Learning Conversations

Do you want to make your learning & development budget go further?

Do you want your training interventions have more lasting impact?

Do you want to get better service from your training providers?

Do you want to maximise the creative potential in your staff?

If so, then you need to invest in helping your staff learn to learn.

A "learning to learn" initiative will give your staff the skills to:

• make informed decisions about how, when & where they learn;
• reflect on their own learning, and on their learning needs;
• develop communities of practice within your organisation (and with other people around the world);
• Keep up-to-date with rapidly changing ideas;
• Mentor and coach other team members;

For such an initiative to work requires commitment from the whole team. It will change the way the L&D department commissions training. It will change the way managers manage. It will change attitudes to learning, and make your staff more discerning learning consumers.

There are three components to a "learning to learn" initiative:

Learning to Learn components

1. Changing culture - so that "what did you learn today?" becomes an accepted question across your organisation;
2. Changing communication structures - so that communities of practice can develop without barriers of hierarchy or competition;
3. Changing infrastructures - using simple tools to allow knowledge to flow freely in and through your organisation.

Learning to learn cannot be achieved by a single workshop or conference, although these may be useful parts. Instead it needs to be a holistic approach that incorporates:

• a clear, ongoing "marketing" campaign which sets the vision and the benefits;
• Coaching for managers at all levels;
• Guidance & advice to help staff take control of their learning;
• Access to simple tools which staff can use to develop Personal Knowledge Management systems;
• Support for the L&D department and senior managers to help them understand the implications.