Training is both science and art. It's a combination of the left-hand brain ('rational intelligence') linked with the right-hand brain ('emotional intelligence').

Effective training starts with an insight of the needs and requirements of the organisation as well as the delegates for whom the training programme is designed to engage with.

Research over the last 40 years has shown that how you learn will influence what you learn, which is why our learning experience is better than that of other training providers. We make a big effort to get delegates tothink about the content covered in a training programme rather than slavishly follow PowerPoint slides machined-gunned at them.

The Guru in a Bottle approach allows for each delegate to reflect on what's being delivered and this leads to a higher degree of insight and satisfaction with the training experience.

In order to effectively evaluate training, it is necessary to have a framework for learning in the first instance, otherwise any attempt to evaluate the training programme without reference to the learning framework will lack a clear basis for measurement of results.

The Guru in a Bottle approach is to focus first on the Model of Learning and then move onto the Training & Evaluation Process.

The reason is very simple.

Training can be evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively but there will always be factors outside of our control, such as attitude of the delegates towards training and their natural motivation to learn, that will have an impact on the performance of the training programme that is delivered.

It's therefore important to map out (informally) with the organisation how it wishes to evaluate the training to be delivered. For many organisations, the approach we outline is sufficient and in other cases, more formal benchmarking exercises may be required, although this may well incur additional costs depending on the design for evaluation required.