Using web video is a great way to train staff, clients, new hires and virtual-based or telecommuting employees. The beauty of video is that you can create one video that can be viewed by all employees simultaneously or at a convenient time on the business’ website or video hosting platform. More and more companies are going this route when training their employees and are finding video to be a convenient, highly affordable option.

For starters, most people are visual learners and tend to respond better to something that’s visual. With training newsletters or manuals there’s a great chance that some of your staff may forget to read the material, not read it in its entirety or skim to the parts they deem important. With a web video, their auditory senses are engaged. When using video to train, you have an opportunity to take the time within the video to focus on key points that may need to be emphasized. With print material, there’s also the chance that something may be misunderstood.

Another great thing about video is that it has the power to convey information much more quickly. This is a plus because people are busy people and the less time spent on training leaves more time to dedicate to working. In your video you can also show screenshots, include  visual demos or show a process step by step. All these help to ensure that viewer gains a better grasp of the material or how specific tasks must be completed. Even if they get stuck at some point, they can always refer to the video, reviewing parts of the video that may seem unclear to them until they feel comfortable enough to move on.

An added bonus of training video is the savings. When you use video to train employees, you can significantly cut down on cost. When you conduct in-house training or rent a conference room or some other external facility to train staff, you have to pay the trainer for his or her time, pay for the training facility, pay for refreshments, the use of presentation equipment such as projectors, etc. With videos, you eliminate all of this. Your major expense here all most likely be the trainer’s time in building the training. Another expense to consider also would  the cost to host your training on the Cloud or external hosting sites if you’re not putting them on your company’s servers. Also, once the videos are online, employees can review them time and time again and gain a greater understanding of the content and its application. You don’t get this with face-to-face training. They may take notes or even keep a copy of the handout provided, but after the session has ended, many don’t revert to the material and some won’t even be able to find it.

If you’re thinking of using video to train staff here are a couple things to consider. Firstly, will you can create the training video in-house to have greater control over the production process or will you contract a professional or company that can create e-learning or training videos? There are pros and cons to both and you will have to decide what option is best for your organization. The downside to doing it on your own may be lack of time to put the material together or lack of knowledge in creating video training material. If you’re starting from a place of no knowledge or experience, you have to consider to learning curve. If the project is time sensitive, contracting a professional may just be the best option. What about hosting and distribution? Will the videos be hosted on your servers or externally? What software or combination of software will you use? Will the program be instructional only or will it allow for interaction, with built in quizzes and other means to test how employees are grasping the material? These are just some of the things you’d need to consider before you even being to draft the outline e for your program.

Hope you found this post useful. If you did, why not share it with a friend? If you need help creating training, e learning and other marketing videos, please feel free to contact me.