Measuring the Effectiveness

By way of example, it is very easy to run a module on speed modeling and texturing in Maya. By simply sample testing the candidate(s) before and after the training, the effectiveness of the training is obvious. On the other hand, it can be very difficult to evaluate the immediate impact of a color theory course or even a module on avatar emergent behavior design.

It is for this reason that some of the training effort has to be signed off with a certain amount of faith. By faith I of course don't mean blind faith, just faith in long term skills investment born of years of game production experience and forethought. In short, craft skills are measurable, whereas intrinsic skills can be far more difficult to measure.

Although faith will work fine for some people, it very rarely works with the boss or, indeed, accountants. There is a simple way to handle this without resorting to the easily refutable tactic of presenting a single training ROI percentage.

The key to success here is to write a comprehensive positive report on all aspects of the training effort based on five simple measures of training provision, as follows:

• Effectiveness - Simply using measures such as pre and post training measurement or schedule tracking. Providing some metrics proving without doubt that some of the measurable training has a positive impact is key.
• Efficiency - Describes how the re-use of modules, resources, and the maximization of class sizes is an efficient use of the training costs.
• Applicability - Simply show that the subject matter of the training is aligned with the goals of the individuals, projects, and studio.
• Appropriate - A straightforward proof that the right training subject matter is being delivered to the correct people.
• Timely - A justification of how the skills are being trained "just in time" to aid in project requirements and skills reinforcement.

Of course, traditionally effective methods like pre and post training monitoring and tracking individuals work throughput in the project schedules will always be concrete evidence of what impact some type of training have made.

The Benefits of Training

The benefits of effective training to the studio and individual projects can be significant. On a studio level, the immediate impact of perceivable productivity gains will have obvious benefits.

As more people learn and train others, a strong skills leveling effect occurs, thereby allowing managers to handle project staffing more effectively as they gain a far better handle on individual skill sets. Training also improves interpersonal communication beyond all recognition leading to better team cohesion and death to many bottlenecks and hazardous dependencies.

A very welcome effect of training is that everyone in the company who receives training does feel that the studio is investing in their future, and therefore they are valued. This is a very powerful countermeasure to the specter of high staff turnover. At the end of the day, all of this combines to create better games.

On a team level, all of the above quite obviously applies, however the positive impact allows managers to mitigate more of the risk associated with developing games. It's a funny thing, though, because as soon as we mitigate more risk on a project we generally allow ourselves to take more and more risk in terms of features and general production. This is precisely how we push the envelope and drive innovation. Again, the bottom line is that we end up making better games that sell more and make money.

An effective training program is a proven productivity multiplier that brings with it a number of amazing additional benefits. By integrating a strong training ethic into the culture of a game studio by designing an effective program, gaining buy-in from all levels of management and rolling out the program with an appropriate level of importance is paramount.

The risks are numerous, but then again so are the rewards. Your studio will make better games, but ultimately training is the key to maintaining your competitive advantage over your competition irrespective of the IP or technology platform on which you are developing.

Put simply, if you want to win the development war then you must win the training battle!

--- 

Presentation photo by Ikhlasul Amal, used under Creative Commons license.
Training photo by Nelson Pavlosky, used under Creative Commons license.