The Problem: A manufacturing and sales company with five U.S. plants and 1,000 employees had one big problem – a major communication barrier between plant management and production-line teams. Productivity was low, defects were high, and both sides were in denial.

The Solution: This company needed a riveting, mindset-changing, do-or-die example of great teamwork in action. No tepid teamwork training video would do. CRM Learning’s dramatic, true story, Teamwork in Crisis: The Miracle of Flight 232 was right on the money.

The Success Story: Plant managers and front-line teams together attended training events at each location, which began with the Teamwork in Crisis video and progressed to open, honest and sometimes difficult dialog about the obstacles that stood in the way of success.

But the preparation for these events actually took place several weeks before, when management met with production line supervisors for frank dialog on what was needed to improve efficiency and quality. Both sides felt this advance work was absolutely critical to build the trust necessary to make the company-wide training events meaningful.

On the day of training, after participants watched the Teamwork in Crisis video, the discussion turned to the unique situations at each plant. Facilitators wrote their own training plan around real-world facts. Plant management and production leaders recognized and admitted that a problem existed, showing that management had bought in to breaking down walls.

And most important: In order to facilitate open discussion, managers were asked to leave the room so front-line employees could be honest about their assessments of product quality and productivity, including their own.

Facilitators took notes, brought the problems, ideas and solutions back to plant managers, who in turn went to the shop floor to begin implementing ideas they were able to. The physical results from training were fast and obvious. Improvements, cooperation and communication flourished, and team members felt that their ideas were heard and acted upon.

Most important, team morale improved immeasurably and pride of workmanship became standard operating procedure. From a defective material rate averaging around 6 percent a day, defects shrank to under 2 percent – a number that has been sustained for the past six years!

The company reports that Teamwork in Crisis was partly responsible for the company’s own miracle turnaround. A company spokesman says: “Training videos provide a dimension to our learning events that we would otherwise have not had. The many films we have purchased over the years have provided inspiration, laughter (and some tears), and improvement to our everyday work lives.”

Watch a free full length preview of Teamwork in Crisis:
http://www.crmlearning.com/teamwork-in-crisis-the-miracle-of-flight-232

The Problem: A mid-sized community bank with 200 busy employees needed training that would inspire creative thinking about leadership, build strong teams, and be finished in the course of a two-hour lunch workshop.

The Solution: Provide a variety of CRM training videos that motivate and connect by showing real people in everyday work situations, including Teamwork in Crisis, Leaders of Character: Leadership – The West Point Way, and Taking Charge of Change. Customize each course to provide just the right amount of material necessary for a truly meaningful Lunchtime Learning session.

The Success Story: For some employees, combining a hard-earned lunch hour with a leadership lecture wasn’t initially palatable. But once the monthly Lunchtime Learning sessions started rolling, the voluntary classes filled quickly and latecomers were being turned away at the door. These segments are now very much looked forward to, combining reward and recognition with practical, memorable training ideas.

Initially, segments of videos were shown in order to fit the allotted time frame. As the popularity of lunchtime training grew, the bank expanded on some of the themes and took them company wide. For example, Taking Charge of Change was initially formatted for the Lunchtime Learning workshop and became the foundation resource for a longer training session for all bank employees. Using the Leader’s Guide as a backup to the lesson plan, the company was able to custom design programs that engaged employees at many levels.

In addition, training leaders report positive feedback from managers at all levels who have taken bits of the training, including the ice-breaker and skill set activities, to their own staff meetings and inter-departmental planning sessions.

One training leader praised CRM Learning video materials for providing rich content in a concise format, and said “I find these programs give our instructors an array of valuable topics to cover, with a minimal amount of preparation and development time.’’