{"id":12912,"date":"2016-10-11T16:19:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T13:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hubgets.com\/blog\/?p=12912"},"modified":"2019-01-28T17:42:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T15:42:00","slug":"help-team-grow-culture-continuous-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hubgets.com\/blog\/help-team-grow-culture-continuous-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Help Your Team Grow by Creating a Culture of Continuous Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

We live in fast-paced digital world where change happens at the blink of an eye. The people who will lead us tomorrow are the ones learning how to cope with change today. They do that not only by embracing change, but by continuously learning new things and keeping up to date with their industry?s latest technology and best practices.<\/p>\n

Today?s leaders from organizations like yours and ours have to answer a critical question: how to create a work environment that provides the space, dialogue and discipline to grow? We all need to find the way to make our teams get away from the daily grind of what needs to get done, and find the time for learning.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

Create a learning-friendly environment<\/h2>\n

Although the benefits of continuous learning are known, many companies and individuals today still don’t invest enough time and resources in expanding their knowledge in their field. Just take a look at the data regarding how many people read at least one book a year. In 2014, almost a quarter of all the Americans interviewed by Pew<\/a> hadn’t even read one book over the past year.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, a good percent of knowledge workers do take continuous learning seriously and probably read more than 11 books per year. These are the kind of above-average professionals every company would want on their team.<\/p>\n

If you want you team to thrive in a time of change, help them embrace learning as a part of their everyday life. Here are a few ways you can get that started.<\/p>\n

Make room for growth<\/h3>\n

Scheduling a training or booking a ticket to a conference is easy. Creating a culture of continuous learning<\/em> is hard work.<\/p>\n

Keep it simple at first, by making room in everyone’s schedule. You can try booking a couple of hours every week. As they say, repetition is the mother of learning and the father of action, especially when it comes to building a habit of learning.<\/p>\n

Understand how adults learn best<\/h3>\n

Studies confirm that, compared to children, adults have a different way of learning new things.<\/p>\n

Drawn from the work of Malcolm Knowles, Stephen D. Brookfield, and others, here are the core principles of adult learning<\/a>, along with implications and suggestions for the teaching environment:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. New pieces of information that adults acquire need to be related to previously learned knowledge and experiences.<\/li>\n
  2. Adults tend to prefer self-directed, autonomous learning.<\/li>\n
  3. For adults, their experience, knowledge, and ideas need to be acknowledged as important.<\/li>\n
  4. Adults want practical, goal-oriented, and problem-centered learning that can immediately help them solve work-related or personal problems.<\/li>\n
  5. They need feedback on the progress they are making.<\/li>\n
  6. Some adults prefer learning by doing, others prefer learning by observing, while others learn best by listening.<\/li>\n
  7. Collaboration and sharing are the best ways for adults to learn.<\/li>\n
  8. Adults are motivated to learn by a wide variety of factors, from personal aspirations, externally imposed expectations, to growth and professional advancement, and service to others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This set of principles can help you create the basis of a learning system designed for adults. Here are a few ways we incorporate continuous learning at Hubgets. Hope they can serve you as inspiration for building your own unique system.<\/p>\n

    Three ways to incorporate learning at work<\/h2>\n

    Instant knowledge-sharing<\/h3>\n

    As principle #7<\/strong> highlights, adults learn best through collaboration and knowledge sharing.<\/p>\n

    Here at Hubgets, we values this principle a lot, and our advanced instant communication and collaboration platform stands proof.<\/p>\n