Visual Training Aids
The Challenge
There’s a lot more to training that just writing a manual. Restaurants, especially, use a combination of learning courses, checklists, posters, station guides, and process cards to quickly train franchisees for periodic promotions and limited-time offers. These items change frequently, need 100% accuracy, and have to be created in very short time frames. Pieces need to be coordinated, adjusted for feedback, and print-ready using limited resources.
In many companies, each of these disciplines – operational procedures, training material, and printed job aids – would be performed by different departments. There are a lot of people, and a lot of moving parts. Accuracy, speed, and consistency are critical. Cut and paste – from operations guide to learning system to as many as four job aids – isn’t reliable, especially when print pieces are managed by a different department than the operations manual.
“This is a fast-paced environment, with lots of change and short delivery times. The ability to manage the content in one place – and do it in-house – gave us confidence.”
If there was a last minute change to anything from a recipe to an ordering procedure (and there usually is), every training aid had to be updated (quickly).
The Solution
The first step to this solution was to have a “single-source of truth” – a repository where every change was made first. All other documents would check with this source first to get the most recent, legally approved information. Using our content management system (CMS), we helped Popeyes create a strategy to design, manage, and approve content changes in all channels, saving time in approvals.
An added benefit of using a CMS is “change once, update everywhere.” Because we use the same system to build long manuals as we do to create print-ready posters and station cards, we eliminated the need to cut and paste from one program – one department – to another, improving consistency.
With a centralized information source, the next step was to centralize approval. The Training Team was responsible for gathering, writing, and producing all material, with input from operations and marketing. This streamlined initial creation, change management, and legal approval, saving even more time. So while the operations team was responsible for what was said, the training team was responsible for how that information was presented. It’s what they’re good at.
“Manual Makers set up our templates, built the system, and coached our team through making changes until we were confident we could do it ourselves.”
This solution involved adding new technology to the mix, which isn’t unusual. Our content management system took what used to be done in Word, Excel, Illustrator, and PhotoShop and consolidated it into a single program. Doing this simplified creation, change, and approval processes, but it still required some specialized knowledge to maintain it.
Our clients can choose one of 2 ways to handle this change:
- Outsource it, in the same way they would outsources print design and production
- Learn the software, just like they had to learn other desktop publishing tools
Popeyes chose the latter – to train (they are trainers, after all) the software and bring the skills in-house. Manual Makers built the templates, the server, and the structure in a way that made it simple for the Training Team to update the words and pictures for each new initiative. We coached the Popeyes team for a few months, guided them on content maintenance best practices, until they were ready to handle the day to day changes themselves.
At the end of the project, the Training Team was able to create and train several limited-time offers each year, each with training aids used in-store and designed according to brand standards. And even in a fast-changing environment, with multiple print pieces, they have the confidence that all pieces remain consistent and accurate.
About Manual Makers
Manual Makers, part of White Deer Group, is a franchise documentation agency with experienced franchise advisors who help guide emerging franchise companies through the process of documenting their knowledge. We work with emerging and established brands to remove barriers to growth. We love to talk to people about their franchise operations, and consultations are always free.