Delivering Effective Training: The Methods

There are a number of ways to deliver training which are suited to different needs and situations. The first and most obvious method is instructor-led training.

Instructor-led training can be effectively delivered in the studio environment, however carrying out this type training in the relative calm and quiet of a training room will prove most effective. The format for this training varies from instructor lectures and demonstrations with little attendee participation through to full practical hands-on workshops.

Another highly efficient and cost effective method is creating a training resource on an internal intranet. Intranet based e-learning systems offer the advantages of 24 hour access, direct from users' terminals, with the added practicality of allowing people to learn at their own speed.

Perhaps more importantly, they can learn around their working schedules. Also, intranet systems allow for a far greater wealth of reference materials such as desktop-recorded videos, links, and example repositories to be linked directly to the training. Intranet-based systems provide one of the best partner systems for instructor-based training.

Another approach is to support one-to-one training. By pairing up one of your experts with individuals in the studio, small areas of expertise can be transferred in a very short time frame.

This is especially useful in situations where you need to get one person up to speed such as an unforeseen project requirement, supplementing a small skill shortage or correcting specific issues in an individual's skill set.

Paired learning between peers such as two junior artists has also proven to be extremely beneficial. Having two people share the time on one machine completing similar tasks whilst watching each other work can be one of the best cost to results ratio solutions available to any studio.

The Blitz Academy is a blended training solution utilizing all of these approaches, in addition to a couple of other experimental approaches.

In terms of actually constructing the training modules, try to adopt a template-based approach. Templates standardize the process and aid new instructors in the efficient creation of the modules.

There are many sources of traditional course templates available online to help establish the types of headings needed to fully describe and support your chosen training methodology. Bear in mind that the template itself will go through a number of iterations, and will evolve - the same as the rest of the program, so don't be precious, and be ready to change it as it is tested.

The Complexities of Training

One very obvious drawback to training is its prohibitive cost. Overall training on any level is a cost to any studio and external training is generally more expensive than sourcing training internally.

To give you some idea of the costs involved, let's look at what it cost to run the Blitz Academy for one year, as it serviced the training needs of 220 staff.

In terms of external training and all associated costs, the training bill was $110,000. Internally the training cost was another $246,000, bringing the total to around $356,000. These figures cover some 50 modules delivered to around 550 people.

Things did and will go wrong. Starting the program before it is ready is an easy one. Overestimating people's ability to teach can also cause teething troubles, especially if the people handling the administration are development staff.

Don't expect everyone who says they will attend to turn up, and definitely don't assume training a coder and an artist will be the same.

Once you have delivered training, it may seem an obvious next step to measure its effectiveness. At the very least, someone at some point will ask for some serious justification for the high training expenditure.

The subjects of training metrics and training return on investment (ROI) are complex and varied in both approach and results. The biggest problem when trying to measure the benefits of the cost of training comes when you attempt to evaluate some of the softer skills.