In yesterday’s post, we talked about the ecosystem mind-set and what it is, as well as why you should want your L&D team to adopt one. Today’s post will unpack more details about what you can do to encourage your L&D team to adopt an ecosystem mind-set. Keep reading to learn more.
allanswart / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Rely on the Right Technology
Because an ecosystem mind-set requires a healthy blend of formal and informal training and learning, as well as on-demand learning, mobile learning, and social learning, you’ll need to make sure you have a learning management system (LMS) and other apps and platforms that help support all forms and methods of learning simultaneously.
To promote a healthy L&D ecosystem mind-set, you should have an experience application programming interface) (xAPI) inside your LMS that automates and tracks learners’ experiences across applications and browsers, and you should always have learning content that is easily accessible and viewable from any mobile device.
You’ll also want to consider adopting learning technologies that offer gamified content and virtual and augmented reality experiences, as well as implement wearable technology, because this is where the future of learning resides in successful L&D ecosystems.
Learn How to Analyze and Use Employees’ Data Across Organizational Systems
While most of your learners’ data will be automatically stored inside your LMS or learning record store (LRS), you’ll still want your L&D team to know how you should analyze and use them so that you can continue to better your L&D offerings and so that you can continue to promote a company culture of learning.
And you’ll want them to know how to do things like compare employee learner data against company data to determine what training programs and initiatives will inspire more productive employees while furthering the business goals of your entire organization.
An ecosystem by its very nature typically includes multiple systems interacting with one another for the betterment of the entire ecosystem; so, figure out how your L&D systems can interact with and collaborate with other systems across your organization to share and analyze employee and performance data.
Focus on a Blended Approach for Learning
Although adopting an ecosystem mind-set requires cloud-based systems and the right technology infrastructures, it mainly requires a stark focus on blended learning approaches. Regardless of whether your learners are engaged in on-demand learning or in-person classroom instruction, make sure that your L&D team is utilizing a healthy blend of informal learning methods and formal learning methods.
In other words, as learners are completing course content, they should also be offered opportunities to ask their peers questions, as well as answer a few questions, and they should be able to receive support during their learning efforts and feedback from their managers.
Incorporate Hands-On Opportunities and Refresher Content
For an L&D ecosystem in the workplace to have lasting impact and effectiveness, it must provide opportunities for employees to continually reinforce and improve their knowledge and skills.
Be sure to provide your team, as well as other teams across your organization, with opportunities to reinforce their knowledge and skills via refresher training material and microlearning courses and via hands-on training sessions.
Such opportunities will allow all employees across your organization to demonstrate and reinforce what they know and what they need to learn or relearn, which will continually reinstate and rejuvenate a strong learning mind-set and ecosystem.
If you’re ready for your L&D team and your entire organization to adopt an ecosystem mind-set, keep the above information in mind.