IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying ways to learn in the flow of life

Finding ways to remind others of how to learn every day

Social learning is learning with and from others. It can occur online, for example with LinkedIn or Twitter, or offline during group discussions, over coffee, or during conferences. Social learning is not dependent on social media tools, although many organizations roll out a platform that features groups, blogs, news feed, games, and easy uploading and sharing of content. The goal is to engage employees and to share information. Some organizations encourage collaboration through games. Employees complete missions, contribute and share information, and engage in gaming activities. Consider how you can enable social learning. The 10 exercises in this section provide a start for you.

Blogs for Your Future

Blogs aren’t just for reading. There is value in the writing as well — especially when you can get feedback about your future. Begin by describing the purpose of the blog. It could explain why lifelong learning is important to individuals and how readers can set goals for their future. The blog can also share resources and comments from other participants.

For your blog, provide some general guidelines. For example, ask those who contribute to your blog to limit their goals to professional items. In other cases, you might want contributors to take a more balanced approach and include professional, personal, health, or other goals. Finally, ask contributors to provide brief narratives that include their goal, what they’ve done, what skills or knowledge they think they still need, and what help they’re seeking from the group. You may need to encourage individuals to get involved. You can use social media or your organization’s platform for the blog.

Accountability Partners or Trios

You might call a group “learning buddies” or “training trios” or any other name that you choose. Having such a group is effective because its members hold each other accountable for what they say they want to do. Ideas may arise during discussions, but the advantage lies in having someone hold you accountable for what you say you’re going to do. Buddies should pick a date for a meeting and stick with it, such as the first Friday of every month at 4 p.m. Meeting on a regular day sets a rhythm and helps to build a habit. Three members work well when one person can’t attend a session.

Personal Learning Groups

People form learning groups to explore and learn about topics of interest. A group like this works best if members have self-selected into it. Members may agree to meet once each month to discuss a predetermined topic, with one person in the group acting as the facilitator. Activities may include:

• Visiting each other’s workspace to learn about what they do.
• Taking tours of other locations. If they aren’t local, they can use Zoom or the company platform for a meetup.
• Inviting an expert or a leader to attend one of the meetings to share new ideas, organizational plans, or research.

Follow Up with Fun

Learners will continue learning if you provide a couple of quick follow-up activities after your training. You can share follow-up material and enrichment exercises by tweeting links, a job aid, a challenge, or a recommended book link. You can get group involvement by asking each to share one key point they learned and implemented, and by asking others to comment. You can also suggest experts to add to the topic.

DIY Career Paths

What do you want to be when you grow up? Seriously — what would you like to be? As a TD professional, you should be asking that of anyone with whom you work. Lots of people have left their dreams behind — unnecessarily, in most cases. The talent development function should create a job aid that will help learners establish their career plans. A very simple process can encourage the participants to determine their path by using the following ideas from Skills for Career Success (ATD, 2021):

• Name your ideal job.
• Identify and align your values, character traits, and strengths.
• Create your 1-to-2-year goals that include dates and milestones.
• Under each goal, create strategies, actions, the development you’ll need, and resources required for each.
• Determine who can help you achieve your goals.

Share this job aid with all participants to get them started on their own career journey. Have participants share their successes and ask for support on Yammer or whatever your company uses as a platform. You are a link to careers, learning, and satisfaction for many in your organization. Help them determine what they want to be and how to get there. It’s inspiring work!

Peer Coaching Circles

Trainers often think of coaching and mentoring first when social learning is suggested. You can go beyond the typical options, though. Made up of a close, confidential network of peers, the members of peer coaching circles tap into the perspectives and wisdom of everyone in the group. Peer coaching circles are a natural spin-off of an instructor-led training session, whether in person or virtual.

The ideal number of the circle is five to six members who meet on a regular schedule, perhaps monthly or every other week. Participants arrive with a situation or problem to discuss. For example, each member is allotted 20 minutes that are divided like this: 5 minutes to share the issue; 10 minutes to receive ideas from the other members (during which time the member with the issue can only ask clarifying questions and can’t offer any excuses); and 5 minutes to offer a plan of action. The group can also develop communication guidelines. For example, the circle may decide to ask for a very short report back on the issues to the group at the next meetup.

Video Posts

When working with a team or group, encourage them to share what they know via video. You go first to demonstrate that the video doesn’t need to be high quality. Have a contest in which the group votes on the best ones. Award prizes for, for example, the most used, most helpful, most creative, and most daring. In addition, as the coordinator, you can plan on a “prize” for everyone — perhaps a book or a gift card from a favorite coffee shop.

When someone identifies a solution to a problem or an easier way to do something, encourage them to create a video and share it on the company platform. Training expert Kim Seeger supported an effort in her company for measuring Level 3 evaluation, behavior change. The learners were assessed based on videos that they created (often with a peer) demonstrating the skill. Then a virtual SME reviewed the video to validate it. For example, a video could show changing the battery of a robot on the manufacturing floor. The organization had an extensive checklist of on-the-job training (OJT) skills that were required prior to working alone in specific roles.

Volunteer Activities

Create a list of local places that need volunteers, and include their contact information. Circulate the list so that everyone knows about them. You could encourage a monthly sharing group. What did they learn? How will they use it? Add group participants from each successive training group. Consider featuring an administrator from one of the volunteer sites to highlight what someone in the group is doing or why they need volunteers. Find ways to recognize people throughout the organization, perhaps with an article in the company’s newsletter or other communiqué.

Feedback Incentive

One of the most helpful things a TD professional can do for individuals is to help them receive anonymous feedback from others. Feedback is social learning at its best. Know how to identify and administer the assessments or other tools. Most important, know how to process the results with employees so that they know what they need to improve in order to be successful in their careers and life. Assessment tools might include a 360 multirater or some other tool that several people who know the individuals well can complete anonymously. Some organizations have their own multirater tool. Getting feedback from others helps employees learn how they come across to others. People judge themselves by what they intend; they are judged by others by their behaviors, what others see. Unless individuals understand how others see them, it will be hard for them to grow.

Pictures of Proof

At the beginning of a training event, provide a short introduction to the content. Have participants form small groups of three to four learners. Ensure that at least one person in the group has a mobile device that can take pictures. Tell participants to walk through the organization for 20 minutes to take pictures that display how well the organization demonstrates the content. For example, if the topic is teams, a group might take a picture of a team meeting or a manager helping someone solve a problem. Post the pictures to the group’s community space.