I have a river to cross
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-11-16 12:22:02 - Graham EllisIt may seem like an ole Deep South song ... "I done have this river to cross", but really I'm starting to take a more serious look at accommodations, conference centres and the like.
Our own training centre is in a listed building and we're very careful to preserve the history and at the same time provide excellent, easily accessed facilities. The lack of a lift / flat access rarely causes a problem and usually it's ourselves that have to negotiate all our kit up and down the stairs; at least they're in a single flight, and with a car parking space right at the foot of them. We HAVE inspected / access to flat and wide-door rooms if we have a trainee in a wheelchair but in practise we'll usually train them at their own office (yes, we are allowed to discriminate IN THEIR FAVOUR!)
But looking wider - what SHOULD be provided? Is there anything that we're doing that other users of our centre might say nothing about, be harbour secret concerns? The picture to the right - NOT our place - shows a training room in the distance, and on the same level as the photographer. What a pity that there's two steps down and two steps up in between. And thus my title = "I have a river to cross". Really ... not easy with loads of equipment and our wheeled trolley and I'm very grateful to the trainee who stopped behind after the course run there and gave me both physical and moral support in getting packed up afterwards, and out to the car. (You're only seeing a small proportion of the steps in this picture ;-) )
Again looking at training rooms, I'll train in whatever I'm provided with by the customer. And I'll provide here in Melksham to my standards which - simply because we're in the business - can greatly exceed what can be done on an "ad-hoc" basis in a commandeered conference room.The biggest issue usually seems to be a lack of table space. A room that's for "a class of four" will take four trainees and give each of them enough space for a small notepad. Add in a computer and a full folder of notes and you've got trainees tripping over each other. I usually suggest that 1 metre of desk space is provided mper trainee. In the picture here, the provision to the left and right is good, but alas the two people seated at the far end of the table have, in my opinion, just a half of the space that I would look to providing