Whether you’re heading a team at a tiny startup or a global conglomerate, the modern business world is one that’s constantly changing and evolving.
You and your team need to be up-to-date to stay on top of things, and this is true regardless of what industry you’re in.
And this is true, whether you’re talking about onboarding new hires, or training seasoned veterans.
Animated training videos are a powerful tool that solves this problem.
Want to learn how to make great animated training videos? Where to start? Don’t fret, we’re here to help!
Before we get into how, let’s consider why.
Humans are naturally visual creatures.
Sight is our primary way of experiencing the world around us.
And sound comes in at a close second.
Video combines the two and creates arguably the most natural and human way to communicate information.
When you consider the almost limitless possibilities of animation, you take things to a whole new level.
And it’s easier than you might think! We’ll show you how.
It’s important to understand that animated storytelling is more art than science.
Even in training and onboarding videos, there’s creativity involved, and the rules aren’t set in stone.
That said, here are some quick guidelines to keep in mind:
Being professional doesn’t mean you have to be super serious all the time.
When done right, humor makes the information memorable and keeps the audience interested.
A good team will work closely with you, make suggestions and offer many ideas, and will help your vision become a reality.
There are so many ways to use animated video for training, onboarding, and simply keeping your team informed and up to date.
Here are a few typical categories they fall under:
University of Colorado Employee Services
Animated training videos don’t have to break the bank.
Even a simple execution like nice graphics and an overlay of text can do wonders for viewer attention and information retention.
Like this video for the University of Colorado’s Employee Services.
A lot of information is covered and is easy to absorb, understand, and remember.
University of San Francisco Data Loss Prevention
In the right hands, a well-made animated video can make just about any topic interesting and hold your attention.
We all know the importance of being safe online and with our data, but it’s definitely a challenge unloading a lecture on how to do this without boring or confusing your audience.
That’s why the University of San Francisco asked us to create a video that can pull this off, and we rose to the challenge.
We created a story with fun characters and lively graphics to really hold the viewer’s attention and illustrate the points.
This made things far more interesting and captivating for the audience.
First impressions are everything, and it’s vitally important to get your new hires off to a great start.
The simplest employee training videos are for onboarding, when you welcome new members to your team and give them a quick orientation of how things work in your company.
These are pretty broad and basic, covering the obvious and simple topics common to nearly any company of any type or size.
The aim is to make them feel welcome and excited to start working with your team, while covering a few simple do’s and don’ts.
Training Magazine: Why Salespeople Just Can’t Shut Up
From biotech to sales, there’s really no industry where animated videos aren’t being used.
Training Magazine commissioned this lovely video that breaks down the findings of a Harvard University study on salespeople and communication.
It really brings the study to life, explaining some fairly technical stuff in a way that anyone can appreciate and understand, whether they’re in sales or not.
A level up from a simple onboarding would be covering health and safety procedures and standards.
While this applies to almost any company in any industry, it’s especially critical for jobs that involve physical movement and effort, like at a warehouse or factory.
Of course, even employees who spend all day sitting at a desk working a computer, should be aware of simple ergonomic practices to avoid back issues, neck and eye strain, and so on.
So really, a health and safety video can go a long way at your company, even if you think you don’t need it.
In today’s world, you never stop learning, because things are constantly changing and evolving all the time.
You and your team need to keep up and stay fresh.
Employee training can cover a broad range of important topics, so we’re only touching the basics here.
It’s not just technical matters, it can also concern acceptable workplace behavior, ergonomics and health issues, and much more.
Training videos, and especially animated videos, have been a huge boon for the medical industry, to pick just one example.
Medical tech is always on the cutting edge of science and engineering, and there’s an endless need to keep medical technicians up-to-date on their training as the technology constantly improves.
Takara Bio: Infusion Mechanism
Animated video is amazing at explaining complex topics simply to just about any audience.
But sometimes, you may be training team members who are already at a professional or expert level on the topic and don’t need the information watered down to a novice level.
However, just because they’re professionals doesn’t mean you’re free from the challenge of explaining a topic in training sessions.
That’s why even in these specific use case scenarios, animation is still a powerful tool to explain topics using visual aids, symbols and metaphors.
All this means that you waste less time and effort in training because the information is absorbed and retained easily and more effectively by your team.
And that’s always a plus.
This isn’t exclusive to the medical field, of course.
Any industry where there’s complex and technical information to explain, or where specialized machinery and devices are used regularly, will benefit hugely from animated training videos.
RMIT University was excited to unveil their new alumni platform, NetworkRMIT, which helps graduates stay in touch and network better as they go out into the world and start job-hunting.
So they commissioned this lovely animated video to announce their innovative platform.
Using colorful visuals and animation, the viewer’s attention is captured and sustained while it explains the platform, why it was created, what it’s for and how it all works.
Discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace can not only harm productivity, but lead to expensive lawsuits and a soiled public image.
Prevention is always better than cure, and that’s why companies today spare little expense in workplace sensitivity training and prevention of sexual harassment.
It’s critical to lay down the rules of what is appropriate and what is not acceptable behavior in just about any workplace of any size.
Once again, corporate training videos can be a fantastic way to streamline this training process.
ReachOut Australia: Workplace Bullying
Animated training videos cover more than just onboarding and training refreshers.
They can be a powerful tool to combat inappropriate workplace behavior.
Beyond ruining your team spirit and hindering performance, if left unchecked, bullying and harassment can even lead to lawsuits and a PR disaster.
So it’s no surprise that corporations of all sizes spare little expense being proactive and preventive to avoid this.
An animated video is an amazing way to announce and strengthen your guidelines for appropriate workplace behavior, regardless of your industry or size.
Combined with storytelling, as in this video by ReachOut Australia, it packs a powerful punch.
The message is memorable and fresh long after being watched even once.
With a well-made video, the same class can be repeated easily for every new employee or batch of employees, with the same effectiveness and impact, each time.
Training videos can be creative and even employ fictional scenarios to demonstrate the lesson, without being boring and losing the interest of the viewer.
In this sense, training videos– especially animated training videos– can be even more effective than in-person classes run by instructors.
Not enough examples? Check out 10 more best training videos!
There’s two ways to answer this, and they’re both valid and relevant.
On one hand, you need to cover all the information you need to impart to your audience.
On the other hand, remember that less is more, and you have to avoid the temptation to throw in everything and the kitchen sink, which risks overwhelming your audience with too much information and confusing or boring them.
At any rate, a good guideline to bear in mind is that quality is always more important than quantity. If you stick with this rule, you’ll be fine.
Your employees are your company’s most vital and precious asset.
Communicating clearly with them cannot be overstated.
Today, animation is one of the most powerful and effective tools available for communicating, teaching and educating your team.
It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, or what size.
Whether you’re a family-run business or on the Fortune 500, animated video is a secret weapon that supercharges your connection with people– both outside and within your team.
Are you harnessing this amazing power? It’s never too late to get started!
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