Stimulate learning in a hybrid work environment!

Many organizations currently have a Hybrid Working programme. This mainly consists of the renovation of the office building and connecting all employees to an Office 365 package or something similar, so that employees are better connected digitally. Oh yes, and then there is something like Behavior in addition to Bricks and Bytes. But you can't control that anyway, so that's the job of the manager....

Movement towards a hybrid collaboration

Delegating the Behavior part of hybrid working to only the manager is a shame. The movement towards hybrid working is ideally suited to take cooperation in your organization to a higher level and thus better align with the new behavior of employees. You now have the opportunity to build a learning culture. Time- and place-independent collaboration in any case requires experimentation, evaluation and adjustment; learning by doing, so.

Hybrid collaboration and the five disciplines of a learning organization

But we also see opportunities for all five disciplines of the learning culture in the movement towards better hybrid cooperation. Check it out:

Because of Corona, employees have been on their own for a long time. Many people have gotten to know themselves better and have found a way of working that fits into their work-life balance. You could say it Personal Mastery thereby increased.
There has been quite a lot of turnover in positions during Corona, not least because of shortages in the labor market. It is very important for organizations that employees are once again included in a Shared visionso that they feel connected to the organization as a whole again. What in-depth insights have the employees developed in recent months and what does this mean for the collective vision of the organization?
The connection within and outside the team has been damaged by Corona and you can see that many employees would like to spend time and energy again on increasing the connection with the organization. This is the chance to Team learning to revive again.
Because teams could not physically connect with each other for a long time, patterns and beliefs have crept into systems that often negatively influence the undercurrent. It is important to actively start working on the Mental Models in the system (teams, the organization, project groups, etc.).
Hybrid working is therefore not about Bytes, or Bricks, or Behavior: it is about an organizational development, or actually even a system change: a new way of thinking about work and the office. So you would work hybrid from the Systems thinking have to approach.

Important factors of a learning culture

A learning culture has little to do with offering training on an online learning platform. That really takes a little more. For example, foster a learning culture by considering the following factors:

Create a psychologically safe environment: Provide a safe and supportive environment where team members feel comfortable asking questions, making mistakes, and sharing new ideas. This fosters a culture where learning is encouraged and valued.
Encourage knowledge sharing: Encourage team members to share knowledge and experiences with each other. Organize regular knowledge sharing sessions, such as presentations, workshops or internal training. This fosters a culture of collaboration and helps team members learn from each other.
Offer learning opportunities: Provide different learning opportunities, such as internal training, external workshops or webinars. Encourage team members to participate in professional development programs and provide support in exploring new skills and areas of knowledge.
Recognize and reward learning: Recognize and reward learning and development efforts and successes. This can range from sharing successes or celebrating failures during team meetings, to offering growth opportunities and promotions based on individual learning performance.

Teach yourself to an agile organization

Fostering a learning culture requires commitment and commitment from both the leader and team members. By creating an environment where learning is encouraged and valued, you can promote the growth and development of individuals and the team as a whole.

When employees learn to work together optimally in a hybrid (time and location independent) working environment within a learning culture, an organization is agile and flexible and ready to face the rapidly succeeding developments in the outside world.

We support organizations in learning by doing

Do you want to develop a more learning culture in your organization, and could you use some help? The SOL Development Team regularly supports in creating a more learning culture. We do this through a tailor-made process of several months to a year, in which we work with a group of employees and managers on cases from their own practice. No new project, no separate training courses, no high costs, but simply with a helping hand in learning by doing.

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