Instructional Design and Facilitation Case Study

The Problem

The company (a quick-service restaurant chain) was holding its second annual Shift Lead Summit, which is an in-person meeting for team members who are not managers yet, but have been given a leadership role in their stores. The company wanted a more interactive meeting, with concrete take-aways and solutions that the shift leads could immediately implement in their respective restaurants.

They also wanted this training to contribute to the bigger company goal of improving online guest satisfactions scores 5% by EOY. We had about a month to plan, design, and execute the event.

Using a version of action-mapping and input from a pre-survey of the learners themselves, I worked with the team to design a targeted training focused on 4 main areas: preventing guest issues, responding to non-verbal guest cues, managing peers effectively, and ensuring food quality. The engagement during the sessions and response from the shift leads was overwhelmingly positive and they indicated they felt empowered to make changes at their stores and to properly respond to guest issues.

Based on the success of the action-mapping we did to plan this event, it was decided that we would do a scaled-back version of action-mapping with small groups of shift leads to discover what their day-to-day challenges were, and to provide them with support and guidance when they encountered issues.

To make the most of the time we had, we decided to have a portion of the face-to-face training be whole-group with interactive scenarios, and then to have 4 small-group sessions led by a member of senior leadership (C-suite level and Regional Managers/Operating Partners) to dive into these topics more in-depth. This allowed us to do a few things: discuss the company’s guest service goal, review what their responsibilities are (and are not) as a leader in their stores, and for these upcoming leaders to have face time with senior leadership. It also allowed senior leaders to make clear what is within company culture and guidelines, and what these shift leads should avoid in regards to food quality, guest interactions, and team member relationships.

• analyzed the current program and worked with stakeholders and end users to brainstorm solutions

• designed the learning experience, including interactive experiences and small group sessions

• helped plan the event including catering and supplies

• created the visuals and workbooks for the event

• created a facilitator guide for each small group session led by a member of the senior leadership team

• facilitated during the event, including training on several topics, running the tech portion of the event, and keeping the event on schedule

Some of the initial brainstorming and action-mapping with the client