Creating a learning environment
How Collaboration works
Introduction
In this fast moving, ever changing and dynamic world of the global
economy, “knowledge” building within an organization and its subsequent
application is gaining critical importance. Today, knowledge is driving
business and creating the key differentiators. The application of knowledge is
allowing organizations to create “knowledge added products” there by gaining
premiums. It is therefore critical and crucial that organizations create
engines within their systems to identify, assimilate and manage knowledge and
use “learning” as a management tool rather than just as part of skill
development. And it is
equally essential that individuals participate in such engines. These “knowledge engines” must be capable of -
Assimilating and distributing tacit knowledge (knowledge based on the experiences and ideas of their own
employees. In every organization there exists a huge base of this kind of
knowledge, which is actually its Intellectual Capital, and which is
wasted due to non sharing, non collaboration and finally erodes due to
attrition and “retirals”.
Continuous dissemination of Explicit knowledge (Knowledge imparted through Training
and skill development programs. The key operative word is “continuous”.
Training programs, once completed, have a habit of fading out from memory. The
efficacy of such periodic programs with respect
to productivity and outcomes is low. Training and skill development is a
continuous process, with the base training being followed with updates,
tutorials, experience sharing and most importantly, the application of
that training into real life scenarios.
Core Engines
1. Training and Learning Management Engine (for Explicit Knowledge)
The training and Learning Management engine is a web based
delivery of training content, tutorials, white papers, presentations etc which
can be accessed by the employee anytime and anywhere. It is designed to
generate interest and retention. With a powerful collaboration tool integrated
into the engine, it encourages mentee cooperation instead of competition.
The course delivery system provides for independent or tutor
driven courses, as well as multiple formats for supporting documentation and
tutorials. It also provides a forum for every employee, mentee or student to share experiences,
observations, and feedback (this information is rarely captured anywhere , thereby losing out on collaboration opportunities and
intellectual property).
2. Mentoring and Knowledge Base and Knowledge Management (Tacit
Knowledge)
Collaboration is integrated with a mentoring engine which allows mentors and mentees to share their experiences,
knowledge as well as problems. Mentors guide mentees without the effort of setting up meetings or reviews. Retired industry specialists share their knowledge built up over the past several years. All this
happens online, anytime and anywhere, thereby allowing effective utilization of
time. In addition, all specific information can be captured and classified in
the Knowledge Base for reference and use by others, or can also be used to
create specific, situation based training modules. This information is
searchable based on relevancy which then allows the user to save time and
effort of searching huge data bases.
Over time, this knowledge base will hold the highest levels of
Intellectual Property and Intelligence which can then be mined by organizations and or individuals to help them make better and
informed decisions.
Mentoring
Mentoring techniques
Accompaniment
This means making a commitment in a caring
way. Accompanying involves taking part in the learning process by taking the
path with the learner.
Seeding
Mentors are often confronted with the
difficulty of preparing the learner before he or she is ready to change. Sowing
is necessary when you know that what you say may not be understood or even
acceptable to learners at first but will make sense and have value to the mentee
when the situation requires it.
Accelerating
When change reaches a critical level of
pressure, learning can jump. Here the mentor can choose to plunge the learner
right into change, provoking a different way of thinking, a change in identity
or a re-ordering of values.
Demonstration
This is making something understandable, or using self example to
demonstrate a skill or activity. You show what you are talking about, you show
by your own behavior.
Harvesting
Here the mentor focuses on “picking the ripe fruit”: it is usually
learned to create awareness of what was learned by experience and to draw
conclusions. The key questions here are: "What have you learned?"
"How useful is it?"
Different
techniques are allowed and may be used by mentors according to the situation
and the psychological mindset of the mentee. These Techniques can be found in
ancient education systems, from the Socratic technique of harvesting to the
accompaniment method of learning used in the apprenticeship of itinerant
cathedral builders during the middle Ages. Leadership authors Jim Kouzes and
Barry Posner advise mentors to look for "teachable moments" in order
to "expand or realize the potentialities of the people in the
organizations they lead" and underline that personal credibility is as
essential to quality mentoring as skill.
Collaboration
should allow for these techniques and that critical
identification of a “Learning Moment” making it a most effective tool
for mentored learning.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management (CKM) comprises a range of practices to
identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of insights and
experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied
in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.
CKM efforts typically focus on organizational/ individual learning
objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the
sharing of lessons learned, and continuous improvement. CKM efforts overlap
with the Learning Process , and may be distinguished from that by a greater
focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on
encouraging the sharing of knowledge. CKM efforts can help individuals and groups
to share valuable organizational insights, to reduce redundant work, to avoid
reinventing the wheel per se, to reduce training time for new employees, to
retain intellectual capital as employees turnover in an organization, and to
adapt to changing environments and markets.
Strategies for Knowledge Management
Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or
after CKM-related activities. One strategy to KM involves actively managing
knowledge (push strategy). In such an instance, individuals strive to
explicitly encode their knowledge into a shared knowledge repository, such as a
database, as well as retrieving knowledge they need that other individuals have
provided to the repository.
Another strategy to KM involves individuals making knowledge
requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an ad hoc basis
(pull strategy). In such an instance, expert individual(s) can provide their
insights to the particular person or people needing this.
knowledge management strategies include:
- rewards
(as a means of motivating for knowledge sharing)
- storytelling
(as a means of transferring tacit knowledge)
- cross-project
learning
- after
action reviews
- knowledge
mapping (a map of knowledge repositories within a company accessible by
all)
- communities
of practice
- best
practice transfer
- competence
management (systematic evaluation and planning of competences of
individual organization members)
- proximity
& architecture (the physical situation of employees can be either
conducive or obstructive to knowledge sharing)
- master-apprentice
relationship
- collaborative
technologies
- knowledge
repositories)
- measuring
and reporting intellectual capital (a way of making explicit knowledge for
companies)
- knowledge
brokers (some organizational members take on responsibility for a specific
"field" and act as first reference on whom to talk about a
specific subject)
- social
software (wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, etc)
Motivations
Motivation is a critical factor in Knowledge Management. Collaboration
enables
- Making
available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of
products and services
- Achieving
shorter new product development cycles
- Facilitating
and managing innovation and individual / organizational learning
- Leveraging
the expertise of people across the Portal
- Increasing
network connectivity between internal and external individuals
- Managing
environments and allowing individuals to obtain relevant insights and
ideas appropriate to their work
- Solving
intractable or wicked problems
- Managing
intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the
expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals)
Task Management and Human
Resource development
One of the most popular methodologies for measuring training
effectiveness was developed by Donald Kirkpatrick. This model articulates a
four-step process. Simply put it measures and assures efficacy through
measurement of reactions , participant learning through demonstrable changes in
knowledge application, skill and attitude , transfer of learning (application
of the knowledge gained in the job performance) and finally Results – measuring
the changes in the achievement of business objectives.
Collaboration uses the Kirkpatrick Model
integrated into a Task Manager, where the mentor can assign tasks (at the
Objective level) and the mentee
can break down that task into transactions (Transaction level)
enabling :
· A completely transparent model of task assignation and management
demonstrating Business Managerial skill as well as mentee knowledge.
·
The quantity and quality of
the task assignation and completion clearly showing the strengths and weaknesses of the mentees and areas of further
development.
- A direct measure of training and development programs and the
mentees response.
