There's going to be a fundamental shift in the way we conduct Learning. The smart people have already cottoned on, and the rest need to listen up and get with the program.
Things have changed. Information is right there at our finger tips. Most of it is free. It is available now. Gone are the days of calling all of your staff in to the boardroom for a half day session on how to answer the telephone, or sit at your desk properly. Gone are the days of asking students to attend a class, in a classroom, at a certain time.
Here's one of many recommendations Jay Cross would make to any senior business person right now, in his recent article in Dawn of a New Age from Chief Learning Officer Media :
“Next week, we will close the training department. We are shifting our focus from training to performance. Any remaining training staff will become mentors, coaches and facilitators who work on improving core business processes, strengthening relationships with customers and cutting costs."
The shift is about using what your trainees and students have in front of them already - a computer and the internet. The emphasis is going to be on rapidly developing an affordable knowledge sharing system, tracking performance and results and improving communication between people.
Cross goes on to say companies should move to using just the free services out there, and while I agree with using free services, I see some problems with it. The main one being a lack of cohesion to the learning because at no point do the various mediums come together in one place and connect up.
I believe the answer lies in utilizing free services like Skype and real-time conferencing where you can, for sure. Even develop training modules using them - Jing is perfect for free 5 minute screencasts! But then deliver the overall learning objectives via a professionally managed and hosted online system.
This does not mean great expense. For learners, it translates to a familiar 'home base' where they can congregate to communicate with peers, discuss material and complete assessments. For Trainers, it's the hub where all the hard work is tracked and the results come to life.
Yes, information is more widely available and instantly accessible than ever. Still, skilled trainers and teachers have value to add to the chain in the form of synthesis, integration, and perspective. To say, "Fire all the trainers!" is to miss the point of what a true teacher brings to the learning process.
ReplyDeleteWorkers should not spend time looking for information that experts have already reviewed and applied to their org climate. Twisted Rationale - the internet is more efficient and it is easy to find quality information and transfer into knowledge and skill. Not defending the results of corp training, but the answer is actually more resources not less. Challenge is few orgs define performance so if you do not know where you are going....any road...will take you there...
ReplyDelete@segdeha I agree. The idea of a trainer-less learning environment raises the question - are trainees now qualified to make the call on what is and isn't important, relevant information? I don't think so. Mentors can encourage the learning process, but there still needs to be a structure or guidelines around the core content. Someone who puts the learning package together and tailors it to the industry and learning needs of the people. Knowledge sharing must still be encouraged around the structured content and can only be a positive addition.
ReplyDelete@anonymous Yes, setting the learning / performance goals for your staff (with their input)is the most important thing above and beyond anything else. Without the goals, where are you blindly heading, and who would really care anyway?
We still have the classic fight among the proponents of the various modalities. It learning cognitive? Is learning a function of behavior? Should learning be fun?
ReplyDeleteThere is learning and there is LEARNING. what we have today, and what you propose is neither, it's lrng.
1. As ISDs we have to convince the top that all learning that is ad-hoc does not convert into bottom-line dollars. This can't be done, so move on to ...
2. As out-of-work ISDs we have to consult and offer some suggestions for a blending of linear (Powerpoint), branchable simulations, self-paced self-discovery events, and collaborative team application of new-found knowledge. This can't be done so move on to...
3. As out of work ISDs and Learning Consultants we have to convince the customer to order fries and supersize their order.
The future for learning professionals is dim. There is a growing backlash against education, intelligence, authority, and reason.
Meanwhile, I keep trying.
Doug Marlowe
www.teachitnow.com
I don't quite get how you advocate for change by implying, let alone stating directly, that the people who haven't already cottoned on aren't smart.
ReplyDelete"Listen up and get with the program" isn't an invitation the average person's likely to accept.
I agree with Jay on the shift from training to performance--an idea advocated by people like Tom Gilbert and Geary Rummler decades ago.
Sometimes, though, you have clear skill/knowledge gaps--especially for newcomers, for straightforward procedural tasks, and in highly regulated situations.
Informal, unstructured learning in such cases can be not only inefficient, but highly frustrating to the person who'd just like to become competent at his job.
When you spend a lot of time reading blogs, writing posts, using Twitter, and keeping up with your RSS feeds, it's easy to forget that not everyone has a computer and the internet handy when they're working.
Either that, or you're choosing to ignore the on-the-job needs millions of people who don't fit some preconception of "knowledge worker." That might be a reasonable choice, but those people aren't going to vanish.
(Sorry about that--I didn't pay attention to the default profile when I posted my comment. I must need training. This comment actually does link to me.)
ReplyDelete