Happy Reviews

Didnt promote ideas for positive relationships and culture - it was mostly just story telling

I have to start by saying I am a big lover of Happy and what you do. I have been on one of your Leadership courses and to one of your conferences a couple of years back, both of which I really enjoyed and took a lot away from. However, I have to be honest in saying that I was pretty disappointed with the conference this year for a number of reasons which I will list below: - Sound/ Tech issues- These were particularly disruptive at the start of the conference with me missing most of what the first speaker was saying, and despite some alterations to how the conference was being run, the issues continued throughout the day. I think with the conference being hybrid, the use of a mic for speakers and audience members would have helped those of us who were online to hear what was being said, and to feel included. Being online- we often missed the conversations that were being had in the room and I certainly was left feeling very frustrated by this and the other sound issues. -Speakers- Sadly, the speaker I found to give the most 'nickable' ideas on the day was cut short by Henry & we didn't get to have question time with them due to the schedule running behind which was pretty frustrating. It felt that this years focus was too heavy on 'leadership' which I appreciate is a key part of contributing to a happy workplace- but I did expect a more diverse lineup in terms of content. One of the speakers also felt very much like a sales pitch for one of the Happy apprenticeship's which again left me feeling frustrated. - Breakout sessions- Often there was confusion in the breakout sessions about what was meant to be discussed. Some breakout sessions I was alone; and towards the end of the day- people began airing their frustrations with some aspects of the day so it felt like it became a negative space that I didn't want to participate in. - Timetable/ organisation of the day- I used the timetable sent out our prior to the event to plan my day around the conference and best utilise the break/ lunch time available for bits of work I needed to do. However, the running of the day strayed quite a bit from the suggested timetable with some breaks not being allocated, some being longer than suggested and our lunch being cut short. I appreciate that sometimes talkers may run over or under but the day seemed to lack organisation. I have ADHD and due to all of the above I found it really quite difficult to concentrate and get the most out of the day. I sadly didn't come away with much in terms of nickable ideas, as I have done previously.

I felt this was the weakest session of the four. It lack the focus of other sessions and did not have the same practical relevance. It also seemed overly repetitive with little real substance to take forward.

The instructor seemed unprepared for the session. He was making changes in the demo files and adjusting the formatting etc, indicating that he had not seen them before. He was also not very good at explaining things. Overall, it was getting quite boring and I started to lose interest.

Needs to go further be more detailed and create real situations. Some bits were unrealistic.

The facilitator made no reference to the fact that LAS is made up of full- and part-time staff which fundamentally affects our team-building and internal corms. She didn't seem to k n o w us.

Online is not the way to run these long days. Please request that they move to face to face. It is having a very negative effect on my learning and the groups opportunity to network and learn from and with eachother

The course appears to be poorly organised, with poor dissemination of information and subsequently a significant amount of confusion

I found today really disappointing. The exercises in the afternoon were weak, there was little on the way of introducing theories/thinkers and didn't feel I learnt anything I could put into practice. Felt like it lacked substances, didn't actually offer any constructive insights into how I can move forward from where I am at. Fellow cohorts were the ones that gave me greater knowledge.

Compared to a previous training by Happy it was less interactive. It would have been useful if the trainer would have checked upon us doing certain tasks, to ensure everyone is following.