Informally Yours - Consultant's Corner
There is plenty of documented evidence that the
vast majority of learning (c. 80%) occurs informally, whereas most
training department activities focus on the formal tip of that iceberg.
Epic is seeing more of its clients focusing on their use of informal
learning and, for example, blurring of the distinction between L&D
and knowledge management. As organisations realise that the theory
and practice of “our people’s intellectual property
is our differentiator” means they have to bring structure
and contextual support to their information systems to really leverage
its value and capture the informal learning opportunity, they are
building a better organic learning culture.
Our white paper on Knowledge Management and e-Learning (2003) recognised
the inspiration of Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: The
Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990), that stated
learning occurs when knowledge is transformed by people and their
experience is put to good use. This flows through to how organisations
that are good Learning Organisations develop knowledge and learning
cultures. Acknowledging that learning most often takes place in
informal, fluid and unintended ways, such organisations build coaching
and peer collaboration opportunities to facilitate powerful knowledge
exchange amongst its people. Does such an approach cross over the
informal / formal divide? We think so. We encourage our clients
to build blended solutions that merge the method, media and content
to provide ongoing learning that extends well beyond the formal
initial intervention.
Additionally, we advocate building links between internal information
sources and those of relevant external sources, and turning them
into powerful learning opportunities. This approach requires that
learning designers lead such applications - rather than IT systems
engineers - although in truth, both groups are needed for the system
to be effective. Our Informal Learning white paper (2004) covers
the whole raft of informal styles from performance support through
workplace and spot learning to truly invisible learning where the
technology is totally transparent to the process of exchanging information.
Equally, we are seeing more acceptance to including the newer collaborative
internet tools to support our blended designs. These are used in
particular where informal designs can benefit from the use of blogs
and wikis as well as other peer group tools. Although wikis may
be new to you, they extend the opportunities provided by the more
familiar email and instant messaging as knowledge sharing tools.
However, ensuring appropriate levels of editorial control over contributors
to a wiki is key to maintaining the content’s integrity. Blogs,
for example are becoming a popular tool for thought leaders and
respected managers to share and exchange their views – often
right from the heart of the situation as their immediacy is a major
part of the attraction – but also need to be maintained to
remain credible. Look out for our new white paper for even more
information on blogs and learning. For all these tools, harnessing
and sharing such information effectively is part of the learning
designers’ challenge and sustaining it the challenge for the
client’s organisation.
Finally, if you really want to move into the domain of powerful
learning organisations you should ensure cohesion between the parts
of the organisation that manage information and those that manage
learning – as a conscious structural model. But don’t
make it too formal.
Epic Consulting is focused on building capability of our clients
by providing practical advice on all aspects of learning strategy,
interactive design, blending, implementation and evaluation processes
as well as the wider needs for integration with IT systems and other
business processes. For an initial discussion on how our consulting
service could help your organisation, please contact: consulting@epic.co.uk
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