Performance support tools excel at providing information and guidance when it comes time to carry out a task. Handbooks, pocket-tips cards, checklists, process charts and other support tools have been around for a long time – usually in hardcopy form. Today, the delivery medium is more likely to be a desktop computer, laptop, or mobile device such as a Smartphone or tablet.
Reference Guides
The Need
No matter where they are in Canada, first-time municipal Councillors face a steep learning curve. What are their mandatory and discretionary duties? What ethical principles are they expected to observe? What rules guide participation in Council and Committee meetings? Wouldn’t it be a good idea to create a Handbook to answer such questions?
Approach
Androcom, working in partnership with the NMTO and Algonquin College Corporate Training, was tasked with creating a suite of learning materials for Mayors and Councillors in Nunavut’s 25 hamlets. The materials included an orientation video and two reference documents – the Nunavut Councillors Handbook, and the Nunavut Guide to Council Meetings. Councillors receive all three resources within a few days of taking office.
Procedural Flowcharts
The Need
Flowcharts are among the most useful devices for reinforcing procedural training because they provide quick visual reminders of process steps. So, when RPB developed a training program for leasing officers, it requested flowcharts for each of the major processes.
Approach
The solution was a one-page, two-sided reference chart for each process. One side features a diagram with numbered titles, 1-sentence explanations, and colour coding highlighting leasing officer responsibilities. The reverse side elaborates on each step by providing a more detailed explanation and identifying sources of additional information, if required.
Safety Handbook
The Need
The UXO and Legacy Sites Program works to reduce risks posed by unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO) at all legacy sites across Canada. A legacy site is any property not owned by DND that contains UXO, regardless of its origin. Soon after the Program’s creation, the need for a UXO Safety Handbook for contractors, emergency responders and others working on UXO legacy sites was identified as an urgent priority.
Approach
Drawing on examples of similar Handbooks developed by military and civilian agencies around the world, and on the expertise of Canadian Forces ordnance experts, a team lead by Androcom president, Ken Desson, researched, wrote and managed the production of a pocket-sized manual designed to: identify major types of UXO; explain procedures for working safely in UXO-affected areas; give instructions on how to respond when UXO is encountered; and provide templates for recording important information.
Workplace Refresher Training
The Need
Medical devices of many different kinds are essential to patient care in 21st Century hospitals. As a new device – such as the Sigma 8000 IV Pump – is introduced, nursing staff typically receive hands-on training in its operation. However, as weeks or months may pass before a nurse actually uses the device with a patient, quick access to refresher training is essential.
Approach
Androcom worked with WCH subject matter experts and an Ottawa-based production company to develop a simple web-based tutorial consisting of still images and short video clips illustrating the device’s set-up, operation in various modes, and tear-down. Suitable for delivery on mobile devices such as i-phones or tablets as well as on computer workstations, each procedure can be viewed in 90 seconds or less.