Experience
Making learning a great experience benefits everyone
Who we bring together and how they interact is key to the learning experience.
Team learning needs people to feel safe.
When we ask participants ‘what did you most enjoy about the programme’ the answer is usually about the people (and being inspired by the expert/facilitator/other participants?). The chance to connect, meet others, share learning, extend networks, support each other. Who we bring together and how they interact can make a real difference.
If the key experience is…
- Interacting with people from other countries and broadening horizons, a virtual, interactive programme could provide reach across teams, businesses or geographies.
- Building a local network of people in the same role, an onsite programme may work well.
- The chance to hear from a recognised subject matter expert (internal or external) a virtual workshop could boost scale, accessibility and availability to others through recording.
- Fostering a support network beyond the duration of the programme, a blended approach that integrates the programme with existing working patterns / locations can help sustain connections.
Psychological safety is foundational to the learning experience and will even affect whether learning occurs at all! Learning with others is natural, but not without interpersonal risk.
There are proven strategies to address – captured in our SPEAK framework. The ‘place’ aspect of the framework is particularly pertinent to this question of learning format. Take time to establish a sense of belonging and inclusion. It’s OK and right for me to be here, now, with these other people. I have a genuine place in this system.
The physical environment is also important to safety. With new and hybrid ways of working, particular attention needs to be paid to how safe different people feel in their different contexts. For some, a quiet room can feel less safe than plenty of background noise.
‘Engaging’ is also pertinent to the experience. As adults, we learn best (or some say at all) when the learning is relevant and important. We also learn best when we learning is exciting and inspiring, when we can embed the learning quickly and when the it evolves as we do.
4E learning methodology
Successful learning programmes don't happen in isolation. To achieve maximum transformational power and realise true behavioural change, we recommend that clients follow our ‘4e’ learning methodology.
