Corporate Training Animation Done Right
Motion graphic videos and animations are an up-and-coming trend in the world of L&D. They make an attractive tool for a wide variety of training sessions, including orientation training, safety training, technical training, etc. However, producing an animated course can be an elaborate and painstaking process. It’s the norm to see corporations encountering problems when using animation for training. But with a little heads-up, you can easily avoid these mistakes and greatly improve the quality of your L&D strategy.
5 Common Mistakes When Using Animation For Corporate Training
1. Not Having A Curriculum
It never hurts to map out what you want to do first! A curriculum contains the content as well as its planned method of delivery. Creating the rough ideas for the course will help L&D strategists stay on topic and achieve their goals effectively.
Without a curriculum, there may be a lack of cohesion and coherence in the training course. Disorganized steps and unattended ideas will confuse information delivery, which greatly reduces training quality. Clear visualization of the course from the curriculum draft also helps L&D strategists decide which elements of animation to use. This gives a rough idea of the expected budget.
2. Mismanaging The Balance Between Cost And Effectiveness
The most expensive option isn’t always the best choice to make. Companies must achieve the delicate balance between the expense of the project and its results. Aim for quality first, then budget. You don’t want to spend financial resources on something you don’t actually need. For example, a handful of businesses wish to make a training course in 3D instead of 2D. But in reality, a 2D animated course can still do the job, and it costs way less.
3. Using Distractive Designs
The ultimate goal of the training course is to deliver knowledge. Other animation elements, such as motions, text, or voiceovers, should contribute to this goal, not distracting learners from it. The most obvious mistake here is adding too much text in the training video. Text even appears on the screen while the narrator’s already reading it aloud. This splits the audience's attention and decreases the end result.
Choosing the wrong type of animation is another big design-related mistake. There are various types of animation, each suits a different kind of content. To illustrate, a mechanism of action (MOA) animation excels at explaining the working of a drug or processes in your body on a microscopic level. Consequently, when using the wrong type of animation for your project, you may reduce its effectiveness yet increase cost and lose valuable time.
4. Losing Focus On Priorities
An animated training course has a lot of ongoing elements, such as characters, background music, movements, transitions, and so on. That’s why it’s really easy to lose focus when producing the course. One may overuse the available elements and completely miss the priorities: the audience and the knowledge.
The animation should help L&D strategists convey the information to the learners. In other words, it’s the content that must be the center of the training course, not the animation.
5. Forgetting About The Audience
Creating a training course revolves largely around the learners. They should have an interest in the training, such as gaining new knowledge or picking up a new skill. If a course developer doesn’t know their audience, there’s a pretty high chance they will mistarget the audience’s interests. This causes the course to be less engaging, and eventually reduces its effectiveness.
How To Avoid Mistakes When Using Animation For Corporate Training
Plan What You Want To Say
L&D strategists should always map out the content for the training course beforehand. This acts as the curriculum or the framework of the whole project. So make sure you don’t miss any points or ideas that appeal to the target audience. Then, arrange what you want them to learn. Try to stay as cohesive and coherent as possible to shorten the path to your ultimate goal—knowledge delivery.
Additionally, making a curriculum first will save plenty of time in the later stages of the production. Knowing exactly what you want to do is always better. And in case you make a mistake, just redo the draft curriculum. It’s much more pleasant than starting the whole thing from scratch!
Control Your Budget
The curriculum draft should provide L&D strategists with a rough idea of the maximum budget to shoot for. From there, follow the available financial range to find suitable animation studios for the project. If you want to locate the best animation studios for training courses, here’s a list of the top 5 in the business with their strengths and weaknesses.
Also, only pay for the thing you absolutely need for the project. If you feel certain more expensive features may help elevate the training quality, just make the call! Prioritize quality first. The course will pay for itself in the long run.
Pair Your Content With The Appropriate Design
Match your curriculum with a suitable type of animation to best deliver it. Scout for the top choice within your budget range. A good design should have just the right amount of text to increase concentration. If you’re afraid that the learners may lose track of the knowledge, provide them with a copy of the script. Keeping the design fun and relatable also helps trigger long-term memory.
Stay Focused
Always focus on clarifying the main points so that learners can easily grab the main concepts. Animation is just the tool to help deliver those concepts. Therefore, make sure the visual aids, the motions, the characters, and other elements highlight the content and don't overshadow it.
Know Your Crowd
Build the training course around the interests of the audience. Put their unique characteristics on the table and consider what appeals to them the most. An appropriate art style or voice would best engage them in the experience. Don’t go wild on creativity in a direction that feels immature or inauthentic. It may lead to a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of the animation.
Tips To Increase Effectiveness Of Corporate Training Animation
In-House Production
Here are a few tips that can help you produce a greater training course internally:
- Stick with the plan
Start the project with a clear curriculum and a timetable. This will come in very handy in managing the production as well as provide navigation for the whole course. - Locate available resources
Check to see whether your company has enough expertise or equipment to produce an animated course independently. If not, what options do you have? Can you hire new employees or purchase new equipment for the project? Do you plan on producing animation in the long run? These questions can help you decide the best route to take. - Add a small quiz
To make sure the learners actually pick up something from the training, add a small quiz at the end of the course! It’s also a great way to evaluate your success.
Outsource
Producing animation requires so much effort, why not leave it to the professionals? Instead of forcing yourself into it, let an animation studio save you the trouble.
Tips For Working With An Animation Studio
- Set your goal first
Have a clear vision of what you want to get out of the training course. It will guide you to make better choices in the production. Let’s say you want to prepare employees for emergencies and train them to administer CPR. Then, you will need to choose an animation studio with experience in HSE training to do an explainer or interactive video. - Go abroad
Animation studios in other countries may offer a cheaper rate than your domestic options. You want to get the best quality of work but you also want to save your budget. For example, an animation studio in England may charge more for every 1 minute of runtime than one based in, let’s say, Vietnam. - Share your ideas
It’s essential that you communicate with the animation studio to establish a mutual understanding. This provides the studio, or the producer of the training course, a clear sense of your goals, expectations, curriculum, or insider tips that can make the course better. - Keep track of the project
As the client, you have full control over the project and you should use it. Stay as the production goes through different stages and pitch in any thoughts/make changes to ensure the quality.
Conclusion
Animation is a great tool for corporate training but tricky to use. In the right hands, it can create a profound impact on the training quality. If you plan to do the animated materials yourself, we hope the tips above help you steer clear from making the common mistakes. However, it will be in your best interests to hire an animation studio instead.