How to create easy and effective janitorial training videos without a Hollywood film crew
Employees learn best utilizing a combination of training methods, watching and modeling behavior, listening carefully and also having manuals or job-aids to reference. For that reason, many companies are creating “blended” training resources.
Creating a series of short janitorial training videos are a fantastic way to blend some learning approaches and appeal to the various ways your employees might learn best. Read on to learn how you can make your own in three easy steps!
Decide on a goal for each video
The most effective janitorial training videos are brief. It’s better to create a series of short videos that achieve a goal instead of having your employees sit through an hour long video that touches on too many topics. Here are some goals to aim for in your videos:
Quality Assurance
Your clients have expectations, and part of meeting those expectations is ensuring your employees are properly trained. A common challenge of quality assurance is consistency. Many managers struggle to make sure that their teams are adequately prepared, practiced and are achieving the same measure of results repeatedly. Janitorial training videos can help provide this consistency. If all your employees view the same learning tool, you can ensure that they know exactly what the expectations are for you and your clients! Create videos that are between 3 to 10 minutes, breaking each task into easy-to-follow steps.
Equipment Demos
For new employees or introducing equipment upgrades to your team, create brief janitorial training videos that showcase a demonstration. Walk through the steps so your crew knows how to use new equipment. Whether it’s a power-washer, floor-buffer or industrial vacuum, a step by step video highlighting how it functions will save you time and effort in training your employees!
Safety Protocols
This one is a must-have for employee compliance and onboarding. Include information about protocols in the case of a fire or emergency, cleaning in office environments that may contain lead, asbestos or other potentially toxic elements and how to properly dispose of any chemicals.
Prepare to go into production
There is absolutely no reason to spend a lot of money or complicate the process with fancy software or equipment you don’t have. An iPhone or Android smartphone has a powerful enough camera to shoot great-looking janitorial training videos, and there are plenty of editing apps when you’re ready to edit them.
You can upload and store your videos directly on Youtube, and keep them private, or you can share resources publicly with other businesses and colleagues. This has the benefit of portability, since your teams can access YouTube on their phones or computers at home or in the field.
Even though shooting the video is simple, it will come out best if you properly prepare. Create storyboards or scripts for your videos. Take it seriously when you act as the director or assign a trusted team leader or manager to do so. Hold rehearsals and shoot a couple of times, to make sure everyone is comfortable and does their best performance.
It helps to make the setting as real as possible, so that your employees can relate. If you shoot the video in a real work setting, that helps reinforce what you want your team to learn and apply.
Involve your team in the process and value their feedback
As a leader, you already do a lot to cultivate a culture of teamwork that starts with hiring and continues with the onboarding and training process. When you organize these janitorial training videos, consider ways to involve your team throughout the process. Make it more engaging and interactive by surveying them about important questions they would like answered. Find out what would help to have demonstrated in a video.
Invite them to work in small groups to come up with a script or act out the roles if they are comfortable on camera. Ask a team member to narrate the audio or find other ways to participate. Always end your training videos by inviting feedback from your team about how they would improve the process. They are in the field every day and may know a faster more efficient way. Since these videos are brief and such a breeze to produce, you can stay open to improving the videos or reshooting them with your team’s input. As the saying goes, if you want to buy the best broom, ask the person who uses the broom every day.