Thanks to a slower economy, firms are becoming much leaner with fewer employees on board to tackle the same number of tasks. This scenario presents great problems in the field of learning and development, said Laura Goodrich, co-founder of GWT Next and international keynote speaker.
In a recent interview with
HRD, Goodrich went over how companies can use ‘mind triggers’ (or short videos) to facilitate L&D within the organisation.
“Let’s imagine that you start your day. You have three meetings but you also get an email that says that there’s a mind trigger available for you.
“You can go to those meetings and focus on them since they’re critical, but afterwards you can find a quiet space where you can really focus your energies on that learning.”
While the video itself can be a few minutes long, this method then asks participants self-reflection questions on topics such as what the lesson means for their work and what the possible applications are. Learners can also be encouraged to put this new knowledge into action within the workplace, she said.
“It’s kind of like taking an exit ramp off the interstate. You pause and reflect for a bit, but then you get right back on with what you were doing.”
Goodrich said that one of the aims of GWT Next, which specialises in this type of blended learning, was to create lessons that organically stimulates conversations in the workplace.
When a group goes through the same training together, they have a shared experience and can then start dialogues with each other, she said.
“That shared learning experience makes it a lot easier to walk down the hallway, bump into a colleague, and ask for their thoughts on the lesson.”
In fact, the learning roadmap can also prompt participants to have conversations with colleagues and leaders about the topics covered, she added.
“People just don’t have the time for longer learning and prefer to be able to have choice. The consumer or the employee expectations for learning are changing,” she said.
“We appreciate bite-sized learning rather than that firehose type of learning. It’s not about giving people the answers but helping them come to their own answer.”
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