Number 1: Too much information too fast fails immediately.

New employees need to ramp up. To be able to take simple incremental steps towards an understanding of what their new organization is, and what it expects them to do.

I work best inundated with things, when it’s like raining information. — Ryan Seacrest

The human mind treats new information a bit like the system that processes recycling in your town. A vast amount of random stuff comes in at once, it gets sorted into types and then dispatched in an orderly stream to the appropriate endpoint.

However, if you follow the typical fire-hose training approach (the first eight hours on accounting policy and tomorrow an in-depth review of every product your company has ever made), the new team member (and in this analogy the processing plant) literally can’t take any more. They probably go home at the end of that day thinking, “This is too hard! What am I supposed to remember?” Day one, and they are already questioning their decision to start work or their ability to comprehend their role in the organization.

The issue? Every department and senior executive want their area covered in-depth. They apply enormous pressure for you to do this as part of onboarding. But why? Keeping onboarding fun and straightforward is the key. Creating an orientation briefing rather than waterboarding the poor folks with stuff they will never remember (and probably don’t even need), is a better approach.

Information is abundant, it flows through so many sources that what once was a river one waded through is now a flood we struggle to keep afloat in. — Aysha Taryam

A gradual ramp-up from their first moments of employment to the point where they are competent and able to do their job is going to allow the recycling plant to keep up.

Next week number 2: Managing the information horizon for success.

The post Four things that make onboarding actually work for new employees. appeared first on RCP Learning.

You’ve picked a great partner to make your animation or video, but you aren’t done yet. To end up with a video that does the job you need it to do, and that represents you best, you need to stay involved in the project. How involved? Does it really matter if you take a hands-off approach or roll up your sleeves and do it all?

Don’t micromanage

You’ve done due diligence in your selection process: you’ve hired creative, capable professionals. So now, trust them. Don’t hamstring them by bringing specific expectations or images of what your video should look like. This is important from a number of perspectives.

• You have a budget, and most budgets don’t allow for an extravagant, ultimate production. The production team is expert at taking your message and translating it into affordable reality. They can’t do that if you insist on helicopters, earthquakes, or specific locations.
• Without in-depth experience and understanding of the technologies involved, you can’t judge the cost of an idea. Neither do you have the creativity to arrive at ingenious, low-cost solutions; that’s why you’ve hired your team.
• Today’s digital magic often allows for the creation of unexpectedly complex visual solutions at minimal cost. Rely on your production company to come up with ways of visualizing your concept that fit your budget.

Stay involved

Your production company should make it efficient and easy for you to stay aware of your project’s progress. The most effective way to do that is to use cloud-based tools software, so everyone concerned can easily stay up to date and comment on:

• Production development
• Budget
• Timeline
• Review

Any system that requires collation of comments by email, spreadsheet, or other technique is absolutely likely to lead to confusion.

You should expect to be presented with a range of focused unified tools designed to help you engage with your project and understand what’s happening.

So how involved should you be as your project comes to life? Three basic tips:

1. Don’t over think or plan your production before you start; stay open to the creativity of the people you’ve hired.
2. Stay aware of progress by using your production company’s project management tools software.
3. Participate in an efficient review and comment system.

For other insights, watch the vBook and download the eBook titled “Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Promotional Video Production Company.”

The post Three Tips on How to Create a Promotional Product Video or Animation Without Breaking the Bank appeared first on RCP Learning.