Shift Leadership.
Peter Piper Pizza needed a more consistent way to prepare employees for shift management responsibilities.
Needs Analysis · Interactive eLearning · Employee Development · Implementation
Explore Interactive TrainingProject Overview
Peter Piper Pizza needed a more consistent way to prepare employees for shift management responsibilities. I collaborated with a business stakeholder and subject matter expert to develop an interactive training program that established shared expectations, reinforced managerial competencies, and supported more consistent operations across locations.
The resulting program was implemented in the workplace and included interactive learning activities, assessments, and mechanisms for collecting learner feedback.
The Business Challenge
Peter Piper Pizza relied heavily on informal, word-of-mouth training to prepare employees for shift management. Without a standardized training program, employees learned procedures and expectations from other employees, leading to differences in how responsibilities were carried out across locations.
These inconsistencies affected daily operations, including arcade game management, food preparation and presentation, and customer service. The resulting differences in customer experiences contributed to dissatisfaction and inconsistent performance against established business goals.
The organization needed a structured, repeatable approach to training that would give shift leaders clear expectations and establish more consistent operational practices.
Needs Analysis
I conducted a needs analysis using quantitative and qualitative surveys, along with location-specific customer satisfaction KPIs.
By examining survey responses and comparing locations' performance against established service targets, I identified gaps between expected operational standards and actual workplace practices.
The findings highlighted the limitations of informal training and established a need for standardized managerial expectations, consistent operational procedures, and opportunities for employees to apply their knowledge.
These findings informed the learning objectives and overall instructional approach.
Instructional Design & Development
Working with Jackie, the project stakeholder and subject matter expert, I translated operational expectations into a structured, interactive learning experience.
The training combined clear instructional content with opportunities for learners to practice and check their understanding.
Establishing Shared Expectations
The course introduced organizational core values through interactive activities and incorporated a video featuring managers to connect the training to the workplace.
A defined set of shift-management responsibilities served as both course learning objectives and standardized expectations for employees across locations.
Developing Managerial Competencies
The training identified essential managerial competencies and organized them into learning modules with specific objectives.
These modules established a common understanding of effective managerial practices and the responsibilities associated with shift management.
Interactive Learning Activities
I incorporated several types of interactive activities to reinforce learning and encourage active participation.
- Appearance standardsOne activity required learners to identify appropriate standards for managerial appearance, including hair, clothing, and professional dress.
- SMART goalsAnother used interactive flashcards to present example goals, asking learners to distinguish between SMART and non-SMART goals.
- Branching coaching scenarioI also developed a branching scenario in Articulate Storyline 360 focused on employee coaching and performance improvement. Learners navigated a realistic management situation involving an employee who needed behavioral improvement, selecting coaching responses and observing how the employee reacted to their choices. The scenario provided feedback at the conclusion, helping learners reflect on their decisions and apply SMART goal-setting principles to workplace coaching conversations.
Assessment and Feedback
Knowledge checks throughout the course allowed learners to assess their understanding as they progressed.
A final examination assessed learning at the conclusion of the training, followed by a certificate of completion.
I also included a course survey to collect learner feedback and support future revisions.
Implementation & Evaluation
The training was implemented at Peter Piper Pizza.
Plans for evaluating its effectiveness included qualitative feedback and key performance indicators (KPIs), with particular attention to consistency in managerial behavior and daily operations.
Customer-facing outcomes were also part of the evaluation plan, including customer satisfaction measures and positive customer reviews.
The course survey provided an additional mechanism for gathering learner feedback to inform iterative improvements.
Because the project was completed as part of my graduate program, I did not receive post-implementation performance data or participate in subsequent revisions.
Project Takeaways
This project demonstrates how I approach instructional design as a response to an identified business need.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined training format, I used survey findings and operational performance data to identify where learning could address inconsistent practices.
I then collaborated with a subject matter expert to translate organizational expectations into clearly defined objectives, interactive practice, and assessments.
The completed program provided an implemented training resource designed to establish consistent expectations across locations and support more reliable workplace performance.