People often ask why I don't run bigger courses. I could book 16 people on a First Aid course and up to 25 on either the Refresher or Aware Course. Instead I cap at 12 and 14 respectively. Why? More people per session, lower cost per head, quicker growth. It makes business sense. But this is not about business, it's about people. Caring starts with offering that care on the course and smaller and better beats bigger and thinner every time.

Here's what I think

Honesty needs a small room

This training only works if people are actually honest in the (Zoom) room. That doesn't happen easily when someone's one face among twenty. The useful moments are small ones:

• Admitting they've avoided a conversation with a colleague
• Asking a question they'd feel silly asking in a bigger group
• Talking through how they'd handle a specific person on their own team

None of that happens easily at scale.

Small groups let me actually tailor the day

Whether it's a mixed room of people sent by different employers, or a private course for one organisation, I can shape what we cover around the people actually in front of me. A bigger room forces the lowest common denominator instead.

The personal reason

I run this from home. I'm a mother fitting work into a limited number of hours a day. Keeping numbers manageable protects the time and energy I need to do this well for years, not just for one busy quarter.

What to ask yourself

If you're choosing between a course that squeezes in as many people as possible, and one that's deliberately kept tighter, ask what you actually want from the day:

• Just a certificate and a box ticked? Size probably won't matter much.
• People who leave able to have a genuinely difficult conversation? The room needs to be small enough that they've actually practised it out loud.

That's the bet I've made. Years in, I still think it's the right one.