Our world has never been more connected. Each generation becomes immersed in more innovative, faster, social and integrated technologies than the one before. In January my family welcomed our son, Espen, into this world. Reflecting on the past year it’s clear that I manage a majority of this new work-life balance through technology, reading “how to” parenting blogs; maintaining my personal records online; and using multiple devices, applications and software services to stay connected, engaged and productive as a telecommuting professional. There have been so many advancements that make this possible, including my ability to grow through learning when and where I need it.

During a recent webinar on Learning Trends for 2016, I was reminded that not only has there been amazing progress in the learning industry through technology advancements, but that it’s also important to not lose sight of the tried and true methods that have withstood the tests of time. Yes, organizations still need to keep up with the latest technologies and delivery methods, but the foundation of what motivates us, our need to collaborate and the science of how our brains retain learning has remained constant.

I’m honored to work with so many industry experts who take pride in maintaining this balance and value the importance of blending new and traditional ways of learning. This has been reflected through the expertise, insights and trends shared by the many thought leaders who contribute to the GP Strategies blog. While each post is uniquely valuable, here is a snapshot of our readers’ favorite posts from 2015:

• Performance Management: Saying Goodbye to Old School
• 70:20:10 – The Learning Approach for Today’s World
• Gamification? Is this really the solution you are looking for?
• Visual Learning – A Picture Is Worth an Hour of Training
• Improving Performance by Helping Good People Achieve Great Results

Looking ahead into 2016, new advancements and the convergence of technologies will remain a large focus for the learning industry.

And looking beyond 2016 and into the next decade, I observe Espen, who learns each day by exploring the world around him, and wonder what the future of learning for his generation looks like. What technologies will they rely on to stay connected? What will they value, and how will companies use that to motivate them in their professional lives? How will they access information, and where will it be stored? What traditional methods will continue to stay rooted? Only time will tell.

As GP Strategies embarks on 50 years as a company, I’m excited to continue to collaborate on insights from the best thought leaders in the industry and hope you’ll continue to check back with us as we share 50 years of learning throughout 2016.

Thank you for choosing us as a trusted resource of information, and best wishes for a prosperous New Year.

What are the factors that can impact the startup of my new capital project?
How can I ensure that people are prepared when the equipment and technology are ready for operation?

These are important questions to consider if you’re in or preparing for a capital expansion or startup project. While much of the focus of a capital project is on equipment, processes and technology, one of the major impacts to achieving operational readiness comes from the people responsible for starting up and running the expanded or new processes. People, processes and technology need to work together well in order to achieve a successful launch.

In a recent webinar, we discussed:

• Key factors affecting the human element during a capital project timeline
• Vertical versus poor startups and calculating the lost revenue between the two
• Overcoming obstacles and snares

If you missed the webinar, a recording is now available along with a PDF copy of presentation.

We also discussed the ideal versus just-in-time approaches. Most organizations view their workforce as an afterthought or believe employees have adequate training to start up on day one only to find out there hasn’t been adequate preparation and training on a plant-specific level. The result is that a just-in-time approach significantly increases the risk of a plant failing to start up on day one and increases the risk of incidents.

Ideal Approach

Just-in-Time Approach

A copy of the full timeline is available. You can access it here.

The following questions came up during the presentation. This is an ongoing conversation, and we encourage you to keep the questions coming in via the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Q: In the ideal versus just-in-time approaches, how often do you actually see the ideal plan being used?

A: Unfortunately, we don’t see it being used very often. In our experience, we have seen that when planning capital projects, it is very common for workforce development to be an afterthought. What has resulted and is seen through some of the documented studies is that the vast majority of capital projects run beyond schedule and over budget and that workforce and organizational issues have been a key cause in these capital project launch problems. More and more, we’re seeing facilities starting to recognize the value of the workforce, but historically this has been an oversight that all too often leads to the just-in-time approach and the obstacles that go along with it.

Q: How does one begin to start developing a plan on their own?

A: One of the key aspects of beginning is to create a vision for your final result, knowing that future state and looking realistically at your current state. Once you have a clear vision for your end results and where you are now, you can more easily map out each factor to reach that end result. A factor often left out is the workforce, which is why we are offering the example CapEx timeline so that it can help to develop a plan and identify where each factor is needed for a successful startup. A well-thought-out project timeline is essential for a prepared startup.

One common issue is the lack of consideration early on in a capital project concerning where resources start. Examples of factors to examine include: hiring future operators and not recognizing what the varying experience levels of the candidates are; failing to create availability definitions such as what the job roles will be; and determine the standards for hiring, etc. There are also times when you have to hire people with no experience and turn them into qualified operators by the time the project starts, which requires special considerations in the workforce development plan.

Q: How can an operator readiness program have an impact on green projects versus brown projects?

A: The operator readiness program has a major impact on green projects because you’re starting with essentially a brand new workforce. In many brown projects, you can take experienced personnel from other areas. These operators can be integrated into the new area and help train new operators; they can even be prepared to start the new project.

GP Strategies polled our experts from around the world, asking each to give their take on gamification in learning. The result was an insightful snapshot of attitudes and thoughts surrounding gamification and can be found in our latest eBook. In our fourth Meet the Expert post, we would like to introduce you to Tim Clague.

Tim Clague is a “doer.” Rather than discuss theory or talk to clients about “the same old” solutions, he has always explored new ideas and different ways of learning. This has included creating the Gravity Model of networking and the Reel Change method of time management, both in use currently within UK financial institutions. His core method is to bring fresh ideas in from outside of learning. For example, he is also a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominated writer and uses drama techniques to create powerful pieces of video eLearning that motivate as well as educate. “You rarely remember details, but you can remember a mood of how you felt forever.”

Tim’s piece on negotiating skills for HSBC saved the company over £1 million (approximately US$1.55 million) within the first year. Having directed over 100 corporate productions, his most substantial project was the creation of The Platform, a comprehensive leadership programme that took 18 months to create and cost nearly £1 million. Recently he has become more interested in gamification after working as Senior Creative Designer on the £40m PC game, APB. He is midway through writing a new text-based game for the PS4 and tablets that moves beyond the “branching narrative” idea and hopes that this can be brought into the eLearning world. In the future, Tim would also like to apply his creative design skills to early learning. He developed a new feature film for kids, Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? which premiered at the London Film Festival in September 2015.

To download the eBook, visit: http://bit.ly/gamificationebook.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, it is easily worth an hour of training. As the time available for training continues to diminish, organizations need to be creative in how information is communicated to learners. An innovative solution to a challenging training project is to use visual learning, or communicating through images and video, instead of traditional training methods. While many training sessions have focused on interactivity and the benefits of sound in training, few have focused on how visualization of concepts can increase attention and transfer of knowledge.

In a recent webinar I hosted with the Association for Talent Development (ATD), we started by polling our audience to learn more about their preferred learning styles. This is what we discovered:

During our session, we covered a lot of information. Here are some of the highlights and some samples:

Modalities

Infomercial

This training modality is a short animated video incorporating graphics, sound, animation and text to communicate a message. Think of this as a moving infographic.

Infomercial Sample: The Planning and Scheduling Game

Video

Live-action video can be used to communicate a message that might normally be communicated through email or town halls. To maximize effectiveness use a green screen to combine this modality with an infomercial.

Video Sample: The Craft Skills Crisis

Audiocast

While this modality may seem out of place, an audio cast can include imagery for the learner to view while listening to the script. This is a lower cost option to a video or infomercial.

Audiocast Sample: Intro to the Refinery

Quick Reference Card

A quick reference card is a static job aid that uses graphics to convey information. Challenge yourself to create an image that gets your message across instead of using tables and text.

Quick Reference Card Sample: Learning Modalities Map

3D Animation

There are times where we want to have our learners see a piece of equipment or a scenario that is challenging in real life. 3D animation allows us to create that experience while showing the learner multiple viewpoints simultaneously.

3D Animation Sample: Forklift Module (It is chock full of 3D)

Infographic

When creating charts and graphics, consider a more creative approach to data by using images and colors to convey information.

Infographic Sample: GP Strategies Annual Report 2013 (Page 2)

Creativity

Don’t forget to think creatively from both a learning standpoint AND a graphical standpoint. Here are some of the tips we discussed:

Content

Review your content before you begin. Try to figure out a logical flow and a theme to tell your story. If you think of your content as a story instead of facts, you will tend to drive a more creative solution.

Template

Templates don’t have to mean slides that all look the same. Templates speak more to thinking creatively about the colors and graphics you employ to tell your story.

Interact

Remember that interactions aren’t just about clicking on the screen. Interaction is about the learner interacting with the content. Interaction is all about inspiring thought and getting the learner involved in your story.

Assess

Assessments don’t have to be included in everything we do. Assess to protect the learner proceeding before they master prerequisite knowledge. Or assess to give the learner feedback. When needed formally assess learners to ensure comprehension and skill acquisition.

Tools and Links

I brought up a few tools in our discussion and the attendees kept the comments section busy with other great links. Below is a comprehensive list of the links discussed grouped by topic.

Infomercial

• https://www.videoscribe.com
• https://www.moovly.com/
• http://wideo.co/
• http://goanimate.com/

Animation

• http://xtranormal.com/
• http://www.powtoon.com/
• http://www.animaker.com/

eLearning Tools

• http://lectora.com/products/snap-e-learning-tool/
• https://www.articulate.com

Infographic

• http://piktochart.com/v2/
• http://www.easel.ly/
• http://visual.ly/

Graphic Design

• https://www.canva.com/

Color Schemes

• http://design-seeds.com/
• http://www.colourlovers.com/
• http://colorschemedesigner.com
• http://paletton.com

Graphics

• http://picol.org/
• https://thenounproject.com/
• http://www.123rf.com/
• https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
• http://stokpic.com/
• http://www.freefilehunt.com/
• https://unsplash.com/
• http://www.vecteezy.com/
• http://www.morguefile.com/

It was a pleasure to virtually spend time with everyone who joined. Please keep the dialogue going in the comments section below. I hope to see you again in the webisphere soon!

Let me paint you a scenario: You are accountable for the safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible operation of a fleet of power plants. Your day-in and day-out responsibilities focus directly on achieving the key performance indicator (KPI) targets that are important to your organization, and that includes ensuring all employees are provided with the proper technical training to do their job safely and effectively. Your workforce is mixed with different locations, work cultures, capability levels, and job experience. Some workers are new hires and some are experienced journeymen, and your job is to make sure employee training is streamlined across your entire fleet. Easier said than done in most cases.

What are your traditional options in order to deliver effective, high-quality technical training that is cohesive and organized across your entire organization? Typically the options are as follows:

• Do everything on your own; offer several train-the-trainer sessions internally to make sure each trainer at each site is following the same “mold.”
• Outsource this training to provide site-specific, instructor-led training from a selected vendor to administer to your employees.
• Both options would work, but let’s face it; they are typically expensive and time consuming. Additional costs required to dedicate employees to traditional classroom training include time off the job, overtime pay, lost production time, material costs, and more.

There is another answer that seems to be getting much attention these days, especially with the advancements of commonly used technology in most organizations. The answer could be virtual instructor-led training (VILT). VILT isn’t a new concept, but with recent advancements to popular meeting tools like WebEx, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, and the like, VILT has become an extremely effective and increasingly popular solution. This solution could be used to provide technical training across an entire fleet at a fraction of the financial and time cost of traditional classroom delivery methods. Properly developed and delivered VILT can be extremely engaging, and it offers many of the same elements that traditional classroom training offers, including instructor-trainee interaction, company-specific scenarios and incidents, and practical exercises designed to drive home relevant concepts.

VILT can offer valuable interaction between students and instructor across great distances and can help to streamline the message across your organization. VILT also offers opportunities for student-to-student interactions to share best practices and the availability of company resources. There are four key aspects crucial for successful VILT deployment:

• Instructor and Facilitator – They need to be engaging and personable, and need to win the audience’s attention and respect. The facilitator acts as the “gatekeeper” and helps to enhance the instruction by engaging the students through monitored polling questions and keeping the instructor on pace.
• Content – Just like any training, VILT needs to be set up with proper instructional design in mind. The engagement factor of students needs to be valued at all times. Proper interaction throughout the use of graphics, animations, short video clips, polling questions, whiteboard activity, surveys, and open and closed questions should be included for value add to the message, not just a temperature reading on the audience but providing actual educational significance.
• Software – The tool used to present the training needs be user-friendly. This is critical for your organization to understand the culture, what tools are supported and used regularly, and students’ level of comfort with this technology.
• Trainee – Of course with any technical training the level of experience of each student needs to be understood. What are their computer skills and are Internet and computer access attainable resources? Where are the students located? These seem like basic questions; however, consideration of each is a must for success.

VILT can be a powerful, cost-effective solution at almost any organization if properly planned and blended into existing hands-on training. This option is taking on the training industry by storm with new ways to engage the learner. Through a thoughtful delivery and by using the right tools and resources, VILT can be successful.

Let’s bring the art back into training with some creativity in how we think about design. All too often we get bogged down with the content or the deadline that we limit our creativity to a pretty header bar and some flashy navigation buttons. But if we take the time to focus on four key areas, we can bring some creativity back to our training solutions. This blog post will give you some ideas of how to be creative about your content, templates, interactions, and assessments.

CONTENT
What you have to say is important, so don’t just dive into the content. Take a step back and look at the overall message you are looking to convey. What is it that you want the learner to get out of this training? Not just the specific bits of knowledge, but what are the abstract ideas? Do you want them to feel connected? Do you want them to feel like they are on a journey? Consider those themes as you develop your objectives, section breaks, and transitions. Objectives don’t have to be formal; they can be something that helps engage the learner. For example, if you are creating a change management piece, consider a travel theme. Maybe your objectives become destinations, and your section breaks become postcards or roadside attractions to focus your learner on the journey. Consider the feeling you want the learner to have and apply that to how you present your content.

TEMPLATES
When you create your templates, think carefully about your color scheme, graphics, and interface that you use. Colors can be warm and welcoming, or can put people off. It’s not always necessary to stick with corporate branding. Much like decorating a home, sometimes you can find an inspiration graphic that can guide your creativity. If your color scheme or theme doesn’t look good, nothing else will. Use the colors and graphics styles consistently throughout your training, from the accent text to the navigational buttons. This will help immerse the learner in the training to keep them engaged. Think about your theme when you create your navigational buttons. If you’re on a journey, maybe your navigation can look like the navigation in a car to keep the learner immersed.

INTERACTIONS
Clicking the next button is SO 1999. This is where your creativity should kick into high gear. We want to keep the learner engaged and active during the module. This should not be limited to just clicking on items on the screen to display more information. How can you take the content and create an activity, a scenario, or a mini-game? Interactions are where your creativity is limitless. If you’re on a journey, have them collect souvenirs along the way to give the learner motivation to continue. Consider small games or activities, like roadside attractions, to allow the learner to work through the content.

ASSESSMENTS
But it’s not all about fun; we need to make sure that they learned something, right? Actually, the fun doesn’t have to stop for the assessments. Consider mini-games for learning checks and scenario-based activities. Maybe all of those items that they gathered along the way become a part of the end of course assessment as they drag each item to its correct location. Remember that this is your last chance to impart knowledge as well, so include feedback and distractors that will help drive the points home for the learner before they leave the learning experience.

In closing, there are many ways to bring creativity back to training. The four takeaways are to:

• Review your content before you begin to develop a theme to engage the learners.
• Create templates to be consistent and in alignment with your theme.
• Create engaging interactions to keep the learner active throughout the experience.
• Create fun and engaging knowledge checks at optimal intervals.

Your learners are ready for your learning content to be mobile, but are you? With the continued growth of employees bringing their own devices to work, organizations are challenged with the expectation that all training content will be accessible. Without a mobile strategy, the end result can be app confusion and an overall frustration with the training solution. How can an organization quickly ramp up with the possibilities and limitations of mobile learning to be successful?

During a recent 20-minute webinar, I explored a five-step action plan that can help you REACH your learners and support mobile deployment for sustainability and success.

• Researching the different ways to develop mobile content
• Evaluating your options
• Adopting a plan with your tech-savvy people
• Communicating the plan across the organization
• Helping support your organization through deployment

After the presentation, a number of questions came up, and while we were able to address many of them, we weren’t able to get to all of them due to time. Below are those questions and my best answers. I encourage you to keep the questions coming in via the comments section at the bottom of this page or join the conversation on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Q: Can you clarify top pick Storyline #1 or #2 for mobile and specifically android?

A: From an output perspective, Storylines 1 and 2 are equal. Storyline 2, however, is much more compatible with mobile devices (specifically adding android support) and is more user-friendly. It took many of the actions that required custom coding and made now to leverage dropdown menus to create the interaction. It’s very intuitive and easy to use.

Q: Only one of the authoring tools you cited leverages a responsive web design—do you not think that’s an important consideration for creating flexible and adaptive content that’s optimized for different display sizes?

A: I do think that in an ideal situation, responsive web design is always best. Captivate 8 does a great job with responsive web design, for example. The challenge is balancing a consistent experience, user assistance, and maintainability with your choice of mobile strategy. For example, most training courses have help menus that clarify where buttons are and how to interact with the environment. When doing a responsive interface, be sure to include all the possible layouts and deviations. The challenge with creating a more responsive training module is that it will require a bit more experience from a development perspective. This can be a challenge to many of our customers who want to maintain their content moving forward but do not have a robust development team.

Q: What is the best tool for rapid development?

A: Any of the PowerPoint-based tools (Articulate Presenter and Adobe Presenter) would be considered a rapid development tool for mobile learning.

Q: If we already have a mobile app and it has caused the communication confusion that you have described, how can we rein it in and use it appropriately?

A: The best thing to do is to confirm your mobile strategy and then put it into action. Have a few courses deployed that exemplify this strategy and prove how successful your strategy is. Then you can start to work with the app owners to keep apps that make sense for your organization and remove apps that don’t align with your strategy.

Q: Do you see any uptake in xAPI/Tin Can in mLearning in your projects?

A: We see a lot of requests but not a lot of people implementing Tin Can. Many organizations have legacy LMSs in place and are still using SCORM and AICC. As organizations upgrade their LMSs, we feel there will be an increased interest in Tin Can.

Q: Was Articulate the best-rated platform for developing eLearning?

A: I don’t know that there was an official rating; however, our experience has been very positive with Articulate. There are minimal challenges with integration into LMSs; the tool itself is very intuitive and it allows us to create interactive modules in short timeframes.

Q: What is your opinion about the Captivate 8 product for mobile platforms?

A: Captivate as a tool has many creative features and functions, including a responsive design and the ability to create apps. For high-end solutions or if you have a strong development team, this is a great tool to use. I would compare this to be the mobile-friendly version of Adobe Flash.

It was a pleasure to virtually spend time with you all. Please join us on April 15 when I present another 20-minute webinar: A Modified Agile Process for Outsourcing.

Innovations in core HR over the past few years have made many new, world-class human capital management (HCM) solutions available. As a result, organizations are increasingly adopting and integrating the talent management modules these product suites offer, paving the way for more complexity and advancements in the field of talent management. External enablement, talent development and retention, and compliance are just some of the objectives organizations are now seeking to address. Even Gartner has responded to this shift—they have not provided a Magic Quadrant for corporate learning systems since 2011. Instead, they have looked holistically at talent management suites to plot leaders in the marketplace.

While the goals of organizations certainly span the entire talent management spectrum, learning continues to be the leader and still has the strongest influence. Learning acts as a key connection point for talent management and all related processes by linking training with performance objectives or enabling employees as part of a formal succession plan. It is the engine that drives virtually all other HCM processes.

Because of that, it is important that leaders within learning and training organizations ensure the LMS gets the focus it needs now more than ever. After all, the LMS is a cornerstone of HCM strategy because learning is so ubiquitous throughout the talent management process. If your learning strategy is strong and well-aligned, it will affect performance and goals, succession, and other talent processes. Consider the following best practices to ensure you’re leveraging your LMS optimally this year:

1. Determine how learning can be incorporated into all aspects of your organization’s talent management strategy and use it! Even if you don’t have a full talent management suite or have not yet formally integrated your LMS with existing talent management modules, you can still utilize learning to support the complete employee lifecycle, from recruiting and engagement through succession and transition. Find a way to support the talent management processes by way of curricula and programs (like new hire training) in the LMS, take advantage of reporting capabilities to obtain details for performance reviews, and use MOOCs to find and onboard new employees.
2. Ensure your processes are defined, aligned and accurate before implementing, upgrading, migrating or expanding functionality. Too often, the momentum that comes with moving forward on a new organizational learning initiative can result in important steps being skipped. While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement that comes with changes like a new system or a strategic integration, jumping in without laying the foundation for “process” can lead to misalignment. This might not be obvious from the start (although sometimes it is), but not having processes defined and documented for your systems will lead to inconsistency and a lack of necessary structure and governance to keep them running efficiently and effectively. It is often assumed that everyone within an organization fully understands these processes; and while many key players and stakeholders have some level of understanding of business processes and how they are implemented in systems, rarely do all involved understand all the processes, how they interact, and how they align with talent management objectives.
3. Leverage social learning. While there is a lot of attention paid to formal talent management processes, social learning is one of the most powerful tools that organizations can utilize when engagement and performance improvement are the goals. Social tactics put learning in the hands of the learners. In fact, executed successfully, the learner will not even realize that they are learning, even though the result of their interaction with the social learning offering will leave them armed with new information or skills. With blogs, videos, collaboration tools and social media like Yammer and Twitter, learning can be engaging and relevant to an individual when they need it. Providing an informal learning environment also supports the needs of younger generations entering the workforce that have expectations around flexibility and interaction.

As you proceed with your 2015 talent management strategy, ask yourself some key questions. Is the LMS the centerpiece of your strategy?  Is it shaping the decisions being made across your organization?  Is it being included as a key factor when you’re working with other talent management phases?  If your answer to any of these questions is no, you may want to see how you can leverage or integrate your LMS to provide the best value for your organization.

Predictive Learning. 70-20-10. Gamification. MOOC. These are among the buzzwords in the learning industry today. Which, if any of these, creates or leverages a truly synergistic learning experience?

Wikipedia defines synergy as “the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.” In Stephen R. Covey’s classic The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the sixth habit is “Synergize.”

In its simplest form, every successful learning experience where two or more people gather or interact creates some level of synergy. Everyone, including the instructor, learns from one another and all leave the experience more enriched for having participated. But can (or should) learning be designed and facilitated with synergy being an integral part of the experience?

Many learning experiences are simply knowledge or skills transfer, with an expert directing novices towards new levels of achievement. Creative designers and facilitators will design and facilitate team activities to leverage group dynamics. This creates one basis for synergy—but how can that synergy be captured, channeled, and catapulted to yield exponential payoffs?

There are three primary areas designers and facilitators can focus on to achieve this return: content, curation, and cultivation. A fourth “C” that should thread through the previous three Cs is “collaboration.”

Content

Content should be more than a simple “data dump” where an instructor or web lesson pontificates knowledge and resources. Lessons and activities should be mutually interactive and encourage participation and collaboration among learners wherever possible. Building in this collaboration will help to drive synergy. Be careful, though, that activities are not so rigidly designed as to restrict or inhibit the unique group dynamics that will emerge as the training event progresses. To allow these dynamics to “bloom” in a productive and synergistic way, it’s better to plant seeds instead of trees when weaving content into the delivery plan. Offer a framework, but not a specific mandate, for collaboration. Encourage participants to suggest and modify group activities where appropriate. This not only increases buy-in among participants, but it also gives facilitators and designers an opportunity to learn from the learners and generate more productive outcomes.

Curation

Curation of collaborative participant contributions and insights should be done in such a way as to ensure both relevance and accuracy. The balancing act and challenge of effective curation is encouraging collaboration while filtering out erroneous and extraneous information. When curating information from collaborative activities, event leaders should be sensitive to remaining inclusive and encouraging when soliciting information and resources. Some degree of “self-policing” by participants will also help minimize any impressions of favoritism by the instructor that might arise as the learning advances. Employing polling among the participants can give insights into which information nuggets, job aids, or other resources the group finds most beneficial, while the instructor, subject matter expert, or other training leaders will be charged with ensuring the accuracy and relevance of the resources submitted by the group.

Cultivation

The purpose of successful cultivation in learning is much the same as it is in farming—to ensure high yields with minimal waste. The “harvest” of the learning event should not only yield increased knowledge and skill levels among the attendees, but also living and growing performance support systems as well as a “seed crop” of resources and learning insights that training leaders can employ in future sessions. Cultivating collaboration—especially ongoing collaboration—is much like cultivating crops—a cyclical and ongoing process. This is where Covey’s seventh habit of “Sharpen the Saw” comes into place. Leverage the knowledge of experts, value the insights of peers, and proactively (Habit 1) solicit the experiences of participants to grow dynamic, rewarding, and truly synergistic learning events and experiences.

Continuing the Conversation

Let’s make this post synergistic with an active and ongoing discussion. What have you learned from your learners? What collaborative methods have worked best for you in creating two-way or even 360-degree learning? Post your thoughts, comments, and ideas here, or tweet to @gpcorp using the hashtag #trainforward.