Providing an effective training room for care professionals

Learning and development is important. And some of this can be provided through training. However, one thing that can sometimes be overlooked is the training room. Here we look into providing an effective training room.

Why does the training room matter?

You may believe that it’s the trainer and their content, presentation skills and resources which make the training. And they do. However, the training room also matters. A poorly thought out training room can cause lack of engagement from the learners.

The training room should facilitate the trainer and learners outcomes. Without an effective training room, it can become difficult for the trainer to achieve the outcomes and the learners may too have difficulties. 

How can we create an effective training room?

Now we’ve looked at the why, let’s look at the how. There are various ways an effective training room can be planned out. Here are just some examples:

• Room temperature
• Layout
• Space (equipment/resources)

Room temperature

Room temperature is important. You may have felt sluggish or tired in a room before, even though you had a great nights sleep. And this could be due to the temperature. If the room temperature is too cold or too warm, it can be very off-putting to the individuals. Now we probably will never achieve the perfect temperature, as some will prefer to be a bit warmer or bit cooler than others. Therefore try to find the happy medium. Don’t forget if it’s stuffy in the room, open up the windows if you can.

Layout

The layout of a room can facilitate active participation from learners. The ‘wrong’ layout can cause a lack of discussions and engagement. Many training sessions, courses and qualification can require group activities. They can form a significant part of some topics or subjects. Thus the room layout should allow for discussions to take place

For example, using a horse shoe effect can enable learners to converse with more people than the standard 2 people to a table. Though the layout could instead involve tables being put together in a square or rectangle. Again these can provide more communicate and collaboration between one another.

If you are holding a training session (or even a meeting), remember to think about the layout. This may determine some of the success of participation between the learners or staff.

Space (equipment/resources)

Trainers will use various resources from whiteboards, flip charts and more. Some will use one and others may use several. The size of a room is just as important as the layout. Flip charts, whiteboards, interactive boards etc can play a part in the participation of learners. Not only this, a room which is very small can be hazardous. For example, if a trainer is facilitating moving and handling or positive handling, the room needs to be spacious. If it’s not, it can cause potential injury to the learner and/or the trainer.

Therefore bear in mind the space of the room and the layout together. Some layouts will not be possible to achieve.

Final thoughts

It’s not just about the ability of the trainer, the environment can be as important. In conclusion, if you plan for a more effective training room, the learners and trainer should achieve better outcomes.

Let us know how you’ve organised your training room