Project Definition

Brown Bag Training Project

Client
Michael Rosales, Management Analyst
Monterey County Learning and Organizational Development
● rosalesm2@co.monterey.ca.us
● (831) 755-6241

MIST Team
Cassandra Humphrey, Project Manager
● chumphrey@csumb.edu
● (805) 610-5772

Deanne Dominguez, Design & Development

● decastillo@csumb.edu
● (805) 248-4581

Maren Sibai, Design & Development

● msibai@csumb.edu
● (818) 812-8064

Terry Mincey, Design & Development

● tmincey@csumb.edu
● (831) 206-7212

Project Overview
Michael Rosales, Management Analyst for Monterey County Learning and
Organizational Development, has requested assistance in creating one of several brown
bag trainings. As long-term Monterey County employees approach retirement, needs for
employee promotions have risen. To aid this, Mr. Rosales and colleagues have begun
to develop new procedures for evaluating and promoting current employees, with the
goal of replacing open positions with existing employees. To facilitate this initiative,
several brown bag trainings regarding employee coaching and management
development are in production.
This instructional design team will be creating one of the brown bag trainings in this
series: a 35 to 45-minute training session aimed at introducing managers and
supervisors to new evaluation criteria and procedures. The first training will be delivered
in person on the employees’ lunch hour, but the eventual goal is to transfer the training
to a fully online webinar. The proposed training solution is a PowerPoint guided
presentation with a succinct introduction to the new evaluation criteria. Participants will
be able to practice applying the information with workplace scenarios and real-world
examples, and they will receive job aids to reference the new information after the
training session is over. In order to have a training be successful across platforms,
materials including facilitator guides, presentations, and employee handouts will be
made available both on and offline.

Long-term transfer will be displayed when and if a higher number of employees are
promoted into open positions than outside hires. However, due to our time constraints,
manager and supervisor comprehension will be determined by their ability to apply the
new concepts in the training scenarios.

Why Training?
Creating a succession plan and providing employees with the chance to promote from
within is a new strategy Monterey County is adopting. Existing managers and
supervisors have not been formally instructed on how to conduct evaluations. There is a
knowledge gap that needs to be filled related to what criteria will be considered to
accurately evaluate a performance, while sharing some best practice tips that were
proven to be effective when conducting the evaluation.

Employees with supervisory positions need to be educated on the new performance

evaluation standards Monterey County will be implementing, providing disambiguation
and simplification to help them understand better the process.

Learners
The target audience for this training include managers and supervisors of civil services
departments of Monterey County. The organization is seeking to equip management
and supervisors with the skills needed to properly conduct evaluation with inferiors.

Due to the restructuring and rewriting of the evaluation process, learners have no prior
knowledge of the procedures or training on the topics covered. Due to shift scheduling,
about 30-50 staff members are expected to attend the face-to-face training, and around
100 are expected to participate in future webinars. Furthermore, given that the
information is new and therefore may seem unrelatable, and because the training is to
be scheduled during lunch hours, it is important for our team to consider how potential
disinterest, lack of motivation, and participant attitudes may inhibit learning.

Organizational Goals
Monterey County’s goal is to lower the turnover rate of younger employees as other
employees are becoming eligible for retirement in an effort to increase retention rates
and prevent unfilled position gaps.

Learner Goals
With a job aid, managers and supervisors will be able to explain the criteria for each
evaluation area and will be able to provide clarification on how the performance
evaluation process is conducted.

With a job aid, managers and supervisors will be able to identify poor, acceptable, and
superb employee performance, and to provide feedback and recommendation about
possible promotions in alignment with Monterey County new standardized performance
evaluation.

With a job aid, and provided with the needed performance input, managers and
supervisors will be able to conduct an employee performance evaluation accurately and
in a timely manner.

Deliverables
The main deliverables for the project include:
● Facilitator guide
● Presentation
● Handouts
● Job Aid (Resource Tool)
● Evaluation for Facilitator
● Recommendations for presenting the materials as a webinar

First, there will be a facilitator guide that outlines timing of topic review, talking points,
and where to find necessary files such as the accompanying presentation and
participant materials. A PowerPoint presentation highlighting key steps of the training
will serve as a visual aid. Handouts describing key points will be available for the
participants during the training, and a separate job aid with a more in-depth review of
the evaluation process will be made available on the county website for employees to
access. Finally, the facilitator will be given an evaluation to gauge employees’
comprehension. These materials will be available to download for offline use before the
training session.
The project will consist of a face-to-face lesson that will later be turned into a webinar.
As such, the deliverables will all be available digitally to be shared online. Most
materials will remain the same across platforms, but an appended facilitator guide that
outlines webinar duties such as accessing the software, sharing screens, and other
necessary tasks will be included.

Project Resources
In addition to Mr. Rosales, Yvonne Walker, a Human Resources employee for Monterey
County Learning and Organizational Development will provide guidance and materials
as a subject matter expert as needed. She can be reached by email at
walkery@co.monterey.ca.us.

Other resources include drafts of the new employee handbook and evaluation materials.

Logistical Considerations
For this training, there are two modes of delivery. First, the training will be conducted in-
person in a new training room. At this time, the room is still under construction and
therefore, internet access is not for certain. There will be a projector, computer,
notepads, and markers available for learners regardless of internet connection. Second,
employees will have the ability to access the training using work computers. These
learners will be utilizing employer-provided internet access to attend.

Timeline
● Week 2 (By 6/26): Project Definition
● Week 3 (By 7/3): Clarification/Follow-Up Questions (if any)
● Week 4 (By 7/10): Design Document
● Week 5 (By 7/17): Storyboards*
● Week 6 (By 7/24): Project Development
● Week 7 (By 7/31): Share Project Draft/Tweaks*
● Week 8 (By 8/7): Final Deliverables (* Optional)

* Emails will be sent regularly to keep the client up to date on development of the
product. Zoom check-ins with the client will occur at critical points (*) during
development. Additional Zoom meetings may be scheduled if needed, with one optional
meeting for a live presentation of final materials noted.

Budget
The client would like for all materials to be available at little to no cost. Meeting rooms,
presentation necessities like meeting rooms, projectors, and computers are available.
All efforts will be made to include a free webinar platform that will allow up to 100
participants to attend simultaneously. If no free services can accommodate a large
number of participants, that will be the only anticipated cost.

Critical Success Factors

Critical success factors will be assessed by the turnout of the clients, as well as their
reception to the training project. In order to assure a quality experience, it essential to
provide an educational experience for the clients that is both fun and user-friendly.
Furthermore, providing effective feedback in a timely manner is ideal. In order to
maximize the success of the project, participants should be observed in order to
address learning gaps and improvements for future versions of this project.