03 Apr 2019
We wanted to get installers to start gaming. Or in any case, get them at their computer at home so that they would learn more during our training sessions. We want installers who work with AEOS to be self-reliant and independent, but our way of training them proved to be insufficient. Something had to be done about this! My colleague and I locked ourselves in for months to set up an e-learning programme for AEOS Basics. It was the birth of the Training Task Force.
Help!
How can we get an installer, who is not keen on doing his homework, to prepare himself for the training sessions anyway? Our teaching method proved to be unsuitable: the instructor said what he had to say, the installers listened and went home with their heads spinning with new terms and knowledge. And then they would call our support line with questions about issues that had all been covered! This had to be done differently.
Trailer e-learning AEOS Academy
I learn e-learn
Learning by doing, and being well-prepared for the training session. That was our goal. So my colleague and I immersed ourselves in the world of e-learning. We wanted to create something different than the regular, rather static e-learning methods, and really motivate people! That is why we decided to develop the largest part of the programme by using film and animation. Per module and to go through the AEOS theory, we take the installer by the hand based on real-life situations.
Firstly, the installers get a digital tour through our building, where they see our hardware hanging everywhere. We explain what everything is and how it works.
After that, we visit a fictitious client, so that they can experience how our hardware and software interact. Who has access and when? How does our system decide and organise that?
Lastly, the company of our fictitious client changes into an 8bits game environment. This is where we further explain the AEOS software. Which tools does it have? How do they work together? And how flexible is our software? This is what our installers discover while they game.
It’s not a game. Or is it?
We finally managed it: three interactive modules about our hardware, software, and the interaction between them. It took quite a lot of time, thinking, writing, and scrapping. Sometimes, we nearly had it and then the end didn’t work. So we started all over again. With the last module about our software, we decided after a month to work on the storyboard again, which we deemed not good enough. After a few minutes of out-of-the-box brainstorming, we concluded that we wanted to create a game and explain our software based on that. But we had already made all the filming appointments! So we had just one week to write everything. Very stressful but very good that we did it! It has become the coolest module of them all.
Launching geeks
Needless to say that we wanted to organise the coolest launch for our new e-learning modules. So we made a kind of film trailer that we sent to our partner network. First a teaser. After that, we sent a personalised card that the installers could use to access the modules. The responses were amazing! Installers now even ask for access to the modules so that they can get started. We have created some real geeks!
Nedapper Lisa Ottink
‘I studied International Business and Languages, something that has nothing to do with setting up training programmes. It is something I just happened to get into. That is how Nedap works: you direct your own career based on what interests you. When you see something cool and you have a good plan, you just get started. It’s great! I work for the Customer Service & Operations Team of the Security Management market group. My role within the team is to make sure that our channel partners have all the tools and means they need to market, sell, install, and service AEOS.
