Workplace Learning

After reading Jane Hart's blog, http://www.janeknight.typepad.com/, I am very impressed with the site, and especially the workplace application presentation made. She has shown how social media can be used and what it will do. By taking each application presented and dabbling with it, the user can answer a few evaluative questions.

• How does this work?
• Does it have a professional application or a business application for me?
• Can I share its use with others in my area?

Jane states that in order to truly understand how to use social media, a person must use it and then find its selling points, if you will, so that its benefits can then gain buy in from others. Coming from the perspective of a newbie, I can understand how some would expect to receive an hour presentation and be able to walk away with clear understanding on how social media works. However, from the perspective of an adult learner, I can say appreciation of the media is in its usage. And that most of the time usage is simple.

If we use the media with ease, we can also help others to do the same. By doing this, we are actually building our workforce. This would be a perfect opportunity for an unmeeting. We could take a select group of folk to a room, introduce one of the media and then say, 'You have one hour to experiment and play with this application. We will meet back at the end of the hour to discuss your experiences and comments. Have fun and see you later!' Sure, some will be frustrated and we can work with them, but I think most will come back with favorable comments to share.

The point is to take your time, think about what you are doing and then determine how social media can be used to your advantage. If you can think of an advantage for yourself, you will be able to think of them for others.

Wirearchy

Presenting a challenge to hierarchies of past business structures, wirearchy sets a new precedence for how businesses should run. With the hunger for information and the ready accessibility of it online, there is no longer a necessity to wait for responses to request for information. Anyone can use Goggle, Bing or any other resource to discover what may have taken, by committee, several hours to determine, discover or define. And this is just on the business side. When the customer can do the same, it makes the old hierarchy of information disbursement seem archaic. And embarassing. There is nothing like your customer being more informed about your business than you, especially when the source of their information is outside of your business structure.


I believe that one component that plays a part in this change is the freedom with which information is readily shared. In the past, the hierarchy (of any organization) had a way of retaining information so that only certain individuals had access. Those who had access dared not to share the information with anyone else. And felt privileged for knowing. Now, there is no sense which requires the perceived guarding of information. Information is designed to assist others in the acquiring of knowledge for necessary processes. The sharing of information now is designed to have all affected parties involved in the conversation regarding it. This means the end-user has as much power and influence as the creator. Hopefully, this will also mean a greater respect for those who are the end-users as they are often the ones who discover the nuances and idiosycrecies of the product or ideas.

I Love It!

Ok, so it's late (11:58pm) and I need to go to bed, because well... I have to work tomorrow. So, I'm catching up on my Jay Cross's reading for class. (No, it being summer and my being a grad student has not created a smooth collaboration just yet.) Anyway, I just have to say, I love the idea about Unmeetings.

Generally speaking I don't like meetings. My experience has been that most are unproductive, somewhat pretentious and pointless. For all that was said I could have read it in a memo or at least have given it the attention that I give most memos. (You know, you peruse it for information that is vital to you, then you toss it aside. Or you just toss it aside, because there wasn't anything vital nor interesting to you.) You say it shouldn't be about what's important to me. But isn't that the way we evaluate everything? If it is not vital to my interest, concerns or causes I have no place for and will therefore forget it, even if I heard or saw it.

Unmeetings sound like gatherings for those who really want to be there. Wherever there is. Those who have something to share or want to be shared with. These are gatherings for those who mean to do business, but not in the conventional sense. Take away the fluff and the stressor and get down to the real business of sharing, collaborating and exploring possibly something new, maybe something old, but definitely something with pertainance. (Is that a word?)

I am looking forward to my first unmeeting, G'nite all :)

Tell me again why I should stay?

One of the most dreadful comments you can make to a person is, 'You should know this.' Followed by the question, 'How long have you been here?' That's like telling your son or daughter they should know something, because of the age they are. It presupposes that in some way, the information was taught. Subsequently, it makes the listener (son, daughter or employee) feel like in some way 'they' missed the vital information. They missed the opportunity to snag the nugget of information that would have saved them from what is now a defeated moment. It also puts them on the defense.

Length of employment does not always equate into wealth of knowledge. Nor does it equate into being effective. While the opposite assumption is made, what is missed is the application of the knowledge. That which is unapplied is lost. My client has often experienced this.

In the general sense knowledge is present, but it is dormant. What is remembered is the idea of how something was suppose to work. The problem is that the information has not been applied in years and new processes have totally taken the place of what was known from before. The statement, 'I forgot' has replaced it. It was not forgotten on purpose; it was lost as part of a natural transition to a new process.

On those occasions where there is no loss, it has been because my client has been able to build upon the knowledge that was present. The full process was not lost; only a portion of it became obsolete. It was replaced with a more powerful function. In this the employee has seen the link between the two portions, the old and the new and possibly found an additional application. This is were the happy thoughts stopped. If the new application is not presented in way that generates buy in those listening (usually managment), or in some case if the planets are not aligned, no further application is allowed. That is until some time later, like maybe years.

I have witnessed people leave because they could know grow with my client, the way they had hoped. I have also watched people agonize over the decision of whether to go or to remain. They remained, but did so begrudgingly. Their staying was for reasons differing from the growth potential. Staying required patience for change and hope for more growth opportunities to make the staying worthwhile.

The sad part is departures were not discouraged; even though the person was a valuable asset, their worth was not consider reason enough to persuade them to stay.

The processes of my client are very cut and dry; black and white; very concrete. It is the methods of running these processes which allow for growth. It is with the introduction of wikis, writeboard, google docs etc. that will help my client to explode with possibilities on communicating with each other and with their customers.

Perhaps there is a wiki in their near future.....