Asian Tiger

Before I begin my blog post, save to say that it’s will not be me going to the United States. Frankly, I never had this kind of fortunate events like many of my acquaintances around me. Just to give you an example, my friend, Adlin, is in Bali currently on a company trip; team building trip. In my years of working, I have not had the pleasure of a single team building exercise with this company.

Back to the training in the US. May is currently in the US, staying in one of Texas apartments where she mentioned that it is a studio unit fitted with all the necessary facilities (kitchen, small store, etc).  Her company is also kind enough to allow her to rent a car for a whole year so that she can travel around the region.

On top of all that, she will be bonded for only 2 years.  I have known companies (including my own) where training/seminars costing more than RM5,000 will result in a year bond.  And here we have, May, one full year training in the US to serve her bond for 2 years only.

So, the age old saying is true - Some guys have all the luck.

Trust me, if you have a large team and make a lot of concensus decision while remaining confidential on the votes, get a tool called Audience Response System.  In a large team, many participants experience peer pressure if asked to raised their hands to vote.  Call it a inferiority complex or call it peer pressure, but for you, you get the wrong/inaccurate response when team members vote by raising their hands.

Making a wrong decision can be a costly affair — but with a discrete voting system, you get frank/real answers to the questions you pose; especially when a system is affordable and well within your reach.  Another simpler way is a ballot box.  Easy to implement and very mobile but takes a bit of effort and time to conduct and compile the results.

Reality shows are known to implement these systems to encourage their viewers participations in the program; shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is one of them.  Large training companies do adopt this to get participations from their “trainees” and a quick quiz from time to time keeps them on their toes — making the training much more productive.

Imagine coming home from work after a grueling 12 to 18 hours. The only consolation you had was that there was no traffic jam when you drove home. After a hot shower, you plonk yourself on the sofa and closing your eyes after turning on some soft music to soothe your brain.

All your sensory are recuperating from exhaustion except that of your smell. For some, they use aromatherapy, some use volcano vaporizer and some use the age old incense. Aromatherapy uses a combination of candle, water and essential oils. Certain types of oil are said to have certain healing and relaxation functions.

Volcano vaporizers are special devices used to vaporize herbs so that active ingredients and flavouring are released without any kind of combustion. Since combustion or burning of organic materials are said to be carcinogenic in nature, using a volcano vaporizer eliminates that possibility.

The ancient practice of burning incense is another popular method of relaxation.  Today, you will find many kinds of scented incense ranging from the traditional joss stick to incense cone. Some even burn raw incense over charcoal fire.

If you have not tried any of these, you should.  You will find that you relax and rest better.