Training Room Design — Seating Arrangements

Seating Arrangements

• Learners are given a new perspective on the activity by sitting in a different part of the room.
• They get better acquainted with their peers.
• Learners are not consistently "punished" by being at greater distances from the screen or speakers.
• Small cliques do not arise -—there is nothing wrong with cliques but in some cases they can become a problem by forcing their norms or agendas upon the entire group.

Traditional Seating

               x
          O O O O O O O
          O O O O O O O
          O O O O O O O
          O O O O O O O
          O O O O O O O

• Best used for short lectures to large groups
• Communication tends to be one way
• Trainer cannot see the learners in the back

Modified Traditional 

                      X
              O O O O   O O O O
             O O O O     O O O O
            O O O O       O O O O
           O O O O         O O O O
          O O O O           O O O O

• There is more participation
• Allows the trainer to see all the learners
• Reduces space between trainer and learners as trainer can move up aisle
• Best used for short lectures to large groups

Horseshoe

              X
          O       O
          O       O
          O       O
          O O O O O

• Non-verbally encourages participation by allowing eye contact between the trainer and all the learners
• The trainer is able to move closer to each learner
• Works well when all learners must be able to see a demonstration
• Works good when learners will be involved in large group discussions

Modular

               O                 O
             ----     ----      ----
            O|  |O    |  |O    O|  |O
            O|  |    O|  |O     |  |O
             ----     ----      ---- 
                       0
                   X

             ----     ----
            O|  |O   O|  |O
            O|  |    O|  |O
             ----     ----
              O

• Learners can work in small groups on exercises and projects
• Communication between trainer and learners is more difficult
• Trainer must move between groups during lectures and activities
• Good for courses that require a lot of group work
  

Circle

              O  O
            O      X
           O        O
           O        O
            O      O
              O  O 
   

• Most democratic and unencumbered with no status symbol
• With no table each person is "totally revealed"
• Subtle nonverbal communications are possible
• Good for T-groups and sensitivity training
• There will be conversations, shorter inputs, and more members will participate, when they sit at a round table rather than at a square table

Square

 
               Solid         Hole in middle  
     
              O O O O           O X O O
             ----------        ----------
            O|        |O      O| ------ |O
            O|        |O      O| |    | |O
            O|        |O      O| |    | |O
            O|        |X      O| ------ |O
             ----------        ----------
              O O O O            O O O O
    

• More formality than a circle
• Nobody can see all the faces of the other participants
• Depending where visual aids are placed, one side may become the "head of the table"
• A solid table seems to encourage conversation
• With a hole in the middle of the table, some people do not speak at all, and some who do speak tend to talk for longer periods of time

Rectangle

             O  O  O  O  O 
            ----------------
          O|               |O
          O|               |O
            ----------------
             O  O  O  O  O

• The seats at the short dimensions of the table are often seen as leadership positions
• If used, the learners should be forced to take distinctly different positions every now and then (i.e. randomly shift the name cards)
• Fewer people can communicate face-to-face

Scatter-Shot

    
              O O    x      O
               O       O   O O
                  O   O O         O
                 O O       O     O O 
                          O O
   

• Seems extremely haphazard but good for experiential training
• Permits quick change of learner focus
• Produces tremendous investments of learner energy
• Works well with multiple role plays
• Can quickly form into large groups
• Bad for note taking