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eImportanceofIdlenessLeadershipDevelopmentWorthyofAdventureExperienceIstheNewCompet
September30,2015
HomeBuildingInformalLearningHabits
September28,2015
BuildingInformalLearningHabits
http://www.clomedia.com/articles/buildinginformallearninghabits
2/14
9/30/2015
buildinginformallearninghabits
Shortbutdisciplinedupfrontplanningcanhelpemployeesidentifyopportunitiesforinformalskill
developmentthroughouttheirnormalworkday.
TomSpencer
February19,2013
1Comment
RelatedTopics:LearningDelivery,InformalLearning
KEYWORDSinformallearning
0
ReprintsShare: Like 0 Tweet 1 Share
Theresnosubstituteforexperienceisacommonadageforthosewhohavelearnedbydoingduringalong
career.Welldesignedlearningcanhelpcloseanexperiencegap,buttheexpressionstillholdstruth.
Thereisapracticallimittoarelianceonstructuredtraining.Technologyandthebusinessenvironmentare
changingsoquickly,structuredtraininghasbynecessitytakenabackseattoinformallearningasthedominant
approachtoworkplacedevelopment.
SelfDirectedInformalLearning
Experiencealonecanbeaninefficientinstructor.Valuecomesfromtherelevantandpracticaltakeawaysinan
experience.Highpotentialemployeesareespeciallyeffectiveatgeneratingthesetakeaways.Inhis2011
EverydayExperienceIsNotEnoughblogpost,TomGramofPerformanceXDesignsaid,Experts
continuallychallengetheircurrentperformanceandseekfeedbackfromtheirenvironmenttostayinamoreor
lesspermanentlearningstate,masteringeverydayskillsbutcontinuouslyraisingtheirpersonalbar.This
deliberateapproachtolearningfromexperienceiswhatseparatestopperformersfromthenorm.
Whetherlearningformallyorinformally,employeesatalllevelsneedtotakeownershipfortheirdevelopment.
Thisgoesbeyondannualdevelopmentplansthatspecifyspecialworktasksandconferenceattendance.
Informallearningshouldntbelefttochanceorreservedforthoseskilledinmakingthemostoftheir
employmentexperience.
ForMikeSullivan,chiefpeopleofficeratbreakfastcerealproducerMOMBrands,effectiveinformallearningis
expected.Ourcompanyisambitious.Forustowin,weneedtojugglebeingalowcostproducer,agrowth
companyandagreatplacetodogreatwork.Thelowcostproduceraspectcanoftenbethemostchallenging.
Forcertaininvestments,wesometimeshaveanaffordabilitychallenge.Whileweclearlycantaffordpoor
performers,wealsocantaffordaheavyinvestmentinformaltraining,hesaid.Asaresult,weexpect
employeestobeaccountablefortheirowndevelopmentandthenprovidecustomizedsupporttomakethat
happen.
KevinMunson,chieflearningofficeratSears,saidthatskillnuancesinparticularareoftenbetterlearned
throughexperience,andtypicallyemployeesrelyonchanceforthosesituationstocomeup.Togetthemost
http://www.clomedia.com/articles/buildinginformallearninghabits
3/14
9/30/2015
buildinginformallearninghabits
frominformallearningopportunities,employeesneedtolookforandtakeadvantageofthoseopportunities,he
said.
ThePlanConnectReflectModel
Learningorganizationsshouldteachemployeestoextractlearningfromworkeventsbigandsmall,from
mundanemeetingsandcasualinteractionstotheirownbehavioranditsimpactonothers.Essentially,the
learnerwillplayanactiveroleinorchestratinginformallearningactivities.
Withinformallearning,employeesserveastheirowninstructionaldesigners,Munsonsaid.Theyidentify
theirlearningobjectives,evaluatetheirperformanceagainstthoseobjectivesandarrangeorfindreallife
experiencestoaddressthoseobjectives.
Employeescanintegrateinformallearningintotheirdailyroutineusingathreestepmodel:plan,connectand
reflect(Figure1).
Plan:Employeesrequiretwotypesofplanning:initialplanningtodefinelongtermlearninggoalsregarding
behaviors,skillstobeimprovedandworkplaceopportunitiestoaccomplishthosegoals,anddailyplanningto
connecttheirlearninggoalswiththeirschedule.
Thiscouldincludeoutliningthecontextforinteractionswithpeers,customers,vendors,leadersandexpertsin
meetings,customersalesorserviceinteractions.Whileitistheemployeesresponsibilitytocompletetheinitial
planning,thelearningleadercandrivethisactivitybyestablishingclearexpectationsandprovidingsupportfor
learningalignedwithbusinessgoals.
Weuseadisciplinedapproachtojumpstartemployeesselfdevelopment,Sullivansaid.Wefocusthemon
developingtargetedskillsthatwillincreasetheirpersonaleffectiveness,andhavethemdothisastheyworkto
achievetheirindividualandfunctionalgoals...allinalignmentwithourannualcompanyobjectives.This
avoidsdirectedinformallearningalwayshavingtobeaplusoneactivity.
Dailyplanningisaquickpreviewofthedayseventsandtheinformallearningopportunitiesthatmightsurface,
suchaspracticinganewskill.Beingprimedtolookforinformallearningopportunitieswillmakeiteasierto
recognizeandactonthem.
Connect:Theconnectsteprequiresfollowthroughonthedaysplanandrealtimerecognitionofunanticipated
opportunitiesforlearning.Therearefivewaysemployeescanconnecttheirlearninggoalswiththedays
activities:practice,impact,observe,listenandsetup(Figure2).Intentionallypracticingaskillislikelytobe
themostprevalentlearningopportunity.Itcouldbeatechnical,managementorleadershipskill.Ideally,a
trustedcolleaguewillbeavailabletoprovidefeedbackonthebehaviorsobserved.Thesefeedbackloopscanbe
setupinadvanceorsolicitedafterwardbasedonwhowaspresent.
http://www.clomedia.com/articles/buildinginformallearninghabits
4/14
9/30/2015
buildinginformallearninghabits
Munsonsaiditsalsoimportanttohaveawaytoevaluateemployeesimpact.Employeesneedtoask
themselves,HowwillIknowifIvedoneitright?WhatoutcomewillIusetoevaluatetheimpactofmy
behavior?Howothersrespondtotheirperformanceisagoodleadingindicatoroftheirsuccess.Specifyingthe
responsetheywantupfrontmakesiteasierforthemtogivethemselvesfeedbackinrealtimeandadjusttheir
behavioronthefly.
Forexample,insalesandcustomerserviceenvironments,impactcanbemeasuredbyidentifyingthecustomer
responsethatwilldemonstrateasuccessfulinteractionsuchasagreedtomeetagainordescribedaspecific
salesobjectionandthenevaluatingbehaviorbasedontheresponse.Specifyingthedesiredcustomer
responseinadvancewillestablishaneffectiveleadingindicatortomeasuretheimpactofthenewbehavioron
thecustomerexperience.
Employeesalsocanplantoobserveexemplarsofskillstheyaretryingtomaster.Toextractlearningfromthe
observation,theobservershouldrecordspecificsaboutwhatthepersondidanddidntdoandtheimpactithad.
Thesebehaviorscanbecomesituationaloroverallbestpractices.Likewise,havinganticipatedcontactwitha
knowledgeexpertduringtheplanningstep,employeeswillbeinabetterpositiontolistenactively,toprompt
theexpertformoredetailsandtorelatethatinformationtotheirexistingknowledgebase.
Futureopportunitiesforlearningcanbesetupinconjunctionwithanewproject,attendanceatafuturemeeting
orfollowingupwithanewcontactwhomightofferconnectionstotheemployeeslearninggoals.Likea
salespersonproficientatgeneratingsalesleads,employeesactivelyfocusedontheirlearninggoalsandwork
environmentwillbeabletogeneratelearningopportunitieswhereothersfail.
Reflect:Reflectingonthedayslearningfostersrecognitionandretentionofitsnuances.Thisincludesthe
contextofthebehaviorpracticedorobserved,theimpactofthebehavioronothersandwhatactionable
specificsledtosuccessorfailure.Reflectingallowsemployeestoevaluatetheimpactofwhattheyvedonein
theabsenceofanydirectfeedback,Munsonsaid.Italsoallowsthemtoconnecttheirlearningexperiences
fromthedaywithpastlearnings.Thishelpsthemidentifypatternsinwhatisandisntworkingforthem.
Quickdailynotetakingorjournalingfosterstheidentificationoftrendsinskilldevelopmentandallows
progresstobeevaluatedmoreeasily.Eventrecordingcanbecomeasourceofselfreinforcementas
accomplishmentsarerelived.Manygenericjournalappsareavailabletoreducethetimeandeffortrequiredto
trackandorganizelearning.Whiledailyplanningandreflectingareessentialforpromptandsustainedlearning,
thesestepsneedtoberelativelyquick.Otherwise,themodelwillbecomeburdensomeanditsactiveuselikely
willendabruptly.
BuildingInformalLearningHabits
Thequickestpathtobuildpositivehabitstrengthisthroughsmalldailygoalsandfrequentreinforcement.
Trackingtheuseoftheplanconnectreflectmodelcansetupopportunitiesforthatfrequentreinforcement
(Figure3).Thetimeandeffortrequiredfordailyapplicationandtrackingwilllessenasitsusebecomesahabit
andskillsaredeveloped.
http://www.clomedia.com/articles/buildinginformallearninghabits
5/14
9/30/2015
buildinginformallearninghabits
Reinforcementcancomefrommanysources,suchasselfreinforcementwhatpeoplesaytothemselves
abouttheirperformancethenaturalconsequencesofhowothersreacttoaspecificbehaviorinthemoment,
suchasapositiveresponsefromacustomerorcoworkerandsocialreinforcementfrompeersandmanagers.
Sullivansaidhebuildsscheduledreinforcementintotheprocess.Inourcorporatefunctions,weuse
developmentfocusedmonthlyoneononesforreview,feedbackandreinforcementoflearningactivitiesfrom
thepriormonth,hesaid.Thisistypicallyanemployeedrivenmeeting.Theysettheagendaandusetheir
managerasacoachandsoundingboard.
Employeesalsocanusetechnologytobuildinpotentialsourcesofreinforcementandaccountabilityforfollow
through.MunsonsaidaninternalsocialnetworkingsystemsupportsinformallearningatSears.
Thekeytobuildinglearninghabitsistoensurethatthebehaviorbeingdevelopedgetstimelyfeedbackand
reinforcement,hesaid.OnewaywesupportthisatSearsisthroughasocialnetworkingsitewhereemployees
shareaspecificexampleofabehaviororapproachtheyareworkingonandtheimpactthatithad.Forexample,
employeesoftendescribeanopportunitytoprovideapositivecustomerexperience,whattheydidtoachieve
thatandhowthecustomerresponded.Othersthenprovidesocialreinforcementforwhattheylikedandoffer
suggestionsforimprovement.Thisisbothabragboardandahelpdeskforskillrefinement.
Shortbutdisciplinedupfrontplanningwillhelpemployeesidentifyopportunitiesforskilldevelopment
throughouttheirnormalworkday.Oncerecognized,connectedtoapersonalgoalthatmatterstothem,recorded
andperiodicallyreviewed,theseeventswillaccelerategrowthandadaptability.Withoutthesequickbut
deliberatesteps,incidentallearningfromexperiencewillamounttothrowinglifeagainstthewallandseeing
whatsticks.
TomSpenceristhechiefoperatingofficerforAubreyDanielsInternationalInc.,amanagementconsultancy.
Hecanbereachedateditor@CLOmedia.com.
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