Business-Based Learning: Competitive Advantage Via Real-Time Learning

Susan Schwartz - 7/1/04

Part One of the “Business-Based Learning” series introduced the five-level business-based learning (BBL) model as an audience-centric approach to designing blended learning delivery platforms. Part Two expanded on the BBL strategies to align training acti

The 21st century workplace is significantly different from the workplace of 20 years ago. Back when high-speed data lines were 2400 bps, organizations co-located staff in large offices. Face-to-face communications were essential for information sharing. Hard-copy references were kept in a centralized library. And core operational processes were passed from hand to hand. The office water cooler or coffee pot was the center of office gossip and innovation. Moving forward 20 years, the workplace is undergoing a series of evolutionary changes.

Today, many organizations face the management challenges of coordinating and leveraging the strengths of “virtual” or “global” work teams. Virtual teams can comprise a core group of managers directing remote operations from a centralized location or geographically dispersed work teams operating within a decentralized management structure. In either case, people are finding themselves isolated from work teams and peers. Still, the Internet has given many business professionals access to huge amounts of information to track trends and adjust individual behaviors—but what happened to the casual information transfer that took place around the office coffee pot? How can dispersed workgroups drink from virtual water coolers? Informal communications and knowledge-sharing activities are essential to maintain corporate competitive advantage. How do organizations re-create the spontaneous knowledge discovery that can occur during casual conversation—that “a-ha” real-time learning moment?

Shifting Learning Trends
Traditional corporate learning models recognized an expert supervisory manager as the source to determine training requirements and a mentor to reinforce on-the-job training skills. As corporate environments evolve to support global strategies, managers may not share the same skill sets as their reporting people. James S. Pepitone in his book “Future Training” describes the evolving workplace as becoming filled with knowledge and service specialists who must recognize and close their own knowledge gaps. Managers will continue to provide leadership and support for knowledge and service specialists, but the direct working and learning relationships are very different.