What 41 Kuala Lumpur professionals told us: practical beats theoretical
Between June and September 2026, KCOM Academy ran three sessions for teams in Kuala Lumpur: a customer-centric service culture programme for a food and beverage business, an intermediate Google Sheets workshop for a technology agency and an in-house team programme for a school. Forty-one participants completed evaluation forms. All 41 rated their session excellent or very good.
The numbers
41 evaluation responses across three sessions.
100% rated the workshop excellent or very good (41 of 41). 66% rated it excellent.
Overall rating of 4.66 out of 5. Trainer rating of 4.90 out of 5, with 37 of 41 participants giving 5 out of 5.
Self-rated knowledge rose from 3.27 to 4.34, a gain of 1.07 points.
The share rating their knowledge as very good or excellent rose from 39% to 93%. The share rating it fair or poor fell from 27% to 2%.
Practical beats theoretical
Three very different rooms gave us the same message. Participants valued the parts of the day where they did something, not the parts where they were told something.
Hands-on training is the best. We can try out the formulas ourselves.
Participant, technology sector
She goes directly to the practical aspects and does not waste time with the theory.
Participant, technology sector
Helping us understand that there is always a system you can fall back on when there is no answer.
Participant, food and beverage sector
I learnt a lot about customer service dos and don'ts, as well as how to better carry yourself as a supervisor.
Participant, food and beverage sector
What this means for managers in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur teams are often asked to do more with less time away from the desk. These results suggest that a short, practical programme can still move people. The spreadsheet workshop ran for a single day and one participant wrote that for a one day session everything was great. The service culture programme gave supervisors a system to fall back on when they did not know the answer, which is what a supervisor needs at the counter.
Where participants wanted more
Participants asked for longer and more detailed customer service problem solving, more attention to their real experience as supervisors, and more engaging group tasks to break the ice. Those are specific, useful and fair requests. Participants also welcomed the use of relevant work data in simulations, and we take that as a signal to keep exercises close to the real job.
What comes next in Kuala Lumpur
Practical Coaching and Mentoring Skills for Managers runs on 17 and 18 December 2026 at the Aloft Hotel, KL Sentral. To reserve a place or to discuss an in-house programme for your team, contact Jay Nor Larkin on WhatsApp +60 10-427 2347, at [email protected], or visit kcomacademy.com.
About these figures: KCOM Academy participant evaluation forms from three Kuala Lumpur sessions held between June and September 2026. Ratings use a five point scale from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). Knowledge ratings are self-assessed before and after each session. Quotes are lightly edited for spelling and are not attributed to individuals.
