I. Introduction

II. Needs Analysis

Cynthia Berry, Director of DAI Training, says the company is currently not producing a return on investment. Expenses are 11% above what have been targeted. Ellen Petersen, of the Finance Department, notes DAI's rate of production is 20% below industry average. Management has directed the training department "to find solutions that will result in our people working at peak efficiency."

Optimally, DAI's rate of production will be at or above industry average while maintaining production expenses at or below those budgeted.

Case evidence suggests the discrepancy is a result of production overruns (up to 40 retakes have been needed for the same shot). Several other factors discussed later in this needs assessment have contributed to these production overruns. Steps taken to reduce production costs and improve production rate will better enable DAI to meet its mission statement: to "deliver products of highest quality within established budget and schedule".

1. Employees
Effective utilization of employee resources involves several issues. The most frequently mentioned issue in Jason's interviews relates to timing, which limits employees' abilities to efficiently utilize their skills. Training is not provided in a timely manner; employees site a lack of time to complete work and training; and changes in software right before production do not allow for training.

Some employees lack prior training or knowledge in drawing real-life objects. Glen Michener, Karl Durer, and Craig Salinas each identified a need for employees to have real-life drawing experiences before being able to efficiently produce at DAI.

Training provided is basic and not specific to needs required in upcoming projects, as identified by Ellen Quinn- Loubeck, Karl Durer, and Kenny Moyers. This further limits the full utilization of designers' skills.

2. Software
There appears to be adequate application software to use in production. The problems relate to the most effective use of that software, such as training (or lack of training) on the applications, or a lack of access to technical support from the software experts. Still others relate to the volume of information production people sift through to find what they need. Optimally, production employees receive individualized training on software they need for their positions. Training would be available on a just-in-time basis, regardless of whether they were involved in production, be individualized when necessary, and have immediate recall capability (e.g. "on-line help"). Training personnel would be sure they deliver what production people actually need based on how they use the software. Training would include manufacturer-created tutorial and help files, as well as portions generated by company employees, who have become "experts" by working through problems. Lastly, in situations where software-driven training is not adequate, employees would have immediate access to experts or colleagues by some other medium.

Evidence exists that much talent related to utilization of software is found within the organization, but it is not being utilized. Individuals in the company recognize one or more parts of the problem and likely would be willing to contribute to a solution given the opportunity. Additionally, the manufacturer's training personnel and internal training people seem to have good presentation skills, but limited instructional design skills. This is evidenced by production people who indicate software training does not include what they consider to be critical, because they have not been consulted about their training needs.

Some software has unnecessary "bells and whistles", but does not have necessary help files. DAI's software capability is like a toolbox full of tools. There are tools being used for their intended purpose, tools used for the wrong purpose, tools being improperly used, and tools unused. A fundamental problem appears to be that no one person or group seems to have a handle on the big picture, so no systematic process is in place for training.

With tight production deadlines to meet, communication is essential. Ideally, all communication patterns, horizontal and vertical, would be open, informal and effective. In today's competitive marketplace, successful organizations often have flexible and dynamic communications systems. The culture, how the workflow is designed, and employees' interpersonal strengths interrelate to create communication systems that achieve results.

Several employees indicated a lack of optimal communication, including a lack of clear direction, unmet expectations, and considerable loss of time. Specific examples cited in the case are Karl Durer's comments about problems associated with the number of people required to create a single element and that "we don't always know from the left hand what the right hand does." Karl also described the related problems of gridlock associated with the work approval process. Emily Quinn-Loubeck shared how her employees' needs were not met by two support groups, training and programming: "there's no direct connection between the training and what we are doing on the floor," and "programming techies...never talk to us about what we need or how to use the software." Two interviewees, Craig Salinas and Ellen Petersen disagreed on how the organization should be viewed by upper management. Craig expressed, "Films are...art...Not some numerical, linear, systematic process." Conversely, Ellen stated, "but it's a business, too." Developing and communicating a mission statement that addresses these differing viewpoints and is achieved by all employees is a management challenge.

Perhaps the greatest example of communication barriers at DAI is between the "techies" and pre-digital employees. This communication breakdown was described in several interviews and has resulted in considerable rework and loss of time as employee groups are unable to share their respective expertise with one another. Until the collective DAI team focuses on one of the more critical processes for success, the communication flow, they will continue to experience project overruns and unnecessary costs and frustrations. This organizational need must be addressed to facilitate DAI's success.

DAI Management realizes training is crucial to the efficient operation of the company. Stanley McAllister (CEO) states that "rapid, comfortable transition to the DAI work environment is important". All new hires are trained on DAI's proprietary software, and DAI has set the standard with the design of the training room. The training department was a priority when DAI started operating two years ago. They believed that on-going training keeps a production company competitive.

Evidence from the case suggests that although DAI management believes in training, their focus is on production. Therefore, no training takes place during production. As a result, employees sometimes receive training up to three months before they use the new equipment or software. On other occasions employees cannot use the equipment or software, because they had inadequate or no training. There has not been on-going training in the company from this perspective. However, supervisors and employees are assessed and rated on their productivity of using this software.

III. Preliminary Design Recommendations

Provide company-wide performance support systems (electronic and/or otherwise) to deliver products which meet high quality standards specified in DAI's mission statement. These support systems relate to effectively utilizing available resources (employees and software), improving communication and interpersonal skills among departments (horizontally and vertically), and developing a better-defined training policy to specifically detail employee training expectations.

1. Employees
To provide more relevant training for employees, the needs of the project (e.g., specific techniques required, employee skills) could be identified prior to production, and training materials relevant to these needs could be organized in a performance support system to allow for more easy access by employees. Needs-based training can also provide employees with relevant hands-on experiences such as practice in drawing real- life objects.

To take advantage of the skill set that is present among all employees, hold a drawing/sharing session every morning as a warm up to the day when animators could, in a more formal setting, exchange skills, tips, and tricks.

The recommendations offered in the next section address many issues related to improving the timing of training in order to more fully utilize employee resources.

2. Software
Develop an electronic performance support system (EPSS) easily accessed on DAI's intranet system by any computer workstation. Include a database with a fast and user friendly search engine to locate relevant information quickly. Once the subject has been identified and located, provide a very specific "how do I do ..." as well as tutorials so employees do not wade through pages of information to locate what they need. An excellent format to mimic would be the "help wizard" format of most Microsoft programs. After locating subject matter, users choose the type of help desired. With the talent that exists at DAI, an electronic bulletin board should be incorporated into this EPSS, so a person can ask any software related question to all people having access to the intranet. Users could be required to check this board three or four times per day, so they can respond if they have an answer. An ongoing evaluation system should be built into this system to promote continual improvement.

The company must also realize proper software training is an investment, just like hardware and software investments. When they are in production and "don't have time for training," they need to understand they do not have time not to! As discussed elsewhere in this document, DAI needs to identify people with excellent skills on particular software applications, and, if necessary, give them release time to meet with the training department and develop a workshop to share their skills. Many times people in the field have a much better perspective of what works, and what does not, than the original designers of the product.

Someone instrumental in purchasing outside software should negotiate "just-in-time" access to expert assistance in developing or inter-facing help files for DAI's EPSS before final approval of the purchase. This might include workshop-type training during production, coming to DAI to help work through a problem, or immediate access via telephone.

Capitalize on the current informality of DAI and continue to create a culture where management and employees understand, accept, and work together to accomplish the mission.

Identify a team with help from external resources to evaluate the organizational design of the production pipeline. The objective would be to determine, among other things, if it is organized for optimal efficiency with its current work specialization and approval process. Reorganize or redistribute how work is done and approved to build a communication network that accomplishes results and leads to greater employee satisfaction.

Determine if training on interpersonal skills would facilitate clearer and more effective communications between employee groups. A pilot group might be the programming staff and animators. Conduct the session as an intact team so other systemic issues can emerge (e.g., programmers adding too many features at the expense of functionality) and be addressed real time with skills being taught.

A management paradigm shift may be necessary to allow for training during production. Management should provide adequate time to train employees on topics that specifically relate to their job needs, between and during productions.

Management needs to develop a well-defined training policy with clear goals, objectives, and expectations. The training policy should be specifically stated and made available to DAI employees throughout the organization.

Since the training department was created specifically to provide employees with skills needed to perform at optimal efficiency, management should allow the training department to conduct a company-wide employee training needs assessment.

Assessment and rating of employees should not be based solely on productivity but also on quality, commitment, proficiency, etc.