Some things are hard to explain in text. How to start a machine safely, how to greet a customer, how to carry out a task just right. You can write it down, but it only clicks once someone sees it. That is why video is often the easiest way to train your team.
With a video you show what you mean, in the real setting and with the real actions. No long wall of text that someone half skips, just a few minutes of watching and it is clear.
What video does best
Video is at its strongest when you want to show something rather than describe it. You show the real actions in the real workplace, so a new hire sees exactly how it should be done. People pause and rewind to go over a tricky part again at their own pace. And the explanation is the same every time, not dependent on whoever happens to be training that day.
A video is also easy to watch on your phone, far more approachable than reading a wall of text. That means someone can take a course outside working hours too, on the go or on the sofa, instead of only at a screen at work.
When video is the right choice, and when it is not
Video is not the best format for everything. It takes time to make, and you cannot adjust it as quickly as text. Choose video when you want to show something: a task, a tour of the place, a real situation on the floor.
For the opposite, a written course often works better. When people want to look something up quickly, they scan text faster than they search through a video. When the content changes often, you update text in a minute, while a video has to be re-recorded. And for a long, detailed procedure you want to page through, or a short notice, text is usually enough.
What makes a video people actually watch
A good training video is short and covers one topic, a few minutes rather than half an hour. Plain, unpolished footage of the real workplace works better than a slick commercial, so you do not have to make it look nicer than it is. Turn on subtitles, so someone can follow along with the sound off too. And make the first ten seconds clear, so it is obvious right away what someone is going to learn.
Do not leave the video entirely on its own, but write some context around it. If the video gives work instructions, list them again briefly underneath. That way someone can read it back quickly without watching the whole video again, and the key information stays available as text too.
Making sure it lands
With a video you do not just want to know that someone clicked play, but that they really watched and understood it. Zunderwork lets you arrange that. You can require the video to be watched in full before the course can be completed. Fast-forwarding is off and rewinding is on, so someone can go over a tricky part again and understand it. After the video you ask a few questions to check that it really landed, and the employee can always rewatch the video later.
That way you know for sure that everyone has seen and understood the same explanation, and not just clicked through.
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Keep it accessible
A video only trains everyone if everyone can follow it. Turn on subtitles and do not rely on sound alone, so someone with the sound off or poorer hearing can follow the video just as well. That way every employee can take the course on their own, whatever way they learn best.
How Zunderwork solves it
With Zunderwork you build video courses and combine them with text and questions in one course. You set the video to be watched in full, add subtitles, and assign the course per person or per team. After that you follow in one overview who has watched the video and answered the questions correctly.
And you do not have to film everything yourself. Zunderwork has connections with parties that can make professional video courses, so you get good video even without your own recording setup. And if you have a marketing department, they can often already help with recording and editing.
Sometimes showing is simply the fastest way to explain something. With video you do that once, properly, and you know for sure it has landed with everyone.