Align Learning with the Work Environment

The fact is your work environment IS your learning environment.

Live with it.

You can't separate the two and, quite frankly, don't want to. Creating artificial environments dilutes learning and keeps it from sticking. As an extreme, think about the whole 'Ropes Course' thing.

Hey, don't get me wrong, these events are a ton of fun. I've groped around blindfolded, fallen backwards into the arms of colleagues, leapt off poles and embarrassed myself at karoake ("Todd, I didn't know you were tone deaf." Thanks, Marilyn).

Great drinks at the end of the day. Hugs when it's over. And then ($100K later), it's back into the blender at work. Most of that 'learning in the woods' gets crushed under the pressure of project deadlines, budgets and goals. The real world stuff we left behind when we went walkabout.

Fit training and learning into the work day and rhythm of your business. Not the other way around. Too many T&D professionals see training events as a break from work. And in our wireless world there is no break. Today, people sit in classes surfing, texting, reading, in short, WORKING. They learn (maybe) between messages.

My advice..."Embrace the suck." A great military term coined in the Iraqi war.

Is your environment helter skelter where people steal time to get things done and perfection is a luxury? Then make learning easily accessible to individuals and quick to absorb. In 'Lean Training' terms don't 'over teach', minimize delays and eliminate unnecessary steps. See my Lean Knowledge Transfer white paper for more about this.

Or does your company designs rockets? Lots of technical teams working together and mistakes cost big bucks? You need a totally different approach that emphasizes relationships and mastery. High impact mentoring may be the right choice.

There are lots and lots of learning/teaching methods and technologies out there. Before you pick one do an analysis of your learner's work situation.

Then, pick what works for them. They'll love you for it.