Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times

by Paul Matthews

“How did you learn all this stuff?” He looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t. I just picked it up as I went along.” I thought of Phil while I was writing this book and how what he said all those years ago was a pretty good definition of informal learning. It’s not scheduled; it’s spontaneous. It just happens. It happens when we make a mistake. It happens when we observe others doing either well or badly. When we see someone walk across a wet road and step into a deep puddle, we register the information. When we need to cross the same road, we will give the puddle a wide berth. We noticed something, we remembered it, and we changed our behaviour as a result.

Informal learning happens when people chat about their experiences, or ask someone a question. It happens when they look up information using Google, or go to a specialized website. It happens when they pick up an old manual or handbook to check something.

Training is a brief episode, whereas learning is ongoing, and the responsibility shifts towards the learner.

When companies are able to provide learning in the way employees want, learner satisfaction and engagement increases. Engaged employees perform better and are more productive than those who are not. They are more motivated to use what they’ve learned to come up with improved ways of tackling organizational challenges.

Don’t take workers out of the workplace to give them training; instead, put the opportunities to learn in the workplace, right where they are needed.

Learning can no longer be limited to classroom training or even e-learning and other delivery methods. Integration, speed, reach and real-time connectivity must be built into the learning environment. The way that organizations think about learning must change towards an agile learning environment. In effect, this means that training, performance support, distributed learning, communities of practice, knowledge banks and indeed any contributors to learning must be integrated and playing a blended and synergistic harmony.

A new agile learning environment must include real-time access to subject-matter experts, knowledge at the point of need and on-the-job access to all relevant tools.

There are five ‘moments of need’ when learners need support: Learning how to do something for the first time. Learning more, based on prior experience. Learning at the moment when learners apply what they have learned in the context of workflow. Learning when things change in order to adapt to new ways of doing things. Learning when things go wrong in order to solve a problem.

unless leaders become learners themselves, transformational learning will not occur.

“Not surprisingly, it is often the CEO and other executives who feel most threatened by any new learning because it reveals their behaviour to be dysfunctional.

A learnscape is a learning ecosystem. You don’t create it; it is already there. You tend it and manage it to enhance it. This is analogous to a garden. You don’t create a garden out of thin air: the ground already exists, but you can tend it to bring harmony and beauty. You do this by ensuring the garden provides all that the plants need to thrive, including nutrients, water, shelter and so on. Gardeners do not control the growth of a plant directly, any more than managers can control learning. Gardeners know they can influence, but not control, the plants. All the same, they’ll be delighted when a plant bursts into bloom unexpectedly. It’s the same with a learnscape.

Learning ecosystem