
My two recent Learning in the Workplace surveys showed that (a) people consider that informal learning is much more important, if not essential, to them than training, and (b) that they learn informally on a much more regular (if not continuous) basis than they learn formally. These findings are of course in line with study after study that shows that most learning in the workplace happens outside of formal training.
But how many organisations are actively supporting informal learning in the organisation? My own analysis of the situation is that many are still focusing on creating, delivering and managing formal learning (whether it be face-to-face or online (e-learning) and are simply introducing informal content (and social aspects) into this traditional way of doing things, for example, by extending structured programmes into the workplace with both pre-and post-training activities.
I refer to this as informalizing and socializing formal learning – and it is of course a good first step, but it is not addressing the bigger picture of how to support learning as it is really happening informally and socially in the workflow. “Informal learning” involves more than an individual being required to access informational rather than instructional content; it is fundamentally about the individual organizing his or her own learning.
And this is undoubtedly where the problem lies. It means there a number of mindset obstacles that need to be surmounted, before organisations can accept what it means to enable and support informal and social learning in the organisation. I call these the Course and Control hurdles – and they are closely related.Overcoming the Course and Control mindset hurdles.
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I'll be talking with Jay Cross on Wednesday 23 May on how "Social business takes social learning".
Learning in the workplace is not just about taking courses or other training workshops to acquire new skills and knowledge, but is also about
In May and June, Harold Jarche and I will be running another series of our popular public online workshops at the Social Learning Centre.
