A learning organization scores better in areas such as productivity, profitability and innovation. But setting up a learning organization is no mean feat. The basis for this lies in a (strong) improvement in the empowerment of the employees. Experience shows that the road to this leads to the development/stimulating of a learning culture† Research shows that in a learning culture 8 out of 10 employees are empowered! A Learnathon can make a positive contribution to this.

In the Learnathon the focus is on To perform. All participants are asked to put forward ideas what can be improved, changed, renewed. Once the most promising ideas have been identified, the emphasis then comes on To learn to lay down. 

Meeting periodically (annually?) in Learnathons automatically creates a learning cycle with a natural evaluation and reflection moment.

how?

It often takes many years to develop a truly learning culture. This requires behavioral change that can only be achieved by committed and motivated employees.

During an (annual) Learnathon, learning projects are started, evaluated and/or completed. The ownership of the participants is high if they receive the necessary trust, support and appreciation from the management for this.

A Learnathon uses the creative ability of the collective to innovate. Promising projects are initiated through quick, small experiments. Everything that seems / turns out to be feasible and affordable is set out in a learning process.

A Learnathon is being organized for and by its own employees† Sol professionals can be asked to support this process.

At the end of the Learnathon, the ideas/projects and the way in which this can be realized in a learning way are presented to each other. The assessment of this can be collective but also possibly by the management, as long as this is clear in advance.

what?

A (annual) Learnathon lasts at least half a day, and preferably a whole day. Preferably only those employees who choose to do so participate in this.

Depending on the size, the Learnathon offers (parts of) the following:

• Discussion of existing improvement or innovation projects (usually by the responsible team members/team leader).
• Developing and pitching new projects aimed at improvement, change or innovation (from own employees). Where besides performance goals also learning goals are formulated and the whole is worked out in a learning form.
• Inspiration in the form of short workshops/training such as systems thinking, organizational constellations, Personal Mastery, Learning Organization Practice Teams.
• Securing or opening up the (learning) results within the organization (HR / ICT, etc.).
• The (annual) completion of a scan / questionnaire by employees, with which the path towards maturity of the learning organization can be measured and visualized.
• Recording and making visible the results of all these activities (both hard and soft results) through evaluation and communication.

customization: It is our (international) experience that the Learnathons grow annually in size and quality. They become 'checkpoints' in a growth towards a learning culture. If (much) external support is still needed during the first learnathons, after a number of years, the management is usually completely taken over by the company's own employees. The organization of a Learnathon is therefore tailor-made. Practice shows that Learnathons are organized for groups of various sizes (from 10 to 500 people). We would be happy to discuss with you to come up with a suitable proposal.

* The word 'learnathon' is derived from the concept Hackathon. A hackathon is a meeting of (originally) software and website developers, designers and business strategists to work together on a theme. The goal is, usually within 24 hours, an innovative and creative solution is devised on a certain theme or to solve a problem of a company.