Capturing learning
If you leave an organisation for a year (say, to have a baby in a global pandemic…) you will probably panic about emptying your head of every useful nugget of information. I wrote a horrendous 20 page document signposting what I thought were useful documents and explaining where we were at with things. In respect of the 20 page document, it was (fairly) nicely ordered, maybe could have acted like a troubleshooting guide to dip into… and it was helpful for me to get it all out!
We think of capturing gems of learning and understanding I think we too often think of people leaving. As we test and grow and become more digital I think more and more on the best ways to capture learning usefully and as we go. I know I’m not alone on this.
We’re not starting from zero here. What I’m mulling on is the trickiest kind of learning I think — the in between moments, the busy moments…
Here’s what not starting from zero looks like — a few key bits that spring to mind:
- We review projects (not *always* but we do do it!) — we have a standard report and if the project is repeated people are directed to check the last lessons. Many people who’s led a published project have used the lessons from previous projects for example.
- We have processes — where we’ve put time into thinking how something should be done efficiently we’ve written that down to save other people from re-inventing the wheel.
- We have a good culture of being reflective. www and ebi is everywhere, and we take time to consider what could be done better.
What do I think is missing?
- (A few?) more (simple!) processes to capture learning
I think the reports is a great example of a fairly widely followed principle, as are processes. In Ed team I’m going to be pushing us to consider few more moments that we should always see as learning moments and set some clear principles. The principles might be something like 1. fortnightly capture of KPIs, 2. monthly prompt on any learning that feels like it falls in between projects or areas, 3. at the end of every project a write up…. TBC! (With your input…) I think these approaches could slide nicely into our data collection timeline — it’s our data after all! — as well as UX.
2. Pushing excellence in useability of processes
As a leader who is less on delivery I think what I should give to this area is focusing on excellent useability of those processes. How easy can it be for people to collect? How can it be collected so the data is useful for everyone? I believe if we get this right it won’t feel like people in delivery giving data to SLT or fundraising to prove things, it’ll be smooth systems that collect data that’s useful for anyone delivering, planning or reporting.
3. Checking there are processes to review the learning
And I don’t want to forget the processes for reviewing. Plan moments where people use it. The hope would be that transparency and open learning would foster a culture that people can use learning whenever, but in reality we know that if we don’t plan for it it’s easy to write lessons and not go back to them.
In conclusion… learning is cool fun but underneath it there’s some detail that sounds more nerdy. I’m here for it!
