How can you help your team members develop new skills?

Another effective approach to identifying skill gaps is through team workshops. These workshops can provide a more interactive and collaborative setting where team members can openly discuss their strengths, weaknesses, and areas where they feel they need improvement. This collective identification process not only helps in a more comprehensive skills assessment but also promotes a culture of open communication and mutual learning. Utilizing collaborative tools can greatly aid in this process. Tools like Google Workspace, Trello, Miro, or Microsoft Teams offer features that facilitate real-time collaboration, brainstorming, and feedback.

Neben formellen und digitalen Lernmöglichkeiten werden soziale Lernformen oft unterschätzt. Ein geöffneter Lernraum - mit bereitgestellter Zeit zum Lernen und Netzwerken, - mit Teilnehmenden, die aktiv an Themenstellungen arbeiten, die für sie und ihren Arbeitsalltag relevant sind, - mit inspirierenden Keynotes von Fachleuten aus der eigenen Organisation - mit dem Gefühl, dass Führungskräfte und Firma es ernst meinen mit Growth Mindset und Growth hat oftmals einen sehr viel höheren Lernerfolg als andere Formen. Auf globaler Ebene gibt es hierfür digitale bzw. virtuelle Formate, die auch hervorragend funktionieren. Mit Mut und Neugierde gibt es hier noch ganz viel auszuprobieren 😀

It's crucial to emphasize that the process of providing digital learning resources should not only be about delivering content but also about fostering engagement. This is where the concept of microlearning comes into play. Microlearning involves breaking down complex information into bite-sized, manageable chunks that are easier to comprehend and retain. This method can be particularly effective in a digital learning environment, where attention spans may be shorter due to the multitude of distractions. Microlearning modules can include short videos, quizzes, infographics, or interactive lessons that can be completed in a few minutes or less.

Whether you as leader, or team member, begin the habit of having a learning session every weekly meeting. Take 10 minutes, let each team member cycle through teaching anything that they want. Yes, the skills learned are important, but that is not the goal here; the questions, comments, and attention given between colleagues is the goal. The skills do not necessarily need to be specific to the roles in the meeting, but they do need to be digital. Keep these learning sessions short and sweet. For example, 1 minute describing the use case, 5 minutes demonstration, and a few minutes for questions. Keep a document recording each learning session and the topics. It's a great archive for talent.

I love this part of knowledge sharing within team. I always try and encourage the team to attend webinars, workshops and events of Products or Tools to get familiar with new features and updates. We try to pull out the most important points and put across the same with team. We do this process continuously once in a month as Knowledge sharing session and everyone presents their new learnings in month that could be small or big!

Die Führungskraft ist oft das Vorbild: wenn es nur darum geht, sich 100% zu produktivieren, wie kann dann ein sinnvoller Raum zum Lernen bei den Mitarbeitenden entstehen? Wie lange bleibt man "produktiv", wenn man keinen Raum zu Weiterentwicklung und Growth bekommt? Ich stelle mir die Frage, was langfristig teurer ist 🤔

Do more than just model behaviors: Explore/ share/ do something to learn about what incentivizes you/ others to do these behaviors. And be open about how difficult it is to do these things - or to get a chance to do it. Help others to see the path you took to get where you are and never under-sell the amount of practice it takes to do what you are modelling.

Give them things to do to ‘stretch’ them while making sure it fits their human behavior style: They will like the challenge and learn lots, especially if you are delegating (retaining accountability) and ready to coach and provide constructive feedback. Get them to ‘share’ what they learnt - either to other team members, or to you as it might reveal something different than your original intention.