Numerous scientific studies show that 70% of learning occurs through direct experience, while only 20% is related to interaction with one’s social network, and the remaining 10% is based on theory.
This is precisely why we need new learning methods that take advantage of learning-by-doing and new tools available to people to help them make the most of their skills: this is the best way to ensure that your company’s investments in training are truly effective.
Unconventional Learning According to Gartner
Gartner specifically discussed Unconventional Learning to describe all those practices that incorporate training elements in unconventional ways, in order to make the most of the tools offered by New Ways of Working. Furthermore, when it comes to digital literacy, traditional training is not as effective as an unconventional approach. As the Gartner report also points out:
“As technological proficiency has improved, there is less need for traditional training that focuses on ‘which button to press.’ Most employees don’t need to be told what the features do; they need help figuring out how to use them. Digital workplace learning is most effective when it is tied to adoption and engagement take into account the specific work context of the organization and of each individual employee.”
There are two parallel paths to successfully implementing new digital tools in your company:
1- The first phase involves a major awareness-building effort to provide employees with all the information they need to make the transition to a new tool, primarily in terms of mindset. The main goal of this phase is, in fact, to maximize digital disruption.
2- The second point concerns the need to promote and encourage the acquisition of new skills ina practical way. The goal is to increase the organization’s overall efficiency through the optimal use of new skills related to new digital workplace models and environments.
How can we make all this happen?
Rather than treating training as a separate activity to be scheduled during specific, predetermined time periods, it is more effective to provide specific, context-based training that takes place during daily work activities, following a learning-by-doingapproach.
A change management (and digital adoption) program is, in fact, essential for enabling people to complete their daily tasks and learn to use new tools effectively. Paradoxically, according to the Gartner report, it’s best to talk as little as possible about a new tool; in fact, it’s much more effective to let people in your company use the tool directly and learn new skills through hands-on experience.
The habit-inspiring platformcreated by Digital Attitude—which is also mentioned in this Gartner article—leverages this very approach to unconventional learning, training people in every organization through small steps. In fact, it takes just three minutes a day to learn new behaviors and associate them with new concepts, right while you’re working. This helps create habits that become sustainable behaviors, enabling full adoption of a new way of working (the digital workplace) while alsoleveraging new ways of working.
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