{"id":153,"date":"2012-09-13T11:02:44","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T11:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.awareplus.co.uk\/blog\/?p=153"},"modified":"2012-09-13T11:02:44","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T11:02:44","slug":"meeting-rooms-are-not-training-rooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.awareplus.co.uk\/blog\/meeting-rooms-are-not-training-rooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting rooms are not training rooms…"},"content":{"rendered":"

… and visa versa!\"meeting<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sitting here, waiting for a client in a venue in the middle of town (or toon as the native\u00a0 Geordies say it) in one of the nicest meeting rooms I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 For a start there\u2019s free tea and coffee and (impressively!) a very large supply of chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the table.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clean and warm and the reception staff were very helpful and friendly.<\/p>\n

But despite all these wonderful things my heart sank as I walked in. Why? Because it\u2019s a wonderful meeting room – and I\u2019m here to do training.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference, in terms of room layout and facilities?\u00a0 Well facility-wise not much, I suppose. Fast wifi would be appreciated for both activities, decent soundproofing too… along with reasonably comfortable heating and air conditioning!<\/p>\n

But in a training room, at least the kind of training I need to use today, there\u2019s a fundamental problem.<\/p>\n

In a meeting room everyone needs to be able to see everyone else. In a training room, everyone needs to be able to see the trainer (as well as everyone else!).<\/p>\n

In a typical meeting room the layout might be, say, a dozen chairs around an oval table, which is exactly what I\u2019ve got here. Putting a flipchart of a screen at one end immediately means that three people at one end have to turn their necks 180 degrees. Preferably they should move, so that they\u2019re not blocking anyone else\u2019s view.<\/p>\n

Adding to that is the lack of space around the table. Even if the three head-turners move, where are they going to move to? The table was full already. What\u2019s more, the next two or three people down the table may very well find that they\u2019re unpleasantly, uncomfortably close to the trainer and his or her material, be that flip charts or slides etc.\u00a0 The problem is compounded, of course, for the approximately 50% of the population who are Introverts!<\/p>\n

If people aren\u2019t comfortable in their learning environment, they don\u2019t learn as well – it\u2019s as simple as that!<\/p>\n

So what things should a training room have that a simple meeting room needn\u2019t?<\/p>\n