us rather than being left to memory. That way we don’t miss out on any and can plan our day accordingly. So, for all those salespeople who have tried to create to do lists and dropped it because you realised you never followed it, I urge you to try again. And be sure you make use of the next step to strengthen it and increase your chances of going by it!

Prioritisation:

Once the to do list is made, the next logical step is to prioritise these tasks based on their urgency and importance. There are many prioritisation tools that one can learn and use. I highly recommend the time management matrix. Prioritisation helps in figuring out which tasks need your attention first and which ones can be eliminated. This helps focus on what’s important and giving the time wasters a miss. Be sure to also keep some buffer time. You never know when a meeting can get extended or your travel time between meetings increases! Also remember to apply prioritisation to your e-mails. It will help you save a lot of time.

Focus:

A big issue many salespeople tend to face is lack of focus. Although I would say it’s pretty much become a worldwide phenomenon with the levels of connectivity that we have! This means many of us spend more time surfing on the internet or on social media just to get a break from our over connectedness at work! In general also, technology and our fast paced life has made us impatient. This makes it difficult for us to pay attention to anything for too long and we land up moving to the next customer without giving enough attention to the current one. And we know how dangerous and detrimental to our sales that can be. So, be sure to take time off your screen and disconnect from work. Practice techniques to keep you in the present moment and watch how they magically increase your focus and in turn customer delight!

Tips to identify best soft skills training companies in Bangalore

Training and developing employees is becoming difficult day by day, during these lockdown times. And soft skills training companies in Bangalore and the rest of the country are trying their best to come up with various solutions to best deal with the situation.

Times are tough the world over. However, the risk is even higher in a country like ours, considering its size and population. A major effect is on the metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, etc. as most of the corporates, MNCs, small and mid-sized businesses are located in these big cities. In most of these cities, forget about attending training programs, employees are not even in a position to go to office for daily work!

But do you think this situation can really put a pause to people’s need for constant development and upgradation as it currently has? Don’t you think when all of this is over, we are going to need our entire workforce to be extra productive and ready to cover up for all the losses we have incurred during these times? And do you think they will be able to do that?

I personally feel this is a good time to invest in learning and development. And organisations should arrange for online or virtual instructor led trainings for their employees to ensure that they are making the best use of their time. But are organisations really doing that?

While some organisations are busy contacting corporate training companies in Bangalore and other cities for arranging classroom sessions post the lockdown, others have started giving virtual instructor led trainings a thought. They realise that their employees have time on their hands currently and can devote undivided attention to upgrading themselves. Therefore, opting for virtual sessions till the situation improves is a good option.

And you know the best part about these online instructors led trainings? Firstly, you have an expert who is teaching you in person and therefore the session is more engaging than an e-learning module. It also provides you the opportunity to clear your queries there and then by having the facilitator answer you during the training. Secondly, you don’t require the services of a local soft skills training company. You can access the expertise of a trainer from any part of the country. Which gives you the best from the comfort of your home!

Corporate training companies in Bangalore and Mumbai are setting themselves up fast to embrace this challenge. Now, how do you identify whether these corporate training companies in Bangalore and Mumbai are the best for your organisation?

Start off by looking at the kind of work the corporate training company has done in Bangalore. Which companies have they worked with in the past and which sectors have they catered to. Apart from that, which solutions is the company offering. And most importantly, if the corporate training company is interested in understanding your real need and challenges and customizing the entire program for your people.

How can I find the best corporate training company in Kolkata?

Like all other metropolitan cities in India, there are a large number of corporate training companies in Kolkata. And if you ask me, I will say many of them are really good at corporate training. They have been a part of the training industry for a long time now and have served a large number of corporate clients. They also offer a large number of training solutions and offer exceptional training quality.

So, how do you separate the good from the best? And what are some of the traits of the best corporate training companies in Kolkata? Well, let me tell you...

Traits of the best corporate training companies in Kolkata

·         Passion – Yes, this is a major driving force behind every successful organisation. In fact, it’s not just an organisation, it’s also the secret ingredient of every successful individual recipe. If you feel strongly and are passionate about what you do, you are sure to face every challenge that you meet on your way to success head on. And that not only takes you far in life and makes you the best in your area of expertise, but also becomes a great inspiration for your participants.

·         Love for Learning – This is number two on my list and also gets fuelled by a burning passion. If you have a desire to keep learning, you’re sure to constantly upgrade your skills and knowledge. This means more self-experimentation and a keen interest in offering new tools and techniques to participants that actually work. This again takes the corporate training company forward and also gives the participants the sweet fruit of their love of learning.

·         Connect – Being able to connect with our participants is extremely important. If you have the best knowledge but are unable to share it appropriately, you really won’t get very far. Connect is in fact a quality that you would also want to feel in your interactions with the training company prior to the workshop. It builds comfort and creates the openness that is required for understanding the participant’s needs and challenges. This can then be used for building an appropriate session for them around the same.

What other traits do you think are important when selecting a great corporate training company in Kolkata or any other city for that matter? We would love to hear your experiences uand what you feel...

Benefits of corporate training for organisation and employees

Corporate training companies nowadays are working hard towards employee and organisation development. They are constantly coming up with new ways to improve training effectiveness by making training easier to understand and assimilate.

So, why are they putting in so much effort? Does corporate soft skills training really benefit employees that much? And does it really contribute that much to organisation development?

The answer to all of those questions is yes. Corporate training and organisation development interventions have the potential to take an organisation and its employees to the next level. How? Let’s see…

• Individual Growth – Every employee wants to be really good at what he does, for their company and themselves. They want their organisation to be able to give their customers the best products and best experience. And this can only happen when every employee has the required knowledge, skills and attitude for the same.
  Corporate training and other interventions like coaching therefore focus on enhancing each of these areas. They help employees sharpen their current skills and learn new ones. This not only helps them be the best at what they do in their current roles, but also opens up new avenues and career paths for them. Thus, corporate training companies play a major role in the development of employees and in turn their organisation. 

• Team Growth – With organisations expanding every day, being a team player is no longer an option. It has now become a necessity. And unless a team can perform well together, it will become very difficult for them to contribute to the organisation’s development.
  Team building and other interventions help teams understand one another and make use of their diversity to form a single cohesive force. And when teams work like clockwork together, we all know what kinds of results they can produce and how they benefit everyone!

• Organisation Growth – With individuals and teams working together optimally, organisations grow and develop well. They are able to continually improve customer service and generate more business. Profits increase and in turn the organisation and its employees gain in expertise and salaries!
  And when an organisation wants to take a larger step, there are organisation development services they can opt for. These can create organisation-wide breakthroughs that have amazing results.

Thus corporate training and organisation development services create a win-win for employees, their customers, vendors, the entire organisation and society as a whole. So now you know why corporate training companies do what they do!

Enhancing leadership development through the power of visualization

We have been into leadership skills development since quite some time now. And have been very successful in conducting such corporate training programs for the leaders of various organisations. One major reason for our success, is the fact that we are a corporate training company that enjoys teaching leaders new and different kinds of methodologies. And that’s what sets our corporate training programs apart.

For every organisation, leadership skills development is very serious work, right? But aren’t our leaders also humans just like us! Don’t they also follow the adult learning pedagogy?

I know, I know. You’re probably wondering what adult learning pedagogy is. Well, just take it as learning by experience. And that’s something we all enjoy, isn’t it? We would rather learn by going through an experience and then reflecting on it, than being taught some complex theories that we can hardly associate with!

And that’s exactly what we follow in our leadership skills development programs too. Apart from teaching the leaders some of the typical leadership skills development theories, we also provide them with some interesting tools and techniques. These take them through experiences and add to their development in various ways.

One such tool is visualisation. It’s a very powerful tool that has benefitted many leaders.

Majorly, this tool is used for attracting what we want in life. So, if a leader spends time everyday visualising being successful, he increases his probability of achieving success. You see, visualisation works on the very popular ‘law of attraction.’ So, what you ask for, you get.

For increasing this probability further, we ask our leaders to also create action plans. So, once they have visualised what they want, they need to chart out a plan of action as to how they are going to reach there too. And this is followed up with checking their progress and clearing hurdles that may come in the way. Clearing hurdles is again a task that visualisation can help with. So, the process is a combination of visualisation and action, which takes the leaders to success.

Visualisation also helps in processing past stored emotions. When we visualise a particular incident of the past that still has some unwanted emotional charge on it, we actually start processing it by feeling it. This helps us letting go of the emotion and we can move forward, feeling happy and light. Thus, visualisation is a great tool that can help leader’s clear biases and improve their interpersonal relationships. It can also help them feel more positive when they are feeling down the dumps!

If you want to experience the power of visualisation and learn how to use this powerful tool, we recommend attending our corporate training programs. And we promise to teach you this valuable tool even if you are yet to become a leader

How Does Corporate Training Affect Work Effectiveness?

Corporate training programs and workshops have been around since quite some time. And some of the work that corporate training companies have been able to do through them is quite remarkable.

I’m sure you must be wondering whether corporate training programs can really make that much of a difference. Well, in my experience, they can. And I have seen live proof of it!

Take for example a training session we had delivered for a client on Personality Development skills and Communication Skills sometime back. It was for a group of engineers and one participant really proved what I’m saying during that session! And I didn’t come to know of it till the next time I met him in a Business Etiquette workshop that I was delivering for the same group.

During the first session, this participant was extremely shy. I had to keep supporting him and encouraging him to share his experiences with the rest of the class. And to my surprise, when I met him in the next session, there was a complete U-turn!

The introvert has turned into an extrovert and was loving his newly gained confidence and communication skills. As per what he shared; dwelling into the various aspects of personalities, gaining insights into what goes on in each personality type’s mind and understanding the fears that each type faces helped him a lot. He could relate to it and it helped him release a lot of pent up emotion. The skilful conversations model and methodologies shared for calming emotions also helped him tremendously.

The awareness created during the session and thereafter practising what he had learnt helped him make the shift. He now found it was a lot easier making decisions, being assertive, delegating work and completing his work in time. Just by improving his internal landscape and his communication thereafter, his work effectiveness had improved manifold. And that was the change attending the corporate training workshop had created in his life.

So, I urge you to attend and arrange for corporate training programs and workshops in your organisation. After all, you never know which one will change your life and help you move swiftly on the path of success.

Customized corporate training program: Why one size does not fit all

Which of your shirts fit you the best? A readymade one you bought from the store or the one you got tailor made for yourself. I’m sure you’ll vouch for the second one, right? Well, corporate training programs fit in a similar way! Let me explain to you how.

We all know that a readymade shirt is manufactured in three to four standard sizes so that it fits the majority, right? It may therefore be slightly small or large for a person whose size differs from the standard ones. However, when a tailor makes a shirt for you, it is especially for you. Hence, it fits you the best and is also the most comfortable.

Now, I know what you must be thinking. We do find our correct sizes in stores too and they fit pretty well too. Right? But let me ask you, is it only the size that matters? What about the fabric, colour, design, etc.? Aren’t they also important? And is it really that common to find the perfect shirt that fulfils all of our needs at once?

Corporate training programs follow a similar story. There are many corporate training companies that offer off-the-shelf corporate training programs. These are generic is nature and cover the standard modules that are typically part of that program. And work on the one-size-fits-all theory. They may therefore help you fulfil some of your needs, especially the ones that are on the face of things. However, they may miss out on addressing deep rooted issues which may actually be stemming from a completely different topic!

For example, sometime back we were delivering a Time Management training for a client. And although the client wanted us to deliver an off-the-shelf program, we made it a point to explore the deep-rooted issues that were causing challenges in managing time. And what started off as a pure Time Management program, soon got a strong element of Ownership and Accountability added to it. Had we gone ahead with the generic program; we would have never really fulfilled the need and the problem would have remained where it was!

Thus, corporate training programs that are customized specially for teams are more effective. They are adept at finding the actual problem and addressing it from the root. This facilitates a long-term solution rather than just a shot in the arm!

Coming back to the shirt, you might say that a readymade shirt is easy to buy and doesn’t require that much of effort from your end. It’s also cheaper than a tailormade one! Yes, that’s true. And yes, a customized corporate training program does require a lot of effort and time and can also be more expensive. But it’s also just like the tailor made shirt you selected and got made specially for you. It has the best quality and fulfils all your needs, all at the same time.

Now this, was a small comparison between a shirt and a corporate training program. But it definitely makes us think about how important customization is, doesn’t it? So, what kind of corporate training programs will you be asking your corporate training company for? https://theyellowspot.com/

What Role Does Personality Development Play In One’s Career?

Personality development training is essential for one and all. And that I could see while delivering a Sales Training session last week.

The Sales session we were delivering for a group of Sales Executives and Managers was no ordinary session. It was what we call a ‘Sales Workout.’ We call it so because it’s a 4-day intensive corporate training workshop where you are taken through the various nuances of Sales. And yes, Personality Development training most definitely forms an important part of it. After all, its difficult to sell a product or service when people are not impressed by your personality!

So, during the course of the 4-days, we covered various personality development program topics. This included understanding the strengths and areas of development of our personalities, maintaining a positive attitude and handling negative emotions and keeping ourselves motivated, etc. These were the aspects that a salesperson would typically require working on when it came to their internal personality. And then there was personal hygiene and grooming, face to face etiquette, telephone and e-mail etiquette which covered the external personality.

To tell you the truth, we were rather surprised to see Managers attending this session. We would have thought that the Managers, with their years of experience, would prefer attending a session on how to manage their teams of Sales Executives. And were actually apprehensive of covering aspects of Personality Development training as it would most probably be something that they already know.

However, the feedback we received was quite contrary to our belief! The Managers actually benefitted from the various aspects of Personality Development training that we covered during the session and some were eager to even pass on their learning to their teams.

Some of them loved gaining insights on their own personality and how they could adapt themselves to smoothen the flow of communication with other personality types around them. Others, on the other hand, found the tools we shared with them on handling emotions and maintaining a positive attitude useful. Yet there were others who gained from the discussions on Grooming and Etiquette. We realised there was something there for everybody no matter what level they were at!

So, there you have it. Personality development training is for everyone. People at all levels and in all domains. Why? Because we all have a personality which can always be further groomed. And we are all forming impressions on others in various scenarios all the time, whether it’s in a Restaurant with a client or in an Interview for a coveted job! We are always being watched by others and can always do with creating a great impression on them

INTERDEPENDENCY OF TEAM BUILDING & LEADERSHIP SKILLS

We, at The Yellow Spot have delivered a large number of team building trainings and events in the past 11 years. It’s our favourite offering and we are so good at it now, that we can conduct a team building training without any preparation at all!

Surprised? I was just kidding. Well, not the part where I said it is our favourite offering and we are good at it. I was kidding when I said we can do it without any preparation. In fact, we don’t do any corporate training programme without proper planning and preparation well in advance. But yes, we thoroughly enjoy doing team building trainings. Why? Let me tell you.

We love it because team building training is one such training programme where we can touch base upon many skills at a time. Team building activities can bring out multiple learnings like;

1. Collaborating with our internal and external stakeholders
2. Communicating effectively within the team
3. Identifying team members’ skills and making use of them
4. Managing resources and time effectively
5. Planning and prioritisation of tasks
6. Being open to each other’s suggestions and feedback
7. Keeping the end goal in mind at all points of time
8. Increasing team bonding and trust
9. Building a positive culture, etc.

One of most important learning from team building training is the importance of having a leader and leadership skills.

I am sure some of you will say a leader needs to have separate leadership skills trainings where they learn leadership concepts. But trust me, team building trainings are great occasions to bring out the importance of leadership skills and what they entail. And why is that? Because a leader is nothing without his or her team. And there is no better ground to learn than with your team. After all, a leader is only a leader when he has followers! And so, learning about leadership is best done in the presence of one’s followers.

Always remember, a team will be well bonded if they have a good leader who binds them well and provides direction. Similarly, a leader can only be successful if he has a team who believes in him and draws inspiration from him. Now that’s called true interdependency!