This is part 2 of a three part series examining ways to determine the feasibility of e-learning for an organisation. These tips may help analyse the readiness and the effort likely to be needed to make a strategy succeed. Part 1 was about systems and is located here. Today we look at culture.

Culture

How does the organisation typically learn, formally and informally? How do conversations happen? What is the level of trust between management and staff? How is reputation typically built? What does transparency, personal accountability and learning self-management currently look like in the organisation?

Formal and informal learning: Both are happening in the organisation already. But how is informal learning recognised and rewarded? Staff will need skills in self-directedness and learning self-management to successfully learn from content stored in a LMS.

The role of managers: Do the managers do the problem-solving, leaving staff little opportunity to learn how to find solutions to gaps in understanding? Do managers do the ‘parent-child’ thing?

The LMS (and other systems, such as the intranet) provides staff the opportunity to find explicit information for self-development. The role of managers is help staff form the questions they need to ask in order to find the right information. Managers also need to to know what the LMS has available, direct staff to the LMS, give them time to learn online, and have coaching conversations about what they’ve learned. An example would be online topics from Harvard ManageMentor being woven into development planning and coaching.

The role of informal social learning: How well does the organisation encourage and reward peer-to-peer informal learning? If it is being done well? is there opportunity for technology to enhance it? For example, what could the introduction of Instant Messaging do to allow staff to quickly message their network about issues or questions? How could instant web conferencing enhance teleconferences?

Trust, transparency & accountability: These are all unspoken requirements that become an obvious cultural requirement when introducing social media such as forums, wikis, blogs and microblogs. If the organisation doesn’t have an inherent culture of trust, and if staff don’t understand what it means to be accountable for their words and actions, then social media can fail. Staff need to understand that asynchronous environments add an additional layer of behavioural transparency. Managing personal online reputation is important, as staff and management will monitor and make judgement on online contributions.

Navigating the environment: As more mechanisms for learning are introduced to organisations, the way to learn from these effectively becomes more complex. Managers, IT, communications and learning and development departments all have a role to play in coaching staff how to learn and problem solve in the organisation. Some of this is about enhancing digital literacy, some of this is about building staff tolerance to ambiguity, and some of this is about giving staff shortcuts to common problems.

The bottom line

Be strategic by identifying in detail the capability you want available and expressed in your organisation. Take a strategic approach to choosing the right technology solution, and prepare managers and staff for their their new roles and responsibilities concurrently.

Tips for preparing cultural readiness for e-learning:

1. Role model appropriate online behaviour.
2. Be tolerant when people make mistakes.
3. Teach people how to learn using the organisation’s systems and social media tools in Induction.
4. Pilot the initiative and demonstrate the wins.
5. Ensure the technology is easy to use, and adds value to users.

A useful ASTD reference on the skills required to be a succssful online learner is by Daniel Birch, 2002.

Next week we’ll look at L&D readiness for e-learning. In the meantime, click here to request a free e-learning gap analysis from Connect Thinking.

Often the idea to embark on an e-learning strategy comes from the top. The CEO wants to modernise training delivery. This is terrific! Executive sponsorship for such a strategy is always an imperative.

Then it’s up to the learning and development (L&D) professional to action the idea. Our first job is to make sure the idea is viable – that it is based on hard facts and not perceptions. We need to do a feasibility study to analyse readiness and the effort that likely to be needed to make a strategy succeed. There are three imprtant parts of the business to examine: systems, culture, and the L&D team itself. We’ll begin with systems.

Systems

What systems are being used in the workplace already? How successful are they? What needs to change?

The concept of ‘one-stop-shop’: Generally speaking, an e-learning strategy requires a Learning Managememnt  System (LMS),  an online ’one-stop-shop’ to access all formal and some informal learning events and assets. It’s important to examine whether staff are already familiar with the action of self-directedness using online systems (for example to submit leave, create development plans etc). If staff are familiar with the act of online self-management, then they are more likely to be ready to adopt a LMS.

The usefulness of the intranet: The intranet is a companion system for the LMS. It’s a place for corporate and L&D communications. It’s sometimes a place for forums and other collaboration platforms. Even the way the intranet search engine behaves will affect it’s usefulness and how well it’s been adopted. Staff who are not use to a well functioning and useful intranet may be skeptical about another system, such as a LMS.

Access to online sharing, collaboration and networking: If staff are not using collaboration tools already, then it’s unlikely they will be ready to share in online LMS forums and wikis.

Access to performance support tools: How useful are existing performance support tools, such as online ‘how to’ guides? If they have been poorly adopted (fr whatever reason), then staff habit of ‘self-directedness’ required to learn from e-learning courses will not be well formed.

Use of video: If the organisation has no experience developing video to demonstrate systems or communicate short, succinct messages, then it’s likely the organisation will not have the internal skills to author e-learning and create well designed content. Creating e-learning requires a production-like methodology.

Use of webinar: Does the organisation have webinar (web conferencing, virtual classroom) available to them? Is it being used to communicate and learn? If not, then the organisation is likely not to have the agility or know-how for synchronous e-learning.

The bottom line

L&D investigating the viability of an e-learning strategy need to assess how staff habitually interact with systems. If they don’t already use systems to learn from, to communicate or share, then there is little existing habit from which to build the e-learning strategy. It’s likely to be a hard slog to affect the change required to implement a successful e-learning strategy. This doesn’t mean you don’t do it. It just means you need to develop like-minded thinking with other systems owners about functionality and key messages to staff, and develop a holistic approach to developing staff digital literacy.

Tips to prepare systems readiness for e-learning

1. Become involved with other business systems. Learning happens everywhere, at all times, so get to know how systems have been designed, why design decisions were made, and how well they have been adopted by staff. Learn from design, functional and adoption mistakes.
2. Ensure to integrate e-learning strategies with online knowledge management initiatives.
3. Ensure to be at the table when HR is examining their own systems. The ultimate LMS will integrate with HR systems for talent, skills gaps and performance.
4. Know that you will need to keep abreast of the organisation’s changing systems operating environment (SOE). You will need to ensure your LMS and any e-learning initiatives built will  remain compatible with SOE.
5. Make friends with your IT partners. Get to know their language and vision.

Next week we’ll look at cultural readines for e-learning. In the meantime, click here to request a free e-learning gap analysis from Connect Thinking.