Toffee Pudding or how to make learning stick
Rachel
Burnham writes: Learning & Development in organisations
is all about the impact on performance.
Or rather it should be about the impact on performance. But too often we focus on learning as an end
in itself, rather than keeping in mind that the reason that learning in
organisations is so important is because of the impact it can make on
performance. The performance of
individuals, and teams, and whole organisations.
So, this blog is all about what we can do to ensure that
all our L&D activities have a positive impact on the performance of
learners. To do that we need to create
learning that sticks. So, here are 10 tips for sticky learning:
1. Make
it real, make it relevant – Set out to make the learning experience as relevant
to your learners as it can possibly be.
The closer it is to reality, the easier it will be for learners to put
any learning into practice. The more
relevant it is to them, the more motivated learners will be to get the most out
of the learning experience. Consider
every aspect of the L&D experience and how you can make it relevant to your
learners – think about: the language used; the examples explored; how practical
can you make the activities; whether the learning can be done in the workplace and
the timing of the learning in relation to when learners will need to use it.
2. Learning
Needs Analysis – Make sure you do the LNA you need to give you the information
to make it real & relevant. So
often, we are pressured into skipping this step and yet expected to
miraculously design & deliver just what the learners & organisation
needed. In particular, find out about
the context(s) in which learners will need to use the learning – what supports
& barriers are there?
3. Design
with application in mind – Sometimes we create wonderfully informative and
content rich programmes that help learners to learn all sorts of interesting
material. Often organisations are very
impressed at how much we can pack into a short session. And that is great, till a few weeks down the
line when little seems to have changed in the performance of staff.
So, it would be even better if we
integrated how to make use of that learning in work into the design from the
outset. Often this means covering less
ground and adding more depth. By this I
mean that the more information included in a programme, the more likely we are
to focus on presenting knowledge and using ‘tell’ styles of delivery. Whereas if we focus on key material this can
allow us more time to build in more effective interactive learning, with time
for learners to focus on how to make best use of this in their particular work
situation. Less is very often more.
4. Set
up & set down - Pay as much attention to the design & delivery of the ‘set
up’ & ‘set down’ as to the core learning activity, whether e-learning,
workshop, a shadowing opportunity etc.
By ‘set up’, I am thinking about all those things that we can do prior
to an L&D activity that communicate expectations, generate interest and
stimulate learners. By ‘set down’, I
have in mind all those things we can put in place post the main L&D
activity, often with a focus on encouraging the transfer of learning. These are a great way to extend the learning,
but more than that the set up can contribute to learners approaching the core
learning with an understanding of its relevance to their work, feeling
motivated and already learning.
Think more broadly than just
workshops for the core L&D activity – Blended Learning opportunities
includes all sorts of e-learning related possibilities, workplace learning
methods, informal learning, social learning and even plain old reading a book.
5. Practice,
practice, practice and lots of quality feedback – Build into your design lots
of opportunities to practice the skills and apply the knowledge. This of course, can continue after the core
learning, and it is helpful to consider how to support and encourage this. Alongside this find ways for learners to get
high quality feedback – a great way of doing this is to get learners involved
in providing peer feedback to each other.
This generates great learning both from receiving feedback, but also the
process of assessing other people’s work, gives great insights into what works
& why. I have been encouraging peer
feedback into interpersonal skills development for some years and find it is an
incredibly powerful process. Both
practice and the provision of feedback require an investment of time in the
learning.
6. Incorporate
evaluation into the learning – If you know that the organisation is interested
and will be checking out how you are using the learning, all things being equal
you are more likely to use it. This
means that evaluation needs to be more than a ‘happy sheet’ - it is about
evaluation as a learning intervention in its own right. I will return to the topic of evaluation in a
future posts.
7. Don’t
limit yourself to learning on its’ own – Learning is wonderful, but sometimes
we need a bit of additional support to really raise our performance. Why not consider if some form of Performance
Support tool? Job aids such as collections of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’
(FAQs) & their answers, flowcharts to guide you through a process or short
video clips demonstrating a ‘how-to-do X’ are excellent ways to do this. This is an area with lots of potential to
make a big impact on performance.
8. Involve
line managers – L&D doesn’t have to go it alone. Communicating & building relationships
with line managers can be a great way to help learners to get the support they
need to apply the learning. Think about
how to make it easier for line managers to do this – what support may they need
from us? Communicate the benefits to
line managers from providing this support.
9. Encourage
peer support – I’ve already mentioned the value of getting learners involved in
peer assessment & review. On-going
peer support can be another effective approach, through sharing tips & ways
to solve challenges – it could even involve peers gradually building a shared
FAQs resource perhaps in the form of a wiki.
Peer support could be encouraged very easily using social networking
platforms, or an in-company networking tool or simply through a regular item in
a team meeting.
10.
‘Learning out loud’ – I came across this term
only this week (see Tom Spiglanin’s blog http://tom.johnandrewrankin.com/2013/06/growing-up-learning-out-loud/).
It expresses so well the idea that
recording your learning, in some form, helps you to clarify what it is precisely
that you have learnt and to absorb what this means for your actions. You might be recording this by writing a
reflective record, or a blog or actually recording sound or video clips,
perhaps via a mobile phone.
Rachel Burnham
21
June 2013
Burnham L & D
Consultancy specialises in the development of L&D professionals, blended
learning and evaluation
Follow me on Twitter @BurnhamLandD
