Create a Culture of Learning

Teams which value continuous learning are more successful and resilient. When teams increase their expertise, knowledge, and skills, they are better able to:

• address new, unforeseen challenges
• ideate new, novel solutions
• feel invested in and valued

And yet, 74% of employees feel that a lack of development opportunities means they cannot reach their full potential at work.

Ready to learn how to create a culture of continuous learning?

Here are 10 actions you can start with immediately!

#1: Lead by Example

It all begins with actions and words. Leaders should consistently communicate the value of learning, using 1:1s, team meetings, and other discussions as opportunities to explicitly state their commitment to development.

However, without also continually demonstrating the importance of learning, such a culture of learning is not possible. Teams will not become knowledge seekers. Instead they will focus on the immediate tasks at hand and existing measurements of success.

So be sure to emphasize and act on the importance of learning again and again!

#2: Identify and Tap into the Existing Expertise

Within any team, there are also experts. By identifying who possesses the right skills, knowledge, and expertise to address immediate and future challenges, you can then tap them to share, document, and coach.

Of course, experts have many other responsibilities, so any sharing should not conflict with their primary responsibilities. 

Here’s how to tap into existing expertise:

• Asynchronous conversations in Slack work well, allowing someone to ask questions and others to answer.

• Regular coaching and teaching ensure a steady transfer of knowledge and information.

• Healthy brainstorming sessions in which ideas are shared and discussed in a supportive, collaborative context also works well. 

• And when it comes to documentation, a process that often requires a larger time investment, OKRs can be set to complete sections of a knowledge base.

#3: Make Information Self-Service

Knowledge sharing is the free flow of information between employees and teams.

Create a written repository of documented knowledge accessible to everyone. Best practices, ideas, and individual learnings all become available to the team. In short, they are empowered as knowledge seekers because each person can independently find solutions to their questions and concerns.

To ensure that the knowledge remains accurate and up to date, allow each person to add and edit existing information.

And as a final benefit, when teams share knowledge, employees feel more secure in asking questions, confirming information, and offering feedback!

#4: Share and Learn in Meetings

In addition to using 1:1s and team meetings as opportunities to state your commitment to continuous learning, meetings can also be used for learning.

Meetings should be less about championing individual ideas; when teams go into meetings thinking their ideas are better than others, it becomes a slugfest. No one actively listens, and instead everyone only listens to refute.

Meetings instead should be about seeking out the best solutions. And this means teams ask questions and share ideas. They use the opportunity to detail the whats, whys, and hows of their ideas.

#5: Harness the Power of 1:1s

Annual performance reviews set out which knowledge and skills need future development; however, these discussions need to occur more frequently than once per year. Even twice per year proves insufficient.

1:1 meetings provide the occasion to identify goals, aspirations, and weaknesses. Their cadence allows you to regularly check in and offer additional guidance and coaching to the direct report.

In addition, 1:1s offer opportunities for deep discussions. As a result of these discussions, the direct report gains clarity in their work and purpose, which leads to taking on new challenges, gaining new knowledge, and developing new skills.

#6: Align Training with Needed Skills

In addition to informal learning, teams need to focus on formal learning programs too. There are immediate concerns about specific skills and expertise which are lacking. There are also concerns about the current skill sets which cannot successfully meet team needs and goals in the future.

However, personal goals and aspirations as identified in 1:1s can also be addressed with formal training. This knowledge circles back to the team, shared in meetings, as documentation, and through new processes and procedures.

#7: Normalize Setbacks and Failures

Openly embracing mistakes is a cornerstone of a thriving team. And this means both leaders and direct reports must accept setbacks and failures.

The fear of mistakes and failures can prevent the team from taking the right risks, which in turn limits learning and innovation. 

Mistakes are not necessarily desirous, but they do provide the right conditions to learn. As leaders, when we admit mistakes and seek out answers, we then encourage team members to similarly view setbacks. In other words, they fear setbacks less, and come to see them as learning opportunities.

#8: Informally Share New Learnings

Listened to an interesting podcast? Share it!

Read a useful book? Recommend it!

Came across some new tool or resource? Discuss it!

Although there shouldn’t be any expectation that the team will listen to the podcast, read the book, or poke around a new tool, sharing reiterates your commitment to continuous learning. And as stated, this in turn sets the expectation that learning is not just desirous but expected.

You can set OKRs to include books too. You can create a library of recommended readings. You can encourage the informally shared learnings to proliferate existing processes and practices, and even put them into shared documentation.

And of course, encourage others to do so too!

#9: Bring Ideas from Seminars, Conferences, and Training

When you or others attend a seminar, conference, or training, the newly gained information must be disseminated among the team. In doing so, everyone has the chance to benefit by adopting new ideas and information.

Set up a short meeting among the team to informally present the information. You don’t want to devote time to preparation, so an opportunity to explain and ask / answer questions is more than sufficient. You can share pdfs, recorded videos, and any other resources as well.

And if you don’t want to add another meeting to everyone’s schedule, make it a team lunch and learn!

#10: Reward for New Knowledge, Skills, and Expertise

Despite the benefits for all of the above actions, there must be some incentive! After all, what doesn’t get rewarded doesn’t get reinforced.

If someone in the team has acquired new knowledge and skills, there should be some salary bump or even promotion. It not only confirms your commitment to learning, but also demonstrates how the organization views learning as a long-term investment.

But rewards need not be only monetary. Praise and recognition are equally valuable and motivating. Acknowledging each person’s commitment to acquiring new information, assessing setbacks, and sharing ideas emphasizes continuous learning.

Conclusion

The strongest teams take proactive steps to acquire new skills and knowledge. When you create a culture of continuous learning, the team discovers and implements solutions before problems arise. You identify new opportunities for growth and success. You create an engaged team.

Get started today!