Watch and Learn

Watch and Learn

Recently I sat with a close friend who is home-schooling her children. The eldest had to start learning the alphabet and as they were learning, her younger brother was playing around in the background. She mentioned how surprised she was when her youngest started identifying letters out of nowhere, it seemed.

Learning by observation is something we advocate for in the companies in which we work. We often see how working close to people who can learn from each other aids and enables knowledge and skills transfer. Much like the story mentioned above.

We have personally experienced and seen in the post-Covid research how training, mentoring, learning and skills transfer have been a big challenge in remote environments. Given these findings, the first prize for skills transfer is physically being around the people who are the knowledge experts. Seeing them use the skills, talk about the learnings and process in real-time enhances the transfer. You have probably had the same experience: Some things are just easier to learn when you have direct access to “the source” where you feel more at ease to ask “dumb” questions, read body language, go back a couple of steps or pick up on the style and small nuances that often go unmentioned.

But what can we do when in-person interaction is not an option, in completely remote environments? We have some ideas:

1. Create “show and tell” opportunities. Dedicate a time slot (it can be as little as 20 minutes) every week where anyone can share key learnings, a new finding, a productivity hack, or a project outcome that would benefit the team.
2. Have real-time training sessions. When teaching something new or topical to a specific skill, send an open invite and have people log in and virtually observe and follow along with the steps. But have a notebook policy. People need to take notes themselves to ensure they can follow and replicate the steps when the expert is not available.
3. Create a Q and A culture. Create a culture where people are encouraged and challenged to ask for the help they need in terms of skills, knowledge or processes. We often find in so-called high-performance environments that people are very reluctant to ask for this type of help, for fear of looking incompetent. While, in most cases, almost everyone is unsure of how things actually work or what they should be doing. When someone shows the courage to go first, others typically follow along soon after.
4. A shared resource repository is super useful. But only when it is organised so you can find what you are looking for. Each topic could have a screen recording, a step-by-step guide or perhaps alternative resources to serve as examples.
5. Connection is key. Carving out time for teams to connect and talk with no set agenda is magic in terms of training and solution-finding. When people talk to one another, they activate their creativity centers. Let them guide each other. And trust you have the right people, with the necessary capacity, to do an impeccable job of it.
6. Explain the why behind the how. Probably the most important thing we have learnt about skills transfer is that, no matter what you are training people on, if they do not understand why they are following the steps the training loses most of its impact. Make sure people understand not only why each step matters but also how it links to the overall outcome and company or team goals.

In closing, I would like to leave you with two quotes that beautifully illustrate the essence of this approach to learning:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn” – Xun-zi.

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it” – Margaret Fuller.

If you would like a fresh perspective on learning in your team or organisation, get in touch. You can reach us at info@purposeworks.co.za.

At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.