Make training fun

It can be true that some employee training sessions revolve around topics that aren’t necessarily especially interesting. Take the example of health and safety briefings. While these are absolutely essential for any business, they can often come across as dull or unnecessary.

You can counteract this by making the sessions as fun as possible. A training session on the driest of topics can be lifted by injecting humour and allowing employees to relax as they learn. One of the best ways you can do this is by using charismatic and engaging trainers. The right presenter who can have fun will really improve the amount that staff members can get from a session.

Another popular way to keep staff interested is through gamification. Gamification works by introducing aspects of games to motivate people to achieve certain goals. For example, when running a sales training event you can set up a league table for sales. This could then lead to prizes being awarded for the best performance.

Make use of audience response systems

An audience response system (ARS) allows you to receive immediate feedback from individual handheld devices. This has a huge variety of uses in training sessions as it allows you to engage individuals through the technology.

One use is in testing and quizzes to ensure that everyone in the session is paying attention and understand the material they are being introduced to. Instead of having paper tests that then have to be assessed and marked, ARSs allow for instantaneous assessment. Which can then be displayed anonymously.

Live Q&A sessions help to keep employees interested in the subject matter instead of expecting employees to sit and listen for the duration of the training.

Encourage interactivity

It’s not actually particularly useful for employees to listen to a lengthy lecture filled with stats. In fact, if you are trying to get a message across it’s a much better idea to break up the training sessions with opportunities for interactivity. This can come both through Q&A with the tutor and time for peer-to-peer discussions.

People often learn best by talking things through with their colleagues. It gives them the chance to share their own stories and experiences which can often be far more effective than examples given by trainers. You might find that some members of staff are performing a task in a different way to others. When alternative methods are shared it can ultimately lead to an improved way of working.

1. Staff learning

ARSs are a very useful tool for staff training and workshops as they can deal with everything from opinion gathering to testing. Testing can be completed very quickly and efficiently, and responders do not need fear being embarrassed if they get a question wrong, as the response can be anonymous. This can also instantly give you an understanding over whether an idea has been well understood or whether you need to go over it in a different way.

2. Surveys

There are a wide range of ways that you could use an ARS to take a survey. This could apply, for example, as part of a presentation at a conference or at an in-house issue. If you are trying to get feedback from staff about a particular process or situation in the company, an ARS allows for anonymous and honest answers to be collected immediately so that it can be analysed.

The use of the ARS can lead into critical discussions and the sharing of ideas in a way that can be extremely useful. Unlike a pen-and-paper survey, responses can be read simultaneously and others can provide their ideas that relate to a specific issue.

3. Gamification

Gamification is a way of using fun elements of gameplay as a part of a talk or presentation. This is a brilliant way to engage audiences to participate with your talk – in doing so you are drawing them in to the idea that you are promoting. This can be extremely valuable and useful. There are lots of different creative ways that you can gamify a talk – either through interactive questions or audience polls.

4. Team building

One unusual way to use an ARS is as a part of a team building exercise. You can split the group up into teams and then answer questions or solve problems together. This could then be fed into the ARS as the teams brainstorm solutions and come up with different ideas. You could also set up a simple quiz that could be answered individually.

5. Risk management

Handheld clicker systems can be invaluable as a part of risk assessments. You can bring members of a team together in order to collate responses and ensure that many different perspectives are taken into account as you evaluate risk. Using the powerful software this data can then be presented as graphs or other visual representations to give a clearer picture of the potential issues involved with a project or task.

1. Plan sessions properly

Preparation is key to good training, so you need to spend time to work out who needs training, what training is required and exactly what that training is going to accomplish for the organisation. Remember at all times that it is essential that the training should address a specific need within the business so that you will be able to see the benefits and ensure that the training is not simply wasted working time. The means that one of the most fundamental aspects of the training is to explain at the beginning exactly what attendees are going to learn and how they can put their new knowledge into practice.

2. Put dedicated funding and resources into training

Many businesses expect internal departments to deal with employee training without actually providing any extra budget or resources. It’s common for companies to believe that there is no need to spend money on training as it can all be handled in-house. But giving a team a budget for training can dramatically improve the effectiveness of sessions. Investing in technologies such as audience response systems, which have the potential for multiple uses within the business, can make all the difference.

3. Team managers need to take ownership

It can often be a great idea to bring in professional trainers from outside the outside the business to run the sessions. But managers should not lose sight of the fact that these sessions should be attempting to impart knowledge that is relevant to the success of the company. That means that managers need to take ownership of the training sessions to ensure that the right details are being conveyed. Also, remember that a great deal of information can be transferred within the team itself, so allow some time for people within the session to discuss ideas and provide opinions.

4. Have follow-up sessions

It’s vital that any learning from the training is reinforced with follow-up sessions. It can be all too easy to forget what has been learned in a session, so it is important to have reminders and refreshers to help staff get the most out of the training.

When you understand that almost any question you receive in a Q&A will be a positive, it shows that this session can be a very valuable time in the presentation. So use it to your advantage! Here’s how:

Reinforce your message at Q&A

The Q&A session is a great time to reinforce the message you’re putting out. When someone asks you a question it gives you license not only to reply but also to continue talking. Making a point for a second time will make it last longer in the mind of your audience as well as giving another opportunity for late comers to hear it.

Expand points

One of the problems that many conference speakers come up against is the time limit on their presentation. It’s not always possible to fit in all the details that you had planned when you’re up against a strict time deadline. The Q&A session can give you a vital opportunity to expand on some of your points and add in valuable information. Think about common questions you might receive and find ways to work in some of your additional material.

Explain anything unclear

When you’ve been working on your presentation for a long time, it can be easy to forget that this will be the first time that your audience has heard it. That means that you need to explain each point clearly. Sometimes it is the case that a presenter can be ambiguous or skip over a key issue. The Q&A session here can actually be very important as it gives the audience the chance to let you know, so that you can clarify.

Address specific examples

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the Q&A from an audience perspective is that it gives them the opportunity to apply the things you have talked about to their real life examples. This can be important for you too as it can help to make certain point clearer.

A conference can be a fantastic place to network with people in your industry as well as a chance to gain insight and ideas on a variety of different topics. But sometimes you can go away from a conference feeling that you haven’t really gained anything. There’s no use wasting your time on a flat experience, so here are four ways to get the most out of a conference that you are attending.

Smart networking

Many people think that networking isn’t their thing. How do you awkwardly approach and then keep up a dialogue with strangers? The truth is it’s actually relatively easy to be an introverted person when networking – you just do exactly what you do normally: listen. Ask questions to the people you meet and let them do the talking. Ultimately you are looking to forge strong relationships with people and sometimes the best way to do this is to allow them to take the lead.

Go it alone

If you attend a conference with a number of colleagues it can be tempting to spend much of the day with them, watching presentations together and even attempting to network together. This can actually be a mistake – trying to do anything in a large group just encourages you to talk to each other and can be too intimidating for other people to try to strike up a conversation with you. You’ll get more out of the day if you split up. You can spend time watching different speakers and engage in natural networking with others.

Get ideas for your own
presentations

Of course one of the key aspects of going to a conference is the opportunity to take a range of ideas away from it. One aspect of this that is sometimes overlooked is that the fact that you can get fantastic ideas and techniques for your own presentations. Your company may wish to be involved in a conference itself at some point down the line and this can be the perfect opportunity to take down notes on the best presentations you watch. This could be anything from the layout of a slideshow on PowerPoint or the use of technology like an audience response system.

Engage with speakers

There’s nothing that a conference speaker likes more than to have an audience that engages with their presentation. From your perspective this can also be a brilliant way to set up a great basis for networking later on. As you watch the presentation, think of questions to ask at the end so that you can begin a dialogue with the speaker. This can be an ideal way to get more knowledge or even develop unexpected business connections. Remember, speakers will always be flattered by the interest that you have shown in their talk and this can start your conversation out on a strong foot. It is a great idea to forge connections with respected experts too.

CLiKAPAD recently visited the UK-based manufacturing plant where our keypads are created. Here we oversaw the whole manufacturing process. We think it is important to regularly check over the way that our handsets are created to ensure that every keypad we sell is perfect for our customers’ needs.

It is exciting to see our designs being brought to life. We feel that we get the best value for money by working with our expert UK-based manufacturer. We can rely on them for the exceptional quality of the devices that they provide. We also love to work with other British businesses – all of our software development is completed in the UK as well.

We are so sure of the quality of our hardware that we offer a 12 month parts and labour warranty on every piece that we sell.

Risk assessment is a critical task for many businesses. It is the duty of an employer to ensure that they adequately plan for any risk that could be encountered by their workers. An audience response system (ARS) will help you develop broader and more comprehensive risk assessments, as you are able to involve staff in the creation of the assessment and ensure that all of the bases are covered. Here’s how an ARS could help you with risk assessment.

Fast, accurate data gathering

Undoubtedly one of the most important resources when creating a risk assessment are your employees. They will have a great understanding of the areas where they are most at risk. Using an ARS, you can quickly and accurately gather data from all of your workers. During a workshop or assessment meeting you can set up questions and staff can respond on the handheld clicker devices.

Take a group approach to risk assessment

An ARS can not only be used to gather data on risk – it can also provide information on potential solutions too. Getting your whole team involved ensures that you are incorporating everyone’s opinions, knowledge and concerns. This allows you to find more effective ways to mitigate risk.

Rather than having to spend a significant amount of time gathering the information from each member of staff individually, you can get all the data simultaneously. This will save you a lot of time and effort as well as providing more accurate results. The results from each vote can be instantly displayed on screen driving discussion in your workshops.

Export your results to Excel and PowerPoint

You can also sync your ARS with Excel and PowerPoint. Exporting the raw data to Excel gives you the ability to instantly update your risk register with the gathered data. The graphs and heat maps generated by the ARS system can be incorporated into PowerPoint to allow you to give highly professional and attention-grabbing presentations.

A more effective plan of action

Being able to gather all the data at the same time ultimately means your risk assessments will be more effective – they will take more worries into account and provide a broader variety of ways to deal with those risks.

Whether you hire an ARS for a one-off risk assessment workshop or you purchase a system for regular assessments, it could be a huge benefit to your business.

The advantages of buying:

• More choice – there is a greater variety of ARS options available to buy than there are to hire, so if you have very specific requirements for what you need from the system you may prefer to buy
• Exactly what you need – there’s no need to compromise; when you are buying you are entirely in charge of your purchase so you can choose the exact system requirements that you need
• Value – if you are planning to make use of an ARS regularly then you will find the better value for money in buying outright, rather than hiring. There are many applications for an ARS so you may well find that you can use in a number of aspects of your business including meetings, training sessions, conferences an workshops
• No planning required – once you have your own ARS it’s not necessary to go through the process of planning to hire out a system. Instead, it is always immediately available for your use so you can simply set up your ARS whenever you need it

The advantages of hiring:

• Flexibility – hiring gives you extra flexibility so that you can choose a relevant ARS for the task you need it for. It might not be sensible or possible to buy an ARS that can be used across all of the potential occasions you will use it. If you hire, you can pick one dedicated system for each task
• Affordability – if you are only using an ARS for a one-off task then the most affordable option will definitely be hiring
• Range of rental options – if you are renting an ARS you have the choice to either simply hire the equipment for your use or to have additional services such as coaching sessions so that you know how to use it correctly
• Simplicity – there is also the option for fully managed service, where technicians will be available on site to help with set up and running

Both hiring and buying:

One very popular option is to combine both buying and hiring.

• Buy and hire – in this scenario clients will outright buy a smaller ARS that covers them for the majority of their usage. Then whenever they have a need to use the ARS on a larger scale they can simply hire additional keypads. This way they can continue to use the system that they are familiar with but take it large events as well
• Trial rental – often you can ‘try before you buy’ where you rent an ARS so that you get to understand and become familiar with it. Then if you decide to buy, the provider will discount part of the rental cost from the price of buying

Structure the event

A good product launch needs structure. Setting a few tables around with your product on them and simply allowing attendees to wander around and talk to each other doesn’t really encourage them to take an interest. Set out a timetable with activities such as the launch speech as well as product demonstrations and other events.

Also make sure that you don’t allow scheduled moments to coincide. For example, it’s a really bad idea for the serving of the food and drinks to happen at the same time as the main speech. You want everyone to be focused on the product for the majority of the time, but getting them to multi-task will simply divert attention.

Keep the speech interesting

While we’re on the speech – this is one of the most important aspects of the evening that you need to get right. It needs to be interesting and relatable. Don’t talk about the technical details of the product; that might be what interests you, but it’s not what interests your customers. Instead, they will want to know how your product can enhance and improve their lives.

Don’t let the speech do on too long, either. A good speech gets people intrigued but allows guests the opportunity to go and have a look as soon as possible afterwards. Getting bogged down in the background and creation process of the product doesn’t really serve anyone.

Get interactive

Another fun way to get guests engaged with the product launch is to ensure that the presentations are interactive. You can do this by giving each guest a handheld audience response system device. This can then allow them to answer questions during the presentation. If there are multiple colours available, for example, you could seek to establish which is the most popular. Asks guests which colour they are most likely to purchase and then show the results.

Revolutionise your employee training sessions by using an audience response system (ARS). Here are three great tips to help you get the most from an interactive voting system.

1. Interactivity encourages engagement

If you’ve ever tried to take a training session with employees you’ll know that they can be a tricky audience. Take a subject like health and safety – it is essential information that employees need to
know, but many will see it as a waste of time to take a training session on it. The best way to keep things interesting is to improve interactivity and you can do this easily through an ARS.

Once the attendees are engaged in the presentation itself you can impart more information and enjoy a fun learning environment.

2. Quick quiz questions

An ARS is a great way to quiz the participants as a part of your training session as you go along. After each section of the training session, have a few multiple choice questions.

Ditch the stuffy pencil and paper tests – they’re just a waste of stationery – and let your trainees answer questions in real time so that you can check that everyone’s following along. The fact that you can collect anonymous data also means you don’t have to embarrass anyone who hasn’t quite got it right.

3. Gamification

Training sessions aren’t always a lot of fun and if the topic is relatively dry, it can make sense to liven things up. Gamification is a great way to do this. Use elements of game playing to get the participants interested and engaged in the subject matter. Challenges and team games that involve problem solving can add to the team-building atmosphere and make sure that everyone feels included.

It’s smart to break up a lengthy training session with this sort of activity. Place the games at intervals to space out the lectures and you’ll see the benefits of better attention for attendees.