A Practical Guide to the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013 provides Quick Guides on how to use the tools for professional learning and development, education and training.
A line manager was concerned that the company’s traditional induction (onboarding) workshop took place so irregularly that a new employee was often in post for a good few weeks if not months before s/he attended it. The situation had now come to a head as one of his new promising employees had resigned before attending it, and had stated this was due to the obvious lack of interest of the company in integrating her into it.
The line manager turned to the L&D department for help. Their traditionalresponse might well have been to create an online induction course which would be available to all employees as soon as they joined the company, but instead the L&D Director suggested that Tim, one of his team members, should meet with the line manager and some recent new hires to find out more about the issues.
During that meeting, in addition to the delay in getting a place on the induction (onboarding) workshop, it also transpired that the content of the workshop was very boring, being simply presentation after presentation on the history, vision and mission of the organisation. It was clear that they would not be interested in spending their time working through that same content online. What they had really wanted to know it in the early days of joining the company, was how to deal with practical issues like where you got your company laptop and mobile phone, and how you used your canteen card to purchase lunch and refreshments. These things the new hires had to find out for themselves, and although their colleagues were willing to help out and answer their questions, they were unable to spend too much time with them because of their own workload. The line manager also asked why induction couldn’t actually start BEFORE the new hires stepped through the door on the first day.
So Tim suggested setting up a group on the company’s Yammer (enterprise social network) which new hires could join immediately their job position had been confirmed, where they could find information about the company as well as where they could ask questions and post their comments and views.
Those in the meeting thought this would be a good idea, so Tim asked them if they would be prepared to help with the project in terms of populating it with some early content, as well as helping to answer the questions of other new hires. He explained that as more and more people joined the group over time, then their participation would be reduced.
Tim fed back the idea to the L&D and HR Directors, who said they would be very interested to see how this worked out, and Tim said he would be happy to act as a New Hire community manager in the first instance until someone else could take over the role. So a Yammer New Hire group was set up and Tim got to work with others to make it a useful group space.
After a couple of months in operation, Tim ran an an informal survey to get some feedback. The new hires all felt that this was a very welcoming approach and that as they had established relationships with colleagues before they had arrived, it was very easy to fit in to the company. They also knew where to go to get everything they needed in the first few days. It was therefore decided to continue the New Hire group indefinitely. A few months later the HR Director was able to report an increase in retention rates, which made him and the senior managers very happy.
Key takeaways
Tim was able to find a solution that suited both managers and new hires
Tim supported the solution as it was put into practice.
Success was initially measured on the “feel good factor”, but was eventually measured in performance terms (retention rates)
A senior manager of an organisation approached the L&D department because his new PA, Ann, was struggling with producing the documentation for the Strategy Committee. He thought she needed some further training.
L&D’s response might once have been to look at the schedule of a training provider and tell Ann she could have a place on the next 3-day Word course in a few weeks time, but instead the L&D Director asked Helen, one of his team members, to pay Ann a a visit.
Ann was a hard-working and efficient PA with considerable experience in using Word, the word processing software. However, she admitted she was struggling with the “track changes” functionality.
Helen asked Ann what she was trying to achieve, and Ann explained that she had to send out papers to the members of the Strategy Committee to create a number of strategy documents. She emailed them a first draft, then each member of the Strategy Committee was asked to make amendments and additions on the document (using track changes) and send the amended document back to her. She then had to put all the amendments onto one master document for final review at the Strategy meeting. It was taking her ages to do this, and her boss was getting quite alarmed at how much time she was spending on it. She asked if she was “missing” something in the track changes function; and wondered if some further training might help.
Helen explained that it wasn’t a fault of the “track changes” functionality nor her lack of training, but rather that the process itself was causing the problems. She suggested it would be a much better idea just to create one master document that all the members of the Strategy Committee could have access to and amend themselves. Ann sighed with relief, as she realised this would solve all her problems in one go.
Helen then discussed the different software options available; their pros and cons and ease of use, and before finally agreeing on the use of Google Docs as the preferred solution, they ran the idea past Ann’s boss. He was delighted with the suggestion and immediately could see a number of possibilities for using it for other work. With respect to the strategic documents they were creating, he said he could start them off himself by entering some notes, then Ann could take over and work them up into something more professional. Then they would invite the members of the Strategy Committee to make their amendments directly on the document.
Helen then showed both Ann and her boss how to set up a Google Docs account, how to create a document and share it with others. Once the first document was ready for the Committee, Ann sent out instructions on how to access the document as well as edit it. Helen remained on call to help with and questions they might have.
The use of Google Docs proved to be very successful, and freed up Ann to work on some other more interesting and exciting projects. Ann’s boss was very appreciative of Helen’s work and asked her to spend more time in his department to try and improve the productivity of all the members of his team. He also recommended to the Senior IT Director that they use Google Apps throughout the company, and this is likely to take place very shortly.
Key take-aways
Understanding the root cause of the problem – not the symptoms – helped to identify the solution
A solution might sometimes be best achieved by changing work practices rather than training on existing, flawed ones.
The learning professional can support those adapting to new working practices; not just tell them what to do.
The Sales Managerof a consumer electronics company was concerned about the length of time it was taking to create and deliver the online training courses for new products and new product updates. This was having a knock-on effect that meant that his sales people were not able to talk intelligently about these new products to their customers which often led to poor customer satisfaction results and also weak sales in the early days of a product launch. He approached the L&D department for help.
The traditional response to such a problem would have previously been that they could reduce the time taken to create and deliver the online courses by a number of weeks, by bringing the development work back in house and hiring a couple of instructional designers, and then purchasing the authoring software as well as all the multimedia production and editing kit that was necessary to create the course themselves. However, instead he suggested that Jenny, one of his team, convene a meeting of product managers and sales people to discuss the problem.
Jenny found out that they normally worked in complete isolation and very rarely had any communication with one another. She also found out product training took place after launch because that was just the way they had always done things. She asked the product managers if they would be happy for the sales team to find out more about the products before the launch date and answer questions on them, and they said they would be delighted. She made the suggestion that the product managers might like to “work out loud” on their Yammer (enterprise social networking platform) – this would involve writing regular posts about the new products, and would keep the sales team up to date with what was happening. Such updates might describe new functionality and even show images and mockups they had built, and of course answer any questions the sales team had about the products. This was agreed as a way forward and a pilot was set up on a couple of new products to try it out.
The result: at product launch, the sales team were well prepared to start talking to their customers about the new product. Sales in the early weeks of new product increased and customer satisfaction scores shot up too. The pilot was deemed a success, and the project was continued. A further advantage was that it brought the product development team and the sales team closer together and from then on they held away days to discuss new innovations and product design.
Key takeaways
Jenny was the catalyst in helping the teams understand how they could help each other
She didn’t organise the solution for them, rather helped them identify one that suited them all, and then supported them as they put it into practice.
Success was measured in performance terms (improved customer sats, increased sales) not learning terms (course completions, etc).
Many people working in L&D do now recognize that workplace learning is more than courses delivered through a learning management system.
They certainly are beginning to realise that most training courses (either face-to-face or online) are endured rather than enjoyed by their people, and that there is a lot of evidence that shows that they are often ineffective.
Many in L&D do want to break out of the “course is the solution to every problem” mentality, but don’t know how to get started. They don’t know how to get their own L&D team members thinking differently about how to support the business in more appropriate ways, nor how to stop line managers asking for a course whenever they encounter a performance problem.
I often advise L&D groups that one way to break out of old thinking is to have a policy where courses become the exception rather than the rule.
In other words, a strong case has to be made for a course to be created – one that documents all the other relevant options that have been explored and the reasons why they are not deemed appropriate. The case then needs to be scrutinized by others in the team to spot any flaws in the argument. The activity of building and defending the case should be tiresome enough to put off only those who are clearly convinced that a course is the only possible solution (or part of the possible solution).
Taking this step however requires (at least) two new skills of the workplace learning professional.
the ability to conduct a proper Performance Analysis together with the manager in question to help to identifying the core problem(s) and a range of possible solutions. [Note: This is very different to carrying out a Training Needs Analysis – since a TNA already assumes training is the solution.]
a good understanding of a wide range of potential approaches to addressing performance problems together with their costs and benefits, pros and cons. Much of this will only happen once team members personally experience these new approaches themselves, and are able to “walk the talk” and show how their own practices have changed.
Of course it does also require line managers to understand that the workplace learning landscape has changed too, but as more and more realise that courses are often far from an ideal solution, then they will probably be more than willing to consider other approaches.
But what about the diehards who think they can just “order a course” as they have always done? L&D will need to explain that it is now policy and practice to carry out a performance analysis, and if a manager refuses to participate and insists on a course, then they will need to take a firm stand, and require the manager to write his/her own case for approval.
Once courses are the exception rather than the rule, they are more likely to be valued a lot more in the business.
Here is my personal pick of the best blog posts in January 2014. (For all the posts I tweeted and bookmarked in January, see my 2014 Reading List.)
1 – WEARABLES
January started off with the usual round of predictions for 2014 and one of the recurring predictions was the increase in use of wearable technology. However, a Fast Company post pointed out, in Can Performance Be Quantified? Wearable Tech In The Office (5 January) that ..
“The age of the quantified self is here. Now business is buying in.”
Stowe Boyd (GigaOm, 14 January) took it one stage further, and talked about the emergence of Bring Your Own Wearable:
“The additional cost of wearables and the complexities in their use make it harder for companies to ask their employees to switch to company gear … But that doesn’t mean that they won’t be happy to gain whatever productivity increase comes from their use.”
As BYOD morphs into BYOW, another article in ReadWrite (20 January) explains that management are also starting to adapt to a world where you “bring your own everything” : Bring your own social networks; Bring your own contact manager; Bring your own methodology, Bring your own productivity tools and apps.
“Facebook data scientists have turned the methodology used to predict the downfall of the social network in a paper by researchers at Princeton University against the Ivy League institution to describe how its days may also be numbered.”
“Popular wisdom holds that caffeine enhances learning, alertness and retention, leading millions to consume coffee or caffeinated drinks before a challenging learning task such as attending a business strategy meeting or a demanding scientific presentation. However a new study in the journal Nature Neuroscience conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins hints that when it comes to long-term memory and caffeine, timing may be everything; caffeine may enhance consolidation of memories only if it is consumed after a learning or memory challenge.”
4 - TRAINING & LEARNING
There were lots more great posts in January – here are a few more with some key quotes I’ve picked out.
Training Hubris by Marc Rosenberg (Learning Solutions Magazine, 14 January)
“Training activity that doesn’t produce business value is primarily wasted.
“Skilled managers have never been more critical to the success of firms than they are today. Not because employees can’t function without direction, but because managers play a vital role in talent management. Gone are the comprehensive career management systems and expectations of long-term employment that once functioned as the glue in the employer-employee contract. In their place, the manager-employee dyad is the new building block of learning and development in firms.”
“Almost eight thousand people have taken my Skillshare course so far, and the ones that got the most out of it all had two things in common: They did the project worksheets and they actively contributed to the online discussions. Learning is not watching a video, learning is taking action and seeing what happens.”
” educational opportunities should be social, whether that means taking place in a classroom or via online chats. Even something as simple as following the author of a book you like and engaging with them on Twitter forces you to start communicating with and learning from a larger community.”
5 – CHANGE
Clark Quinn believes that it is time for L&D to change. In Starting Trouble(28 January) he writes.
“The gist is that there are a number of changes L&D is not accommodating: changes in how business should be run, changes in understanding how we think and perform, and even our understanding of learning has advanced (at least beyond the point that most of our corporate approaches seem to recognize). Most L&D really seems stuck in the industrial age, and yet we’re in the information age.”
“If you want to be part of a successful organization, you need to be part of the dialogue — to share your views, influence others, and make a difference. If you don’t feel that you can take the initiative to do that, then either think about what gets in your way or what you can do differently. If conditions don’t allow you to speak up and exert your influence, go somewhere else. But waiting for senior leaders or the CEO to make things better is probably not going to be a very effective strategy.”
“So the challenge for me – and for other corporate learning teams is this… it’s time for us to create some density from within the organisation to create the change that is required … Those who will find this change disconcerting or who need to hide within organisational hierarchical structures will leave. The others will, by nature, express independence, create networks and once again re-engage with their work.”
[If you want to share my Top January Picks, please do ensure you provide full attribution to this blog post.]
I first read about the concept of web residents and web visitors in a First Monday article back in 2011, Visitors and Resident: A new typology for online engagement - which proposed “a continuum of ‘Visitors’ and ‘Residents’ as a replacement for Prensky’s much?criticised Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants” The authors, David White and Alison Cornu, explain the difference as follows
Web visitors
“We propose that Visitors understand the Web as akin to an untidy garden tool shed. They have defined a goal or task and go into the shed to select an appropriate tool which they use to attain their goal. Task over, the tool is returned to the shed.”
Web residents
“Residents, on the other hand, see the Web as a place, perhaps like a park or a building in which there are clusters of friends and colleagues whom they can approach and with whom they can share information about their life and work. A proportion of their lives is actually lived out online where the distinction between online and off–line is increasingly blurred.”
So, for me, being a Web resident is the ONLY way to keep up to date – by being immersed in what’s happening there, by reading about it and talking about it with connections from around the world in my professional network (aka PLN).
Here is where I find out about all the new (frequently free or low cost) tools that NEVER appear on exhibition stands, as well as hear about the amazing (new) work of colleagues around the work that RARELY gets air-time at conferences.
Being a resident of the Social Web and keeping up to date is an integral part of my work. I have already shared how I use my own tools as part of my daily PKM routine, which is now second nature time. But essentially, the invaluable knowledge and experience that is freely and willingly shared on the Social Web helps me to do my own job well. In fact I could no longer do it effectively without being a resident of the Social Web.
Many of you will know that I refer to myself as an independent Workplace Learning & Collaboration Advisor. What does that involve?
I help L&D (as well as other organizational) teams in the following ways:
I keep them up to date with what’s happening in the world of workplace learning and collaboration trends, technologies and tools, as well as answer their questions on new things they have heard about.
I offer a range of options (ideas and suggestions) for ways to solve any challenges and problems.
I help them understand the pros and cons, costs and benefits of different solutions for the particular issues they face.
I provide support and guidance as they put the option THEY HAVE CHOSEN into practice.
I don’t do their work for them. I don’t sell them (nor tell them to use) a particular methodology, product or system. I help them make informed decisions.
As L&D departments evolve in this new world of working and learning, there is a growing need for Workplace Learning Advisers who can help their own organizations in the same way – both proactively and reactively.
Proactively keeping work teams up to date with new ways to improve productivity and supporting knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Reactively helping work teams, groups and individuals understand the range of possibilities to address their job, team or business performance problems, and then supporting them as they put their chosen option into practice.
The role of a Workplace Learning Advisor is therefore about helping individuals and teams make informed decisions - rather than telling them what to do or learn – or how to do it.
Is the role of a Workplace Learning Advisor one that you would like to take on – or maybe even already take on in your organisation?
The PDF edition of the 2014 edition of the Social Learning Handbook is now available for personal use by registered users. Price: £15. Site licences can also be obtained by organisations for multiple readers.
Social Learning Handbook 2014: The Next Generation of Workplace Learning Practices in the Age of Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration
Although social learning is something that we have always done, it has often been ignored or misunderstood by the training industry. Now, however, the proliferation of social tools makes this a powerful way to improve workplace performance. When we consider what social learning means inside an organization, it’s not just adding social media to instructional programmes or letting people interact with one another. It’s more about helping people learn from one another as they work together – enhanced by collaborative enterprise social tools. Learning in today’s networked workplace is not just being trained to do a task, but about learning with and from one another as we face new challenges. In the connected enterprise there is a new role for HR, OD, and L&D departments. This book looks at some of the key ways that organizations can start to support social workplace learning.
Here are full details of how to become a registered user, or obtain a site licence for the PDF version of the Social Learning Handbook 2014.
A Social Learning Practitioner is a learning professional who encourages, enables and supports knowledge sharing and collaboration across their organisation – not just in training. He/she is a role model, leading the way by showing the business what it is to be social, and modelling the new knowledge sharing and collaboration practices that are required for the modern business to operate effectively in the modern world.
Before you can help your organisation become social, you need to “walk the social talk” yourself. This first part of the new Social Learning Practitioners Programme (SLPP) offered by The Connected Workplace will help you do that.
Available for on-demand, self-paced use by individuals, this programme consists of 25 practical activities for you to do on your own or with your work team to develop your own personal social learning skills as well as work (and learn) collaboratively with your team. These activities promote network thinking, the use of social tools for self-organised professional learning, and help to develop knowledge sharing and collaboration skills (e.g. through working out loud and social performance support). [You can view the list of 25 activities on The Connected Workplace site using the password guest]
Participants on the SLPP will be supported by Jane Hart and Harold Jarche through the Social Learning Practitioners Network (SLPN), where they will also share links to further relevant resources as they become available.
Participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement when they have shown evidence of completion of the activities.
PROGRAMME FEE (Part 1): £95 This price includes PDF copies of the Handbook and the Practical Guide plus 6 months access to the materials on the Connected Worker site. However, participants can remain as a member of the Social Learning Practitioners Network for as long as they wish.
Launched in January 2014, TMT Predictions are Deloitte’s view of the key developments over the next 12–18 months that are likely to have significant medium- to long-term impact for companies in Technology, Media, Telecommunications (TMT), and other industries.
Note, particularly in the Technology section, that Deloitte predicts:
Wearables: In 2014, consumers will be wearing more than $3 billion worth of newly purchased technology
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Enrolment in massive online open courses will be up 100% in 2014 over 2012 to more than 10 million courses – massive, maybe, but not as big as the media hype.
Take a look at this slideset prepared by Deloitte Canada:
Following Monday’s post, How to break out of the “course is the solution to every problem” mindset: make courses the exception rather than the rule, this is the third of three case studies that shows how courses are not the solution to every learning or performance problem. These case studies have been adapted from posts that first appeared on my blog in 2010.
Following Monday’s post, 
Following yesterday’s post, 
Many people working in L&D do now recognize that workplace learning is more than courses delivered through a learning management system.
Many of you will know that I refer to myself as an independent Workplace Learning & Collaboration Advisor. What does that involve?
The PDF edition of the 2014 edition of the Social Learning Handbook is now available for personal use by registered users. Price: £15. Site licences can also be obtained by organisations for multiple readers.
A Social Learning Practitioner is a learning professional who encourages, enables and supports knowledge sharing and collaboration across their organisation – not just in training. He/she is a role model, leading the way by showing the business what it is to be social, and modelling the new knowledge sharing and collaboration practices that are required for the modern business to operate effectively in the modern world.
Launched in January 2014, 
