When people need to know something, we tend to land on the idea that they need a training. (Board members aren’t doing their job, so let’s send them to a training.) When we have something to teach, we imagine the workshop or webinar that we might create. (I am an expert on leadership, so I’m going to put together a workshop to train others.) The training solutions happen on our time— or some scheduled time, not their time. People learn solutions outside the context in which information will be applied.
Learning in the flow of work is a concept that comes up regularly in the Learning & Development space. It invites us to think about the context in which a learner might need to apply knowledge or a skill. Learning in the flow of work is efficient because we solve a problem in real time. We give just the right level of information they need to move forward.
We learn in the flow of work all the time. Just yesterday I needed to figure out how to account for a credit card refund in Quickbooks, so I did a quick search and found a video that answered the question. I learned in the flow of work. (I’ll probably forget in the flow of work too.) When did you last learn in the flow of your work? I bet it wasn’t too long ago.
So how do we bring learning in the flow of work deeper into our nonprofits?
Because this kind of learning is so efficient and effective, my colleague Meps Schulte and I been working on ways to move learning into the flow of common nonprofit challenges. Let’s start with boards. Too much is written about board underperformance, and the solution isn’t necessarily more board trainings. Yes, I spend a lot of time delivering board trainings (please, dear board members—keep coming!). Yes, some core knowledge goes a long way for people new to the wonderful world of nonprofit governance.
But what if we could move the learning into the pre-service conversation so potential board members find out before taking the job what the job is before they even start? What if could provide 8 minutes of board orientation that new board members could watch and discuss as they are being oriented to a new board?
Drum roll….
The solutions don’t have to be videos. We’ve also created a board discussion guide that goes with the Nonprofit Board Certificate Course to see if we could move the “so what does this mean for us” conversation into the board room. There are many kinds of job aids that can help move people to action.
How might you use learning in the flow of work? You can apply the same process. Think about the person that you want to teach something to. When exactly would they use that information? Get as specific about the context as you can. Find ways to capture the learning in a way that they can use in that time and space. Chances are this won’t be a training. Increasingly I’ve been challenging my clients to imagine learning solutions where training is off the table. How might you offer teach someone something without a workshop or webinar?