Cross Training

[JTBoh]

Just curious as to what you guys think about in-house cross training of employees - Does your sales staff do general design work? Does your GA coldcall stores? I know a lot of you guys are owner operators, and this should only apply to people you hired on to be 'sales' or 'graphics'... to be fair.

For me personally, as the sales guy, I try to not only know the products, but how they are made as well... I usually try this approach when doing a site survey.

1. Talk with customer about what they want.
2. Take pictures and try to visualize what they want.
3. Make a counteroffer of what would look better.

Seems to work pretty well, having a background in graphics helps. I'm self taught, decently experienced in PS... and I do have a good amount of job experience in designing advertisements, website graphics, and logos, so it is something I've done before.

What do you guys think? Is it worthwhile? Or should you just have that person focus on what they were hired to do?

 

[Spud Murphy]

I am more of a graphic designer by trade and a very brutally bad salesman. I depend on my design skills and general production knowledge to clinch the sale

 

[WildWestDesigns]

For me personally, as the sales guy, I try to not only know the products, but how they are made as well... I usually try this approach when doing a site survey.

To me that is key. You don't want your sales people to not know what is going on even if they don't really know the nitty gritty.

For instance, in embroidery you have two popular types of polo shirts, pique and microfiber. Microfiber presents more challenges then the regular pique polo shirts, so not all designs that work on pique might translate as well to microfiber, especially considering 95% of the digitizers out there only digitize with a mind toward regular cotton fabrics and knits etc. They don't need to know what the differences are for the underlay and/or push compensation, but they need to know enough that there is a significant difference and that can affect the quality output and to have a general idea of what designs will work or won't or try to know what changes might have to be made to make them work if possible.

 

[petepaz]

bottom line the more you know about your business the better, regardless of your position. doesn't mean you have to do every job but i feel you can do a more efficient job if you know all the ins and outs. your never know what question a customer is going to come up with or what applications/conditions you will encounter while quoting or selling.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

bottom line the more you know about your business the better, regardless of your position. doesn't mean you have to do every job but i feel you can do a more efficient job if you know all the ins and outs. your never know what question a customer is going to come up with or what applications/conditions you will encounter while quoting or selling.

Nothing ruins a potential job quicker then a customer asking a question that causes the saleman to have a blank look on their face.

 

[Sticky Signs]

I think this is one of the more interesting questions I've seen on this site so I will add my two cents.

I absolutely believe that cross training is necessary for this type of work. I currently work alone as an owner/operator. The reason I can do this is because at some point in my career while working for others, I learned about what everyone else around me was doing. I'm well versed in everything from design to production to installation. I also happen to know my way around a push broom and a toilette bowl scrubber. That's not to say that I exceed at any of those skills, but I do know my way around all of them and I'm actually pretty damn good at some them.
If and when my company grows to a point where I have staff, I will make sure that everyone spends at least 1 week working in each department so that they can gain a general understanding of the position as well what is involved to make that position work properly. I'm not saying that each person needs to become a Jedi master of all the other positions, I just think that each individual would benefit from the knowledge gained by knowing what everyone else is doing and WHY they are doing it that way.
For example, if a designer knows about the limitations of the printer, they can design around those limitations. IE- if the designer knows that the printer is only 54" wide, they probably won't give you a 55" file. Likewise, a production person may take the extra time to properly trim a graphic to size because they know that it's a real PITA for the installer to trim the graphics on site. These are only a few examples that come to mind but you get the picture. Keep in mind that this is a 2 way street meaning that the people at the front of the line should be aware of what the people at the end of the line are doing and vice versa.
I truly believe that cross training will not only improve overall workflow, but it will also cut down on costly errors which in turn should make your operation run smoother with more profitability.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Bump - because I 'm interested in what others have to say about this.

 

[James Burke]

I'm just a one-man show, but if I had employees, you can bet that I'd be doing some cross training.

As a former trade-school instructor, I think it would be prudent to do to do some sort of "skills, abilities & aptitude" assessment to determine the potential areas of success for each employee. You don't want to set them up for failure and then lose them all together. Open communication with the employee will be crucial as you, and they, make the transition.

Over the years, I've seen plenty of "prima donna's" in the workplace. Cross training not only helps to keep egos in check, but it will greatly validate an employee's value to the company.

One last note of importance is to make sure the employees understand their "boundaries". In other words, cross training should not be used to threaten employees with the fear of losing their position to another co-worker.

JB

 

[signmeup]

I think you would be a better designer if you knew how to make and install what you designed. I received a file last week that was really not possible to make as presented to me. When I asked the designer how I should proceed, once I pointed out the problem, he didn't know. So I had to solve the problem.

The TV show "Undercover Boss" is quite amusing on this subject.(cross training)

 

[signmeup]

A bit off topic but not entirely; I repaired a friends chainsaw yesterday. (I used to run a small engine repair shop) The machine in question was designed to assemble quickly at the factory but was extremely difficult to work on in the field. (this is a common compliant of mechanics the world over) Whoever designed it should be sentenced to repair them for the rest of their days.

 

[James Burke]

A bit off topic but not entirely; I repaired a friends chainsaw yesterday. (I used to run a small engine repair shop) The machine in question was designed to assemble quickly at the factory but was extremely difficult to work on in the field. (this is a common compliant of mechanics the world over) Whoever designed it should be sentenced to repair them for the rest of their days.

(Pressing the "Like" button repeatedly)

JB

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I think you would be a better designer if you knew how to make and install what you designed. I received a file last week that was really not possible to make as presented to me. When I asked the designer how I should proceed, once I pointed out the problem, he didn't know. So I had to solve the problem.

Now I'm pressing the like button repeatedly on this one.

This happens all the time with people wanting me to digitize embroidery patterns for them.

They just don't get it why embroidery isn't like hitting print on a printer and no matter what the size everything comes out the same.

 

[John Butto]

crosstraining?

failed that class...

 

[Myte]

Heh, same here.
Cross training - I can't possibly see how that can have any negative sides - meaning there only has to be positiv ones. And can you give me a reason for not doing something that is good? None? Right. So in my head, it makes perfect sense to do cross training - not really something to consider if you want out and up in this (and any other for that matter) buisness.

EDIT: Haha! Love that, John ^^

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

When I worked as a pinstriper for a then major motorcycle manufacturer, there was a standing company policy of if you wanted to be promotable you had to be constantly training replacements for yourself. The end result was that in a custom paint department of about 60 employees, I'd say at any given time roughly half of them were capable of doing any job in the place. I've never seen a place where people were so routinely promoted upward.

Contrast that to the last sign company I worked at before my premature retirement. The owner believes in each person spending their natural lifetime doing only the job they were hired to do. I tried to tell him about the policy at my prior job and as usual, it fell on his incredibly dense deaf ears. The end result of his policy was, for example, when the router operator was out sick no routing got done at all. Same for all other jobs.

I think cross training only makes sense from the standpoint of uninterrupted production, the benefits of which should be entirely obvious. I am amazed at how many employees think having more people who know their jobs as somehow diluting their opportunity for raises. I think that ultimately the more consistently profitable a company is the better the case for raises for everyone.

 

[charissabuskirk]

I think you would be a better designer if you knew how to make and install what you designed.

My first gig in the sign world as a designer was production. I had to learn FIRST how my designs were going to effect the manufacturing end. Makes you think sometimes, lets NOT add another color.

 

[signmeup]

My first gig in the sign world as a designer was production. I had to learn FIRST how my designs were going to effect the manufacturing end. Makes you think sometimes, lets NOT add another color.

This is how it should be done. Too many people that are "in charge" have no idea how what they are "in charge of" is done. I believe you should be an expert in "making things" before you are aloud to design anything that needs to be "made".

 

[TheJaspMan]

Everyone (four people) in my shop can do every position a little bit. But each person has their specific responsiblities and 'titles'. I like to make sure everyone understands the process of each type of job. However I am the only one who does ordering of any kind.

The only problem with cross-trianing (to me) is that I'm tired of people coming in, learning the whole gambit, making business relationships and then attempting to start their own business on my time.

 

[James Burke]

For the most part employees who are not cross trained just get bored (or burned out). And I believe the chances of them leaving are greater if they know that they'll be able to grow and improve somewhere else. I did.

But on the flip side of all that, we all are aware of dead end jobs that will remain that way no matter how much cross traing occurs.

What surprises me the most, however, is the apathy of employees when it comes to initiating and executing their own path to professional development...and even worse yet, managers and business owners.

JB