A training room revolution
For many a year now the workplace training room has dutifully provided continuity from the school classroom to workplace professional development.
When we leave school, and enter the terrifying world of work there's something comfortably familiar about the training room. There's desks, a teacher, pens and pads:
"I know my role here - shut up and listen. Maybe I'll take some notes in case I get picked on or told off!!
This view of what happens in the training room often remains a constant throughout our working lives - how sad is that?
Well, research and learning theory tells us that a revolution is needed in our training rooms. People have changed, and business has changed so surely our workplace learning should too.
With the advancement of online information, the learning theory of 70:20:10 has had a resurgence in the last few years. It argues that:
70% of learning is achieved through experience - hands on job related activity.
20% of learning is achieved socially through peer interaction, coaching and feedback.
10% of learning comes from traditional classroom / training room teaching.
How accurate this model is open to debate but it does pose some interesting questions about where we should put our efforts to achieve the best value. The simplest approach, taken by many learning and development departments, is that face to face training = bad so we may as well do eLearning instead - at least it's cheaper!
However, when you think about it:
What more social environment can you get than a room full of colleagues away from their work stations?
What better place is there for colleagues to experiment and try new things out?
What safer place is there for colleagues to share ideas and experiences?
Some argue that the training room is the problem and should not be used. However, if the training room is used differently it can provide all aspects of the 70:20:10 theory. We just need to change what the training room is used for.
At Mango Learning we are revolutionising the training room. No longer is it the domain of the teacher being used solely as a place of knowledge transfer. Instead we use it as a place where topics are socialised, experimented with and explored. A place where the people who matter have control and have freedom to share their ideas.
If learners awake to the fact that they have control over their development and have power in the training room it can shift our philosophy on workplace learning. Organisation led and spoon fed learning will be replaced by self-directed, individually owned development and usher in a new era in professional development.
