My first week at work, June 21-25, 2006:

Actually work started on Wednesday. The first two days were spent familiarizing myself with the company and the team I would be working with. I also spent time learning the Lectora authoring software and brushing up my Captivate skills. On Friday I was given the task of creating graphics for the Captivate and Lectora Web-based training that will be one of major tasks this summer. Starting next week I will actually be helping to author the training. They have hired contractors to create most of the course. Initially I will be creating some of the simpler sections.

My observations so far...

Emphasis on the ADDIE model:

• Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation is the guide for all they do. There is some frustration with this, which I’ll touch on below.

Emphasis on the team:

• All work is done by a team. Much time is spent simply coordinating their efforts. My supervisor, Peggy Chopp, spends nearly all her time on the phone making sure all are informed of any changes or additions. For instance yesterday she spent 12 hours doing this, from 7am to 7pm.

The corporate environment is very structured:

• Everything is created using templates and there is little room for creativity.
• All work is vetted by the marketing department to make sure it enhances the B of A brand. Also, the legal department checks for compliance with government regulations and other potential problems. Once something has gone through this process it can’t be changed. Otherwise it would have to go through another review that could take 2 to 3 weeks. Compliance is a major issue. In the office there was huge file cabinet after cabinet dedicated to compliance.
  

For a big company in many ways they are behind the times – or perhaps because they are so large:

• They are so concerned about their brand and not overstepping any legal bounds that it takes a long time for the wording and look of training to be approved. Plus there are many layers of management involved. Minor changes can cause long delays.
• It’s difficult to get approval to buy the latest software and hardware because so much of it needs to be purchased at the same time and then older models disposed. People in the field that use the online training often have “ancient” equipment that runs older operation systems. Their units often lack video or sound cards. Designers are forced to create Web based training for the least common denominator. This is a frustration for those trained in the lastest software using the most up-to-date hardware.

About the ADDIE model:

• The deliberate way this system dictates training be created is fine for a large corporation that can move in a systematic fashion, but there is dissatisfaction. At times they spend many hours creating training for something that is obsolete when they are finished or simply no longer needed.
  
• A case in point – one employee spent months creating training for a division that deals primarily with South America and handles a lot of transactions that could mask money laundering. The training helped employees learn how to detect this. That division was sold before their training was launched. He complained, "I just created training for 500 people who just lost their jobs." There is a desire to find ways to shorten the training, but fear of not doing things right if they do.
• They don’t measure the effectiveness of their training very well or at all. They are about to hire a “metrics person” to help remedy this. They realize this is an important missing link, but up to now it has been a low priority.
  

There is high turnover:

• No one I met in the training department so far has been with the company for over a year. Most were hired in the last 6-9 months. They all had several jobs before being hired by B of A. None seemed to last more than a few years. It is because this field doesn’t lend itself to long-term employment or because this is the trend in corporate business now? Or is it because the Bank of America has been on a acquisition spree the last few years?

Personal Notes

I was very excited about this opportunity and experience. It’s the first time I’ve ever been separated from my family for such a long period, worked with a major corporation, or commuted by train on a daily basis. I’m staying in a nice apartment with a young Korean family. I found the place through craigslist – another first.

The flight over was interesting. When I went to sit in my seat someone was in it with the same ticket. They had overbooked the flight. Since I had a little time, I agreed take a later flight in exchange for a travel voucher and an upgrade to first class for the second leg of my flight to Boston. Traveling first class is another world from coach. In coach a surley stewardess spends a lot of time telling passengers to stay in their seats so they can see the cabin door, there’s no free food -- now you have to buy your snack, and you’re hunched over most of the flight. In first class an attentive stewardess gives you hot towels, free alcohol and a full meal. You sit in this comfortable overstuffed recliner with lots of leg room. This is further evidence of how our society is being divided between the haves and have nots.

When I had arrived at Logan Airport I was picked-up by the man who’s renting me a room, Jonghyup Lee. He’s in the Korean foreign service and is getting a Master’s from Tufts in Foreign Relations. He told me of a difficulty their family’s going through on the ride home. Their 8 month old daughter is in Harvard Children’s Hospital recovering from heart surgery. I was shocked and saddened, but he expressed his gratitude that this problem happened in the city with the best medical care in the country, if not the world. His attitude was fantastic. I asked if I could visit his daughter and wife at the hospital when convenient.

Two days later he asked me to come to hospital. Children’s Hospital is part of the 5 hospital complex of Harvard Medical School. As I walked down the street it’s located I passed by hospital after hospital and then Harvard Medical school. I felt more than ever that Boston must be the intellectual capital of the US. It’s a town almost totally given over to higher education. These are lasting institutions made of granite and marble dedicated to learning. Compare that with the shallowness of a place like Las Vegas where they build throw away casinos dedicated to momentary pleasure. Not to say that there isn't plenty of people in Boston who prefer momentary pleasure. (On the other hand, patiently waiting 82 years for the Red Sox to win the world series is not what could be defined as a momentary pleasure.) In the end people are people wherever you go.

Jonghyup’s daughter, Ha-Min, was a very healthy and happy baby. Other than being in a hospital room and having a tube in her nose you couldn’t tell she had heart reconstruction surgery. I also met his wife, Yunju Kim. She was very nice, but doesn’t speak much English yet.

On Wednesday, my first day of work, I went to the subway station. At the stop was a jazz duo playing a great rendition of “Take Five.” I thought this is beauty of commuting and working downtown. However, the band hasn’t shown up since. On Friday we had an unexpected rainstorm. I didn’t bring an umbrella. I was a drowned rat by the time I got home. I thought, as I peeled off my soaking wet clothes, this is why people would rather drive a car to work and live in sunny San Diego.