Informal Learning A Management Guide to Strategic Planning

Transcription

1 704 Informal Learning A Management Guide to Strategic Planning Jay Cross CEO, Internet Time/Emergent Learning Forum

2 Handout for Jay Cross presentation: Informal Learning: A Management Guide to Strategic Planning Business results your organization can achieve with informal learning and social relationship software. Improve customer service Speed the flow of information through the organization Streamline workflow and slash bureaucracy Unleash the power of collective intelligence Create a nerve center for corporate news and market intelligence Make all corporate know-how accessible 24/7 Recruit the best candidates for new positions and make them productive quickly Replace training classes with informal, hands-on learning Open the process of innovation to all employees Help workers build strong, supportive relationships Enable managers to assess the status and direction of projects Empower all employees to contribute ideas and feel part of the team Develop more productive relationships with customers, prospects, recruits, partners, supply chain, and other employees Phases of implementing informal learning process: Experimentation Applications Enterprise Infrastructure Motivation Curiosity, immediate need Opportunistic application Leverage enterprise assets Focus Prototyping Applying Exploiting Level Individual, team Group, department Enterprise Benefits Capture organizationwide Increase innovation, cut Nimble, quick-response knowledge and bureaucracy, don t organization, improve keep it alive, save time, reinvent the wheel, service self-service information, simplify project non-controversial management Example projects Coordinate supplier information across co. Google searching inside the firewall Knowledge management that works

3 Content of a collaboration group charter To maintain focus, the owner of a project should prepare a document in response to these questions: What is the goal of the collaboration? What s the current situation? What do expect it to be after the project?how will this be accomplished? What is the business benefit? (In business terms.) Quantify the size of the benefit. Who s going to take part? What might go wrong? Is this a one-time project or an on-going process? Do we have sponsorship higher up? Who will participate on the team? If it s a one-timer, when will it be completed? What is the kill date? Practices for maintaining momentum Dismantle roadblocks to collaboration. Make the goal and ground rules clear at the outset Structure the initial framework to fit the task Make the online environment attracting and inviting Pre-load templates, background info, defaults Provide emotional support for newcomers Delegate responsibility for keeping the ball rolling to the team Rely on self-regulation Don t micromanage Market the service: publicity, seed with enthusiasts, contests Incentives to get things ramped up Report results at least quarterly Conclude project teams with written evaluation Participants suggest How we can make this better Don t skimp on investment. This is all cheap compared to the alternative. Use bots to send periodic reminders about what s going on Encourage (or enforce!) tagging, making things searchable and thus easier to use

4

5 Additional sources of information: It s Not About the Technology, white paper Chapters 1-3, Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Success Informal Learning Blog: Internet Time Community: Jay Cross Internet Time Group LLC Berkeley, CA Jay Cross is a champion of informal learning, web 2.0, and systems thinking. He puts breakthrough business results ahead of business as usual. His calling is to change the world by helping people improve their performance on the job and satisfaction in life. He has challenged conventional wisdom about how adults learn since designing the first business degree program offered by the University of Phoenix three decades ago. Now in its ninth year, Internet Time Group LLC has provided advice and guidance to Cisco, IBM, Sun, Genentech, Merck, Novartis, HP, the CIA, the World Bank, the World Cafe, and numerous others. It is currently researching and refining informal/web 2.0 learning approaches to foster collaboration and accelerate performance. Jay served as CEO of elearning Forum for its first five years, was the first to use the term elearning on the web, and has keynoted major conferences in the U.S. and Europe. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. He and his wife Uta live with two miniature longhaired dachshunds in the hills of Berkeley, California.