FrontDesk Staff

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Front-Desk Staff Materials DevelopmentWORKSHOP
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These materials were designed by a group of
staff members from all branches of the
OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS METROPOLITAN YMCA.   The
workshop was held on May 25-26, 2004 at the SCOTT
CONFERENCE CENTER in OMAHA.   The participants to
the workshop were from all the branches of the
OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS YMCA. Here are their
names     Cathy Chase     Kim Birkel    
Elisha Buster     Carolyn Flint     Craig
Gilmore     Bill Roux     Jim Schuldt    
Alfonzo Shade     Eileen Stout     Joni
Sumodi     Mary Toumbs     Deb
Warnke    WARNING! This is not a FINAL
draft! This is an original collective work in
progress from the collaborative work of 12
individuals. To become final, these materials
will have to be reviewed, re-organized,
integrated, modified and finally approved by all
participants.
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Training Materials Development Process

• Define the job
• Define the learner profile
• Define the goal of the training

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• Define the content of the training
• Define the learning objectives

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• Develop instructional activities to reach
  objectives

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• Prepare written training materials

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• Outline training session agenda
• Define Master Lesson Plan

• Review Materials
• Logistics

• Collect Feedback

• Determine follow up activities

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To define the job
(THE JOB) We defined the duties and tasks for
the job at the Front-Desk. Then each of us wrote
on giant Post-it notes at least 5 tasks. The
notes were put on the wall, moved around and
categorized to identify the following 9 main
areas of tasks. We ended up with more than 70
tasks and a comprehensive listing of the
front-desk job description!
Materials Development Workshop
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The Front-Desk JOB
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To understand the people to train
(THE LEARNERS PROFILE) We wanted to know
more precisely who are the people working at the
Front-Desk. We wrote their profiles on a poster
and we had a discussion on how to better
understand them and train them. The result of
our conversation was the learners profile!
Materials Development Workshop
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THE LEARNERS PROFILE
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To define our goal
(THE GOALS) To make sure that the training we
were developing would really make a difference,
we decided to define its goals. We wrote each
goal and what we would accept as evidence that we
had succeeded. By the way, in doing this we
noticed that we all wanted to have more accuracy
and more ownership from the Front-Desk staff!
Materials Development Workshop
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THE GOALS

• (indicators for each goal)
• Perform Efficiently and correctly job functions
• (less time of Full-time staff spent with the
  Front Desk staff,
• Less time spent to fix records)
• Improve accuracy of program registration
• (less mailing returned for wrong address, less
  wrong phone numbers in system)
• Improve accuracy of reports
• (less discrepancies of MOS financial activity
  report with GL report in Fundware)
• Enter information correctly
• (less mailing returned for wrong address, less
  time of full time staff spent with the Front Desk
  staff)
• Reduce errors in recaps
• Take ownership of entries empowerment
• (more records with initials of staff)
• Develop favorable attitudes toward software
  therefore entries are made accurately
• Develop more buy-in to Members Only
• Encourage longevity and positive attitude of
  employee
• (less turnover of the Front Desk staff, improved
  Survey results)

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To define the content
(THE CONTENT) Based on a list of all possible
procedures in Members Only Software, we selected
the ones most important for the job. From these
we created a CONTENT. (THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES)
Then we wrote LEARNING OBJECTIVES for each
content point. We defined specifically what we
wanted the trainees to do to demonstrate they had
really learned.
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THE CONTENT sample from segment 4 - Card Scan,
Photo ID
2 Finding the picture on file for the Membership
Card Photo ID - Photo Id, find a picture  
Membership Card Management 2 Actions with
Membership Card Photo ID - Process Photo ID 2
Taking a Picture for a Membership Card Photo Id -
Photo Id, Make a Picture 2 Printing a Membership
Card Photo ID - Photo ID, Print a Membership
Card   Card Scan Management 2 Scanning YMCA
Cards 2 Find Person Alert /memos 2 Respond to
Alert   2 Match picture with Card Scan - Photo
ID, Print a Membership Card
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THE OBJECTIVES sample from segment 3 - Program
Registration
1. Given a Verified entry sheet, a
participants name, a payor and a class to
register, trainees enter registration and a
payment, handwrite checkmark on Verified entry
sheet correctly, 80 of the time.   2. Given 10
names of registrants, trainees are able to find
the registration record and the payment made
previously by customer within 5
minutes.   3. Given 10 names of registrants to
cancel, trainees cancel registrations correctly 9
times out of 10
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To define the activities
(THE ACTIVITIES) We thought about how to teach
to these people, and what materials we needed to
do it. The result was a list of different
activities created to teach the content we had
defined before.
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THE ACTIVITIES sample from segment 1 - Basics
1 Activity Name Find it!   Description
Trainees identify the credit cards the YMCA
takes.   Materials needed sheet with all names
of credit cards that the YMCA accepts.   Time for
the activity 3 min.
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To define how the time was spent
(THE AGENDA) We came up with an agenda for the
session, imagining we were doing the
training. (THE LESSON PLAN) Then we wrote
everything in a document that had the agenda as
well as what to say or do and what materials we
needed for any single step.
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THE AGENDA sample from segment 1 - Basics
SESSION AGENDA       900 905 Presentation
take a payment   905 920 Demo 3 or 4
examples of payments   920 955 Simulation
Give them 10 payments types to enter   955
1000 Overview Closing Remarks
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THE LESSON PLAN sample from segment 2 - Membership
MEMBERSHIP OBJECTIVE 1 Entering Membership
Personal Information
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To write the actual materials
(THE MATERIALS) We created fake records or fake
payments in cash, credit or check to be used
during the classes to simulate the real- work at
the front-desk.
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THE MATERIALS sample from segment 1 - Basics
Sample of credit cards to enter during the
exercise
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After a few more iterations we will have in-house
training materials produced by the people who
will be using them!
More training to more people, at a lower cost.
Course is customized to meet your needs.
Training Benefits
Training Materials are developed by their users
Trainers have skills to develop other courses
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IDEAS that came form our work together   We
could formalize the SHADOWING process of the
training that we have now. Like you need to have
a checklist of procedures that says   Find a
record Seen ? Done ? Edit a record
Seen ? Done ? Enter a record Seen ? Done ?
  The new employee need to return it back
after the first week after checking the
appropriate checkboxes.   It would be nice to
have one training laptop per branch with the test
system!   we could create a certification
training program for employees at the fron desk
whose completion will result in an increase of
pay!   We should have a standard test that we
administer to all front desk personnel to verify
their knowledge of Members Only Software   We
should train also on the new features and this
should be done on a regular basis after a regular
periodic meeting with Members Only Software