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At a recent HR executive networking group, several trends in social learning were revealed. For example, people learn 70 percent through job experience, 20 percent from others, and 10 percent from course learning and reading. However, on average, companies focus 70 percent of their training resources on course learning and reading.
      In today’s business environment, a compelling argument is made for focusing energy and resources on connecting people rather than developing another half-day training course.
      The takeaways:
• Business agility is essential. The ability to quickly respond to the “mash-up” of all the different things going on in the business is crucial. The breadth of information needed is continually expanding.
• People want data as soon as they need it. Individuals must quickly gain access to and learn new information to be effective—time is of the essence.
• Visual tools improve learning. Timely videos are a very practical and effective way to share information. People are no longer getting hung up on how unpolished a video may be; it is more important to get the content out there when it is needed.
• Global time management is important. What is the quickest and most effective way to connect the learning regardless of time zone or geography? Connecting the collective, global knowledge across your business is essential.
• Less is more. Short videos, one-pagers, infographics, and quick Skype calls with colleagues are better received than dedicating time to longer training programs.
• Crowd-sourcing is in. Individuals expect access to information on a variety of topics. Crowd-sourcing is simply asking a smart question to a group of people for their input and views—internally or externally.
• Use of learning technology is increasing. Social media tools, wikis, mobile device access, and “gamification” are making it easier to build natural collaboration into business learning.
• Learning cultures trump technology. The best learning cultures encourage people to teach others in the organization and build an innovative and collaborative environment.
—Adapted from the HyperText blog