As a training video production house, we often get calls asking if we have a training DVD that people can buy right there and then.

Given that we only produce customised training videos, the answer is no and we send customers elsewhere.  But what are the pros and cons of an Off the Shelf v. A Customised Training Video?

Let’s take a look at the differences between the two and the associated pros and cons.

Off The Shelf Videos

Advantages - This is an extremely cost effective way of training workers with audiovisual content.

Given that 83% of human learning occurs visually, any training that involves just reading a manual or looking at fairly bland PowerPoint slides with a presenter will always give you mediocre training results.  Humans learn better with pictures.  So just by adding video content to your training presentations will not only engage your trainees, but it will also increase their message recall and retention.

For small businesses, it is a great way of getting affordable video content for your staff.

Disadvantages – While people might initially be interested in watching a video (to break up the constant chatter from the presenter), it has to hold their attention.  Strange looking workplaces, actors and uniforms can start to lose their appeal.  And depending upon the quality of the training video, poor acting, bad hair, different accents and music can start to make the video more of an object to laugh at rather than learn from.  You really need to assess ready-made training videos carefully, as there are some dodgy companies out for a quick buck, that make some pretty horrendous training videos.

Will they or won’t they?

A couple of years ago, a client ‘forced’ me to watch an off the shelf  safety training video that was made in 1985 (it can still be bought today).  The client was still using it and they were thinking about producing a more, shall we say, modern version.

Nearly all of the actors had bad moustaches and the one thing that stands out to me, was that after the video illustrated a bad accident at the workplace, the next scene was a female worker approaching the office of the production supervisor to look at his safety report.  As she approached the doorway, the music changed to well, porno music and I really thought something non-safety related was going to happen (okay, that might depend upon your definition of safety).  It didn’t.  But it just shows how little I was learning.  Needless to say, any video that looks tired and dated won’t be very effective as a training tool.

Customised Training Videos

Advantages – This is where companies can use examples from their own workplace and ensure that processes and language matches what they use in their company.  It also is filmed at the company workplace, with their own staff and uniforms.  Interestingly, staff really enjoy seeing their fellow workers on the screen.  It’s like a bonding experience.  In fact, filming a training video can have the added benefit of boosting staff morale.  Staff love being involved (okay, some don’t but they still like to watch their co-workers).

A customised training video, if produced correctly, can also give you high message recall and retention levels.  Generally, much better than what you’d get with an off the shelf video, simply because your staff can relate to it more.  You own custom made video can also be used for five years plus (depending upon on quickly processes change).

Disadvantages - It is more costly and it takes time to produce.  If done poorly, it can be a big waste of time and money.

Summary

So my advice is if you are about to start training workers in a lecture, jump online and see which off-the-shelf training videos you can purchase to liven  up your training session.

However, if you know that you have a lot of company procedures that are nothing like what other companies do, or you have a large workforce, then you are better off investing the time and money into your own bespoke training video.

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Induction training is absolutely vital for new employees.   It is also the time when new starters are thirsty to know more about their new workplace and want to quickly integrate into their new team.   However, it can be difficult to know how well a new starter or contractor has absorbed training information.

Establish an induction training evaluation system

According to Joe Huang from Wondershare, makers of the Quiz Creator, as with any type of training, it is important to review and seek feedback before, after and during induction training.  The evaluation of induction training can be divided into three stages:

1. Evaluating new employees’ learning and academic performance. Before new employees start with you, you can quiz them on their knowledge.  This can be determined through examinations: paper-based tests are usually the most common way, but for the sake of time-saving and cost-effective, computer-based tests are the best choice.
2. Evaluating the appropriateness of the training course content.  For companies who are not sure about the content in their training and how new employees feel about it, you can quiz new starters to find out how they found the training and what they liked/disliked.  This is a great way to update your training in a meaningful way.
3. Evaluating the work performance of trainees.  After the newbie has started, you can quiz  supervisors on certain learning outcomes, to find out what they think of the performance of the new starter, so  you can know how the new employees took their training into practice.  This is also important information when reviewing your induction training and what areas need further improvement.

How quizzes can be used with induction training video for optimal results

Research has found that viewers of a training video score better on message retention and recall levels when they are told that they will be tested.
To use quizzes properly with a training video:

1. Quiz your learners before producing the training video. By finding out what information current staff have difficulty with, you will be more knowledgeable about the type of information to put into your training video.
2. Quiz your learners after (or during) the video training. This makes sure they have absorbed the information.
3. Use a quiz as a review tool. This is a great way to refresh staff.  Even if they only watch a small segment of an induction training video (for example: warm up exercises, by undertaking a small quiz on this topic, you know that they have learnt the information).

Now, while it is all well and good to test people during induction training, we hear from many companies that this sort of e-learning approach can be flawed.  All it takes is for a dodgy supervisor to hand people the answers and everyone passes through the quiz in flying colours.

That’s why it is important when testing people that if they get it wrong, they have to go back to that section and watch the video again.  Or alternatively, the questions are randomly displayed so that it makes cheating much harder.

According to Joe Huang, it is important to choose a quiz creating software that has anti-cheating features.  This includes a time limit (so that there is no time to research answers), randomization (questions occur in different order), access control (password only access to change the test) and a concealed XML file (this stops the answers from being viewed).

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It’s smart for companies to be worried about staff and customer training videos and how to tackle them correctly.  There are so many choices.  Quite frequently, training videos are produced that just don’t get watched.  Now making the right decision has just got easier.

Melbourne, Australia (August 11, 2010) – Digicast Productions, a training video production house, today released the “Training Video Buyer’s Kit”.   Developing the right training video for your company isn’t easy.  Nor is choosing the right company to help you.  This kit is a useful resource for anyone involved in the challenging and complex task of deciding upon producing a staff or customer training video and then how to go about it.

Using a four step process the buyer kit includes:

• A list of questions to decide whether or not a training video is right for an organisation.

• The critical questions to determine what the training video needs to achieve, in order to write the brief and how to best manage the project internally.
• A valuable checklist to evaluate the suitability of a video production house.
• An additional checklist to measure the effectiveness of training videos already produced by production houses.

For a complete copy of the kit, visit http://info.digicast.com.au/things-you-need-to-know-before-buying-a-customised-training-video
About Digicast Productions

Established in 1991, Digicast is an Australian vendor of customised safety and induction training videos. Thousands of people each year worldwide are trained with Digicast training videos. For more information, visit Digicast at www.digicast.com.au or The Workplace Improver blog for training tips, www.digicast.com.au/blog.

Contact Marie-Claire Ross

Digicast Productions
+ 61 3 9696-4400
mc@digicast.com.au

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1. Use more Visuals - 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Use lots of photos, videos, diagrams and colour to present training information.  Avoid relying heavily on text based training.  After all, we only recall 10% of what we read compared to 50% for what we both see and hear.

2. Tell Stories – During training, tell stories of exemplary staff behaviour that typify the type of action you want staff to do.  Stories help people make emotional connections.

3. Lead by Values – Let staff/contractors know what your values are.   Using values, empowers workers to make decisions based on company values.  Difficult for staff to make the right decisions if they only have rules to follow.

4. Positivise it – Remove negative language.  Tell people how you want them to behave, rather than telling them what you don’t want.  Remove words such as ‘no’, ‘can’t and ‘don’t’.

5. Involve senior management - Senior management play an integral leadership role in establishing culture.  Effective leadership whether it be concerning safety, a new sales method or business structure must be led from the top.  They must be involved in the induction process.

6. Reduce complication - Get rid of long sentences, jargon and big words in training materials.  Keep it short and tweet.

7. Ask more why questions - Teach people why they need to do something, so they can always figure out the how.  Otherwise, company processes keep getting perpetuated without people ever questioning why they do something.

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When new starters, contractors and even customers are required to start training with you, the interaction they have with your company will determine how long they want to stay and how long they will do business with you.

After all, first impressions aren’t easy to erase.

That’s why it is important with any staff or customer training that the training materials are written in friendly and welcoming language.

Yet, many times we see evidence of induction training manuals written in jargonistic corporate speak that seems keen to scold new starters for possible misdemeanors before they have even begun.

It is important that all training materials exclude negative terms such as ‘no’, ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’.  Not only is it unfriendly, but negative language can often be hard for the brain to understand.

Take this sign, for example.  This was placed at the back of a cafe that I enjoy going to.  It has very friendly staff, great coffee and a queue to get in (not my favourite part).

While waiting for my table and walking around the neighbourhood, I found it.  My attention was grabbed for the wrong reason -  I really couldn’t understand it.

My first impression was that no deliveries were allowed.  That seemed strange to me, so I read on, only to be amazed that they were allowed but I couldn’t instantly grasp when.

It is quite amazing how the word ‘no’ at the start of a sentence can really throw you off the true meaning of a message.

So I have decided to  positivise the sign in an attempt to show you, dear reader, how easy it is to make communication messages easier to understand .  And yes, I know that positivise isn’t a real word, but I really like it.

All Deliveries Here

We accept deliveries:

Before 7am and after 6pm Mon-Fri &

Before 9am and after 6pm Saturday

Ah, isn’t that much better?   My brain feels happier now.

Of course, this sign isn’t for staff or even customers.  But as a customer I gathered that they didn’t like their delivery people very much.

However, the point of this example is how negative language can be so much harder for the brain to take in.  While using positive language makes messages so much easier to understand.

Perhaps, it’s time to positivise your training materials?

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When we were all young children, we all used to bug our parents with lots of  “Why?” questions.  And while this can test even the calmest of parents, the truth is children are curious about the world around them and want to understand why things happen.  It helps them learn and communicate.

Yet, somehow, as we get older, we forget the importance of why questions.

Recently, I went to a talk by Michael McQueen from NexGen Group.  He believes that one of the top five mistakes that leaders make  is that they pass on the ‘how’, but not the ‘why’?

And the reason why this is a big mistake for most companies is that often company processes are perpetuated without people ever questioning why we do something.  Over time, staff are taught processes that solve problems that no longer exist.

He then read us The Pot Roast story:

There was a young woman who moved out into her own house. While living at home, she never cooked. Upon the move, she returned home to learn how to cook a few dishes. One of her favorite recipes was Pot Roast. So she asks her mother to show her how to cook one.

The mother begins to share her expertise with the daughter. She tells her to salt and pepper the meat well. To make sure the vegetables are all cut the same size. Just before the mom places the roast in the pan, she picks up a knife and cuts about a ¼ of an inch of roast from each end. Then she places the meat in the pan.

The daughter stops her mom. “Mom, I understand why we cut the vegetables the same size – that way they’ll cook uniformly. And I know the reason we salt and pepper the meat all over – and rather heavily, is so the whole roast will absorb the flavor of the seasonings. But why did you cut a little bit off each end of the roast before you placed it in the pan?”

“Because that’s what you do”, said the mom.

“But why?”, questioned the girl.

“Does it help it cook better?”

“Well, I do it this way, because that’s the way my Mom taught me”, said the mother. “But I’m not really sure why we cut the ends off. Next time we go to visit we’ll ask her.”

Several months later the family gathers at Grandma’s house for dinner. As grandma prepares the meal the mother and daughter are in the kitchen with her. The daughter asks her grandmother, “Grandma, you’re such a good cook, and I know you passed all your methods on to Mom, but I can’t figure out why we cut the ends off of the pot roast before we cook it.” The grandmother turned to her granddaughter and said, “What are you talking about? I don’t cut the ends off before I cook it.” At this point the mother jumps into the conversation and says, “Yes you do! The time you showed me how to make pot roast, you started to put it in the pan, and then you put the roast back on the cutting board and cut about a 1/4 inch off each end of the roast. I’ve been doing it that way ever since”, she declared!

The grandmother stared at her daughter in amazement. “Every time you cook a pot roast you cut a ¼ inch off the ends? Every single time?” “Yes!” She answered her mother. “Every – single – time, just like you showed me.” “Honey, all I can say is you’ve been wasting a lot of good meat over the years. The only time I ever cut the ends off the roast is if it’s too big for the pan!”

In my role, I am given the opportunity to review new employee induction and procedural training manuals.

When I work on the training materials to write the training video script, I constantly add the “why” to procedures.  And the interesting thing, is that when I ask a company why a process needs to be done in a particular way, they either realise that we either need to get rid of the process or that we can explain the process better.

Where in your company can you ask more ”why’  questions to improve your processes?

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It goes without saying that staff training is incredibly important for continual company improvement.

In Chet Holmes book The Ultimate Sales Machine, he talks about the Tribal Method of Training.  This is where information gets passed person to person by word of mouth, like the cavemen might have done (informal training).

Newcomers work alongside another staff member to learn what they are meant to do.  There is no formal classroom training, no formal methodology and no training manuals.

This is the worst type of staff training.  Mainly because the training is inconsistent and if the staff member is having a bad day they will just teach bad habits.

Another style of staff induction or staff training is the formal classroom style.  Of course, while the training materials might be consistent different trainers will often teach different things.

And if you need to undertake sales training, take a look at Paul McCord’s blog post called ” Consistency in Sales Training relates directly to Consistency in Production”.  It’s a real eye-opener about the costs of inconsistent training to a company’s sales process.

Good training ensures that all staff work in harmony.

How consistently trained are your staff?  To find out how well you are faring write a T or F against the following questions:

1. Each training facilitator teaches the same procedures, so that staff walk away knowing exactly what to do

2. Every staff member would provide the same answer for one of our processes.

3. All of our staff members perform their job at a high level of excellence.

4. Results in our company are predictable because of consistent training and skills.

5. All employees know what the company considers as a good attitude or performance.

6. Customer complaints are always dealt with in the same way, no matter which department the customer complains to.

If you have answered false to any of these statements, you aren’t serious about the calibre of your training.

With consistent training, every staff member will know your procedures so that customers are dealt with in the same manner and all procedures are done in the most productive, correct and safe manner.  Productivity is high.

And remember, you can’t get more consistent training than a properly made staff training video.

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According to a recent study,  the best time for a workplace meeting is Tuesday at 3pm.  This is the office diary sweet spot, when more employees are available, motivated and willing to attend a meeting.

Keith Harris from Online Scheduling Service, When is Good, analysed 100,000 responses to 34,000 meeting requests sent by When is Good users.

3pm was the best time, particularly on a Tuesday, while 9am on a Monday morning was the worst time.  This isn’t a surprise given that people tend to rush into work and want to check emails, phone messages and get started on their work, before sitting in on a meeting.

Yet, one surprise finding was that workers are prepared to have lunchtime meetings.

According to Stephen Overell from The Work Foundation, people on the whole tend to be more creative and better at problem solving in the morning while afternoons are better for collaborating and team work.  So an afternoon meeting is the perfect time to meet.  Although, 3pm is a bit late in the day and a 2pm start might be better so that people can act on the information on the meeting straightaway.

While I find these results intriguing, I always try and schedule important meeting mid-morning as I find it hard to concentrate on important information around 3pm (which according to biological research is the time we need an afternoon siesta).  So could it be that employees like workplace meetings at 3pm because they can chill out and recharge their batteries?

Stephen Overell mentioned not to darken the room for a 3pm meeting.  So if you want to organise a company meeting to showcase that new corporate video, better do it in the morning!

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I love a good coffee.  And my world recently changed when we bought a coffee machine.  Well, two actually.  One for home, one for the office.

We bough a cheapie Sunbeam machine for home and an expensive automated Jura coffee machine for the office.

Both machines are great.  In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need to go out to cafes all the time to get a good coffee.

Jura promotes itself as a premium brand using full page ads in glossy magazines featuring Roger Federer (and I thought print advertising never got me).  And that did it for me.  A quick chat to associates also confirmed that it will last a long time and that it’s easy to use.  It’s a beautiful looking machine and comes with attractive manuals and cleaning devices.

But then it let itself down by providing me with a training DVD that had black texta writing scrawled across it and even a crack.

Naturally, I wasn’t expecting the contents of the DVD to be very professional.  Surprisingly, the training video was put together professionally and featured a perky female voiceover and broadcast quality footage.

But this is where the accolades stop…

One day my barista left me all alone with the new Jura machine.  This just happened to be the day it let me know it wanted to be cleaned.  I’m not technically inclined, so I decided to practise what I preach and go straight to the training video rather than fumble through a manual.

So I was rather frustrated to discover that upon viewing the information about care and maintenance I was dutifully informed by the narrator to visit page three of the manual which was displayed to me with a “Sale of the Century” type hand flourish.

Shocked, I listened on only to find more hand gesture references to other pages in the manual.

At this point, I wanted to make my own hand gesture.

And then when I was actually shown how to use the machine, the language was so stilted and robotic that it was obviously lifted straight from the manual.

Now I don’t want to point out something incredibly obvious here, but there really is little value in producing a training video that refers customers back to the training manual.  I just can’t understand how anyone thought this was a good idea.

And then of course, everyone knows that we all dislike the cold, distant language of a technical manual.  But to do it in training video is pretty unforgivable in my book (or manual as the case maybe).

Producing stilted, un-engaging training videos for a workforce will always be a waste of time and money, but to do this with customer training is incredibly damaging to your brand.  I might still like the Jura for the coffee it produces, but my impression of the brand as premium has fallen quite considerably.

A customer training video is a great opportunity to let your customers know that you care about them and want to improve their experience with your product.  Talk to them like a human (not a robot), help them love your product, not want to make rude gestures at it.

Produced correctly it can also serve as a multi-purpose promotional tool.  And if you are producing a high quality product, your training video also needs to be premium quality.

And what about the Sunbeam coffee machine, you ask?  Well, it also came with a training DVD.  A beautifully produced, well-written script that makes me feel good about my bargain purchase.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how good my low priced coffee machine is.  And I would definitely recommend it.   Cappuccino, anyone?

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