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- Web 2.0 - Are we ready? Are expectations realistic?
- The Client Experience and the Power of Conversation
- Membership Feedback on Learning Architecture 2.0
- Turning to One Another
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Oct
16
Web 2.0 - Are we ready? Are expectations realistic?
Filed Under Knowledge Management and Sharing, Learning Architecture, Learning Communities, Learning Culture and Organizations, Technology Infrastructure, Platforms and Tools
One of the respondents to our recent membership survey on the subject of Learning Architecture in a Web 2.0 World raises some interesting questions about whether organizations and learners are ready for web 2.0 technologies. She wonders if we have really considered what can go wrong. Read what she says and let us know what you think. Post a comment and share your perspective.
“How will Web 2.0 affect organizations, particularly in the area of learning? In my experience, companies I’ve work for and with do not want to leave themselves open to the problems that can occur with Web 2.0 technologies - i.e. allowing people to post content that may or may not be accurate or could be inflammatory. I see organizations who still are not addressing the rules of governance. They put technologies out there without a vision for how they will be used. Nor do users necessarily understand the difference between what the company has “enabled” them to use versus what the company is not allowing them to use due to concerns over abuse of posting what might be erroneous, incorrect, inappropriate, or offensive. So while technology companies and industry gurus tout these innovations, it sets up unrealistic expectations for company leadership that the learning and training department have to re-set. Wikis, social networking, etc., are great but I’ve yet to see a real discussion about these issues. If I’m still seeing people who cannot manage their email communications properly, why would I want to provide more electronic stages on which they can demonstrate their poor communication skills, post inaccurate information and poorly considered ideas for the whole organization to see and read. For all those folks who would use these platforms wisely, there are still so many who would use them as their personal soap box. Have you seen what people share in about their personal lives on Facebook, MySpace, etc? FAR TOO MUCH. I cannot imagine what people would post if given similar free reign with these technologies in a work environment. Learning architecture is always evolving but I think Web 2.0 needs to be carefully assessed and the real consequences considered and discussed carefully.”
by Anonymous eLearning Forum Member
Oct
1
The Client Experience and the Power of Conversation
Filed Under Knowledge Management and Sharing, Learning Architecture, Learning Communities, Learning Culture and Organizations
Joe Pulichino’s very eloquently framed “Turning to One Another” post brings into focus the power of conversation in today’s changing world of life and work. More than ever, it seems imperative that we enrich our conversational capabilities to actively listen while interacting as a means to understand and learn from and with others. In less stressful times, there was time for meaningful, satisfying conversations. Today, it seems both the volume and need for speed of interaction has accelerated.
This just in: Text messaging in its short, cryptic form has now surpassed cell phone usage. We have energy and financial crises that will bring about less travel for meetings, reluctance to invest in what may be considered non-essentials such as: learning, talent development, collaboration methods and tools. What will be the impact of these changes and investment decisions on the frequency and quality of face-to-face interactions?
For many years, I’ve worked with executives and senior management in large organizations to help their people initiate new conversations with their clients. These conversations are intended to demonstrate the provider organization’s interest in truly understanding the client’s story, goals, needs, and concerns. Of course, the underlying intent is to arrive at tailored solutions and advice that delight the client.
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In today’s rapidly commoditized, short product lifecycle world, client experience is increasingly the chosen strategy and sustainable path to competitive differentiation and improved performance.
We’ve learned from our clients’ management and employees and learned from their clients/customers that many conversations are less than they could be due to lack of the client “outside-in” perspective, internal skills, knowledge, behaviors, and support around:
- Advance preparation, research about the industry, segment, client
- Confidence in conveying ideas, offering advice, demonstrating and applying product/service knowledge
- Experience in asking the right questions
- Actively listening and responding
- Empathy to gain true understanding
- Knowing when to shift to a new topic, when to add something to enlighten, when to close
- Skill in directing and achieving the goal of the conversation
- Setting up for the next interaction
- Know more about aspects of the client relationship that are not currently captured in CRM systems or elsewhere
- Capture and share both formal and informal knowledge with partners, team members, everyone that touches the client to inform their interactions
- Instead of just servicing clients, take the time to help them learn about how to self-solve recurring issues, save time, apply new ideas for value, etc.
- Support leaders’ coaching capabilities to build and develop skills, share experience, prepare for client interactions, course-correct through trailer-calls with clients, observational coaching, tools, techniques
- Leadership learning and collaboration in managing and directing the execution of a client-first strategy across all disciplines: business lines, products/market development, process management, technology/tools/collaboration deployment and integration, people development (knowledge, learning, skills)
- Support employees’ capability development with contextual, just-in-time knowledge snippets that inform their conversations with clients and team members rather than the impenetrable, jam-packed intranet access (or lack thereof)
- Develop conversational, client-focused skills
- Provide new learning methods (client interaction vignettes); process transparency/guidance; collaboration-supported meetings (not all have to be face-to-face) with clients and team members; establish valued connections to industry-product experts, proactively
- Redesign performance goals, management, and rewards based on client experience values
- Collaborative Learning by Dr. Laleh Shahidi, Managing Director, APS Consulting Group
- Learning and Talent Management, by David Forman, HCI’s Chief Learning Officer
- “About HCI-eLF” - more about the HCI-eLF partnership and the history of eLF.
- “Content Archives” - documents and files referenced on this blog site.
- “eLF Advisory Council” - a list of members, their current roles and affiliations.
- “Upcoming Events” - a schedule of live and web-based events hosted by eLF.
Bringing the Client Experience to Life
There is much opportunity to bring client experience to life through conversation. Defining, designing, and supporting these conversations (at key moments) involve many organizational disciplines and require both an overarching architecture and cross-enterprise governance in building these capabilities:
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Client Learning-Collaboration:
- Leader Learning-Collaboration:
- Employee Learning-Collaboration:
These are a few thoughts around “the new conversation” and how it intersects with the business case for change. It’s supported through learning, talent development, and collaboration.
by Del Langdon
Sep
28
Membership Feedback on Learning Architecture 2.0
Filed Under Formal and Informal Learning, Learning Architecture, Learning Communities, Learning Culture and Organizations, Virtual Worlds
Several weeks ago, we posted a web survey on the subject of Learning Architecture 2.0. Our purpose was to gauge membership interest in the subject and help us plan the community events and activities that will further our exploration. Well, it turns out that there is a great deal of interest in this subject. We received many responses and comments and you can see what we’ve collected so far by downloading the survey results. Check it out - I think you’ll find many of the points of view and questions raised quite interesting and provocative. If you haven’t had a chance to take the survey, you can do so now. It’s still up on the web - go here eLF Membership Survey on Learning Architecture. We will keep updating the results as more members participate. (Please note that eLF members who do participate will receive a free six-month HCI Professional Membership - worth $149.)
Over the past few days, I’ve been reading through the results myself and one common thread certainly got my attention. In one way or another, many participants asked the question: What is “learning architecture”? This question is certainly at the heart of the community inquiry that this blog is supporting. One way to get started in finding an answer is to reference Learning Architectures to Enable Strategy, Performance, and Learning. This report was written for clients of the Learning on Demand (LoD) program of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. (This program has evolved into a consortium, Virtual Worlds @ Work, focusing on how virtual worlds are becoming platforms for next-generation learning and working.)
Although this report was published in 2005, I think it remains current on many levels. Written by Eilif Trondsen, with contributions from eLF Advisory Council members, Del Langdon and Harry Wittenberg, the report “examines the role that learning architecture can play in helping business and learning executives and managers make better decisions in the face of the growing number of options and an increasingly complex learning environment. Learning architecture can serve as an evolving communications and planning tool that provides a holistic and comprehensive guide to implement learning processes, activities, and systems”. Among other issues, the report addresses the role of informal learning, various needs and perspectives of learning architectures, and design and implementation. I recommend it. It’s a great place to get started if you are new to the subject, and if you are an old hand, it’s a great way to see where we are beginning our journey.
But back to the membership feedback, here’s a comment that expresses a perspective and an interest that many of us share, 
“The web 2.0 has brought in a new paradigm of “no paradigm” in how people access and use information. Whereas learning with its objectives and goals has its own paradigm. I am interested in building a bridge between the two, understanding how best to connect the virtues of both and discovering what ills we might have to live with when we do so”.
What do you think? What are you interested in?
by Joe Pulichino, Ed.D.
Sep
17
Turning to One Another
Filed Under Learning Architecture, Learning Communities, Learning Culture and Organizations
I take my inspiration for this first post from a wonderful book published a few years ago by Margaret Wheatley, Turning to One Another. It’s about change, our future, and the challenges we humans face today as a global society. But mostly, it’s about the power of conversation, the simple act of turning to one another and beginning a conversation. She writes, “Human conversation is the most ancient and easiest way to cultivate the conditions for change - personal change, community and organizational change, planetary change. If we can sit together and talk about what’s important to us, we begin to come alive. For as long as we’ve been around as humans, as wandering bands of nomads or cave dwellers, we have sat together and shared experiences. We’ve painted images on rock walls, recounted dreams and visions, told stories of the day, and generally felt comforted to be in the world together. When the world became fearsome, we came together. When the world called us to explore its edges, we journeyed together. Whatever we did, we did it together.” So, from this perspective, from our common understanding of this fundamental human experience and capability, I suggest that we begin a conversation about learning, and specifically about learning architecture in a 2.0 world.
All of us in the “learning business” - whether practitioners, vendors, or consultants - do face enormous challenges today. Although things have been changing in our world for a number of years, quite suddenly it seems our central task has evolved from running training classes at the periphery of the organization to participating fully in the strategic development of the organization’s most essential and valuable asset: its people.
Whoa! Wait a minute! Now what do we do? What new demands does this shift put upon us? Our competencies? Our resources? Our designs? And, how does all this new, new Web 2.0 “technology” fit in and help us to accomplish our task. These are not just interesting questions, but questions at the core of the best interest of the organizations we serve and, in some cases, their very survival
Again, I turn to the simple idea that we can best answer these questions and address our common challenges by starting a conversation - one that is open, honest, and most of all, democratic. In his new “unbook”, Learnscaping, Jay Cross, a co-founder and former CEO of eLearning Forum and a member of our Advisory Council, reminds us that “conversations are the stem cells of learning, for they both create and transmit knowledge. Open conversation increases innovation. People love to talk. Bringing them together brings excitement.” A most intriguing metaphor, and I quite agree with Jay’s premise: conversations are where learning begins. And this process is as natural to us as our own biology.
So, on this blog site and through all the other activities we will imagine and plan and engage in together, we hope to hold a conversation about learning and learning architecture in the 2.0 world - and beyond. We’ll share ideas and practices, experiments and results. We’ll discuss learning in the context of culture and technology, organizations and individuals. We’ll discover both what we know and what we don’t know, and perhaps in doing so, we’ll create a knowledge base that will be of service to our whole community. That’s the plan for the future, but for now here comes the best part - hearing back from you. What are your thoughts, idea, suggestions, comments, and questions? Let’s start talking…
by Joe Pulichino, Ed.D.
Sep
16
Here’s a brief orientation to this blog site:
As you can see from the title and the logos on the banner above, this site is hosted by the partnership between the Human Capital Institute (HCI) and the eLearning Forum (eLF) and will focus on topics related to the theme of Learning Architecture in a Web 2.0 World.
The main blog that you are now reading is a multiple author blog. In addition to myself, members of the eLF Advisory Council will be writing posts on this blog. Of course, we welcome you, dear readers, to comment on what we write and keep the conversation going.
At the top of the right hand column under the heading “Learning Blogs”, we are featuring single author specialty blogs that focus on specific areas of interest under the general learning architecture theme. For now you’ll find the following two blogs:
We are looking forward to adding new specialty blogs in the weeks ahead.
In that same column, under the heading “Pages”, you’ll find the following links:
Under the heading “Our Favorites” you’ll find links to the HCI and eLF websites as well as many others that you may find useful and of interest.
That’s it for now. As always, your comments, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome. Let us now what you think of the site and what you would like to see on it.
by Joe Pulichino, Ed.D.