Contract Management Fundamental

The Contract Management Fundamentals is one of the animation-based trainings I did with cartoon characters. Instead of reading chunks of text, two senior contract experts, John and Kate, pictured above, explain to the learner everything they need to know to get started in this field. After a number of changes and with the project changing hands, eventually we moved the production from Blender to Adobe Character Animation. Understanding the limits the new system imposes, with a few workarounds the production did become easier and faster.

“Some people say our voice sound flat or even… robotic! Can you believe it?”

That is John, prompting learners they are about to hear a computer generated voice-over throughout the course. And he is right, there are many users that can’t stand a robotic voice. But with the AI-based text-to-speech getting better and better, the usual resistance to computer generated voices is getting less of an issue.

Information Security Awareness

Lara strikes back

This project first came to me, as a request for advice for potential external providers. By the sounds of it, the business unit responsible either didn’t know or didn’t trust this kind of work could’ve been done in-house. So, the team took as a challenge to show off some of the capabilities we could offer, and I did a small teaser. The briefing was impress the customer but don’t spend too much time on it.

Instead of adjusting the existing e-learning package, I re-wrote the script to a scenario-based animated story. In the original training, the main character had to escape the cyber traps created by Lara. Your job was to keep him safe, by succeeding in the quiz questions. This second iteration, I designed it so she was not only really annoyed you helped our hero to succeed but also much better prepared. She has new technology available to her, learnt new tricks to deceive you and are fully invested in stealing your money and identity, better if both. Beware, Lara Strikes Back.

Long story short, although the concept was well accepted, it would not fit the timeframe allowance. However, it did win us the project, we got to revamp the current version of the training and the online team is now working on a version for team leaders and managers, likely to be sure targets given they have better access to the organisation systems, some including decision power over budgets.

But… the whole thing looked so real.

Yes, it normally does. Hackers will disguise their traps into products and services that look almost like the original, if not identical. In this learning program, the user receives emails and messages that look very ordinary, and even from people they know and trust. Their job is to identify signs that will hint the whole thing might not be what it looks like. The message might not even come from the sender it says it does. At times, they trust their source, follow the instructions and before they know it, they get their identity stolen, dodgy charges on their credit card and their reputation compromised. It is good people being targeted for just being good. Sadly, in this business, if you trust others easily, you are a good target.

Some tips that could be useful when judging whether a content is safe or not

If you hover the link for a little while, a info may pop with the real address. So if the link says “yourbankname” but it points to “someplaceelse“, don’t click.
If an existing supplier asks you to change their banking details, call them and confirm this.
if an offer looks too good to be true, good chance it is.
If a lawyer from wherever chooses you, out of the blue, to transfer a large sum of money from an unclaimed inheritance… like, seriously? Just report it.

Lara releasing viruses in an office environment

Decode the Code

We’re all in this together.

This would be the third official iteration for the Code of Conduct (“the Code”) e-learning program. Unlike the previous version where you read a story (eg. scenario) and make a choice, a cartoon character will tell you their story and ask you for advice. If you give them good advice, we move on. Give them a less-than-ideal advice and we’ll visit the content of the Code, to remind us of the organisation’s expectations and preferred behaviours. In a way, similar to the classic “choose your own adventure” stories.

There aren’t winners or losers in this training package, yet for every choice you make, the game logic will still grant you points for both good and not so good decisions. The big reward would be the time you will save when collecting more good points. The ‘Code Ninja’ mode, added in the current version, is still present. The program lets you choose whether you want to see the entire content, or just face the scenario-based quiz. This option, in particular, triggered many positive feedbacks. There are thousands of employees that have been working in the organisation for many years and will know the Code by heart. I find it is only fair to respect their existing knowledge and build from there.

The team members you encounter along the course. Each one plays a role in a story they will tell you. You then decide what to make of it, whether the event was “okay” or not, as well as if further action could or should be taken.

Issues that are seldom black and white.

With the characters telling you their story, you don’t have to go through large chunks of text to understand the scenario before making a decision. Plenty of research out there will indicate video can increase engagement and characters can increase relatability. The scenarios deal mostly with grey areas, where there isn’t a 100% right or wrong answer. In this gamified experience, we go for better choices rather than absolutely correct ones.

The rationale behind it? I like to think that workplaces are complex. It is made of people, and people are complex (Cynefin, anyone?). I understand it is more than just that, with governance and its policies, organisation culture and perhaps a management strategy that will not always match the environment needs. However, that is beyond both my reach and the scope for this project. So, what then? After some reasoning, I managed to persuade the subject matter experts (SMEs) to let me “blur the line” between right and wrong answers in some of the scenarios, and score them accordingly. Each time you choose an option that is not the organisation’s preferred one, and yet it is not wrong either, an extra screen will say that, while we respect your choice, there are other ways to handle the issue. You are invited to consider alternatives, yet if you don’t want to, we’ll respect your choice. You still get to proceed and finish the training without any penalty.

The end of a saga

In the past few years, I’ve been lucky to be involved with some important learning programs, such as Connection and Take-Off, both part of Council’s Leadership Academy, as well as the Code of Conduct. That’s house rules, it’s what we accept and what we don’t. It sets the expected behaviours for every single employee, internal, permanent, part-time and what have you. This version with the character animation would be my third and latest iteration.

For a solid two-ish years, there were many conversations over the content, what and how it should be presented, adjustments, updates, fine-tuning etc. From concept to completion, every stakeholder involved was consulted, most got to play-test the gamified work in progress during production. Every single one of them, including the sponsor, provided a very positive view of the program, in a constant feedback loop we had. All milestones approved with flying colours – except the last, the final sign-off.

This one got stuck for months, before the bomb landed on my desk; the project was canceled, without any explanation. After some digging I learned that the sponsor decided the project wasn’t “serious enough”. Which made us all wonder, what changed? Two years in a loving relationship and then, boom! It’s over… but hey, “it’s not you”.

Classic rational system with complicated strategies, I told myself. Once an executive decision is made, a descriptive process follows and the adoption is enforced top-down, with little to no latitude for interpretation. Efforts are appreciated, support is offered at team level; we vent a little, shake it off and move on. Next?

I just completed the game and loved it! So nice to see something different. some comments from my perspective: I think the goal is clear as there are hidden messages throughout which links back to the Leadership Blueprint behaviours. It’s very easy to navigate (…), and the dashboard is a great idea, as it’s a constant reminder of where you’re at. So clever, well done you.

Penny M.

Senior Learning Designer, A/ Leadership Team leader, BCC

Leadership Academy awareness activity: Connection

The new standard

Late 2018, the Council I work for rolled out a new-ish standard guideline for leaders. It’s a blueprint for desired behaviours, meant to help leaders better understand where their capabilities currently sit against Council’s standards, and also each other.

In order to ease leaders into this new system, a few programs have been developed. One of them, is an interactive online activity I developed with the L&D team, aimed mainly at aspiring and team leaders. Middle and executive managers will enjoy the effort and see the value, although they might find the activities too basic for their level.

Story and logic

(A method to the madness)

The Synopsis – You’ve been invited to join Earth’s delegation and represent Council on the most prestigious intergalactic summit in the Open Space. In preparation for attending the summit, you’ll make key decisions that can make or break the project. They will affect the course of history, the outcomes, your performance and have an impact on the people around you. Your job is to lead your team, make positive connections and deliver a world-class presentation.

The logic

The overarching story is based on the blueprint’s sub-factors for Connection, one of the capabilities promoted, and all passages and decisions are backed by supported (and expected) behaviours.

During the activity we track two variables, CONNECTION and TIME. They are points you may gain or lose in every decision you make. For instance, at some point you’re given the option to get to know more about your team members. If you choose to do so, you’ll lose time points (time invest). However, connection points may be rewarded.

Based on your score, you’re presented with one of four results, from nailing the project to failing not going to the summit at all. Also, based on performance, 70:20 activities are recommended.

The result

The activity is still new, so it’s early to pull any definitive data out. However, the reports already show we’re off to a good start. The majority of the learners (leaders) enjoyed the overall activity and they find the awareness gained will be useful in their jobs. The feedback rate went up to 46%, that’s far more than any other training we have in-house. Also, importantly, the vast majority (83%) liked the way the activity was presented.

I’m very excited to participate in this new approach, be able to introduce game based activities to Council and work alongside high caliber learning professionals to bring leaders training that is engaging and fun to play yet serious enough to make it to the official Leadership Academy.

City of Tea Tree Gully visual ID

I just spent the last month and a bit helping the communication team at the city of Tea Tree Gully council sort out their visual and corporate identity. I have to say, I was surprised.

From other people, I know that work with councils, the impression I had is that things are generally (too) slow, I thought I’d fighting bureaucracy and quickly start hitting walls. Instead, I met a dynamic team, young and young at heart, they took me in as part of the team from day one, and together we worked. In the course of 5 weeks, we fixed the brand style guide, signage, events collateral, the mascot team for Waterworld, their website new look, intranet, asset management system and more. Few! It was full-on, but it was fun.

Design is collaborative

Coming from a creative agency background, I was quite used with ridiculous deadlines, with everything being for yesterday. Top that with two direct managers, one older and insecure yet arrogant, the other young and overly ambitious – both incredibly arrogant, fresh graduates, ready to treat everyone on their level or below like dirt, for no good reason. So this time, joining a friendly team in such an open and collaborative environment, was just bliss, like fresh air.

For this reason, I can say my first experience with working within the Council was great, and I have the communication team to thank for. I understand some of the designs proposed may take a long time to be implemented, if ever, but in the end, it was fun taking on the challenge and working alongside professionals who truly understand the meaning of teamwork, inclusion and collaboration. Thank you CTTG team.