A major challenge we face when it comes to the technology we use every day in the workplace is keeping across the ongoing updates while over time also evaluating and enhancing how it fits into the ways of working across an organisation.

Constant change has been the unfortunate new norm for many years now. It can feel both tiring and be deflating at times. A key challenge is how do we manage to not only keep up with technology enhancements, but also move with it to innovate process and grow the skills of employees.

When it comes to your workplace, it is important to pause at times to review the recent changes along with the learning journey for your employees. We are often good at major implementations that are run as a large project or programme with all the key stakeholders and deliverables to support staff. However with the ongoing drip-fed updates and new features from companies like Microsoft, we can be less organised and structured, often relying on providing staff quick communication or even just thinking they’ll try and learn things along the way. Eeek.

Let’s pause here for a moment and think about workplace learning, and reflect on what works or is lacking.

Think about your workplace.
What happens when there is a major technology change?

What happens when Microsoft or Google release a new feature for online meetings, as an example?

There is no doubt a difference in how each experience is handled, which is understandable.

Where do you, or your staff, go to learn and keep up with digital technology?

Are people directed to platforms like LinkedIn Learning, YouTube channels, or a custom Learning Management System?
Is there email communication, or posts on enterprise social, to alert you of new features?

The reality for many is that the experience of workplace learning is falling short of what staff need to be engaged to keep up and improve their digital literacy, or to really enhance how they work.
Below are some high-level things from learning research worth considering to ensure your workplace learning is more effective.

1. Design and build learner-centred content and experiences

Workplace learning needs to be more ‘learner-centred’ where the needs and abilities of the learners are at the forefront. We also need to design and build learning that caters to a more diverse group of learners, each with their own level of knowledge, experiences, background, and needs. The learning design itself also needs to be diverse with different modes and learning opportunities.  All of this helps create a much richer experience for employees in a workplace to help them be more engaged in the learning, and motivated take on the knowledge or skills and apply them in their daily work.

These richer experiences also help employees move beyond surface level learning where the user is informed to ‘click here’, ‘try this feature’ or ‘use this app’, to a deeper understanding of how the technology fits into and enhances modern ways of working. 

2. Establish clear learning outcomes

The content we provide employees and the activities we take them through as a learning experience need to have strong connection to their role and workplace. Effective learning should have strong context to the organisation, department, or role, to ensure the information is a logical fit to why they are learning it and why they should use it.
Key to this is knowing the objectives or learning outcomes for a group. People are more engaged when they know why they are there, what it is for, and understand the context. Having clarity and purpose helps the learner know the point of the program, or session, and can help with their motivation and engagement.

It can seem simple, but many learning programs or training sessions expect people to turn up because a system has been implemented and perhaps attendance is mandatory, and fail to provide clear learning objectives. Learners need to know what they will be expected to do after completing the course or session and just simply why they are there.
Even just answering “by the end of this session you will be able to….” connects the attendee to the purpose of the content and skills, and the path they are on through the learning experience and in their role.

Experienced learning designers will know that to be most effective you take the outcome further by utilising key verbs and structure to provide very specific statements for learning outcomes, but we won’t dive deeper into learning design terminology and fundamentals in this blog.
When it comes to the workplace or even the ongoing enhancements and updates with technology, try to just establish a stronger connection across the tools, process, or context, to help staff link things to what they know and how they work to help guide them forward.

3. Utilise learning models rather than just covering product features

Trainers, or facilitators of learning experiences, need to do more than just deliver a script. They need to enable understanding of what technology or features are, and the different contexts in which they would be useful in daily work. They also need to be flexible and ensure they can shift the session or discussion depending on groups. This requires planning with applying structured approach and considering learning principles to build the best experience and content.

Frameworks or models (such as ADDIE, SAM, Bloom’s Taxonomy, or Design Thinking) are crucial when designing and building workplace learning. Learn more about ADDIE by reading HERE Or watch a video about ADDIE HERE.

Creating effective learning involves more than reviewing technology, listing features and creating user guides or a session outline. Great workplace learning involves analysing the audience, designing the content and user experience in line with the organisation, the technology, and most importantly with learning principles in mind. Review learning models and principles to ensure what you create and deliver in your workplace hits the mark.

4. Consider what type of knowledge employees need to build

Why do we tell people about new features in workplace technology?
Why do we talk about digital literacy in schools or the modern workforce?

What are we aiming for?

Digital technology is enhancing and changing at a rapid rate. It isn’t just about keeping up, its about transforming our daily work and broader workplace systems and processes. To move forward, we need to learn, understand, apply, and transform. And for this, we don’t just need to know a list of features.

With your workplace, consider if the learners need to know something, or how they could apply it.

What sort of learning are you aiming for?
Is it introductory information or advanced knowledge?

There are times when more broad topics suit, such as an intro session showing a range of features in an online meeting. Then there are times when deeper knowledge is required, like providing training to a specific group of sales staff who need to wow clients with presentation skills in an online meeting and need to really use them well. In the latter you need to take them beyond surface level understanding which requires learning with strong structure and content in order to extend their skills and give ample opportunity to explore scenarios and practice.

For staff to take something they have learnt and apply it to be used across different scenarios or context, they need a deep grasp of it. Learning something so you can list it off and complete a quiz to show you remember it is certainly different to knowing the information and then taking that information and being able to reflect on it, to then use it in different ways. This comes from different opportunities to apply the knowledge. Reflect on what is in your LMS – is it a video to watch and an online quiz at the end?

What am I saying here?
There are different ways to learn, and different types of knowledge. As an example, declarative knowledge involves learning facts and information, or features in an application that people are aware exist. Whereas functional knowledge is where you understand the technology and skills to then know how to use them effectively in your day. Good learning programs have a balance of the types of knowledge, and walk learners from the basic foundation declarative detail towards more complex functional knowledge and skills. Building learning programs and content requires thought around the right amount of coverage of topics and depth of information to build the learning journey.
We often here terms like asynchronous or synchronous learning, blended learning, and a lot of good detail about the importance of feedback loops and social elements of learning. All of these concepts and learning principles are crucial. Start with considering the type of knowledge you want people to have and then build the content and program with effective structure and delivery.

Define the destination or skills to use and how you want the learning applied, work with that end in mind, and design the journey or learning path for people to reach that level. Ensure it is ‘learner-centred’, with clear outcomes and an engaging journey to build success and sustainable change. Good luck!