This is the third of four posts on AchieveGlobal’s study on organizational learning, and our reports “The Rise of Blended Workflow Learning” and “How to Succeed at Blended Workflow Learning.” Be sure to read the complete reports.
Learning from failure is one of the first principles of success. But the failure doesn’t always have to be your own!
Blended Workflow Learning (BWL) requires a comprehensive understanding of organizational needs, culture and technology. So learning from the mistakes of others is an invaluable route to side-stepping the costs of failure, while ensuring success earlier in the implementation process.
Our study on Blended Workflow Learning includes a list of top reasons that organizations fail at BWL. That list includes:
- Trying to mix content that might be incompatible
- Insufficient managerial support and managers not prepared to coach
- Not having IT on board
- Lack of organizational trust for learners “owning” their learning
- Insufficient administrative or logistical support
Take another look at this list. Together, these reasons for failure paint a picture of an organization that hasn’t fully embraced Blended Workflow Learning. For BWL initiatives to be successful, the organization needs to completely understand the strengths and limitations of each instructional component. When is it best to use classroom training over virtual classroom delivery (vILT)? What are the distinct benefits of e-learning, online audio, or Webcasts? When should an organization lean towards more traditional approaches like peer-to-peer coaching or mentoring? How should all of these components fit together?
If you are considering BWL, or are in the process of putting things in place for BWL, now is the time to take a long, hard look at all levels of your organization and see how you can make the flexible elements of BWL fit the specifics of your organization.
To get the most from your BWL initiative, steer clear of practices which others have found to lead to failure and ineffective learning. Especially in today’s competitive marketplace, the learning function is far too valuable to waste time and energy on mistakes that are easily avoided by learning from those of others.
Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida
