Hackstone

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work at the NIH. I am a Workforce Development Specialist. My office designs and delivers soft skill training to our organizations staff and leadership.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Hackstone , and what were your goals?

The recent training we designed is called Building a Respectful and Inclusive Communication Environment (BRICE). BRICE was created to further the goals of a respectful workplace and to ensure everyone working in our organization benefits from an enhanced communication environment. When we all listen and learn from each other, we create a positive working environment which supports the accomplishment of our mission.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We researched video production companies in our area. After receiving four proposals we selected Hackstone because of their personable team and reasonable cost. They really seemed to grasp our goals for the project and how the video would support the new training.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

We started with a kick-off meeting to go over the goals of the project, a review of the content of the training and how we wanted to the video to introduce the ideas of civil communication. Our plan was to interview our own staff asking questions around their experiences with civil and uncivil communication in the workplace. We had a few pre-production meetings with the producer and project manager. Once we had our logistics, question set finalized and our interviewees selected we held a production day on site.

The turn around time for the first cut of the video was about two weeks, we only had to have one revision made. The outcome was a 13 minute video including segments of eight of our staff talking about their experiences with civil and uncivil communication.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

We worked with the producer, project manager, and editors in preparing for the production day and in the editing process via virtual meetings. The shared the video with us via Vimeo. We had the feeling that the whole team was really engaged with the project and all were invested in the outcome we were looking for.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We use the video as a requirement for participants to view prior to attending the training. It is extremely effective in preparing the participants for the class by getting them to think about the behaviors associated with civil communication before they attend the training. They show up prepared to engage in discussion around the content that is presented. We also have benefitted from the full footage of video we have with the complete interviews. We are able to use snip-its of these in the training itself to introduce new skills and strategies. We also have them as a resource for other training programs will plan to deliver.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We mostly spoke over email and in virtual meetings. Communication was open and timely. We always heard back from all members of the team quickly. Our way of conducting projects definitely aligned with theirs. Great attention to detail, and a true understanding of our goals.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They really took the time to understand the aspects of the project and every single one of them were engaged. I had the sense that they were as excited and invested as we were.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing that I can think of, we were very pleased with the outcome.